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.
2
votes
1answer
32 views
How to suggest on a score that the dynamics are meant to be inconsistent?
I'm trying to get a drone-like sound on the bass that relies on relatively inconsistent dynamics for effect. I added "a resilient and ominous drone" to suggest that it's meant to appear to reduce ...
12
votes
3answers
2k views
Why accidentals are not additive?
This question asks if the accidentals are not "additive" (i.e. placing a sharp on F where the key signature already contains an F sharp would result in an F double sharp, and placing a flat on F in ...
1
vote
1answer
67 views
What does C.M. mean above a measure?
I'm playing Linus and Lucy and when it changes after the intro and the repeated chords to a different feel and rhythm, there is a C.M. above that measure where it changes. What does this mean?
1
vote
2answers
31 views
How to write a Swing Rhythm using tabs?
I'm tabbing out a song on bass, which consists partly of a swing rhythm. I'm wondering how to properly convey a swing rhythm (or more generally, triplets) using tabs.
Here is the part as I've written ...
10
votes
3answers
145 views
What's this notation symbol?
I recenyly encountered a symbol in a Violoncello score which I was not able to identify. It is shown in the image below after the p (piano).
I looked for it in the Musescore documentation and in the ...
2
votes
1answer
766 views
Are you still playing a scale if you don't include every note in said scale? [duplicate]
For instance, if you're playing C major, and instead of playing C D E F G A B, you play C D E F G A, or C D E F G, would that still be considered playing in that scale or key? Because I doubt that ...
5
votes
1answer
57 views
How to properly notate scales that are not heptatonic
As far as I understand Scales are defined on intervals. So, for example, the major scale is defined by the following intervals from the root:
C - Root
D - Major Second
E - Major Third
F - Perfect ...
10
votes
8answers
1k views
Why is printed music published with incorrect enharmonics?
I'm seeing more and more music that contains conflicting or erroneous information - for example, C°7 written with an A, (not B♭♭), or E7♭5 with A♯ (not B♭).
Wondering if ...
7
votes
5answers
1k views
Do the notes in a scale have to be played in order?
Beginner here, it seems like a scale just defines a particular set of notes that don't have to be played in any order to me. But if you look at A minor pentatonic scale you have A, C, D, E, G, yet ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
Bass clef looking like “double middle C” [duplicate]
I have a question about a note on a piano sheet (picture below).
How would I play the note highlighted by the golden circle? I thought only middle C would be marked by a horizontal line crossing it. ...
17
votes
2answers
1k views
How do I notate a staccato on a unison note?
If there is a stem on either side of a note, or the stems are DOWN below ledger lines, where does the dot indicating staccato go?
12
votes
1answer
86 views
How do I interpret two notes in a tempo marking?
Is this the same tempo as (quarter note) = 90, or is it (half note) = 90?
I know what tempo this is because of the marking next to the bar number, but what does the part below the number mean?
Is ...
2
votes
2answers
89 views
Why are there two ways of expressing the octave treble clef which indicates to perform the piece an octave lower?
Why is it that there are two ways of writing the octave lower treble clef?
Is there some sort of history behind this or are they used in different circumstances or something?
5
votes
4answers
344 views
Why were dynamic markings not really used in the Baroque and Classical period?
Why is it that dynamics only really began to be frequently used from the Romantic period onward? Also what was the first recorded use of dynamics because I read on Wikipedia that it was first century ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
What are the numbers below the notes in this violin score?
In the following score, some of the notes have numbers both above and below the notes. The ones above I assume are fingering advice but what are the numbers below?
Also, what does the III at the ...
15
votes
3answers
855 views
Chord stretched across treble clef and bass clef
I'm a beginner at piano, and struggling to understand what I'm looking at here, and how to play it. I've bought and downloaded some piano sheet music from musicnotes.com. It's in 12/8 time, and part ...
2
votes
4answers
84 views
Kruger Andante - What am I missing on how to play this dotted half note?
I'm in the process of learning to play the Piano and have some trouble figuring out how the part highlighted below in gray is supposed to be played (that is a Flowplay screenshot of this song:
As far ...
9
votes
3answers
181 views
Unplayable turn in Beethoven sonata
Beethoven's piano sonata Op. 2 No. 3, first movement,
bars 179-180 (Henle edition).
The turn decorating each eighth note can be played literally.
Except for the one on bar 179's A sharp, because ...
4
votes
3answers
78 views
Understanding Time Signature: How do I identify the time signature of a song?
I have played music for years and I still don't understand what a time signature actually signifies.
I understand it from a superficial sense. If given sheet music I could tell you what time ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
What does this exponent-like note notation mean? (e.g., “c^1, e^1, g^1, c^2, e^2, g^2”) [duplicate]
I'm a self-taught composer currently trying to make my way through Arnold Schoenberg's "Theory of Harmony." I'm unfamiliar with what the numbers super-scripting certain notes means- is it the octave?
30
votes
7answers
8k views
Why do E♯ and F♮ not sound the same (according to Wikipedia)?
I was just reading the Wikipedia page on the note F (as I do every evening) and was confused by this part where it says that even though F♮ and E♯ are enharmonic they “do not sound the same”:
E♯ is ...
2
votes
1answer
43 views
What's the best notation for musical navigation?
Lots of times I'm asked to play songs from printed notation which has been typeset to minimise the number of printed pages. It's OK when the musical structure is relatively straightforward, and the ...
4
votes
2answers
78 views
music publishing: Old notation vs modern notation
At some point old notation gave way to new notation.
The unit note of contemporary music is the Semibreve, and the half note, the Minim. Both words mean short (and shorter) time duration.
Early ...
3
votes
2answers
79 views
Why have a clef change right after a previous clef?
I came across this section in Mozart's piano sonata no.
It shows a clef change at the start of the measure, but the bass clef is shown right before it. Why would this be needed if the measure uses ...
14
votes
1answer
136 views
J.S.Bach's organ tablature notation
Is anyone familiar with some freely available guide explaining in detail how to read Bach's organ tablature notation?
Apparently, Bach was very comfortable in using the tablature notation, ...
1
vote
0answers
69 views
Is there a term for tablature with numerals placed between the lines?
In most of tablature notation for fretted instruments, each line represents a string and the numerals, representing the frets where to stop the string, are printed on the respective lines.
However, ...
-3
votes
1answer
82 views
What music note is this called? [closed]
Can somebody help me figure out what this note is called please? So i can google it and play it on the piano. Thank youu!! Cause i got it tattooed because it was pn bohemian rhapsody sheet music and i ...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
Cleaning up syncopated notes
I'm having a hard time on cleaning up following passages:
I've been messing around with grace notes, breath marks, but I don't seem to find the right combination to capture the spirit of the ...
2
votes
2answers
63 views
How do I read this note and count it out loud?
I am struggling with understanding this pretty easy song "Una Mattina" which has this note:
Can someone explain me how do I count this out loud?
2
votes
1answer
58 views
Errors with slashed grace notes in LilyPond
Here's a strange issue with typesetting (in LilyPond) a work that begins with slashed grace notes (acciaccatura). First of all, I get the following error message in my console when I run lilypond (...
2
votes
1answer
26 views
Timpani & Conga: Doit, Fall or is it something else and how is it performed?
I've been following and studying a particular orchestra score. I've never written for or played the Timpani or Conga before.
In the image below I see a Doit (on the Timpani) and a Fall (on the Conga)....
7
votes
3answers
72 views
Notation precedent for alternative ending when playing movement as standalone piece?
I’m writing a piece with a movement that has two different endings: one to use if continuing on to the next movement, and one to use if playing the movement as a standalone piece. The players take ...
2
votes
1answer
51 views
Note Duration Priority? [duplicate]
If a dotted half note precedes a quarter note of the same pitch, is the note held for the duration of the former or latter? Does the following quarter note supersede the dotted half in this case?
6
votes
1answer
534 views
Which notation is better: using a second voice or tied notes?
Are both versions correct and if so, which one would you prefer to read for the piano?
The first version is with a second voice to avoid unnecessary ties, the second version is only with one voice. I ...
7
votes
3answers
205 views
2
votes
1answer
148 views
Why are these notes written this way and how should it be played on the piano?
Self-taught player here with very rudimentary knowledge of theory so please go easy on me! The notes highlighted in yellow are confusing me a bit, as they are the same note, but one is a minim and the ...
1
vote
2answers
40 views
How to rewrite this rhythm from common time to 12/8 time?
How might one go about rewriting the following rhythm into a time signature of 12/8? I initially figured we could just notate each set of beamed eighth-notes with 4:6 above them to indicate that four ...
0
votes
4answers
79 views
Accidental written twice [duplicate]
The following piece is in key of Eb/Cm and I'm struggling to read it.
Firstly, the key is Eb so, the A is already Ab, does the accidental turn it into
an Abb(G)?
Secondly, the Abb appears yet again ...
1
vote
1answer
45 views
Convert midi data into lead sheet with roman numeral theory
I am working on making an original composition for a uni assignment and I am wondering how to notate this progression into essentially sheet music, I have converted it into a score with musescore, but ...
7
votes
4answers
894 views
How is speed change notated
This is a very beginner question as I am a complete beginner. How is change in speed during a song notated in standard notation? Is it done by changing the time signature for each measure that has a ...
0
votes
1answer
67 views
How to read and count this rhythm ?
http://www.sheetmusic1.com/winston/Thanksgiving.pdf
In bar 7 how would I count and when would I play those first two notes in the treble clef, the E and B? Also why is there a treble clef placed in ...
2
votes
2answers
32 views
Multiple Bars of Different Additive Rythms
Greetings and Salutations, Potential Saviors.
In a piece I write, which is generally notated in 8/8 (3+3+2) time, there is a 3-bar phrase that, if combined, is equal to 16/8.
BUT the way this part ...
7
votes
1answer
690 views
What is the mark that looks like a slur but with straight lines, not curved
In "Curtain Call" by John Wasson, the oboe part (and others) includes an articulation mark that I'm not familiar with. It looks like a slur, but the up and down are straight lines, instead of curved.
...
10
votes
2answers
996 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
346 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:
...
3
votes
2answers
72 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
45 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
618 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
58 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/...
