Mapping your music

nightdancer

New member
Hi all,

I was wondering if you do anything special when you are learning your music. One of my fellow dancers, the lovely Ameena (a member here) showed me some handy things. I was curious what, if anything, you all do.
 

Daimona

Moderator
I listen, listen and listen even more until I know every little turn of it (big surprise, huh? ;))

I could listen to the whole song over and over and over, but I also analyse the music looking for some sort of structure; if it is pop music, could I find patterns such as verses and refrains? If it is a more classical piece, I look for shifts in rhythms, instrumentation etc.
If it is a complicated part with lots of ornamentation and details I sometimes lower the tempo until I get it, or just focus on parts of it.

What do you do?
 

Aniseteph

New member
For class I know it'll be repeated over and over so I'll get it, and I don't bother breaking it down (I am so lazy ;)). Eventually the choreography and the music help each other, if that makes sense - I know what's coming in the choreography because I know what the music is going to do, and vice versa.

If it's something I'm doing for myself I'll break it down by writing it out in sections alongside the time to find the repeats and patterns - this usually involves daft descriptive names so I know which bit I mean and can fix it in my mind. Then I can work on each section, breaking it down further if necessary.

I've just taken it to extremes to find and cut part of a repeated section (wouldn't do this to do the choreography, it's too weird)

2.59 Daaaaaah da, deedle dayyyyya doodle doodle, Daaaaaah (flourishy twiddle) … doodle doodle, 1 2 3
3:08 Dadeedi dahdahdahdah 1 2 3 pingy drum...
:rolleyes:
 

Daimona

Moderator
:lol: Yes, I sometimes write the music as well. Here's an example from a drum solo:
02:11
Brrt brrt
Brrt brrt
Brrt brrt
brrtaktak

02:17
Brrr taka
Brrr taka
Brr brr
Taktak tek
 

PracticalDancer

New member
I wonder if Ameena uses Brianna's technique, which we both learned when our troupe hosted Brianna for a workshop a few years ago . . .:think:

Brianna has you listen to the music over and over, until you can hear the key tempo changes. Once you start to think of it as "this part sounds like veil" and "this part needs some turns" and "this part is a traveling step," then you can either start writing down the timestamps of those music changes, or (what I do), just start dancing to those sections. Brianna had this whole method of mapping all the music on paper, which is probably great if you are teaching others the choreo. But, for me, when it is JUST me, I tend to just choreograph certain parts of the songs, such as the choruses, or a major music change. And, there will be whole sections where the extent of my thinking is, "I'll just do whatever I feel like <here>". Real fancy, I know, but in my heart I am an improv dancer, who occasionally slips into choreography. It's funny, because I can do true choreography only in a group -- on my own, I can go out there with the best of intentions and will get sidetracked into improv land within minutes . . .

Regards,

Anala
 

gisela

Super Moderator
I learnt this method which I sometimes use but not always. And sometimes I do it when choosing the music, just to sort it out, and then I don't look at it any more.
Let's see if I can explain.

1st listen: make a line for each count grouped in eights (or fours, if the music sounds like it. like this:
llllllll
llllllll
llllllll
etc...
2nd and 3rd: Draw a line between the groups when the music changes to divide the parts (intro, vers, refrain, break or part A, part B, etc. whatever you like to call it) and name the parts, like this:
llllllll intro
llllllll
llllllll part A
llllllll
llllllll
llllllll
llllllll
llllllll part B
llll___
llllllll break
llllllll
llllllll refrain
llllllll
llllllll part A (again)
..... etc

4th: listen to the rhythms and write each part's rhythm on the sheet.
5th: listen to the instruments, write them on and mark which is the main instrument for each part.
6th: could be whatever you feel necessary to add, like any special feeling for the parts, styles, levels or whatever you like to use for getting a sense of the expression: Baladi, floaty, energetic, snakey, jumpy, veil, floor, etc

We did this exercise with instrumental music but I think lyrics could come in as step 6 too.

After this you can begin to add a few moves that goes with the feelings or style.

I am very intuitive and not an excel-sheet kinda girl so I don't use all of these steps for mapping but I found it very useful to know.
Hopefully I have been able to explain it to you too.
 
Last edited:

LeylaLanty

New member
When I am working on a choreography to teach, I use the same method as Gisela. My notes look very much like hers! I use that method like she does to sort out the music. Before I start writing it down, though, I listen to the piece over and over and get a feel for what the music "tells" me to do. Then I map the counts in it like Gisela does, separating the counts into sections and making notes about repetition. Then I fill in with notes about what the music tells me to do in each part.
 

Jane

New member
Gisela's method is very close to what I do too. I also write the music time in sections, like 2:54-3:01, so I can find the phrase on my ipod without looking too hard.

Having iTunes open in the mini player mode helps me a lot while I dink around with the choreography in Microsoft Word.

At the bottom of the page I write combos and movements I'd like to incorporate if there is a good spot in the music for it. That way I don't forget stuff I'd like to possibly put in.
 

gisela

Super Moderator
I am glad to see that what I was taught is used with success by others too :)
Perhaps I should do it more, also for practice.
 

Aniseteph

New member
I haven't got as far as working on choreographies in Word - all still in a scribbly notebook, or whatever bit of paper comes to hand when I get an idea. I need my diagrams (floor patterns and stick people!). :think: You can see why people invented dance notation...

I make notes of what the music suggests for different sections/phrases, and write down other ideas I like that might fit in at some point. I can't think of any other ways of doing it!

I used to try not to check out YouTube for the same music in case it fixed me onto someone else's interpretation, but I'm more analytical these days and find it useful/interesting.
 

PracticalDancer

New member
My notes look like that, too. Is that what Briana taught, Anala?

I do not recall her using the tick marks. I think it was more of a timestamp map, where every time the music changed she noted the time the new section started; then, she filled in with how many counts there were, etc.

BUT, it was 3 years ago, and I was "working" the workshop, so I couldn't pay too close attention. My memory after 3 years is not always that reliable. ;)
 

Safran

New member
Gisela, actually I consider myself very much an excel-table kind of person :lol: but I am yet to figure out how to map my music in a systematic way. What I usually just do is listen to the music over and over again until I subconsciously know what will come up next in the song.

When I want to edit the song I sometimes do write the bulk structure of the song down (intro up to 0:33, saidi from 1:20-1:55 etc.) but I'll usually discard that paper after I am finished with the editing.

I will give this system a try one day, let's see how it works...
 

mahsati_janan

New member
I follow a pretty similar path.
1) map the music changes with time stamp, then counts
2) name sections/repeats
3) map movements, beats, and accents
4) add choreography notes

You can see one of my older choreographies written this way here: http://mahsati-janan.com/files/Ch-Izaaj-2.pdf

The only think I do differently is a drum solo. I make the correct number of columns for the rhythmic phrasing, then draw out the sounds I hear (including accents). Once I have that all mapped on paper, then I translate it to my spreadsheet in drum lingo (D, T, K, roll, etc) and movements.
 

onela

New member
This is a seriously cool thread, you guys- I might have to play around with mapping some of my favourite songs next time I'm stuck on a plane, sounds like a very useful thing to do!
 

walladah

New member
My problem was not to map the music

but remember the moves...

So, I have been working on oriental dance notation since summer 2009. I use a mix of music notation to create "meters" for the music and within them i write down the moves.

Actually, i am thinking of making it public in a while, so that dancers can check the notation and improve and enrich it, because there is no point if i am the only person to understand and use this.

The problem I have at this stage is how to make this completely digital, because i can scan my hand written notation, but i think it would be better legible if i make it completely digital (how?).

any suggestions?
 

walladah

New member
one more point

my notes are "designed signs", not words. I cannot reproduce words easily in dance...
 

Daimona

Moderator
my notes are "designed signs", not words. I cannot reproduce words easily in dance...

Signs could work, but in my experience (I started out making signs myself because my dance vocabulary wasn't big enough to describe everything) the signs wasn't able to show all the small details I wanted to take note of.
But me failing using sings doesn't necessarily mean that you'll fail too. The most important important thing, as far as I experienced it, is to include a legend describing each of the sings in detail. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have a chance repeating noted choreographies later. Good luck!
 

walladah

New member
Thanks, Daimona

for the advice.

Actually, my first attempt was to create the legend first and the choreography later. But I realised that combinations (what hips are doing, where arms are, whether heels are on the ground or on air) demanded simplicity of signs.

however, yes, a legend is useful even for me, because even simple signs can be forgotten.

However, I hope that i manage to upload some first notes (f.ex. a choreography of mine) and see whether the notes are legible and useful for others.
 

Mya

New member
here's me posting...after how long?? hmmm...time to dust off the cobwebs. i think i tend to break down the music differently for myself from how i do it for my girls.

I'm a serial improv dancer....even after carefully choreographing and practising the bejesus out of a piece, when i'm onstage...it's improv that comes out...invariably. when i'm learning my music the first thing i do is listen....over and over and over and over.....and the when i'm fed up hearing it (and my neighbours are...) i listen to it some more.

By the time i'm ready to map i've picked up many of the nuances in the music and those are my cues...those are what i timestamp for easy reference for myself and what i teach my ladies to listen for when they're dancing....there's no 4 of this and 8 of that in my classes...no sireeeee...i try to get them to actually listen to and respond to the music rather than add movements to a soundtrack that happens after a while they do start to do it for themselves and i'm all a-gush with pleasure.

my segments are usually based on what's dominating at that point...the rhythm? the melody? and then i map the group of movements that i feel inclined to do when i listen to that segment; spin? accents? undulating movements?. that's as close as i get to choreographing myself...because in the end, i do whatever the music is telling me when i perform. my ladies...not quite there, so i usually take a poll of what they feel and choreograph the sections for them one movement at a time.

Generally, for myself, i may have a more or less set sequence for the big dramatic hallmarks in music for want of a better word, but other than that it's improv baby! and that again i can only do from chain-listening to my music.
 
Top