Notating Tied Arpeggios

[Glenn Simonelli]

I've just completed a choral piece with piano accompaniment (posted in the Music Dissection section under this thread: New Choral Piece - Wild Mountain Thyme) and a commenter suggested that I remove the ties in the bass clef of the piano part by notating the part in two voices. I've done this, and it's an improvement, but 2 voices aren't enough to get rid of all the ties. Most measures require 3 voices, and several require 4. I'm not sure which notation is best.

I've put together a brief PDF file with several different measures notated with my original notation, then notated as 2 voices, then 3, and in a few of cases 4 voices. I'd really appreciate it if people would take a glance at the different examples--the file is called "Notation"--and let me know your opinion. Or maybe opinions aren't even appropriate? Is there an obvious right or wrong way to notate this? Thanks for any suggestions.

[Adrian Allan]

Had a quick look at this. Although there's no right or wrong, I thought that 2 voices looked the clearest. Although 3 or 4 might reflect actual intent, all the rests make it get too confusing. I also think that by using 2 voices the music looks far more like conventional printed sheet music, which it didn't do with all the ties for one voice.

Remember that performers don't need to apply the all the voices and rests too literally (music is always partly an approximation as notes are always going to ring on), so long as the intention looks clear enough - which I think it does with 2 voices.

[Glenn Simonelli]

I'm inclined to agree with you, except for measures 9, 46 and 93, which I think look clearer in three voices. For all the rest of the piece, I think 2 voices is the way to go.

Thanks for writing.

[Marius Amado-Alves]

Many moons past I have solved this problem in an unconventional manner:

Call it Alves's notation please :-)

[Glenn Simonelli]

That was my original notation. But someone pointed out that I should try to get rid of some of the ties. That's supposedly why I posted the question. Actually, the main reason I'm looking for alternatives is to avoid having to pay your royalties for the use of your notation. ;-)

[Marius Amado-Alves]

No, your original was the conventional way, with tied chords on every beat.

Hereby royalties waved, but authorship still retained, as I want to die famous for something :-)

[Lisa Smolen]

Looking at this from the pianist perspective, 2 voices is easier in most of your examples there. My orchestration/arranging professors always gave the advice that you should consider how easy the notation is to sightread. Many of us spend most of our gigs sightreading, so keep that in mind, even if you know the music will be rehearsed, still look at it from the perspective of the least amount of code-cracking.

[Glenn Simonelli]

Thanks for the performer's perspective, Lisa. What do you think about measures 9 and 85?

[Marius Amado-Alves]

Where is this score you keep talking about?

(Just to see why you seem to think Alves's notation does not apply :-)

[Glenn Simonelli]

The score above, labeled "Notation.pdf" shows examples of several measures from the accompaniment for this piece: http://www2.potsdam.edu/simonega/Library/Wild_Mountain_Thyme_4-27-0...

[Lisa Smolen]

I like measure 9 because there is less to look at. Ms. 10 could work if you got rid of the 2nd quarter rest.

When I downloaded the pdf, there was only one page to ms. 24, so i don't see a ms. 85

[Glenn Simonelli]

I did not do a good job explaining what I meant. The numbers refer to the measures in the original piece. In the notes above the measures I've written "Meas. 9 Orig." Then "2 Voices," which is measure 9 re-written for 2 voices, then "3 Voices," etc. So when I said measure 85 I meant what was written in measure 18 of the file "Notation."

[Lisa Smolen]

ha! Got it! It's early... I'm groggy... I see it now. For my eyes, I still like the 2 voice option. The less "notation" the better.

Remember, too, that pianists will be using the damper pedal pretty much the entire time (or you can notate it) which will also take care of some of the "sustaining" if you wanted to eliminate any ties. For example: ms. 93 - the 2 voice option again looks the nicest, but you could get rid of the ties between the F and A and instead use a half note & dotted quarter. I'm not saying that's the right thing in this case, just saying don't forget about the dampers!