Questions tagged [notation]
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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Help to separate voices in piano score
I'm trying to write in MuseScore Rachmaninoff's transcription of Tchaikovsky's lullaby. But there is this section that puzzles me a bit in terms of voicing:
No matter how I try to separate the ...
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5
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Confused about the natural symbol (♮) and the omnipresence of the C major scale in music theory
Something is confusing me in our use of accidentals in modern music theory, and more particularly about the use of the natural symbol ♮.
It is not always easy to formulate accurately a mess of ...
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Gm+6 Chord notation [closed]
I've seen a chord notated as Gm+6 — is that supposed to be a Gm with a 6th so G B D# E ? it sounds really off and unrelated to the song... What is this notation?
context: https://imgur.com/a/DcmtYJC
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Notation of a sustained note [duplicate]
I want to write a sustained A note for 2 beats. On that A note I want a B and C note. Both for 1 beat. What is the correct way to write that?
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What is this chord, and how do I name chords like this
I've written a piece that has this chord (notes from lowest to highest):
I'm not quite sure how to name this chord, most of my attempts have been confusing [such as E-7(𝄫5)/B♭]. It's definitely a B♭ ...
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Hairpins in Late Classical and Romantic Music
I have spent a year and a half researching the notational enigma of hairpins in late classical and romantic music, and now I am at a bend in the road.
The esteemed Czerny claims that opening and ...
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Chord symbols in staff in Sibelius
When I write guitar parts in Sibelius I currently use a slash notation (4 slashes with no stems in each measure and chord symbols above staff), but I want to make it even simpler for my guitarist and ...
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Piano notes not placed as they should [duplicate]
I am reading piano music (treble clef) and there are two notes on top of each other. Yes, I know what a chord is but notes for chords are usually connected right? And the stem of the note shouldn’t be ...
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Guitar tab symbol
Below are the first two measures from Adele's "Easy on Me".
What does the symbol on the top right of 2 mean in both the bars in the picture above?
Edit: ...
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2
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Is there a notation for a short rest of undetermined length; the rest equivalent of a grace note?
Here's the phrase I'm working on, a nice chord progression from the finale of a symphony movement (Dopper 7 mov. 1) that I'm arranging for solo piano.
So the B♭ trill in the right hand exists for ...
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Circle and half bracket symbol - what does it mean? (Flute)
The final bar in the flute part of an orchestra piece has a notation I've never seen and can't find an explanation for. I thought the small circle might denote an overtone but I'm not sure. And the ...
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Bach BWV 817: what do the slashes between the notes of a chord mean?
In this Henle edition of BWV817 there are slashes between the notes of the chords in bars 1, 2, 3. What does this signify? I don't think I've seen this symbol anywhere else in the book. The editorial ...
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What is this "<>" thing above a note
It looks like a crescendo and a decrescendo on one note, but I don't think that's it:
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Can someone please tell me what is written on this score?
I found this writing on a certain sheet music, but I can't read it:
Can someone please tell me what this writing says, and what it means?
The composer is G. Donizetti, and the title of the piece is ...
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Problems with notation in 6/8 and dotted sixteenth
I have been practicing with the Stick Control book by George Lawrence Stone. After a while it starts with the 6/8 time signature, but then I ran into some notation that I can't quite understand. If ...
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Notating hitting cymbal with shoulder vs tip of stick
I am writing a pep band piece (although the type of piece probably makes no difference) and the snare part is going to have syncopation between hitting the marching cymbals (as if they are ride ...
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4
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5
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Notes on treble line extend down to bass line
What is happening when some notes extend down from the treble to the bass on this piano score? Piece is 'Wandering Sprite' by JC Engelbrecht
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Half note with flags? [duplicate]
I was looking at Saint-Saens Bacchanale sheet music and saw 2 half notes in a measure combined with sixteenth note stems in a 2/4 time signature.
What is this and how would you play it?
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Tremolo strokes above stems with flags
Is it okay to draw tremolo strokes above/below stems with flags for more readability? Otherwise, it looks a bit tight when tremolo strokes are positioned right on a stem with a flag:
Also, I just don'...
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How to end song at `fine` but after repeating?
I'm transcribing guitar song to tab but facing a problem. As the song has repetitions I wrote tab like this and expect to go like 1 2 1 2 3 4 3 4 1 2 1 2 but actually it is 1 2 1 2 3 4 3 4 1 2; song ...
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What's holding arpeggiated chords in piano called?
What does this technique called? Also, what's the proper notation for this? The audio link is attached below.
https://voca.ro/19p4jeWEK5g8
Edit:
It sounds like fast arpeggio repeated over and over ...
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Notating Octatonic Music in MuseScore
I'm trying to do something with MuseScore that I'm not sure is possible, and I'd appreciate some help trying to figure out a creative way to do this.
So I'm trying to write in an octatonic mode with ...
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How is this called, and how do I play it?
I found this on a piano score I was reading recently.The stream of notes is smaller than the rest of the notes in the staff. It also has that weird line accross it, like a grace note or acciacatura. ...
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Ties for Chords
Are the chords should be always tied like this? Or there are rules when the ties should connect top/bottom of note heads in chords?
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Identifying a chord with seeming multiple suspended notes
I cannot figure out what would be the name for the chord containing these notes:
D,E,G in the key of C Major.
Also, does a sus2/4 exist. For example, Csus2/4 being C,D,F,G?
To make things clearer ...
...
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How to convert Sibelius score to MusiXTeX?
I want to create images of bars of notated music for use in video. Is there a way to write the score on Sibelius and then export this to some Python library in order to better create the images for ...
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4
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Eighth-note missing from score?
In this version of sheet music "The Rain" by Joe Hisaishi, how should I read this line?
It seems that voice y in measure 42 is missing one eighth note (between eighth note B in treble clef ...
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Piano what is this symbol name and meaning? [duplicate]
What is this symbol name and meaning (symbol above the red line) - the line travel from Bass clef through Treble clef, then go back to Bass clef?
It seems that this symbol is not listed in musical ...
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3
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Why not use only octave clefs?
There are a lot of clefs: G, F, and many C clefs. And it is not trivial to read some clef is you are familiar with another one. I think music comprehension would be made easier if we only used one ...
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Transposing Piano Accompaniment for Vocalist - When to Change Clefs
I have been transposing some voice + piano accompaniment music originally written for a mezzo-soprano or alto into a key for a tenor down (usually by a third or a fourth) and have found the resulting ...
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Notating Sheet Music with Strict Tempo for Accompaniment but Rubato for Vocalist
I have some sheet music for vocal + piano accompaniment where I want to notate that the vocalist should feel out the rhythms and phrases and sing expressively while the pianist maintains a steady ...
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How to notate 3 quarters framed by eighths?
Context: I recently transcribed a Piano solo piece in MuseScore 4. It was based on a different person's transcription that used ♩ = 70 as tempo marking. My transcription initially used the same tempo. ...
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What does this diagonal line in the drums sheet music mean?
As the title says, what does the indicated line in the figure mean in a drum sheet music?
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Duration of a note in Moldau score
Let's consider the piano version of Moldau/Vltava from Smetana, the first two measures for example:
What should be the duration of the blue circled notes, as expressed in units of an eighth note:
...
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1
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There are 2 square brackets around 2 notes in this trombone part. What does it mean? [closed]
In this trombone part there is square brackets and slide numbers on these notes. What does this indicate?
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Skip Beat in a Measure
Can we skip some/a beat(s) in a measure in music notation?
In the picure, I want to skip that quarter rest so we can play directly the next c note?
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2
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Why are 6/5 chords written in different ways? [duplicate]
Sometimes the 6th of a 6/5 chord is displaced to the right and other times the 5th is displaced to the left. Why?
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Regarding the music notation symbol "simili"
I have been researching the music notation symbol "simili" after coming across it in the piano score for Debussy's "Passepied" from the "Suite bergamasque".
The score ...
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Spacing in tuplets (in sheet-music)
I am trying to understand whether it's okay to have different spaces within tuplets in case if I have other voices, or should I aim somehow to have even spaces in tuplets?
Here is an example:
For me ...
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7
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Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation
My music theory studies ended 20 years ago, but I am busy with some notation by combining piano accompaniment with vocals for solo piano, for personal use.
So, in 4/4 time, music theory dictates that ...
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Rachmaninoff C# minor prelude: towards the end, staff lines are joined together, and there are two end markings
I'm studying Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# minor and towards the end, the staff lines are joined together, with two ending lines.
Do I need four hands? :)
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Changing the time signature so all notes fit in one bar
I'm currently making sheet music for a song that isn't mine and I know it's in 4/4 but as the song progresses, there's no way I can fit all notes in that time signature, so I'm changing it to 6/4, 7/4,...
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Can there be five flutes in (a score for) a symphonic orchestra?
If I were to write a score for a symphonic orchestra, could I include five separate staves for five separate flutes (each one having its own unique part throughout the score) or is it forbidden in ...
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How do I enter these triplets into MuseScore?
I'm a total beginner with all things music theory, so I figured I'd ask.
I'm trying to enter this into MuseScore, but the triplets in the last two bars are confusing me. If I try to enter them I get ...
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Slight emphasis on a note (soft accent)
The attached image is the first couple of bars from the James Bond theme – No Time to Die:
The notes in yellow sound to me like they are played with a slight accent/emphasis, and I'm trying to find ...
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1
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What do these letters and punctuation (d .s, :l, .s,) mean on this sheet music? [duplicate]
I’m trying to understand the letters and punctuation in an old piece of music (from around 1910). It’s a piece for ukulele and I’m assuming it’s a fingerpicking pattern, however it doesn’t use letters ...
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How to play tremolo on violin
I found an orchestral score in 3/4 time that instructs the first and second violins to play tremolos:
First violins should play those notes as quavers so do the second violins play semiquavers? I ...
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How do you represent different instrument of the same section alternating a part?
I've composed a passage with an upper tonic pedal point in the flutes. Problem is that the pedal point lasts 51 bars in an adagio tempo(roughly 2 minutes), and nobody would be able to play a ...
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Is this a tenor clef?
My wind band is playing Saint-Saens' Pas Redouble, using the Josneau arrangement published by Evette & Schaeffer. It's on IMSLP. The bassoon part is mostly in bass clef, but occasionally uses a ...
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Secondary brackets in the string section
In an orchestral score, each section of the orchestra gets a thick square margin bracket, e.g. the woodwind section.
Within these, thin square secondary brackets are used to group instruments in the ...
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