Music: Practice & Theory

Questions tagged [notation]

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For questions about visual representation of music and its uses. 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.

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1answer
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What is this weird two-notes-in-one-note notation? Scriabin Piano Sonata [duplicate]

I was looking at sheet music for Scriabin's Sonata No.2 in G-sharp Minor, and came across this interesting notation I'd never seen before. The piece is written in three-halves time signature. I was ...
5
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2answers
44 views

How do you set the number of measures per line or page in LilyPond / Frescobaldi when you have a score with multiple instruments?

As I am doing an arranging project, I was wondering how to set the number of measures per line and therefore page as it is a score with a rhythm section and five horns. I have seen these pages (line ...
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2answers
88 views

Why do most lead sheets have no rest notation? [closed]

All of the Mel Bay books, My Gene Autry songbook, and I'm sure many others do not indicate rests for the entire song. At the end of a four bar lyrical line they just place a whole note when it is ...
2
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7answers
159 views

How does one know the implied difference in time signatures? [duplicate]

I have always been told that the difference between 3/4 time and 6/8 time is that 6/8 time has two beats per measure and 3/4 has three beats per measure. However, other than people telling me this, I ...
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6answers
983 views

How does the bottom number of the time signature affect counting?

I have learnt all the complicated mathematics subjects in my school, but that bottom number, I can't understand. Ok, the notation will be different, and it will say what kind of note gets the beat, ...
3
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0answers
47 views

Transcribing a PDF to Guitar Pro

I am very new to Guitar Pro and music theory/notation in general. I have a pdf with some music that I want to input into Guitar Pro, but it seems like the time signature doesn't match with the notes ...
5
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1answer
1k views

What is this circle?

Can someone tell me what this circle below a measure is?
2
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4answers
377 views

Can someone tell me what this is?

So a couple of things: first is how, at the start of the measure, after the third note, like what beat is it? Is it 16, 8, ( triplet ) 16, 16, 16? And what is the line below the top measure?
3
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1answer
88 views

What is the meaning of an 8 followed by a dotted line? [duplicate]

There is a 8 and a bunch of dots going over the notes. it doesn't look like octave lines, though.
10
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2answers
368 views

When should the last ending bracket(volta) be closed and when should it be open?

I have a question about the last volta(ultima volta, last ending bracket). When should it be closed and when should it be open? I have found a document about that topic, which can be found here on ...
17
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1answer
1k views

What is this upside down square fermata?

I was wondering what this marking means, it looks like an upside-down square fermata or an upside-down down bow marking with a dot. I found it in a piece for cello by Nadia Boulanger.
4
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1answer
34 views

How do I draw ghost notes in ABC notation?

Fairly straightforward question. I can't seem to find it in the standard or the docs. Perhaps it's just a matter of terminology. Basically, what I'm looking for is this: Or, more precisely, the ghost ...
6
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1answer
182 views

What is the Root/Quality chord symbol for this note cluster?

I am just starting to learn the music for Leigh Harline's song : "When You Wish Upon A Star" In measure 5 the LH notes are C, D, and E and the RH notes are G♭, A♭, B♭ and C. The beginning ...
6
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1answer
111 views

What do (P5) and (P6) mean? (Guitar)

Nocturne (Noturno) Op.9, No. 2 by Chopin. Tarrega's version, revised by Edson Lopes. In bars 18 and 19. P(5) and P(6) are written below the music. They are repeated throughout the piece with the same ...
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4answers
921 views

How should I read this tab?

What does this mean, is it an hammer-on? Is it a pull-off? What is it?
28
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5answers
4k views

How do I know when the next note starts in sheet music?

I can't understand the note duration notation very well. In the image below, the highlighted A in the second measure seems to start half a beat between the first and the second beat. But shouldn't we ...
4
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2answers
64 views

How should tuning systems / temperaments be notated in modern scores?

Similar to this question: How were tuning/temperaments indicated on scores (if they ever were)? In modern musical notation how should the use of something other than equal temperament be notated? See ...
5
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2answers
778 views

What is the meaning of “M. M.” in this tempo mark?

The music is Shostakovich's 7th symphony, the orchestral score; sadly not publicly available as it's under copyright but there are a few versions floating about online. At rehearsal mark 141 the tempo ...
6
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2answers
476 views

How to notate multiple keyboard parts for the same player in a rock song?

I'm working on a transcription of a rock song with three parts that would be played on keyboard: piano, organ, and strings. One keyboardist would play all of these parts on multiple keyboards. In some ...
4
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3answers
218 views

Percussion duration notation issue

As I understand it: For most percussion instruments "notes" don't really have durations in the same sense as other instruments. Percussion instruments are struck, and thus usually sound ...
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2answers
94 views

Sudden note end notation

I've been studying musical notation for some time now and I decided to take a shot at writing my own piece. It's going pretty smooth, but I have a question to make sure I follow common practices and ...
6
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3answers
318 views

Does the chord-symbol spelling of a polychord have musical meaning?

The chord C Eb G Bb D F A would typically be notated Cm13. However, it makes a convenient example for this question. Suppose I want to write that same Cm13 chord as a polychord. I have two choices: ...
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3answers
126 views

When using Functional Chord symbols, how can we distinguish between a Dominant 7th chord and a Major 7th chord? [duplicate]

In the key of F major (for example), we can have the chords C7 and Cmaj7. C7 = C-E-G-Bb and Cmaj7 = C-E-G-B Using Functional Chord symbols, the basic tonic chord is "I", and the basic ...
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1answer
88 views

note with stem above and below [duplicate]

What is the meaning of the following type of notation? All I know regarding the stem location is the common rule of going down below the third line and up otherwise, but I'm not familiar with the one ...
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2answers
136 views

Hand duplication in music notation

I'm writing a montuno two piano ensemble and primo has its melody in the right hand completely duplicated by the left, an octave lower. How could this be abbreviated in the score? I can't find any ...
3
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2answers
136 views

Drum chart standards

I'm currently notating a drum chart in Sibelius. The song is "Best to You" by Blood Orange. It's an R&B/Electropop/Afrobeat song. I am not a drummer, and I have only just figured out ...
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2answers
76 views

Questions about Renaissance music notation

I see that in Renaissance music printings, the noteheads are diamond and square shaped as opposed to circular, and the stem for each note comes up or down from the middle instead of from one side (I'...
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2answers
1k views

Is it a G flat or a G natural?

I've got a doubt here. Do I play G flat or G natural?? The accidental doesn't come in till the 3rd beat while the key signature does not have G flat, while the lyric has an accidental but at the ...
8
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2answers
2k views

How “hard” to read is this rhythm? A rhythmic comparison

I've recently heard a rhythm that sounded like this It seems slightly tricky to play it perfectly, so I wonder if I could somehow improve this writing to make it more natural and "readable"....
5
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2answers
86 views

Which octave should sound for Stravinsky's viola harmonics in the “Pulcinella Suite”?

This is the viola part from Stravinsky "Pulcinella" Suite, movement 3a "Scherzino". How should the harmonics (diamond notes written on open string places) sound? Norman del Mar, &...
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1answer
100 views

Help! How would you write this rhythm (audio linked below)? [closed]

The audio source can be found here. I'm interested in the section highlighted in blue. There is naturally some freedom in the artist's interpretation, but I would like to transcribe it in a relatively ...
3
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1answer
118 views

What is the best way get rhythm section notation (rhythmic notation, kicks over time, and slash notation) to display in LilyPond / Frescobaldi?

I have an arranging project due very soon, so I decided to ask this while I might still get help and a response. What is the best way to get rhythm section notation techniques like rhythmic notation, &...
0
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1answer
51 views

Wagner Parsifal ouverture, non fitting rhythyms

(click to enlarge image) As a studying method I am making a reduction of Wagner's Parsifal ouverture. In bar 3, the rhythm does not fit. The quarter, dotted eight, sixteenth and half note take up a ...
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2answers
1k views

Is there any official/semi-official standard for music symbol visual appearance?

Is there any official or at least widely recognized source that documents the visual parameters of music symbols? Something that says things like: "The note head shall be an ellipse with the ...
6
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4answers
749 views

Is there any reason to use F flat in notating this blues riff (jazz)?

I am reading though Dariusz Terefenko's Jazz theory book, and in the chapter on Improvisation (chapter 10) he lists a few typical 1-, 2- and 4-bars blues riffs, all on a Bb blues scale. Several of ...
5
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2answers
316 views

Roman numerals below the note in violin

I thought the number over the note was the string number for violin. But what are the roman numerals below the score? How do I finger this score in violin? Could you number on the score please...
3
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3answers
340 views

How should I notate a three-voiced chord?

I've got a nice chord that's composed of three voices: octaved A half notes, a quarter note C, and an eighth note F that's tied to more F's behind the chord. Problem is that with three voices, there's ...
2
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1answer
72 views

How do you begin a 16th note triplet on the last third of an eighth note triplet?

My piece has a 16th note triplet motif. In the B section, the theme is slower and is based on eighth note triplets. I would like to begin the 16th triplet motif again on the last eighth note of an ...
17
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2answers
1k views

Is there a historical reason why we say “C sharp” but notate on the staff “sharp C”?

Early music students are often confused with where to place accidentals: When we speak, we say the note name first and then the accidental: C sharp. When we're writing away from the staff, we do the ...
10
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1answer
436 views

“C-Four-Sharp” or “C-Sharp-Four”?

I apologize if this is an overly obvious question, but I have been having difficulty finding the answer here or elsewhere. I am making a deck of sheet music flash cards for use with piano, and I am ...
10
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3answers
3k views

Why use 5 or more ledger lines below the bass clef instead of ottava bassa lines for piano sheet music?

One thing that has bothered me when listening to classical music with the sheet music also scrolling by is its persistent use of 5 or more ledger lines for low enough bass clef parts instead of ottava ...
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0answers
41 views

How are these 2 notes theoretically possible? [duplicate]

In this 4/4 piece, the 2 quavers (highlighted in red) don't seem to "occupy" any time since there is a crotchet rest at each end of the bar. I'm assuming this is a composition/notation ...
15
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2answers
2k views

Slurs within slurs

How do I play the slurs with in the larger slur? Can you play this two ways? One big slur or individual slurs?
6
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1answer
338 views

Two different clefs at the start of a piece on the same hand

I am looking at the intro for the "Piano collections" of Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy VI Terra's theme, which starts like this . The right hand is pretty straight forward, but the first bar ...
2
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1answer
122 views

What is the origin of the notation A4, B3, F5, etc. (i.e. <letter><number>)

Long before I started to play an instrument I used to tune my young son's guitar for him using a device which told me how close the strings were to the correct notes of E2, A2, D3, G3, B3 and E4. When ...
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4answers
124 views

How can you make sure you remember the melody for any lyrics you write?

How can you make sure you remember the melody for any lyrics you write? I am not even sure if it's possible, because I don't know any notation system for lyrics that allows you to write down the ...
0
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0answers
85 views

How can I set LilyPond's “Point and Click” from Skim to VSCode?

I'm working on on MacOS High Sierra, and I'm trying to use Point and Click so that Skim (PDF viewer) redirects to a specific file/line/column/character/letter/whatever on VSCode. I've found a couple ...
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2answers
110 views

What note is this and how many counts does this have? [duplicate]

How many counts do this note get and what is the note called? I’m confused
3
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1answer
135 views

Chord-Scale Theory: Determine chord qualities

I started to learn about the chord-scale theory lately which i find quite interesting. I came across this table of modes (scales) and their corresponding chords: Chord-Scales of the Major Modes: ...
7
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1answer
179 views

Best practice for notating harmonic: quarter vs. half note?

Typically, an "open diamond" notehead is used to indicate a harmonic fingering. The image here is from an edition of the Cassado Cello Suite (1st mov't). It's clear from the overall ...

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