Immerse yourself in the soundscapes of "cat music": To make it easier for young people to access music, music lecturer Axel Axel Fries has come up with something special - a new notation system that allows for individual interpretations.
It's loud in the auditorium of the Heiligengeisttor primary school. Pupils from years three and four are standing on the stage. They are throwing pencils on the floor, hitting saw blades and moving marbles in salad bowls. They are led by Axel Fries, music lecturer at the university, and students. "Cat music" is what Fries calls the soundscapes that he creates with the primary school pupils in music lessons, as well as with his students. "Everyday objects are very suitable for introducing people with no prior knowledge of music," says Fries. "Someone without musical experience wouldn't dare to play a violin. Everyone has held a whisk before."
Breaking down inhibitions, opening up unconventional approaches to music: That is Fries' goal. "It's important to me to pass on my own passion for music". The multi-award-winning musician has been head of the percussion department at the university since 2004.
He has won several prizes at the national "Jugend Musiziert" competition with his percussion ensembles - and has infected many children and young people with the music-making virus. Enthusiasm can also be felt in the primary school auditorium. Where it sounds quite weird from time to time. "Music doesn't always just sound nice," says Fries. "It's a language that sometimes comes across as aggressive, sad, shrill or something else."
Fries has opened his seminar "Cat music - making music and composing without grades" to students from all degree programmes. "It's important to me that everyone can come, try out music and even learn to write down their musical ideas". At the end of the semester, the students can pass on what they have learnt. In just a few hours, they teach primary school children what they themselves have learnt from Axel Fries. As a highlight, the students organise a concert together with the primary school children. Thanks to the matrix system developed by Fries, the children can play the music they have composed over and over again. All they need are the can lids, flower pots or marbles for which they have composed their pieces.
Letters and graphic symbols instead of a conventional notation system: Fries' matrix may not allow music to be written down in as much detail, but it is often easier. "It's a notation system that leaves more room for individual interpretation," says Fries. It records the musical events in columns and rows. The instruments are noted in the rows and the playing instructions for the respective verses in the columns.
"If, for example, there is an 'F' in the first column of the row of wine glasses that we use as a sound body, this means that the glasses are to be rubbed against the rim with a wet finger for the entire duration of the column. Because an 'F' always stands for a sound surface, i.e. a long sounding tone." If there is an "M" in the second column, a melody is to be played. The finer details, for example how long the note should be or which melody should be played, are only discussed when the musicians play together. Fries calls this system "a rough timetable". It is about communication between the players. It also allows musical ideas to be written down without any knowledge of sheet music. "The system is so simple that children can work with it after ten to 15 minutes," says Fries.
Easy to use - but the development did take some time for practical testing, Fries recalls. "Initially, the matrices were still too complex. In practice, I learnt how much you have to compress and simplify". In the end, it was clear to him: Music had to be so simple that everyone could understand it after a short time; there should be no fear of contact in the first place. Just like the pupils at Heiligengeisttor primary school: they dared to try something, using marbles, saw blades and whisks to create unheard-of sound combinations.
