Notes on transcription and analysis for traditional music in

England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The following suggestions are intended for undergraduate students
who are interested in transcribing (either prescriptively or
descriptively) traditional music from the mainly anglophone
melodic instrumental or vocal traditions of Northern Europe. They
do not really provide emic notation for traditions beyond this and
rely heavily on teachings developed by Dr Peggy Duesenberry and
developed by Dr Simon McKerrell. I hope theyre useful in some
way.
Introduction
Why bother at all? So that we can talk and write about it, and communicate
what it is about music that moves us. It isnt good enough to say Its a
good/bad tune! Being able to articulate the reasons why something means
traditional, sacred or good etc. is important, especially when
communicating with other musicians.
The approach taken depends on the function of the transcription. To give a
friend the tune for a song, the ornamentation or breathing marks are not
needed, however the basic melody, key/time signature is.

Transcription

The purpose of a transcription dictates the detail necessary for that

particular transcription. The purpose can range from helping to learn
the words to a song, in which case you might not even need a tune, to
detailed analysis of style, for examples see Bartoks transcriptions of
Hungarian folk song.
Prescriptive or Descriptive.
Prescriptive Transcription is a guide to a performer/ analyst and only
shows selective features usually in a simple form.
Descriptive Transcription is an exact report or description of what has
been heard that goes beyond ordinary staff notation and is as precise
as possible. This is more useful for analysis than re-performance.
It is possible to use a recording, some would argue that a recording is
better than any translation of a musical event, however transcription is
very useful for analysis.
Features may include: pitch/ rhythm/ ornamentation/ harmony/ special
features, e.g. vocal techniques, string techniques such as double
stopping, ornamentation/ timbre?/ attack/ speed/ metre/ extra-musical
features/ commentary on the general character of a performance.
Transcription usually relies upon western notation for us, and all its
limitations, this can affect the way you hear music also. The idea that
you can achieve a perfect transcription is false, as different people
hear different things. However there other representations that can be

Basic transcription notes for traditional music

By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

Page 1 of 10

made and these can be quite diverse in ethnomusicology, but must suit
the purpose of the transcription.
Many societies have different notations, for different musics. Many do
not use notation at all, aural societies, this can throw up interesting
transcription problems. For example how would you convey the timbre
of Inuit throat singers, or Gaelic psalm singing?
No musical script can ever be a faithful mirror of music. (Sachs 1962)
For a long period of time, being an ethnomusicologist was being a
transcriber of music.
In the nineteenth century, the idea of preserving disappearing musical
practices dominated and by the early twentieth century there was more
concentration on establishing standard methods of stating on paper
what was heard.
By mid-twentieth century, electronic machines were capable of doing
accurate transcription, and post 1955 there was a diversification of
methods. In 1970s transcription was used for solving problems, many
different types of transcription arose to cope with different situations.
A detailed approach to Transcription and Analysis can either be
phonemic or phonetic (linguistic terminiology adapted for
ethnomusicologists originally by Mantle Hood) which determines the
look of the transcription and what it means. Ask yourself, what detail is
necessary for the analysis Im doing?
Always try to work from a copy.

Major Issues in transcription

1. Contrast between Prescriptive/Descriptive notation.
2. Nature of musical piece
3. The problem with transcription being a description of one
cultures music
4. Technology in transcription
5. The battle between technology and fieldwork transcriptions.
6. Seegers Dichotomy
7. Correction in transcription, e.g. transcriber correcting the music
sound.
8. A detailed approach to Transcription and Analysis can either be
phonemic or phonetic (Mantle Hood used G-S line) which
determines the look of the transcription and what it means. Ask
yourself, what detail is necessary for the analysis Im doing?
Etic/Emic issues, if you are an insider, prescriptive notes may
serve for an authentic reproduction.
Technological devices have been increasingly used since 1928 (Milton
Metfessels stroboscope) but probably a combination is best. Some feel that
mechanical transcriptions are too detailed, and there is opposition to
introducing a machine that can write exactly what is heard because:

Music is already excessively notated

Basic transcription notes for traditional music

By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

Page 2 of 10

They are only useful if you can hear what is being

transcribed, therefore automatic transcription is only useful
for armchair analysis of aspects such as duration.
Transcription-by-hand is a reliable skill to have, and develops
the ear, interval, harmonic, pitch recognition and
differentiation etc.

However, as our hearing is so tied to western notation, some argue that

automatic scores of music can be very helpful in analysing music. They also
can provide very accurate detail of pitch and duration. This is useful for
comparative analysis, say of the same performer/singer, through time, or of
the same piece of music by different performers.

Analysis
I do not want to provide copius notes on analytical use of transcriptions other
than to say, that is the whole point of making some form of musical
transcription. However one basic question to think of is do you want to do a
comparative analysis, or culture-specific analysis? Or both?
The most important question to begin with is why are you going to analyse?
Then the next most important question is what are you going to analyse?
Then one needs to consider, what can the written page tell you? What are
the results of analysis? (Original insight into a musical tradition, social
structure, pedagogical issues, style boundaries, modal patterns, longer term
patterns, in individuals and groups, interaction between players, geographical
tendencies, relationship between emotional connotations and how it is
achieved in music, form or structures, patterns or non-patterns?, insight and
meaning, cultural value etc.).
Seegers dichotomy says that the major problem in analysis is the speech
mode of communication (Charles Seeger). This is the problem of discussing
music through the medium of words. The problems result from the differing
characteristics of language and music, especially in regard to time.
Structural analysis labelling phrases called FORM
Computer transcription of text:
Many methods, many software programmes and foot pedals available:

Transcriptions (for Mac, it is free

http://code.google.com/p/transcriptions/)

Basic transcription notes for traditional music

By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

Page 3 of 10

Survey of methods and models

There is a wide array of methods, each very specific developed for a

particular music-culture. This is in part due to the diverse training of
ethnomusicologists, musicologists, interested people and musicians etc.
Typically, people tend to think of analysis as the process of examining the
attributes of a whole and the process involves the separation of attributes.
The process is deductive where conclusions follow logically and can form
laws. The opposite is synthesis. Today, this view is a little out of date, as
we now recognise the temporal problems in analysis of notation from one
or two particular performances. There are myriad problems, but some
interesting starting points for thinking analytically about musical
performance might include:
o Context
of performance
or recording
your own situation as researcher
o Mode
Pitch set/ hierarchy
Structural tones
Stress patterns
Melodic motifs
Motion
Extra-musical associations
Ornamental pitches
o Genre
o Tradition performed within
o The Performer(s)
o Tuning system
fixed or variable
diatonic or non-diatonic
o Scale: theoretical and actual
o Ornamentation
o Orchestration/ instrumentation/ voices
o Textual considerations, co-location, distribution, correspondence,
assonance, framing devices, rhetorical analysis, relationship to
melody or harmony, affective devices and on and on and on

(This list is very short and only indicativethere are basically endless
analytical aspects which might be important for your particular transcription.)

Basic transcription notes for traditional music

By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

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Transcription notation
1) Instrumental music
Ornamentation: You should include the pitch of the ornamentation, and show
them as gracenotes, with the stems joined together for multiple gracenotes.
Consider the audience for your transcription, what is the purpose of the
transcription?
Key signature:
Standard Western staff notation has a long history and
wide currency. Understand basic notation and use it for transcription.
Therefore, do not use a key signature unless you mean to imply both the
given pitch set should be used throughout the piece but also the use of a
tonic. Remember some tunes are cyclical. You may want to include a key
signature, but be clear to show that this is an approximation, some
instruments do not operate under diatonic rules, or equal temperament.
However, if the piece is in a particular key, use the correct key signature.
Also, remember, for comparative purposes it is sometimes helpful to have
various tunes all transposed into one key, to aid analysis.

Pitch:
An arrow
or
above the note head may be used to
indicate that the actual pitch is higher or lower than indicated on the staff.
Such arrows are most often used to indicate a quarter-tone in difference, but
you should always include an explanatory note to clarify this. Cooke suggests

the use of the symbols

and
in the key signature when the
differences are consistently used in a performance.
Slides:
There are various ways of approaching notes in
traditional music and the following slides may be useful to you:
A long slide beginning at an indeterminate pitch and ending
on the pitch indicated by the note head.
A short slide. The pitch of the beginning of the slide is not
clear enough to determine, but it is in the area indicated on
the staff by the beginning of the marking.


x

A short slide beginning at a clearly defined pitch, indicated

by the location of the x on the staff.

Basic transcription notes for traditional music

By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

Page 5 of 10

Strings:
Often string players will hit open strings for drone
accompaniment to the main melody, although these notes are not part of the
main tune.
The small dot with no stem is an open string that is hit
along with the main note of the tune. They are usually not
equal in volume or emphasis to the main note, and not part
of the tune.
If the drone note is as prominent as the melody note, then
write both of them down on the same stem.

Dynamics:
diminuendo

Use the standard crescendo

and

to show changes in dynamics. A particularly

emphasised note is usually marked with an accent

but a stronger accent

can be shown with

(above a note head) or
(below).
Ask other questions like: is there a pattern in the performance between
dynamics and melodic range? Does the performer tend towards always
treating particular passages of music/words the same? Is there a link
between the text and the emphasis in the music?
Rests:
Silence can be used effectively in every music, so
remember to include it in transcription:
Crotchet
Quaver
Semiquaver
The minim rest in a bar sits on top of the third line:
and the semibreve rest hangs below a
line, (usually the fourth from the bottom)
Remember rests can be dotted also.
Pitch set and range: The pitch set of a tune is very simply what notes are
used. However, it is important to remember that a pentatonic tune, may
occasionally use a sixth, passing note usually shown in brackets, but this
does not mean it is not a pentatonic melody. For example:
Basic transcription notes for traditional music
By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

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Tetratonic = 4 notes
Pentatonic = 5 notes
Hexatonic = 6 notes
Heptatonic = 7 notes
Diatonic = only using the notes of a particular key (usually heptatonic scale),
eg. D major
Tempo:
= 60 The metronome markings are sometimes written with c.
(circa) however many beats per minute. Speeds do vary within a
performance, but unless it is a major departure from the indication on the
transcription do not worry (unless this is important). Also directions, as in art
music can be used, but remember who the audience for the transcription is; if
it is traditional musicians then they will be expected to understand the average
tempos and performance practice of a piece. However, if it is for analysis, say
of one performers rendering of the same tune over a period of years, then it
might be interesting to take account of the various speeds. M.M = metronome
mark.
In addition, pauses

(also known as fermata) can be used.

Rhythm: Sometimes a performance does not follow a strict pulse, or does not
group them regularly. If the pulse is regular but the groupings are irregular
then you can change the time signature, for each bar if necessary, there are
tunes written like this. Remember also that the time signature also indicates a
hierarchy of beats and avoid time signatures if it is inappropriate.
If the pulse is not regular, but the groupings are, then you can show this with a
half bar-line on the top of the stave like this:

or
If both metre and pulse are irregular, you have to improvise, but it is probably
best to avoid bar lines.

Dotted rhythms are very specific; remember that

equals a 3:1
relationship. Traditional music often uses varying degrees of rhythmical
Basic transcription notes for traditional music
By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

Page 7 of 10

division that are not always in this relationship. Remember double dots and
double cuts can be used, e.g.
relationship of 7:1.

and these represent the rhythmical

Also, sometimes, tunes are generally notated with running patterns such as

however no traditional musician plays these exactly even, and sometimes an

extra diagonal slash in the tail shows that it is just shorter than indicated and
that the time has been given to the pitch before or after it within the beat. For

example:
You should make a note of this in transcription.
Rhythm is also used as a variation technique by many performers. Does the
performer swap the emphasis in repeating the tune/song? What is the
rhythmical scheme and how do they alter it as variation technique?
Explanatory notes: Write up notes on the transcription, always include a
note on the specifics of the transcription. Including notes on pitch, key and
metre and also other less quantifiable concepts such as timbre. The
explanation should include all unusual musical symbols, including those you
need to invent but this is separate from the contextual description or essay
that accompanies a transcription.

Vocal Music
Remember: The gracenotes and problems of transcribing instrumental music
are often the same as in instrumental music, however, the words are an extra
factor in transcription. In general these are placed under the notes using the
rules of proportionality to put the right syllables under the right notes. If you
need to split a word the use a hyphen to show it, and be careful to represent
the correct length by altering the length of the hyphen in proportion with the
stave above.

Pitch
Remember the singers pitch range may not fit on the stave comfortably and
you may need an unwieldy number of ledger lines. In this case transcribe the
whole performance. Make sure you make a note of the actual pitch at the start
of the transcription.

Basic transcription notes for traditional music

By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

Page 8 of 10

Pulse
Remember to use metronome markings when the pulse is regular. Make sure
this holds for the entire performance, if a regular pulse at a new speed is
achieved later in the performance, put in another metronome marking.
If there is no regular pulse, or its very irregular, you can use a time line or
even graph format. Do not in this case use crotchets and quavers; use solid
note-heads instead, without tails.
Another method where bars etc. is unclear is to use one line of stave per
phrase, or breath.

Computer-aided transcription
There are now of course numerous freeware and shareware programmes for
capturing sound and for aiding in transcription available. Prominent amongst
these would be audacity for music students, and of course Sibelius and other
music notation software which all now seem to have various elements of sonic
capture available.

Basic transcription notes for traditional music

By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

Page 9 of 10

Transcription and Analysis Bibliography

Any articles from The World of Music 47(2), (2005), Notation, Transcription, Visual
Representation.
Bird, C. M. 2005, How I stopped dreading and learned to love transcription
Qualitative Inquiry, 11(2), 226. doi:10.1177/1077800404273413
Blum, Stephen 1992, Analysis of Musical Style in Helen Myers, (ed.),
Ethnomusicology: An Introduction (London, pp.165-218).
Cowdery, James. 1990, The Melodic Tradition of Ireland, (Kent: The Kent State
University Press), [esp: chapters 3 & 4].
Cranitch, Matt. 1996, The Sliabh Luachra Code, Irish Musical Studies volume 4:
Selected Proceedings from The Maynooth International Musicological Conference
1995, P. Devine & H. White, (eds.), pp. 343-353, Four Courts Press, Dublin.
Dahlback, Karl. 1958 New methods in Vocal Folk Music Research (Oslo: Oslo
University Press).
Ellingson, Ter. 1992, Transcription, In H. Myers (ed.) Ethnomusicology: an
introduction. London: MacMillan
Finnegan, Ruth. 1992, Oral traditions and the verbal arts (London and New York:
Routledge), [particularly ch.9, p194 on].
Herndon, Marcia. 1974, Analysis: The Herding of Sacred Cows? Ethnomusicology
18, pp. 219-62.
Hood, Mantle. 1982, The Ethnomusicologist New Edition, Kent State University
Press.
Jairazbhoy, Nazir. 1977, The Objective and Subjective view in Music Transcription
Ethnomusicology vol.2, no.2 pp. 263-273, [in particular, this discusses the
differences between automatic and aural transcription.]
Ochs, E. 1979, Transcription as theory In E. Ochs & B. B. Schieffelin (eds.),
Developmental pragmatics (New York: Academic Press) pp. 43-72.
Seeger, Charles. 1958, Prescriptive and descriptive music writing Musical Quarterly
44, pp.184-95.
Seeger, Charles. 1977 Studies in Musicology 1935-1975 Berkeley: University of
California Press. [See Chapter on Barbara Allen].
Tenzer, Michael (ed.). 2006, Analytical Studies in World Music (Oxford: Oxford
University Press).
Wade, Bonnie. 2003, Thinking Musically: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture
(Global Music Series, 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Widdess, Richard. 1994, Involving the performer in transcription and analysis
Ethnomusicology, 38(1), pp.59-80.
Also see: Ethnomusicology 8 (1964).

Basic transcription notes for traditional music

By Dr Simon McKerrell, not to be reproduced without permission.

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