ABSTRACT

Occurred in the U.S in the 1980s, rap is an element of music widely used in popular music. In its earlier years, rap was rather short and simple, but has developed to become longer and has transformed into various styles. Nonetheless, notation and analysis method of rap has not seen a substantial progress throughout the years and no established guideline is present until today. The most widely used method of rap notation nowadays employs the percussion staff, which is not capable of expressing pitch difference. Also, the various emphasis intented by the original author of the song is not thoroughly delivered, as no accents are marked down. This study aims to facilitate the delivery of the original rap writer``s intentions by developing the rap notation effectively, and seeks further to serve as an aid in studying rap by establishing a systematic method of rap analysis. Although limitations still exist, the result of the research turned out to allow the transcription of the original author``s intentions, capable of expressing pitch differences and accents to a certain degree. This is an attempt at advancing the notation of rap, which had been stagnant since its initial methods, and more studies on this subject are expected to occur for further development. The method introduced in this research is expected to provide a substantial aid in studying and analyzing rap music. Therefore, constant and in-depth studies on rap are demanded, and it is hoped that this research works as a cornerstone henceforth.

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