Pan Minors Music Scores

 Date for Entry: (Saturday 28th July, 2012)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 11th June, 2021)

Dear Diary,

    Today I went with dad to Blue Edition to purchase my very first pair of Double Seconds pan sticks. It was longer than the tenor pan sticks for sure. Even holding it in my hand was different. 

    I also took to Curepe with me my Laptop from Form 1 and the Pan Minors Booklet they gave me and I scored out the “Sugar Bum” song my Class was doing into a full score. I was glad that the Finale Software didn’t need the Internet to work or I probably wouldn’t be able to score out the song. 

(Update)

    During the process of the computer notation, I had to use all the parts provided in the booklet to put it together. At the time I was already accustomed to scoring music on notation and only rewriting printed music to a program that I might have had. This process of putting the full score together from parts was a new one but I still knew exactly what to do.

    Coming to the end of scoring the piece with all six steelpan parts together, the entire playback was not 'logical' and did not sound exactly as it was in class. I realised that there was a particular element in the notation that was grouping empty measures together. 

    To date, I understand what it means and how to read it on the score just by this same experience. However, the name of this particular music notation element has never been given to me. The musical element or symbol looks like a capital 'I' but written horizontally and above the staff, a number would indicate the number of empty bars/measures (for silence). 

    This observation was made a little while after checking in with Miss Mosley to tell her that the notation was not lining up. She was a bit confused and I did not know how to explain it. So, when she told me that "it must line up" I went over the notation that same weekend and by assumption at the time, I assumed that the meaning of the horizontal I's had meant empty measure.

    It had to be the meaning. It must! Because, when I lined up the parts I had from observation and listening in class, it sounded the way it was supposed to. I'm glad that it worked out. Unfortunately, the Finale notation software trial ended some time afterwards and saving a copy of the score was not possible. 

    Only until the last teaching day of the Pan Minors program, I was able to hear the music for group one students. I was sent to group two. They had gathered for a final group rehearsal and announcements for the graduation. At that time, I was given a copy of the "Arabesque" piece on request to Miss Mosley, which was going to be performed by group one students. 

    It still is a wonderful piece to playback. Just looking and examining the full score that she so kindly provided to me it was amazing to see, at the time, how simple the notation for the parts was for a piece as "Arabesque". The same day that this score was given to me I also had presents for the teachers that assisted my short journey through the program. I hope that they enjoyed it.

Link(s):

1. "Arabesque" (Steelband Score – Joy-Ann Mosley)
   

Daryl Zion M. Ali