Questions tagged [notation]
For questions about understanding notation and the use of it. If the question is about a specific type of notation like tablature, that should also be tagged. Questions about how to input specific notation are best served with the engraving tag.
8
votes
2answers
896 views
What is this articulation mark that looks like a short upside-down slur?
From Jamey Aebersold's "Cantaloupe Island," Maiden Voyage, vol. 54.
3
votes
1answer
316 views
Barcheck failed (Lilypond)
This piano excerpt is somewhere in movement two of "Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D minor, Op.9 (Rachmaninoff, Sergei)".
Listen here:
or here:
...
2
votes
1answer
37 views
Are there any abbreviation marks to indicate a chord sequence?
Slashes can be used to abbreviate repetitions...
...but, are there any marks or standard instructions to repeat and sequence up or down by step or half step?
I figure that I can always notate the ...
2
votes
1answer
33 views
What do I do if a fp marking is in between two notes?
How can i play the section with forte piano fp where fp is between two notes
5
votes
2answers
555 views
What do these numbers above a measure mean?
On page 177, there seems to be what looks like measures of 8,6,4, etc. I just wanted to check. If there is a clear measure with just a number and a line under it, that means that what that number is, ...
1
vote
2answers
42 views
Drum set notation
I'm notating a drum beat in Finale that I worked on at first using a piano roll. Below is a screenshot of the piano roll containing the beat's pattern.
From bottom to top the rows containing notes ...
21
votes
2answers
4k views
Two whole notes on the same measure, what does it mean?
I'm starting to analyze the Slavic March by Tchaikovsky. In measures 6, 8 and 9 the Clarinet has these repeated whole notes, but I don't know what they mean (I'm not a clarinetist). The bassoon/...
2
votes
1answer
42 views
What's this L symbol in piano notation called?
There's a symbol used in piano manuscript notation that means "play this in the other hand, even though it's written in this one". It looks like a capital L shape.
As you can (maybe) see in my bad ...
8
votes
2answers
387 views
Are there any “good practices for sheet music writing” guidelines that are more or less universally accepted?
I'm an amateur musician who sometimes likes to write sheet music for arrangements and for pieces that I figure out by ear. I do this mainly because I can go long periods without playing and when I ...
4
votes
1answer
95 views
How is this type of chord progression notation called?
In France, a lot of guitar/bass (pop/jazz) musicians use a graphical way of representing a songs chord progression.
It is called the "grid" ( translation of "grille"?) of a song.
It looks like this (...
3
votes
2answers
58 views
Dotted or tied quarter on beat two?
I know that in 4/4 beats 1 and 3 should be clearly indicated to make it easy to read. I just wanted to ask if this is only necessary if you use a lot of smaller note values like 8th or 16ths or is it ...
6
votes
1answer
45 views
Is there a specific term for the orchestral bursts in The Firebird?
In Stravinsky's Firebird, during the Danse Infernale section, there are several very short, jarring bursts from the orchestra. These bursts have an unusual dynamic quality in that the attack is not at ...
1
vote
3answers
124 views
Is there a simplified version of music theory / notation for Western music?
So far as I understand it, Western music uses a 12-note chromatic scale from octave to octave, and modern instruments use even temperament.
Other cultures have smaller intervals, meaning a different ...
2
votes
2answers
61 views
How to indicate things that you should listen for in Musescore?
Some people have complained about my arrangements being hard to understand when only viewing your part sheet. Because of that, I'd like to somehow indicate that a certain part should not be played, ...
6
votes
3answers
973 views
Does the flat (b) in bIII flatten all the notes?
Say we're talking about C major.
In C major the III is E major (a non-diatonic chord) which consists of the pitches: E G# B
If we do bIII, does that b mean I should flatten all the notes in the ...
0
votes
4answers
76 views
How should this rhythm be notated? (syncopated 6/8 bar)
Although it looks like this rhythm would best be notated in 12/16, the drums play a straight 6/8 beat with accents on 3 and 6.
The first option is visually simpler, but it doesn’t represent the beat ...
1
vote
3answers
68 views
How to know when to play what note on what string on the violin?
I'm teaching myself to play the violin and only just starting on the notes and how to read the music, but i am getting a little stuck on knowing what note to play on what string from reading the sheet ...
6
votes
7answers
2k views
Why isn't Klavarskribo used more often? [closed]
After learning about the existence of Klavarskribo, I've been wondering why it's not more widely used. I know practically every piano piece is written in standard notation, but that cannot be the ...
2
votes
1answer
48 views
How Do I Tie A Note With Other Notes In Between Without Creating a Slur?
For example, let's say I have four quarter notes, only I want to first note to span the length of all four, and I want the other three notes to be played individually with no slurring involved. Is ...
1
vote
1answer
25 views
Instrument cue names on separate page
In Sibelius, I have a grand choir staff (Soprano & Alto above, Tenor below) where singers pop in and out, and the first time they start singing I want them all announced with their names as cues.
...
2
votes
2answers
93 views
Shaped notes to standard notation
I grew up reading shaped notes and have a firm grasp on this. However, it is necessary that I become better at reading standard notation. I understand how it works since both methods are essentially ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
6/8 piano music with 4 dotted eighth notes
I have a song in 6/8 that has 4 dotted eighth notes in the treble clef with no rests. On what beat does each note play? I cannot figure this out for some reason.
4
votes
2answers
141 views
What does +- mean in piano music?
Attached is a picture of one of my piano students' Bach Inventions (BWV 785). What does the +- mean? I've never seen it used before. A precursory search online revealed nothing. Sometimes a + ...
1
vote
1answer
104 views
3
votes
1answer
68 views
Imaginary bar line fixed
I attach a picture where someone told me there are problems in some measures with the Imaginary Bar Line. What can be fixed in this example?
2
votes
2answers
46 views
Rendering 8va and 8vb with Abc notation?
I'm writing up a sheet of music for bass guitar in Abc notation and I'm getting irritated by having to type so many commas to place the notes in the range of the bass. Is there any way to set the ...
7
votes
2answers
249 views
Meaning of ₵ symbol on guitar sheet music
I have the following sheet music excerpt for Spanish guitar:
What is the meaning of the ₵2 and C3 on the 2nd and 4th measures?
1
vote
2answers
47 views
What’s this drum notation symbol (X in the top gap)
Hi.
What’s the drum notation symbol that I’ve circled in the attached image?
Thanks
0
votes
4answers
114 views
Writing in 6/8 time for piano
I'm taking a beginner online piano class. When writing a song in 6/8 time for the piano, do all the notes in each measure both in the treble clef and bass clef have to add up to 6 beats and use eighth ...
1
vote
4answers
100 views
4/4 corresponds to 12/8 but 4/4 =/= 12/8
How is it possible that a 4/4 signature corresponds to a 12/8 signature ? 4/4 is equal to 1 and 12/8 is more than 1 .
If i try to divide a 1/4 in 3 notes i get 1/12, not 1/8 as the 12/8 should be.
6
votes
3answers
245 views
What is this old time signature (2 with a vertical line through it)?
On the fourth line of page 5 of the score of Fasch's Ouverture-Suite in F major, one reads a time signature that is the number 2 with a vertical line through it:
What does it mean? I know some '...
3
votes
2answers
75 views
How could the medieval chants be classified before any notation was available?
We all have in mind the image of a medieval mode as a scale with a pattern of tones and semitones with a finalis, a specific range, etc.
However, it seems that medieval chants were classified ...
1
vote
3answers
87 views
“arranged by ____” v.s. “notation by _____” - what did the notation person do?
On a score, it indicates that the song was arranged by person X, with notation by person Y. What does a notation person do that an arranger does not?
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Piano chords written on top of the treble clef don’t correspond to notes on the staffs
Why these three chords written on the top of the treble clef (Am7/G, D7/F# and G) don’t correspond to the notes on the partition ?
Is it chords that can be played with the left hand instead of notes ...
10
votes
2answers
3k views
Most complex “block” of sheet music notation
Wondering how complex a single piece of sheet music can get, and what it looks like. For example, on the guitar, theoretically you could define the following:
a chord
bend from another chord
bend to ...
0
votes
3answers
92 views
How to draw in a staff a chord containing C and C#
How should one draw in a staff a chord that contains both a note and the same note with an alteration?
For example: How would you draw in a staff a chord that contains both C2 and C#2?
Addition: Tim'...
1
vote
2answers
67 views
What is the function of the two segnos in this score?
What is the function of the two segnos in this score?:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EjN20nnXGzrgLUFGaxVaDpIBbuH1O34g
In the measure 7 there is a segno, and in the measure 70 there is a second ...
3
votes
3answers
158 views
What is this small line between 2 notes? [duplicate]
Can someone please let me know what the small vertical line between the 2Es marked 5 and 3 in the treble clef is?
What is the purpose of it? This is in one of my piano music sheets.
3
votes
2answers
49 views
Lilypond – ties across staves
Is there a way in Lilypond to tie notes across two staves?
I have this fragment of an organ piece:
\version "2.18.2"
\language "deutsch"
global = {
\key c \major
\numericTimeSignature
\time 3/...
8
votes
3answers
739 views
What is the name of the section markers denoted by a number in a box above the score?
(I'm not in the music world but need to know the answer for esoteric reasons.) The image above contains excerpts from one of Stravinsky's pieces. I assume in score writing is it commonplace to notate ...
1
vote
2answers
59 views
Lilypond v2.19 - How do I overlap noteheads?
I would like to have the notes overlap each other, so that only the stems are turned upward.
Here is the lilybin link http://lilybin.com/fr648f/1
1
vote
3answers
106 views
Left and right hand playing same note on piano, or can I ignore it? [duplicate]
I’m rather new to piano, and I happened to stumble upon this whilst searching up the music score for “Dance for me wallis” by Abel Korzeniowski.
It appears to be a note, with two tails? Its the top ...
9
votes
2answers
105 views
Why does this tonal scale from 1737 have both F and E♯?
I've recently encountered Jean Féry-Rebel's "Les Élémens". (Check out that wild opening; it's hard to believe it was written in 1737!)
In the fifth measure of the third staff, why does this ...
4
votes
2answers
279 views
How do I have MuseScore continue notes in bass clef thats are input in treble clef?
I am trying to input this:
But in MuseScore, I get this:
The note will not become a continuation of the already played notes in the treble clef.
Why not?
edit
This question is already answered, ...
2
votes
3answers
156 views
What is the proper piano fingering for playing scales in thirds?
I've been learning scales and I love to play them in this fashion.
I can't seem to find a description anywhere of "proper" fingerings where there isn't a bunch of overlap. Proper is contained in ...
14
votes
2answers
997 views
What does “m.Iz.” or “m.Tz.” mean in a score?
What does "m.Iz." or "m.Tz." (or "m.I%." or "m.T%.": I don't know if it is a "%" or a "z") mean in this score? The piece is the waltz "Diana Triste" of the Colombian composer Luis A. Calvo (1882-1945)....
2
votes
1answer
109 views
Does anyone know what this musical symbol means? [duplicate]
Here is an extract from the very first measures of Le Marteau sans maître from Pierre Boulez. My problem is, I can’t figure out what these strange vertical lines mean. (And I’m not talking about the ...
0
votes
2answers
63 views
Sharp and natural in the same bar when key already has a sharp
These pieces are from Victor's piano solo by Danny Elfman (from Corpse Bride by Tim Burton):
Fragment 1
Fragment 2 (lower stuff is in bass clef)
Here I want to know what keys on piano keyboard are ...
17
votes
1answer
2k views
What do the smaller notes in the Treble Clef indicate?
This is piano sheet music for "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. I've been trying to search for what these notes mean. Do I play them with the left hand? Not play them? Are they ...
1
vote
2answers
42 views
Harp Multiple Glissando
I don't know if it is the correct term, but how to write in the score a harp glissando where the hands pass many times from the start note to the endnote?
Here's an audio example: https://drive....
