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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What is a "D-10" Chord?
I found a Paul McCartney Song, "Maybe I'm Amazed" that showed a chord which still has me stumped:
The name of the chord is D-10.
Now, I understand that most chord names are 'even' (as opposed to ...
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9
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Why is C the base note of standard notation and keys?
Why is it that notes "start" with C? In key signatures, for example, C Major is the basis and accidentals are added for all other key signatures. I know that the musical alphabet starts with A and ...
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2
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Unknown notation - thick horizontal bars between notes
I haven't the faintest idea of what these bars could mean. They're thick and mostly horizontal with a slight tilt. Some sort of run perhaps? How do you effect the dynamics/notes these bars are ...
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Question Regarding the Meaning of Certain Symbols
On piano sheet music, I occasionally see the following notations:
In the bass clef, the letter "m", "M" or the number "7" is above a note.
What do they mean?
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0
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Horizontal arrow protruding from a note
I've found some notation that I'm not familiar with in the violin part for the musical Tuck Everlasting. It's a horizontal arrow that starts at the stem of a note and points rightward along the staff:
...
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0
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Long horizontal line between notes
In my piece of music for cello, there is a straight line above two notes. It is dead straight and over two E's (and then again over two A's), the first note in each pair is a dotted crochet and the ...
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3
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What does the staff notation half-moon symbol on top of the last note indicate?
What is the name and utility of the half-moon symbol on top of the last note?
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E chord with arc and dot symbol over it — What is this symbol? [duplicate]
I have a book which has the lyrics and guitar chords for some songs. It shows the tab at the top of the page for each chord and each chord letter to be played above the lyrics. This seems simple ...
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1
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What is this notation that looks like a hat above the stave? [duplicate]
I'm having trouble finding what this notation means:
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5
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How long do you hold a fermata?
I am new to piano and just downloaded this book, it seems simple enough for a beginner like me but there is a symbol that I don't really understand, a fermata.
Googling I see I am supposed to hold ...
- 12.4k
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Fermata until note fades away
Usually, the length of a fermata depends on the performer. In a song I'm composing, I use fermatas quite often and the way I want the performer to interpret them is to hold the note until the sound ...
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Paganini's Cantabile for violin and guitar in D - clarification on the notation [duplicate]
This is from Niccolò Paganini's Cantabile for violin and guitar in D:
How do I play the red-boxed notes properly?
What does the hat-dot signs mean? What are they called?
- 12.4k
3
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1
answer
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How to make actually minimal page breaking in LilyPond
Consider the example below. It has 6 systems, and if I force LilyPond to put all 6 onto one page with min-systems-per-page = #6, it does, and it works well. The issue is that in real life, not every ...
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4
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Strange cymbals notation in The Free Lance March
I'm currently playing cymbals for the arrangement of The Free Lance March by William D. Revelli with my high school band. However, I'm having trouble interpreting some of the notations in the music. ...
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2
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Why do composers use fermatas?
I am taking part in a music theory course on Coursera, and I could not understand the difference between a tie and a fermata. Could someone please explain it to me?
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How do I play this rhythm? [duplicate]
I am trying to play the Largo from Vivaldi's Concerto for Flautino in C Major (RV 443), but I am not sure how to time this passage in measure 4:
This piece is in 12/8 time, but the notes in this ...
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What does this flat symbol over a turn mean?
I think it means for the starting note to be lowered one semitone, but I'm not sure.
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Whole bar rest in 6/8 time? [duplicate]
Can one expect to find a semibreve rest in 6/8 compound time?
- 12.4k
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1
answer
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Same full bar rest in any time signature? [duplicate]
Can you use a full bar rest for any time signature? If you can't, which rest would you use to cover a whole bar with a time signature of 9/4?
- 12.4k
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2
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Why do conductors use transposed scores vs. concert scores?
Why do conductors use transposed scores vs. concert scores? It adds a lot more mental cost with no return on investment.
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1
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questions about some direction markings in Chopin's op 28 no 6, prelude in B minor
in bar 1, there is 'sotto voce' written between the right and left hand. what does it mean in this context? does it simply means to play softly or is it asking to play the right hand softly?(since ...
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2
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What is this mirrored rest? [duplicate]
I haven't seen this mirrored rest before (from Gymnopédie No. 1). What does it mean? How long of a rest is it?
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2
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What is this musical symbol (inverted "Z" inside a staff)
Can anyone identify the symbol circled in the image below? It's from a piece of piano music.
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1
answer
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Violin - Sheet music notation for playing the same note at the same time
On the violin you can play a double stop where you are playing 4th finger on the D string (A note) while playing the open A string. This means that you are playing the A note on both strings. How ...
Dom♦
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1
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line for fingersettings in lilypond
I have a question if the following possible in lilypond. The lines above the bar. I have not found how I can do that.
Dom♦
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Why aren't clefs aligned with octaves? [duplicate]
It looks like my questions is largely answered by Why not use only octave clefs?. I'm going to leave this here anyways in case it's useful for others.
Hello!
I've got a genuine question, although I'm ...
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Question about cross-staff beaming, unnecessary rests, Debussy
Two questions:
Why in Debussy's Arabesque No. 1, are the first two measures written without the rests? What's the rule?
If I write notes in different clefs and beam them together, what clef will ...
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1
answer
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Why is my bass clef inverted? [closed]
I have downloaded an early printed Beethoven sonata where the bass clef is upside down and looks more like a C? Why? What am I missing?
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3
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Can (Dal) Segno and (Dal) Segno Segno appear on the same bar?
This is a follow-up question to my previous question.
I have made a transcription using Guitar Pro 8 of a song with the following structure:
Intro, A, B, A, B, A, Coda
Guitar Pro 8 outputs and plays ...
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3
votes
2
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Staff text positioning
I have fermatas on the final notes on both staffs at the end of a piano piece. I only want the fermatas held on the final refrain. Do I need to include staff text to that effect above both staffs, ...
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3
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How to notate two nested repeat loops (||: and :||) that finish on the same repeat finish sign :||?
I have made a transcription of a song with the following structure:
Intro, A, B, A, B, A, Coda
The score that I created is the following (the content of the bars was replaced by whole notes for ...
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1
answer
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How to write cross staff beams in Noteflight?
In the middle section of Symphony No 5 by Beethoven, I see some cross staff beams (marked in red):
Can you please tell me how to write them in Noteflight? I have no idea as a Noteflight user. Thank ...
Dom♦
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5
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Can this notation be considered either 3/4 or 6/8 time?
When I gave a worksheet today, 2 of my students labeled this notation as 3/4 time, simple triple. Are they wrong or is this acceptable? If it's not acceptable, why? Is it simply because it wouldn't ...
Dom♦
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Logic Pro X - How do I enter a triplet rest in the score editor?
I'm trying to enter the following into Logic Pro X:
but I don't know how to enter the rest as a triplet.
Any idea?
Dom♦
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1
answer
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How to finish the bar with rests
Can you help me check these two bars?
Did I finish these bars with rests correctly? Or haven't I handled these dotted eighth notes correctly?
Dom♦
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2
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Why don't most lead sheets notate rests? [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 ...
- 12.4k
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Beam break and rest height problems in ABCjs
In the below ABCjs sample:
X: 1
T: Symphony No. 7
C: Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
R: Langsam (Adagio)
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: Bm
[F,^G,B,D]/z//[F,G,B,D]///[F,G,B,D]/// [F,G,B,D]/z//[F,G,B,D]///[F,G,B,D]/// !///...
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What are the guidelines/rules for notating rests?
I know there are rest notation rules in theory, and I’m curious to know what they are, as I’ve never learned them. I read somewhere, for example, with ‘cut time’ there’s not supposed to be dotted ...
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Is 5/4 simple or compound?
I have seen 3 major ways of subdividing the quarter notes in 5/4. 1 is treating it as a simple meter and 2 others treat it as an irregular compound(or technically speaking, complex) meter. I have seen ...
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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, &...
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Do all voices deserve rests, or can I tactically omit rests?
The voice 3 (magenta) plays for just two semiquavers at the end of the bar:
should I add a series of rests for that voice?
it's hard to understand which rests belong to which voice when rendered in ...
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In keyboard style harmony should there be a rest for each voice?
Here is a picture, and you can see the melody voice has a rest for the last 8th note, but I also added a rest for the alto and tenor. Is this correct, or would one rest have been ok?
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Unplayed 2nd voice in notation - spaces or rests?
In transcribing a work for piano with two voices in each staff, I've come across a passage in which there are two voices in the LH staff for some duration, but in one measure there is only one voice ...
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3
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1
answer
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Standard notation for left hand bars/barres on guitar when playing natural harmonics in a single fret and using a single left hand finger
I'm a self taught guitarrist and hobby musician who composes original music and who creates transcriptions/arrangements of music from other artists for classical guitar.
I've recently learned about ...
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What do these rests mean? Carcassi Etude no. 1 op. 60 (Guitar)
What do the the quarter note rest and the half note rest in the first measure mean?
Full score PDF
I listened to the piece and they play the D and G notes the rests are under.
It is just pointing out ...
- 12.4k
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1
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Rests in classical guitar notation
I'm reading a book by David Braid — Play Classical Guitar.
Everything is going smoothly until I get to the part on rests, here's the part that confuses me:
Let me first explain what I understand:
Exr-...
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Why transpose at the octave?
If an instrument has a range too high or too low for composers to easily write its music on bass or treble clef, the music may be written either an octave higher or an octave lower than it sounds, in ...
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What is the proper way to notate the end of a section played "sul ponticello"?
That is, what is the standard way to tell a string player to play normally again?
CommunityBot
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Rests & Their Usefulness in Drums
Well, I'm a drummer. I've been drumming for the past three years. I can read sheet music and I have this question.
What's the point of having 'rests' in drums. I mean, why can't you leave the part ...
- 12.4k
14
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Triangular notehead at the end of a glissando/portamento
I was studying a score that had this strange symbol in the violin part. It's a triangular notehead at the end of a glissando/portamento. The note seems to be suspended, not connect to the staff with ...
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