Music Education Research

ISSN: 1461-3808 (Print) 1469-9893 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cmue20

Self-invented notation systems created by young

children

Pyng-Na Lee

To cite this article: Pyng-Na Lee (2013) Self-invented notation systems created by young
children, Music Education Research, 15:4, 392-405, DOI: 10.1080/14613808.2013.829429

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2013.829429

Published online: 24 Aug 2013.

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 Music Education Research, 2013
Vol. 15, No. 4, 392405, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2013.829429

Self-invented notation systems created by young children

Pyng-Na Lee*

Early Childhood Education, National University of Tainan, 33, Sec. 2, Shu-Lin St., Tainan city
70005, Taiwan
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(Received 10 April 2013; final version received 16 July 2013)

This longitudinal study investigated self-invented notation systems created by

young children aged four to six. The researcher showed the children how to feel
various pitches and rhythms through singing, eurhythmy, instrumental playing,
rhymes and music appreciation. The children were then provided with opportu-
nities to create music notations and share them with peers, all without showing any
conventional musical notations by the researcher. A method of qualitative study
was employed, and the data from the childrens notations and interviews
were collected and analysed. The results found that children employed quantitative
sizing, graphic patterns and literal symbols as notational strategies to create
systems to notate pitches or rhythms. When children simultaneously notated
pitches and rhythms, they created two modes for writing music. First, they
employed one notation system, as mentioned above, to write pitches and added
indications such as dots, underlines or circles to refer to different timing. Secondly,
the children combined two systems to write pitches and rhythms such as combining
two graphic patterns, combining a graphic pattern and literal symbols, combining
a graphic pattern and conventional rhythmic notations or combining conventional
rhythmic notations and literal symbols. These self-invented notation systems
document how young childrens musical thinking becomes more complex through
exploring notational strategies.
Keywords: music expression; music notation; music representations; self-invented
notation

1. Introduction
Young children create music spontaneously. Five-year-olds use timbral contrasts,
sequence, augmentation and diminution to create music (Gluschankof 2002).
Together as a small instrumental ensemble, they can naturally play a beat, ostinato
or rhythm (Lee 2007). A case study found that a four-year-old explored musical
content in an environmental context to shape her songs through extensions and
elaboration (Barrett 2006). Although young children have rich, spontaneous musical
behaviour, it is crucial to know how to show pre-literate children how to record their
music and represent their musical thoughts.
Notation is an intermediary for memorising, coding, storing and retrieving
music. Through spontaneous play, a three-year-old was able to adopt the colours
from instruments as a musical notation to represent pitch (Lau and Grieshaber
2010). Children extended ideas from visual aids in a classroom or used drawings such

*Email: pyngna@mail.nutn.edu.tw
# 2013 Taylor & Francis
 Music Education Research 393

as the sun and smiley faces, from their personal experiences, to invent notations.
They also employed traditional rhythmic notations to indicate pitch (Lee and Lin
2013). These representations are part of a constructive, self-directed intentional
process of thinking in action. Children form visual graphic signs in their drawings as
a semiotic mode to communicate their ideas. These drawings can be seen as a
meaningful process in which they create signs to express their thinking. Conse-
quently, children tend to think that they can write before they can read; according to
a study that found 90% of six-year-olds thought they could write, while only 10%
thought they could read (Graves 1983). Upitis (1987a) also found that young
children could write music before they could read it, and they invented notations
to indicate the number of events, moods, pitches, rhythms, registers and tempos.
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Children not only invent their own symbols but also borrow various symbols from
their surroundings, such as Arabic numerals, English letters or Chinese characters to
notate music (Lee 2007). Childrens picturesque writing is like drawing. While they
are drawing, they assume multiple roles such as an artist, composer, performer or
narrator, and combine various media, such as drawing, writing, speaking, singing,
sound effects and body movements to express their thoughts (Wright 2007).
Moreover, the childrens ability to use invented notations in writing and reading is
related to their aural perception of sound and their musical understanding (Gromko
1994; Gromko and Poorman 1998).
A study of a five-year-old boys verbal explanation, of an invented notation,
found that he employed different strategies, depending on the nature of the task, to
record features of his composition that were significant to him (Barrett 2001). From
speaking with children, it is evident that they not only able to express their musical
thinking but also reflect on their notational strategies. Children refined these
strategies through interaction with their peers and teacher, while they shared their
recordings of songs learned in class (Carroll 2007). As community learners, social
context has a strong influence on children making music notations (McCusker 2001).
Social interaction helps childrens notational learning, and through sharing, they
learn the existence of conventional notations naturally. Eventually, through
manipulation of representational symbols, they gradually move from self-invented
notations towards the conventional (Upitis 1987a, 1992). Since notations function as
a communication medium to transmit musical thoughts through interactions, in a
social context, children mutually shape their notational strategies to acquire this
form of communication. Therefore, it is necessary to use a longitudinal study to
understand and investigate what systems children construct by providing them with
opportunities to refine their notational strategies through peer interaction.

1.1. Categories of childrens notations

Davidson and Scripp (1988) grouped childrens notations into five categories,
according to the type of graphics: pictorial, abstract patterning, rebus, text and
combination/elaboration. The pictorial notations featured pictures, icons and images
to record a song. The abstract patterns featured lines and dots to represent melodic
units and rhythmic grouping. The rebus featured a succession of icons, conventional
signs and words to record the songs text. The text featured words, letters or imitations
of conventional language symbols to record the songs text. The combination/
 394 P.-N. Lee

elaboration featured the simultaneous use of abstract symbols and words to represent
the text and musical aspect.
Barrett (1997, 1999) categorised childrens invented notations as an exploratory
style; instrumental representations; instrumental representations with reference to
musical elements; a representation of gestures and symbolic representation. Children
tend to develop their notations, going from pictorial drawings to abstract symbols.
Their invented notations are relative to age, and their experiences with language
literacy and motor coordination (McCusker 2001). Furthermore, Hargreaves (1996)
classified childrens notations into four hierarchical stages: graphic, figural, figural
metric and formal-metric. These stages indicate the childrens various levels of
musical ability.
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1.2. Childrens notational strategies and musical sbility

Childrens representations refer to their perceptions and concepts (Piaget and
Inhelder 1956). The representations reflect their cognitive stages (Bruner 1973) as
well as their cognitive development in the art domain (Gardner 1980). Previous
studies attempted to categorise childrens self-invented notations in relation to the
development of their musical perception and concepts.
Bamberger (1982) suggested that children use two types of invented notations to
record rhythm, figural (representations that group the surface units by rhythm, or
notations that only record the number of events in the phrase) and metric (the
organisation of surface patterns with aspects of the underlying beat) and found that
figural drawings were used by musically naive children while metric drawings
were used by musically trained children. Furthermore, Bamberger (1994) suggested
that the type of notations represented how the subject perceives rhythm. However,
Upitis (1987b, 1992) found that children tended to move back and forth between
figural and metric depending on the task described to them. Moreover, a study
found that correlations between the accuracy with invented notations and the
performance tests were significant for the figural drawer but not for the metric ones.
The accuracy of figural drawings may be indicative of metric ability because the
study provides evidence to support the fact that figural drawers possess metric skills
(Smith, Cuddy, and Upitis 1994). However, figural drawers should not be thought
of as having a lower level of rhythmic perception. Therefore, childrens notational
strategies are accumulative rather than hierarchical (Barrett 1997). Another study
that categorised childrens self-invented notations into geometrical patterns and
borrowed symbols found that self-invented notations showing the relative position
of pitches and a relative duration to rhythm suggested higher stages of cognitive
development in music (Lee 2010). Children gradually incorporate symbols to
represent units of sound, then to represent its melodic and rhythmic features, and
finally reach notations that approximate the features of conventional notations
(Upitis 1992).
Previous studies have investigated childrens self-invented notations and analysed
them into various categories. Some studies have also related childrens notational
strategies to their concept of music. The data collected from Davidson and Scripps
study (1988) came from children recording songs, while Barretts data (1997) came
from children recording their instrumental play. Therefore, different categories
evolved, according to the appearance of the notations. Hargreaves (1996) and
 Music Education Research 395

Bamberger (1982) attempted to categorise childrens self-invented notations into

various stages with reference to childrens musical perceptions and concepts and
induced hierarchical stages from these notations. However, when children have
higher hierarchical notational stages, it does not refer to greater perceptions (Smith,
Cuddy, and Upitis 1994). This study returns to the essence of notations and aims to
understand what systems children develop, to recall pitches and rhythms, from their
graphic signs, and through their self-correction and social interaction.

1.3. Research questions

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(1) What systems do young children invent to document and help them recall
pitch?
(2) What systems do young children invent to document and help them recall
rhythm?
(3) What systems do young children invent to document pitch and rhythm
simultaneously and help them recall the music?

2. Research method
This study was designed as a qualitative study, over a one-year period to examine the
invented notations of pre-literate kindergarteners, aged four to six.

2.1. Research design

This study designed a programme that showed children how to feel elements such as
pitch and rhythm and to invent musical notations. After obtaining permission from
the kindergarten teacher and parents, the researcher was introduced to the children
by the class teacher, Ms Wang. Before teaching the class, the researcher entered the
classroom as an assistant to get acquainted with the children and familiarise them
with her presence. The researcher taught once a week and, with the classroom
teachers assistance, encouraged the children to invent notations to record or
compose music. Through self-correction and peer interaction, the children had the
opportunity to refine their notational strategies. This study took an entire school
year with the researcher teaching a total of 32 lessons, each about 4050 minutes in
duration. About 27 notations were collected from each child.

2.2. Setting and participants

This study took place in a public kindergarten affiliated with an elementary school in
southern Taiwan. There were two classes in this kindergarten, each one enrolling 30
children, aged four to six. Only one of the classes participated in the study. The
classroom was set up with centres for art, housekeeping, reading, manipulatives and
musical items that the children could explore during free play. In the music centre,
there were various instruments, a keyboard, piano books, markers, paper and a small
white board for the children to write on.
 396 P.-N. Lee

2.3. Teaching design

The teaching content focused on the musical elements of pitch and rhythm. Initially,
the children learned the concept of high and low pitches through body movements.
The G and E pitches were introduced for the children to experience their relative
positions, and later, the researcher guided the children in creating their own notations
to record these notes. Once they had learned more notes, the children started to
organise these pitches, in their invented notations, to help themselves to recall the
music.
After introducing a steady beat, the ratio rhythms of 1:2 and then 1:4 were
taught. These rhythms were made up of quarter notes, eighth notes and half notes.
The lessons were taught through singing, eurhythmy, playing instruments, rhymes
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and music appreciation to feel the musics pitch and rhythm. However, the researcher
did not introduce any written notations in class except when children shared their
own notations.

2.4. Data collection and analysis

The data, containing childrens notations and interviews, were collected throughout
the school year. The invented notations were scanned, numbered and dated. The
interviews included the children and their classroom teacher. The childrens inter-
views provided evidence of the thoughts behind their musical notations to ensure
that they gave some meaning. According to their interviews, the relationship between
each symbol was examined to find the logical principle in their notations. The
teachers interview provided the evidence to track childrens notations and
triangulate the analysis. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and dated. The
number shown at the end of each datum indicates the date. For instance, 091011
means the datum was collected on 9 October 2011.
The analysis was mainly focused on the childrens notations, with the interview
providing auxiliary material. Their notations were classified into three areas: pitch,
rhythm and a combination of the two. The notations for pitch and the rhythm raised
questions about quantitative size, graphic patterns and literal symbols according to
the identifying signs. The pitch and rhythm combinations were moved into a system
with indications and a combination of the two systems.

3. Findings
The idea of children developing a notation system is based on their ability to read their
own notations to recall the music precisely. After the children wrote the music down,
they played or sang back what they had notated, and the researcher recorded it. After
1 or 2 weeks, the researcher showed them their notations to check if they could play or
sing it back. If they could do it precisely from their self-invented notations, it meant
that the children had developed a system to organise the symbols and help them recall
the music. After analysis, the childrens recording systems for pitches or rhythms
included quantitative size, graphic patterns and literal symbols. Their recording
systems for the combination of pitches and rhythms included a system with
indications and combination of two systems. The following will illustrate what
systems the young children developed to write the respective pitches and rhythms.
 Music Education Research 397

3.1. Notations of pitch

3.1.1. Quantitative size
The children built relative size in the construct of their notation system. Those
quantitative sizes included objects sizes or line lengths. However, the size or length
resulted in two conclusions: larger sizes refer to a higher pitch or inversely, they refer
to a lower pitch depending on the childrens creative logic. In Figure 1, children drew
the larger symbol to refer to a lower pitch and a smaller one to refer to a higher pitch.
These relative sizes represent the CGCE pitches. On the other hand, children may use
the larger size (length) to refer to a higher pitch and a smaller size (length) to refer to a
lower pitch such as in Figure 2 where the CCEEGGGEEG pitches are notated. In
Figure 2, the length of two later pitches for E, are obviously shorter than the previous
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ones, so the researcher had the child reexamine the two. He said, the two notes must
be Mi (E) because I used to write Do (C) very small, see, and he indicated the first two
notes in Figure 2 (181110). Children used the size of their graphic drawings to create
their system, although they were still lacking in fine motor control.

3.1.2. Graphic pattern

The children drew a graphic pattern, based on their certain logic, to indicate the
relative pitch. One circle represents one pitch, and I have five pitches here. One line
inside the circle is Do (C), and the two-lines are Re (D), said the child who drew
Figure 3 (150611). The number of lines inside the circle parallels the pitch order,
which in Figure 3 is CDCEF. A number of curves are also used to refer to pitch. In
Figure 4, one curve represents C, two curves for D and so on, and the pitches are
DCDEFCDDGDGCC. When the child was invited to sing back from her notations,
she asked for a small xylophone on which to play her music (152011). Perhaps, the
music she composed comprised of an octave range that was beyond her vocal range,
so she chose to play it on a xylophone. Children also employed conventional
rhythmic notations to record pitch. Children had seen conventional rhythmic
notations within their environment, and knew that those notations were associated
with music in a certain way, but they did not know their precise meaning. However,
they created their own patterns from conventional rhythmic notations and deduced
their own meaning. This notation logic is the same as Figures 3 and 4, where the
number of patterns refers to pitch. In Figure 5, the number of heads for each
conventional rhythmic notation determines the pitch, which is CEG.

3.1.3. Literal symbols

Children employed literal symbols such as Arabic numerals, English letters and
Chinese phonetic symbols to show pitch. Arabic numerals are frequently seen in
childrens notations to correspond to a pitch order such as 1 refers to C, 2 refers to D
and 3 refers to E, and so on. Because the children started learning Chinese phonetic
symbols in kindergarten, they naturally employed those symbols to denote pitch.
Although these preschool children did not learn English at school, English words and
letters were frequently seen in their surroundings. In Figure 7, the children imitated
English letters, written backwards, to notate pitch. The alphabetical order of Chinese
phonetic symbols and English letters parallel the pitch order (Figures 6 and 7).
 398 P.-N. Lee

Figure 1. CGCE.
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Figure 2. CCEEGGGEEG.

Figure 3. CDCEF.

Figure 4. DCDEFCDDGDGC?C.

Figure 5. CEG.

Children who have more advanced phonic skills used spelling to notate pitches, and
Chinese phonetic symbols to spell out the pitches solfeggios. The phonetic symbols in
Figure 8 are pronounced as Sol Mi Sol Sol Mi Sol Mi Sol and represent GEGGEGEG.

3.2. Notations of rhythms

Young children employed similar notational strategies for pitches to write rhythms.

3.2.1. Quantitative size

Children drew circles and lines relating to quantitative size to write rhythms. The
larger sizes or longer lengths always referred to a longer duration, unlike notating
pitches that can be either high or low. In Figure 9, the longer lines are quarter notes,
the shorter lines are eighth notes and the arrow refers to the last line that represents a
half note.
 Music Education Research 399

Figure 6. CDEDC.
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Figure 7. CEGGC.

Figure 8. GEGGEGEG.

Figure 9.

3.2.2. Graphic pattern

Children made graphics to indicate rhythm. In Figure 10, a circle was a quarter note,
and the circle with a cross inside represented two eighth notes. In Figure 11, the four
underlines represent four beats, and above them, the circle with a heart inside is a
quarter note, while the two hearts above the line are two eighth notes. Because the
children have only learned three kinds of time intervals: a quarter note, eighth note
and a half note, the rhythm systems are relatively simple when compared to pitch
systems which consist of eight pitches.

3.2.3. Literal symbols

The children also used the literal symbols for English letters and Arabic numerals to
write their rhythms. When using English letters, children employed the letter A to
represent a quarter note, B to represent an eighth note and C to represent a half
note. The researcher had taught the quarter note first, then the eighth note and lastly
the half note. Therefore, the alphabetical order reflects the lesson sequencing. The
children also used Arabic numerals to indicate rhythm: 1 represented the quarter
 400 P.-N. Lee

Figure 10.
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Figure 11.

note and 2 represented the eighth note (Figure 12). However, while children circled
numerals (Figure 13), there was a different meaning to those that were not circled
(Figure 12). Each circle represents one beat, 1 inside a circle means tapping once in
a beat to represent a quarter note and 2 inside a circle means tapping twice in a beat
to represent two eighth notes (021210). Some children learned conventional
notations from the piano books in the music centre, and some used the conventional
notations correctly, but some reversed them, where two eighth notes represented a
quarter-note rhythm and a quarter note represented an eighth note (Figure 14).
However, the real-time intervals were shown as underlined lengths, where longer lines
were the quarter notes and the shorter ones were eighth notes.

3.3. Notations of the combination of pitches and rhythms

When children wrote pitches and rhythms simultaneously, their notations were
categorised into two structures, a system with indications and combinations from
two systems. These two structures are illustrated by the following.

3.3.1. System with indications

The system with indications refers to which pitch notation is based on a certain
system with indicative signs of rhythm. In this category, children tended to first write
pitches and then added indicative signs to refer to rhythm. The pitch notation
systems mentioned previously include Arabic numerals and graphic patterns; and the
indicative signs include dots above the notated pitches (Figure 15); short lines under
the pitches (Figure 16); and circles around the pitches (Figure 17). The pitches with
indicative signs are sung/played in eighth notes but otherwise the pitches without
signs are sung/played in quarter notes.

3.3.2. Combination of two systems

Children combined different pitch and rhythm systems to write pitches and rhythms
simultaneously. Figure 18 represents the combination of two graphic pattern systems.
The pitches written on the upper layer indicate the number of conventional rhythmic
notation heads relating to pitches like those in Figure 5. The rhythm notated on the
 Music Education Research 401

Figure 12.
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Figure 13.

Figure 14.

Figure 15. CDEFGF.

Figure 16. CCDCCD.

Figure 17. CCDEC.

Figure 18. CDEFGDF.

 402 P.-N. Lee

lower level as one dot on a stick, represents a quarter note and two dots represents
the eighth notes. Figure 19 shows a combination of the graphic pattern and literal
symbol systems. The pitches notated on the upper layer shows that the system is the
same as Figure 5, and the numerals on the lower layer indicate the rhythm. An eighth
note is represented by 2, and 1 represents the quarter note. Figure 20 shows a
combination of the graphic pattern system and conventional notations. The pitches
used sticks: one stick for C, two sticks for D and so on. However, pitch G was written
with new symbols, ? rather than five sticks because drawing five sticks easily causes
overlapping when the child crossed out the sticks and then adopted a new symbol to
replace it. The rhythm was indicated with a conventional notation. Figure 21
represents the combination of literal symbols (Arabic numerals) and conventional
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notations. Arabic numerals were employed to represent pitches, as in Figure 15, and
conventional notations were employed to write the rhythms.

4. Discussion and implications

In Davidson and Scripps study (1988), the pictorial, rebus and text categories
portray the songs textual content. In Barretts studies (1997, 1999), the categories
depict the instruments, the sound productions medium. These various types of
notations show how children made signs to connect the music. However, those
notations did not provide a precise memory cue for pitch and rhythm. This study
provides evidence of emergent literacy when learning music.
This study found that children employed both abstract and literal symbols to
construct a notation system shown in a previous study (Davidson and Scripp 1988).
But this study also found that children began with pictorial drawings and gradually
moved towards using abstract symbols to write precise pitches and rhythms, which is
congruent with Barretts study (1999). Previous studies found that children who used
metric notations to record rhythm are more advanced than those who use figural
notations (Bamberger 1982; Hargreaves 1996). However, this study found that
children who used figural notations (Figures 9 and 12) were equal to those who
used metric notations (Figures 11 and 16) in music perception and concepts because
they can both play back precisely, from their notated rhythms, in a steady beat.
Unlike Upitis findings (1992) that children moved back and forth between figural
and metric types, this study found that children, after a period of exploring various
notational strategies, consistently developed a system that could ensure their memory
cue. Therefore, childrens musical perceptions do not refer to either figural or
metric types but how they organise those symbols and create meaning from them.
The findings of this study are congruent with the study where figural drawers are not
to be thought of as having a lower level of rhythmic perception (Smith, Cuddy, and
Upitis 1994).

Figure 19. CDEFC.

 Music Education Research 403

Figure 20. CDEFGE.

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Figure 21. DCDEDG.

This study found that children employed conventional rhythmic notations to

record rhythms (Figure 14) as well as pitches (Figure 5). Children employed
conventional notations to record rhythms, such as in Upitis study (1992) where
children gradually reached the approximated features of conventional notations.
However, the conventional notations using the five-line staff or any line to indicate
relative pitches were not found in this study. The childrens concept of using
a relative size (Figure 1) or length (Figure 2) to indicate pitches is similar to the
relative position on a staff. But the majority of four and five-year-olds have
difficulty controlling the objects size or length, such as in Figure 6 where the
Chinese phonetic symbols are getting smaller and smaller, and also in Figure 20
where those symbols are getting larger and larger. It implies an educational
juncture where teachers can help children by using the concept of measurement
with horizontal lines to mark a relative position. In this study, the researcher
showed children how to feel the music, understand the pitch relationship and
timing ratio, and provided them with opportunities to record their music. Through
self-correction, children not only refined their notational strategies but also
nurtured their musicianship by singing in tune and playing rhythms correctly.
Therefore, this study suggests that preschool teachers provide children with the
opportunities to invent notations and refine their notational strategies and provide
support at the crucial stages.
Childrens self-invented notations are related to their age and experience with
language literacy (McCusker 2001). This study also found that five-year-olds have
better notation abilities than the four-year-olds. When the researcher interviewed
the teacher about the literal learning in her class and invited her to reexamine the
childrens notations, she found that those children who had more advanced
notational strategies tended to perform better in literacy skills. In this study, children
did employ a great deal of literal symbols, but the correlation between their notation
ability and literacy skills needs to be examined. Therefore, this study also suggests a
further study to examine this correlation. If the correlation can be documented, a
holistic teaching method integrating the childrens music and literacy learning would
benefit their emergent writing skills in both literacy and music.
 404 P.-N. Lee

Notes on contributor
Pyng-Na Lee is a professor in the department of Early Childhood Education, National
University of Tainan, Taiwan. Her research interests encompass free music play and teacher
intervention, music teaching in cross-culture and music education in aborigines.

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