The article discusses ways of transforming musical notation by composers of the 20th century. The article examines various aspects of musical art - musical speech, musical writing and musical language. The relevance of the study lies in the insufficient philosophical and cultural elaboration of the problem of changing musical notation in domestic science. In addition, the relevance is also confirmed by the fact that from a musicological point of view, this topic is of interest to many authors, both domestic and foreign. The purpose of the study is to analyze the methods of transformation of musical notation by composers of the 20th century. The article uses cultural and philosophical analysis of musical graphics, speech and writing. Considering music as a sign system of language and a means of artistic communication, we turn to the semiotic method when deciphering the signs of musical notation, the hermeneutic method when interpreting musical texts and those changes in graphics used by composers. In the context of musical notation and musical notation, researchers come to the unequivocal conclusion that at the moment there is no alternative to traditional musical notation that would be suitable for most composers. Traditional notation fulfills the main tasks assigned to the composer and performer: it contains a coded musical message, the sequence and totality of the use of instruments, the ability to convey mood, emotional attitude, it is quite easy for performers to decipher the composer’s ideas, and so on.