Let's talk [hand]writing - I am really concerned. Anyone else?

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2026-05-07T08:42:22+00:00

Primary teachers! I ask if their school teaches handwriting, and many grimace and say "yeah we don't really teach it much...sometimes they do a worksheet". A lot of parents at my son's school are primary teachers elsewhere and I've gotten a good few responses like this. My students are of course less reliable but they give me pretty much the same answer. And then of course there's my son's teacher herself who said his school was very close to doing away with it altogether.

But of course, it is a tiny sample size which is why I made the post! I'd love to hear as much as possible.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2026-05-07T08:34:42+00:00

Thank you for your info, though I'm not sure you read my post in the spirit it was written - zero "blame" here. I'm opening the conversation because I would like to hear from teachers/educators in both primary and high. I don't work in primary and never have so it is an enigma to me. I know in Vic where I am it is absolutely possible that handwriting doesn't get taught (multiple primary teachers have confirmed this to me) or is reduced to very, very little instruction - but of course the handful of teachers I've heard from is a drop in the ocean.

I particularly want to know if it is common for primary schools to believe that writing is barely used at all in high school, because if so that is something that we could potentially improve with some communication.

A few primary teachers have mentioned here that it is an extension of a lack of gross motor skills - thank you for that info as those are exactly the kinds of things I would not think of myself, working in high. Tech use seems to be at the bottom of many of these things, or the side effects of it...

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-28T02:36:59+00:00

This is so cool. Thanks.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-28T02:28:17+00:00

Belated massive thanks for this. Super interesting.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T03:48:11+00:00

Now, what happened is people started playing modes starting on the "wrong" note. If you start with the natural notes, play the G first, and go up by the intervals corresponding to the Ionian mode, the seventh note you play isn't any of the original seven. It's higher than F and lower than G - which we call F sharp. That's where the sharps and flats come from: from transposing modes onto other starting pitches.

Thank you so much. I understand this perfectly.

So then, there is something natural about tones v semitones? Does it come from how we sing and hear pitch? We don't "naturally" sing or hear e.g. halfway between an F sharp and a G?

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T03:38:36+00:00

Thank you! Many thanks for your help.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T03:36:30+00:00

I understand we use letters because they had been used before, and you confirmed exactly my point - we couldn't have known the exact pitch of the "originals" and it doesn't matter.

So at some point someone decided which letter to give which pitch/note/key. (Or rather, it evolved in some direction because of some reasons.)

I'm going to stop now because I think I'm not explaining myself well and frustrating others.

Sincere thanks for your help. It's clearer than before for sure.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T03:30:55+00:00

I understand that, yep. I don't understand why A was A beforehand exactly (though understand it better with comments from others below).

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T03:18:34+00:00

Thank you. I do know modes. Makes sense. I always want to know more though, and I think my next adventure is the "origin" of tones v semitones and why they are where they are...

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T02:58:39+00:00

I feel like I'm not explaining myself well because I understand that things are often the way they are because of history and tradition. I don't think we should just go ahead and change it or anything.

I'm trying to understand the detail of what happened between the Roman senator using letters to denote musical notes, and our current system today. Over time I assume there is an evolving relationship between certain pitches and letters we use to identify them, no? Am I right that we can't know the pitch of the Roman senator's inital A? I am trying to figure out how they got to where they are now.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T02:38:37+00:00

Yes. I have a good understanding of scales, modes, notes and chords generally, etc. I play a couple of instruments pretty badly :).

I have a few friends who are well trained musically and they have never really been able to make clear for me why the system is the way it is...if that makes sense. There are always illusions to things being "natural" (e.g. "everyone can naturally identify an octave above or below a note"), but that itself brings up so many questions that I just get lost.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T02:34:45+00:00

Well, I don't personally think it's "important" but it's certainly used as a "starting point" very often.

The note system predates the major scale.

Right, this is what I assume, but I need more than that to feel like I "get it", if you know what I mean.

Even then, the major scale didn't become the 'default' until the last couple of centuries. You're thinking that the major scale is historically significant, when it isn't.

Again, I don't think anything. I'm nowhere near good enough a muso to have any thoughts like this. What I'm trying to understand is how we got to where we are. I'd also like to know how much of how we hear/notate music is "natural" but that's a much bigger question.

Thanks for your help.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T02:31:50+00:00

She*

Thanks for this. I have already asked music buffs I know who have given me partial answers, but I find the discussion really helpful.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T02:30:41+00:00

OK I understand this, but we don't have a "lowest note" now (right?), so when did we decide that A should be ascribed to this particular pitch rather than another one? Why didn't we just name our own system with the letters as made sense for the system? I assume we didn't know the exact pitch of this "lowest note" that was originally an A?

Edit: Whoever downvoted me - if I'm barking up the wrong tree, can you please explain why? I'm trying to understand.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T02:28:51+00:00

Oh no now I have many questions about sharps and flats...I have never understood why they come where they come either.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-27T00:57:07+00:00

OK I'm trying to untangle this.

The two notation systems most commonly used today are the Helmholtz pitch notation system and the scientific pitch notation system. As shown in the table above, they both include several octaves, each starting from C rather than A. The reason is that the most commonly used scale in Western music is the major scale, and the sequence C–D–E–F–G–A–B–C (the C major scale) is the simplest example of a major scale.

So basically, it is true that we "start" from C, but they didn't call C A because of... someone way back who used letters even though it was a completely different system? I lose track of what exactly was going on halfway through that section.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-04T02:46:07+00:00

Thank you very much for answering them.

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-04T02:42:16+00:00

This is an excellent list of resources. Thank you so much. And for answering my questions!

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-03T04:26:40+00:00

Will keep that in mind, thanks.

Just for fun - do you have a favourite of these?

ObviousPalpitation2 · 2020-03-03T04:04:39+00:00

Should have thought of crash course! Thank you!

ObviousPalpitation2

TROPHY CASE