Music learning research and public engagement through visual marking systems
Musmark explores the role of musical markings from standardised notation to handwritten notes added by tutors and learners. It shapes the music learning experience. Functioning as a communication bridge, these markings captures interpretation by filling the gap between learner and piece’s intention. The project reflects on how learners respond to musical markings through experimentation and reinterpretation. By showcasing trials and errors, evolving expressions, the project invites visitors to explore the collaborative and subjective nature of music learning through exhibition. Every mark, therefore, becomes a deeper understanding in the creative engagement.
Role
Design researcher
Spatial and visual system designer
Key task
Conducted a user research study to map musical learning behaviours and interpretation patterns
Translated musical learning behaviours into a visual communication framework
Designed a system enabling music interpretation, variation, and shared authorship
Participant Research
These learning trajectories informed the design of exhibition zones and marking tools, aligning learners’ confidence and curiosity. I conducted participant interview with nine music learners , mapping their music learning journeys to better understand the challenges they face and what they find rewarding. Interviewers move through three stages in learning music: an initial phase shaped by curiosity and early confidence, a middle stage where difficulty and pressure test their commitment, and a final stage where they decide what music means to them.
The findings and insights informed the design of a prototype exhibition, allowing me to test interactions with musical marking and learning zones. Every learner’s path is different as they balance interest, challenge, and personal growth. This iterative process helped refine the experience, ensuring it supports exploration and collaborative engagement.
Exhibition as a Shared Learning Environment
Each zone activates the marking system through different musical dimensions and levels of interpretation. Across six musical learning zones, pitch, tempo, rhythm, fingering, dynamics and articulation, the exhibition uses musical marking as a shared communication tool. Through interaction, experimentation and collaboration, participants engage multiple senses and create personal marking styles and reinterpret notation. Each zone invites playful discovery, revealing new possibilities in collective music learning.
System in Use
The marking system is applied across physical, digital, and operational touchpoints. A minimalist monochrome visual identity, built from rounded forms derived from musical notation, enables modular reinterpretation across media.
This flexible system reflects the structured yet open-ended nature of musical learning, inviting audiences to explore, interpret, and co-create meaning through shared visual language.
A shared pile. A held story. A shifting system. A lived corner.
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