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.
2,195
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Why did Shostakovich use such long note values for such fast notes?
I've loved Shostakovich's 8th quartet for ages but only just now looked at the score. I imagined the second movement would be a sea of black notes given its breakneck pace and was shocked to see that ...
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1
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How can I use different types of repeats in my lead sheet?
Happy Friday!
I'm trying to draft a lead sheet that captures the structure of a song I'm working on in a single page. I just can't find a solution. I hope to get better at notating repeats and ...
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2
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What do these rests mean? Carcassi Etude no. 1 op. 60 (Guitar)
The quarter note rest and the half note rest in the first measure. I listened to the piece and they play the d and g note the rest is under.
Full score PDF
It is just pointing out that nothing is ...
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votes
1
answer
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Is there a way to adjust the tab setting in guitar pro so that certain frets are not used when converting notes to tab?
For example in Sibelius I can control the lowest and highest frets I would like to be used when converting standard notation to tab. There doesn't seem to be anything like that in guitar pro. Thanks!
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Which of the great composers wrote expression markings in German?
I am used to expression markings being written in Italian. For example this list is mostly Italian (and English). I recently learned about a high school level music exam where they have to learn the ...
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0
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cut time vs common time [duplicate]
i understand that 2/2 or cut time has 2 beats as opposed to 4/4 or common time, but how does this actually sound different?
if you took a piece and played if it was notated as being 4/4 and then ...
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4
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How to notate a non-standard hexatonic key
I am writing part of a piano piece in a hexatonic "key" containing these notes:
C - D# - E - G - Ab - B
(I say "key" instead of scale because I'm treating it like a key, deriving ...
2
votes
2
answers
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How to interpret open ended gliss notation on guitar
How would the notation below be interpreted?
What is this called on the guitar?
I'm calling it "glissando to nowhere in particular" in my mind. It resembles something I've seen in a jazz ...
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1
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Interesting symbol in a piece of piano music [closed]
A friend sent me this image and asked me to identify the symbol circled in red. I tried using Google Lens but no luck. Thanks for your help!
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How to indicate the temperament to use when playing on a score? [duplicate]
If I understand correctly, when you only play in a specific key, just intonation is more exact than equal temperament.
Therefore I would like to how to indicate on a score that a piece should be ...
user90036
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2
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What do triangle above or below the note mean? [duplicate]
I was practicing some piano music (Ein Spanier Fur Elise to be exact) and I got to a bit in the music where the sheet music showed triangle above/below the note. They could be either just below, just ...
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3
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Accidentals in atonal scores [duplicate]
What are the rules for annotating accidentals in atonal scores, especially in 12-tone row compositions? For instance, if you use F sharp once, should that note always be scored as F sharp and never as ...
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How to notate rhythmically arpeggiated chord vs arpeggiated melody? [duplicate]
In popular music, sounding a chord with a sort of rhythmic arpeggio is very common, both on piano and on guitar. In Hungarian we have a separate word for it, "akkordbontás". Is there an ...
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What does this symbol before the bass clef C mean? [duplicate]
I've looked everywhere but don't know how to put it into words.
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How to play half notes with three (32nds) beams? [duplicate]
In an arrangement of a piece of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (link to imslp.org) for flute and piano I found following notation of four half notes (and later two full notes) but with 32nds beams that ...
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3
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How do I write down a suspended chord with a minor 6?
I have a chord with the notes G C D Eb. I wonder how I write it down in a jazz notation.
First, something like this comes to mind: G-6(sus4). But 2 things confuse me about this. First, I've never seen ...
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1
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What does one dot under a note mean? [duplicate]
I’m not sure what this notation (dots under notes)means exactly. I am practicing both pieces for an audition to enter orchestra. Help would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you would like to let me ...
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How is this small note played? [duplicate]
I have seen a bit about acciaccaturas and appoggiaturas but this is different to what I have seen. The small note is not connected, comes after the normal sized note, and is a dotted quarter note. How ...
4
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1
answer
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Multiple voices in Lilypond: stem directions, beams, and merged noteheads
With quite a bit of trial and error I figured out a way to write the following bar in Lilypond:
There are four voices, the top voice has upward stems, the two lower voices have downward stems, and ...
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2
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How should I indicate variable capo position in a score?
I write songs for guitar and voice. Let's say for a particular song, I put the capo on the 2nd fret because this is what fits my vocal range for the melody. For another person, it could be the 3rd ...
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1
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Not sure how to notate this
I'm not sure if this is a sextuplet with a tremolo or how to notate it. (Using Musescore; I know how to notate a sextuplet with a tremolo, but it doesn't look like this once I do). Any advice as to ...
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3
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Figured Bass Notation
I am wondering if there are better ways to remember the figured bass. I'm having trouble remembering all of the inversions for triads and sevenths, and I've been trying to memorize them for a few ...
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Why don't all transposing instruments have transposing clefs?
Is there a reason for which some transposing instruments (say, horns in F, bass clarinets etc.) don't have transposing clefs? For some instruments it's not odd to have them, e.g. tenor voice always ...
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What is the correct way to realize this ambiguous swing notation?
I'm practicing a choral accompaniment on the piano, and it indicates swung 8ths. However, in some places the rhythm is notated as 3 eighth-note triplets, and in others, it uses 16th-16th-8th. ...
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Changing time signature mid bar
I have a puzzle about the notation of this score, specifically the bar divided by the dotted line in the second system:
My intention is that the first half of the bar should have the stresses of 6/8, ...
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How do you distinguish an upper mordent from a trill?
I recently learned of the upper mordent. (first ornament in this image from Wikipedia)
To me, it looks identical to the trill from the table of ornaments I'm familiar with:
When encountering this ...
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2
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Lilypond: barre marker for single note values
This question deals with barre chord notation for guitar using the TextSpanner command in Lilypond. This approach is also described in the Lilypond documentation. However, this approach only works if ...
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When should I use polyphonic voicing for the upper piano staff?
I am learning to use some notation software, but I am unsure if what I have so far is the best way to notate this piano piece.
The ties kind of bug me, and I am not sure if I should have polyphonic ...
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1
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What is the meaning of two vertical bars surrounding notes? [duplicate]
I am seeing notes surrounded by two vertical bars that I cannot interpret (see the first notes in the treble and bass below). I have checked the liner and Google/Wikipedia for ideas but cannot find a ...
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What is the meaning of a notation that looks like a rest superimposed on a note
In the picture above, it looks like a rest superimposed on top of a note. What does that mean?
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Sideways Z shaped dynamics in sheet music [duplicate]
I have come across these Z shaped dynamics (?)… accessories? In my piano sheet music and wondered what they mean.
I have circled them in red in this photo.
Thanks
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What's this flat squiggly line below the notes at the end of this clarinet jazz solo?
This is from cuphead.
Youtube link here:
It kind of sounds like vibrato.
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4
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Name and meaning of "mirrored" accent sign
I'm currently engraving a hand-written SATB piece in LilyPond and encountered some music notation I'm not really sure what to do with. It consists of four consecutive quarter notes with each note ...
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4
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How to notate a "softened" dotted rhythm?
In a score I'm preparing, I have many pairs of notes whose durations should be played in the ratios 2:1 or 1:2, with each pair having a total duration of a half note. The common way to notate this is ...
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Can a tuplet cross a barline?
In correct music notation, can a tuplet (like a triplet or a quintuplet) cross a barline?
I have never seen this, but if it's not allowed, why not? It looks to me like it should be possible.
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Proper use of D.C. al Coda with repeat voltas
I have a score template like this...
I expect this to be the performance by measure numbers and rehearsal marks...
A
1-8, 1-7, 9
B
10-25
C
26-33, 26-31, 34-38
D.C. al Coda
A
...
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What's the (italian or classical) name of a single slash repeat?
I know, the "percent" sign, to repeat the previous bar, is also called due volte. See here:
taken from here.
However, I'm looking for the (classical name of a) single slash, like here in ...
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Why is G the lowest note of the Gamut? [duplicate]
The Gamut made use of the seven letters of Saint Gregory: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. It represents the twenty notes of “true music” (musica recta), from low G to high e2.
Why was the lowest note in ...
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How do I count these rhythms for the shaker?
How do I count these rhythms for the shaker part? It is in 4/4 and I know it’s not difficult. But, I’ve never played shaker before and want to write in the counting in my score.
Also, the same for the ...
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1
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Notation: How to notate a note at the start of the first bar that is only played during the first repeat?
I have read this answer, which relates to a different problem.
I want to know how to include a note to be played at the start of my first bar (ie: within the bar, not prior to it), but only during the ...
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Are these 2 clef-change notations equivalent in meaning and result?
I've been copying over my purchased PDF of John Adams's score for "China Gates" into a new MuseScore copy for my personal use. There are frequent clef changes which he notates in this manner ...
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Best approach to count Seven Four Signature (7/4)?
I listened Pink Floyd "Money" from the album "Dark Side of the Moon" for a while break after and started to think about Seven Four (7/4) time signature in music theory and how to ...
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Lilypond: B-note stem up
I want B note to have its stem going up most of the time so I don't need to use every time \stemUp and \stemNeutral commands.
Is that possible?
Thank you.
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Chord Notation: Superscript number in brackets
I'm a beginner piano student and have come across a type of chord notation I'm not familiar with, and can't find anything on the internet.
Below is a photo of part of the chord chart for the worship ...
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3
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What is the conventional way to notate a meter with accents on every second 8th note?
In rock music (or jazz, or pop, or funk) it is a common practice to make accents on every second quarter note in 4/4 time signature. But it is also quite common to make accents on every second eighth ...
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How to notate repeat section for lead sheet [duplicate]
I'm having trouble writing a compact lead sheet for a song with this form:
A A B A B C B B
How to write it with repeat sign without make it too confusing? Thank you.
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Should a scale like C double harmonic major or C phrygian dominant be notated as a 4 flats or natural key?
I'm not really looking for an "objective" answer, but a list of pros and cons for the 2 options I listed (and maybe other options like notating the key as 3 flats or making a weird custom ...
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Unknown notation: square brackets, triangles, and numbers
What do these square brackets, triangles, and the numbers next to them mean, in Le Marteau sans maître by Pierre Boulez.
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Mood instruction to play a section messily, asynchronously
Another question for my amateur Shostakovich Symphony 11 arrangement for solo piano. The part I am asking about is 29:36 to 29:56 in this video, or rehearsal marks 80 to 82 in the original score. I'm ...
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3
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What is the best way to notate an arrangement and melody for a low singing voice?
I am a bass-baritone singer and am trying to figure out how best to write and and arrange my music so that I can have the best representation of what I will be performing and recording in my studio. ...
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