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Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A. Hi everybody.
Just curious about this topic because today I showed a friend (another teacher from one of the universities I work with) the transcription of "Portrait Of Tracy" from the Real Book and I explained him that the whole piece is played with harmonics. As you may know, the Real Book version is completely written in standard notation using both treble and bass clef, and this guy asked me "Aren't harmonics supposed to be notated using circles and/or diamond-shaped noteheads?"
Frankly, I didn't know what to reply. I know the standard notation for harmonics in orchestral music, which is very limited compared with "PoT". The first movement of Dragonetti's concerto for double bass has a passage in harmonics which is written in treble clef with the "Flageolet" mark. This got me thinking... Is there a standard way to notate a piece like "Portrait Of Tracy"? The Real Book version is very clear to me, but I'd like to hear from the experts about this. Thank you in advance! |
Hey man! Good question.
This isn't a direct answer to the question; however, the notation used should create the least amount of confusion for the performer. It is helpful to clarify the notation with performance notes at the bottom of the page.
I've seen various ways of notating harmonics. For a resouce, I use "The Study Of Orchestration" by Samuel Adler. I used this book in college for my orchestration class.
The book gives examples of harmonics for: Brass instruments, cello, double bass, flute, harp, string instruments, viola d'amore, and violin (taken from the index).
There is a way to notate that looks complicated, but it gives you all the information you need. Three pitches are notated for each note you want to play.
1. The bottom pitch looks "normal" and indicates the note you play. Stem direction should be down. This could be an open string or a fretted note.
2. The 2nd notated pitch is above the bottom pitch. It looks like a diamond. This is the pitch you touch above the bottom note. The stem direction is down and connected to the bottom pitch. It could be a note you touch with the left hand or strike with the right hand.
3. The 3rd pitch looks like a cue (smaller note) with no stem and parenthesis around it. This pitch indicates the note that occurs as a result of the bottom two notes.
There are multiple ways to get the same pitch. I guess the key is to do your homework and find the best solution.
Gosh, I hope that wasn't too confusing. It kind of negates keeping things simple for the performer.
There are easier ways to notate harmonics (like the Dragonetti example); however, those are all natural harmonics. Of course things get more difficult when artifical harmonics are involved.
Here is some artificial harmonic information:
1. "Touch fourth" harmonics: Touching the string a perfect 4th above the played pitch. This produces a pitch 2 octaves above the played pitch.
2. "Touch fifth" harmonics: Touching the string a perfect 5th above the played pitch. This produces a pitch that is 1 octave above the touched pitch.
3. "Touch major 3rd" harmonics: Touching the string a major 3rd above the played pitch. This produces a pitch 2 octaves above the touched pitch.
4. "Touch minor 3rd" harmonics: Touching the string a minor 3rd above the played pitch. This produces a pitch 2 octaves + a major 3rd above the touched pitch.
Of course, there's touching one octave above the played pitch to get a note one octave higher.
I hope this helps out.
Joe
