Musical notation in written or printed form
55
votes
16answers
20k views
What is good software for learning how to sight-read?
I'd like to learn how to sight-read on my own, but practicing the same song over and over again just causes me to memorize it, and filling out worksheets is boring.
Is there any good software for ...
33
votes
4answers
8k views
How do you draw a quarter rest with a pen/pencil?
It seems to me that the quarter rest we see everywhere was drawn with a calligraphy pen. I don't have one of those - I have a sharpened/mechanical pencil or a ball-point pen. So usually when I try to ...
32
votes
13answers
3k views
Quickly flip a page of sheet music while playing
This seems like such a silly question, but! When playing the piano, I sometimes struggle to turn the pages of my music without noticeably sacrificing the sound of the piece or making the book / ...
21
votes
10answers
4k views
As a guitarist, how can I learn to sight-read music?
I'm learning guitar right now, mostly from Justin Sandercoe's free online lessons, starting from the beginner's course. He has a lot of good tips for how to practice and drill chords, and scales, but ...
19
votes
1answer
493 views
What is this : Half notes combined with thirty-second stems?
I want to play Also Sprach Zarathustra (IMSLP PDF), but there is something I don't understand there. In the first few bars there are 4 half notes beamed in pairs as thirty-second notes. Because the ...
18
votes
7answers
570 views
How to handle a newly purchased score book that won't stay opened?
With some score books, if you try to open it and put it on a support, it will close itself.
For the moment I have to force and fold it but it damages the spine of the book.
Do you have techniques to ...
16
votes
9answers
745 views
Sites with a good selection of sheet music
When I look online for sheet music for the piano or flute, I find that a lot of the websites that promise great collections of sheet music are nothing but ad filled sites that talk about sheet music ...
11
votes
2answers
270 views
With sheet music, what happens with sharps and double sharps that are already sharped in the key signature?
For example, let's say the key signature has an f sharp and then also an individual f note has a sharp next to it. Are they just emphasizing the f sharp or does that actually become a g?
Same ...
10
votes
2answers
284 views
Is reading notes without an instrument a good way to practice?
As an amateur self-learner pianist, I can't take my piano with me, but I can take the sheet music books.
On my current (low) level of skill, I need substantial time to read a musical piece; for ...
9
votes
2answers
108 views
Resource for sheet music for blind musicians
Question: Do you know any sheet music resources for blind people, i.e. sheet music in braille notation? I don't seem to find any braille files in IMSLP (the Petrucci Library at http://www.imslp.org). ...
9
votes
2answers
138 views
Small natural above C in G Major
Here is a picture of the sheet music (Eine Klein Nachtmusik, movement 1). The odd accidental has a red freehand circle around it.
What does this natural sign mean? As you can see, the key is G ...
8
votes
3answers
171 views
Why are some measures separated by double lines?
I play piano. Sometimes, measures in pieces are separated by a double vertical line instead of a single one. What does this signify?
8
votes
4answers
783 views
What are good sources for free orchestra scores?
Are there usable free sources for (symphonic) orchestra scores?
I'm talking about legal sources for pieces that are now in public domain.
8
votes
2answers
153 views
What does “TAG for Three-part voices” mean?
Reading some three-part a cappella music, I see "TAG for Three-part voices" above the staff. Any idea what that might mean?
19 is the measure number. There are 27 measures total in the song, so ...
8
votes
2answers
61 views
How can I force LilyPond to repeat a chord symbol (relates to alternate endings)?
In chordmode, LilyPond chooses not to display chord symbols when they are the same as the preceding symbol, which is usually the right behavior. However, this behavior gets weird in the context of ...
7
votes
5answers
271 views
What music notation software can handle this complex beaming?
Update: It looks like the votes are clearly in favor of Lilypond. While Sibelius and Finale appear to be the "canonical" solutions, and MuseScore has a nice showing (albeit using a "development" ...
7
votes
2answers
291 views
Why does this note sound like it is not played?
I've been learning the second movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata 16 for a while. While I get most of the stuff memorized, some part of it just doesn't sound right comparing to recordings on YouTube ...
7
votes
3answers
403 views
Why is the left hand stave missing from the piano sheet music?
Normally, I have both the right and the left hand as here
The left hand stave was always missing in that book of piano sheet music I saw yesterday, however it had letters above the stave for right ...
7
votes
2answers
190 views
Why are these notes separated on the stave?
So I'm just learning this Coldplay piece and it has notes which are not joined but on the same stave. I'm wondering what the purpose of this is or rather what information it's trying to convey? ...
7
votes
2answers
271 views
When was the first recorded usage of a musical score?
Music is quite universal in the sense that you can hand a musician almost anywhere in the world a piece of sheet music and they will be able to understand it. I've been wondering this for a while now; ...
7
votes
1answer
312 views
Is there a specific name for Sheet music that uses numbers (二胡 Èrhú Sheet Music)?
I am searching for a software program (preferably opensource but not necessarily) that can create sheet music. However since I am a beginner at my instrument I still use a simplified notation. I play ...
6
votes
3answers
206 views
What does an arranger do?
When you see the "arranged by" attribution on a score, what did the arranger (typically) do?
6
votes
3answers
150 views
How to train playing sheet music on guitar?
I am a beginning guitar player, and I struggle to play sheet music.
If I remember the piece I want to play by heart, it goes pretty fine. However, when I look at the sheet (if I forget a few notes, ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
With regards to piano sheet music, when are you supposed to press the pedal(s)?
I've been playing piano for about 8 months. I have a digital weighted 88-key piano with only one pedal.
My friend, who used to play piano, taught me to hold the pedal down when there is an arc in ...
6
votes
2answers
246 views
What does a grid with dots above the staves mean in a piano sheet music?
First I thought it was for some other musical instrument (guitar?) but both the title and the shopkeeper told me that the music sheet was for piano.
6
votes
5answers
1k views
What is the foundational book of Czerny finger exercises for piano?
I've recently started teaching myself piano (via Bartok's Mikrokosmos) and feel it would be helpful to supplement the pieces with some standard exercises. Everyone I speak with suggests Czerny, but ...
6
votes
3answers
85 views
Does software exist to catalogue band parts?
My brass band is looking at putting our band library catalogue into a database, but we haven't been able to find any software designed for this purpose. We'd like to store not only information about ...
5
votes
1answer
264 views
Is it a typo or how do I play it? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
The same note on two staves
I have put red arrows where I am in trouble. As I understand this, I should hit D but it is already pressed down. Do I misunderstand ...
5
votes
1answer
80 views
Learning standard notation without succombing to simply remembering songs?
I'm in a tricky position. I've been playing guitar for around ten years and am fairly good at improvising and tinkering around on a piano, too. I understand sheet music, I can decipher it, but I can't ...
5
votes
4answers
163 views
How can I rehearse and perform with PDF scores on screen instead of paper scores?
As a chorus and opera singer, I have gotten tired of lugging thick opera scores everywhere. Most of the music I sing is public-domain, and the scores are freely available in in PDF form. I am working ...
5
votes
1answer
510 views
Software to convert between sheet music and tablature?
Is there any software available that can (semi)automatically convert between ASCII tablature (especially for guitar and drums) and sheet music? And the other way around?
I realise that there's not ...
5
votes
2answers
423 views
Tool to help “read” sheet music
I'd like to learn how to sing songs. I have sheet music with 4 part harmony, but I don't really know how to read notes that well. Are there any tools that can sort of read sheet music for me? Like if ...
4
votes
2answers
188 views
What do you call plucking the violin strings with the finger, rather than using the bow?
I was attempting to learn a bit about violin sheet music, and then I wondered if the act of producing sound with the finger or the fingernail had a written notation.
I had a hard time finding a video ...
4
votes
3answers
149 views
Music sheet notation explanation (Alto sax)
I just got some new sheet-music for alto sax and wonder how to play this notation:
For example in these contexts:
Thanks for every helpful answer!
4
votes
4answers
164 views
Transcribing a Standard MIDI File to sheet music
I have a couple of nice guitar midi files that I would like the scores for; is there any software out there that can do this sort of conversion, and output it as a PDF file?
Thanks
4
votes
3answers
167 views
What does one slash through a half note stem AND 4 dots above it mean? [duplicate]
In a version of "Overture to Lucio Silla" by Mozart, half of the viola part of the song has half notes with a SINGLE slash through it, but 4 dots on the base part of every not (The circular part). ...
4
votes
4answers
878 views
Beaming in different time signatures
I'm studying music theory in the UK, aiming for ABRSM Grade 5, currently working for grade 3. I'm having trouble grasping the rules for when to beam quavers.
In my study book, by Eric Taylor, I see ...
4
votes
1answer
163 views
What is the song in this modern painting “Petite”?
I can't recognise the musical composition on this painting. What is it?
The painting hangs in the modern art museum Brandhorst in Munich. Unfortunately I didn't write the artist or title down, and ...
3
votes
5answers
4k views
Is there a computer program to transcribe songs to sheet music?
Is there a computer program that I can use where I upload a favourite song and it'll transcribe it to sheet music for me? I'd like to play Running up That Hill by Placebo but I don't want to buy the ...
3
votes
4answers
427 views
Can you help me expand this trill in Mozart's Sonata 16 (k545)?
I wonder if I am reading it wrong, or if i need much more practice on this segment. It simply doesn't sound right when I play it. Can you help me expand this trill into actual notes on the sheet ...
3
votes
5answers
205 views
Where can I find music notes for classical guitar and lute online? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Sites with a good selection of sheet music
Occasionally, I search for music notes online, e.g. for pieces by Sor, Dowland, Bach and others. Are there some good resources ...
3
votes
3answers
656 views
Why is it common to write tuba sheet music in concert pitch?
I play E♭ tuba in a wind orchestra, and we always get the notes written in concert pitch, and we have to logically "transpose" to the instrument key on the fly.
How common is this approach? Why is ...
3
votes
1answer
78 views
How can I change the time signature to make the score easier to read?
I'm trying to transcribe a pop song.
I'm fairly sure that the time signature is 2/4 since it has a ONE two ONE two, feel like a march.
My problem is that it's a fast song and contains so many 32th ...
3
votes
1answer
127 views
What does “1 x Tacet” mean?
What does 1xTacet mean?
Does it mean "play the following in 1st round only"?
3
votes
1answer
164 views
Why is B flat in this key sigiture when B is never played?
In the below sheet music B is marked as flat however the only notes played are g g g d e c C. Is that just a typo on the part of the person who made this image and it should be on the upper C or am I ...
2
votes
5answers
328 views
Trying to program a piano staff/stave. Is this what it's supposed to look like?
I'm currently writing a software application which creates notes on a staff, when a piano key is pressed. Unfortunately I have no background in music, and thus am finding it quite hard to get started.
...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
What exactly does a 3 mean over a quarter note and an 8th note?
There is an eighth note followed by a quarter note, and above them is a little overarching bracket with a little 3 in it. I know this has something to do with the timing, but I have no idea what.
...
2
votes
2answers
365 views
Learning blues piano from music score
I have been playing classical piano reading sheet music, and I want to begin blues by similarly learning some pieces from score. What would be some good books/sites I can use for this?
2
votes
4answers
64 views
Clarinetist learning baroque recorder
I've seen other questions, such as "Resources for learning to play the recorder" and have done a decent amount of Google searches. Basically, I used to play clarinet rather well, but had to quit due ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
What does an arc mean above the notes in a piano sheet music? How do I play it?
See the picture above. Is there a website where these (perhaps not so basic) notations are collected?
UPDATE: I see Wikipedia has a nice collection of musical notations.
How do I play the slur on ...
