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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Is there a proper musical term for a piece's "roadmap"?
Band directors and other teachers will colloquially refer to a piece's "roadmap": the flow control commands denoted by repeats, repeat endings, D.C.s, D.S.es, codas, etc.
Is there a proper word for ...
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Why is the note name "a" not on any important scale position? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is C the base note of standard notation and keys?
The note names are derived from the alphabet, which starts with "a".
But why is our note "a" not on any important ...
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Should "Ooh" be sung as "oo" or "oh"?
In my last choir rehearsal, while going over a new piece, after I said, "Let's go back to the beginning and go over the 'oo's", my lead tenor, whom I respect immensely as a musician, responded "Uh, ...
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Does an implied tie exist
Is there such a thing as an implied tie? Like some kind of symbol or notation that would specify to hold a note through the duration of all the notes on a pitch as if they were tied together.
Edit: ...
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What is the difference between swing and shuffle?
I am learning piano from a book and I can't understand the difference between swing and shuffle. I have searched, but I still can't understand the difference. Could someone please iterate the ...
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Is the time signature switching every measure?
I think that the reason my compositions in DAW's have seemed off is because they've actually been changing time signatures throughout, and I haven't accounted for it.
I tested this by making this tab ...
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Numerous questions about advanced guitar tablature notation
8 slide 0...why is 0 in parentheses?
7 slide 9...what does curve under mean?
5 7 5..7 5 0..are they hammers or pull offs..how you distinguish those
how to play this?
what does this long line mean?...
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What is the device used to draw 5-line staff (empty) with a pencil/pen?
I remember seeing something like that long ago but can't remember what it was called. It is basically a metal gadget that holds 5 pencils or only pencil led and you can draw by hand your own empty ...
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Four dotted sixteenths in a triplet
The following excerpt is from a piece called Brincado by the Brazilian composer Alberto Nepomuceno from the collection 5 Little Pieces for the Left Hand (imslp)
How should I count this?
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Percussion notes in the vocals
This an excerpt from an arragment to the song "Hakuna Matata" from the movie "The Lion King":
Why are there percussion notes in the vocals?
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Different representation of consecutive sixteenth notes
These are two different bars from "John Thompson's Grade 3" arrangement "Hungarian Rhapsody no.2".
Is there a difference between the time value of the first F in the first picture and the first D in ...
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International notation system
I would like to know if there is a special order for notes in English and/or an international notation system.
In french, our order is Do Ré Mi Fa Sol La Si which is equivalent to C D E F G A B, what ...
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What does a small x-like symbol before a note mean?
I've been playing piano by ear for a long time and now I am trying to learn the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata. I am a little confused about the meaning of a little cross placed right before a ...
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What exactly does a 3 mean over a quarter note and an 8th note?
There is an eighth note followed by a quarter note, and above them is a little overarching bracket with a little 3 in it. I know this has something to do with the timing, but I have no idea what.
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How do you play this tablature notation?
How do I play this on my guitar?
A side question, is there a reference site for checking music and tablature notation?
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Do accidentals on ornaments apply to the same notes elsewhere in the measure?
In the first measure from this section of Schubert's Serenade, does the accidental on the ornamental C at the beginning affect the "regular" C that follows? And is that answer applicable to ...
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Notating Augmented Chords
When writing an Augmented chord, which inversion of the chord should I use?
The problem came up while I was composing (piano). I came to an augmented chord and couldn't think of which version to use ...
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Is there a difference between a slur and legato?
Are legato and slur one and the same? If the two are different, how do I tell which the piece is using? I know the gist of them (as opposed to staccato) but I need to know the specifics. They are ...
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How do you play these ukelele tabs?
I'm trying to learn ukelele, following the tablerature given here:
http://www.ukulele-tabs.com/uke-songs/cake/commissioning-a-symphony-in-c-uke-tab-1909.html
I can do the first verse, which has the ...
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Do accidentals in one staff apply to notes in other staffs?
For example, when reading piano music on a grand staff, I know that if there is an A# in the treble clef staff (where it's normally natural), it changes all of the A's in the rest of that measure to A#...
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The use of the root note in a scale
I found an article on Cyberfret.com showing how to play C major scale :
The Whole Guitar Neck Mapped Out
Ref. Pattern 3
Well, I can guess how to play the pattern number 3 but, what the purpose ...
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Lead sheets / fake sheets without score
Several of the groups of people I play music with use song sheets that are similar to lead sheets, but without the stave showing the melody line:
Note that unlike many chord sheets you can find ...
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Can legato notes be played staccato?
I've been working on this piece by Sousa, and I came across this oddity:
Does this mean to play these notes somehow legato and staccato at the same time? If so, how would I play it? If not, what does ...
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What does this weird notation mean (looks like "#.1")?
I play guitar using the following scale, which I think is C major. (I don't know the name, but I follow the number on the music note, and it works.)
I came across the following note:
As you can see, ...
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"Standard" drum notation alternatives
For the purpose of playing live, working through ("popular") songs involving verse, chorus, bridge, intro, outro, etc., is there a standard notation that drummers use to help them know what to play, ...
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How does the piano middle pedal work? Is there a standard symbol for it?
What are the mechanics behind the middle piano pedal? I have been using the middle pedal for a variety of music, it is wonderful, but I can't figure out how it works (I mean the mechanical process). ...
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Why does this note sound like it is not played?
I've been learning the second movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata 16 for a while. While I get most of the stuff memorized, some part of it just doesn't sound right comparing to recordings on YouTube ...
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Best way to notationally indicate that a solo phrase in an instrumental section should end
After writing "solo" over a part intended for one instrumentalist in a section, what's the best way to indicate that the the entire section should again begin playing?
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What does this tablature notation mean?
There are two lines which have the number 0.
Does that mean that I need to play two strings at once?
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What is the relationship between "do re mi" and note letter names?
When people sing the song, they use do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, (si), etc, but sometimes I hear that the music people say A, B, C, D flat, etc.
Is there a relationship or are they two different ...
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Is there a specific name for Sheet music that uses numbers (二胡 Èrhú Sheet Music)?
I am searching for a software program (preferably opensource but not necessarily) that can create sheet music. However since I am a beginner at my instrument I still use a simplified notation. I play ...
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Trying to program a piano staff/stave. Is this what it's supposed to look like?
I'm currently writing a software application which creates notes on a staff, when a piano key is pressed. Unfortunately I have no background in music, and thus am finding it quite hard to get started.
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With regards to piano sheet music, when are you supposed to press the pedal(s)?
I've been playing piano for about 8 months. I have a digital weighted 88-key piano with only one pedal.
My friend, who used to play piano, taught me to hold the pedal down when there is an arc in ...
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Is it a typo or how do I play it? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
The same note on two staves
I have put red arrows where I am in trouble. As I understand this, I should hit D but it is already pressed down. Do I misunderstand something or ...
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The same note on two staves
On rare occasions, I encounter the same note on two staves with overlapping durations. Attached is an example from an arragement of "The Long and Winding Road" by The Beatles (The note in ...
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With sheet music, what happens with sharps and double sharps that are already sharpened in the key signature?
For example, let's say the key signature has an f sharp and then also an individual f note has a sharp next to it. Are they just emphasizing the f sharp or does that actually become a g?
Same ...
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Is assignment of notes to measures totally arbitrary?
I am beginning to learn piano. To pep up my practising, I downloaded some sheet music for Waltzing Matilda
Then I noticed, at the same place, this:
Obviously it is the same music but needs to be ...
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What does an arc mean above the notes in a piano sheet music? How do I play it?
See the picture above. Is there a website where these (perhaps not so basic) notations are collected?
UPDATE: I see Wikipedia has a nice collection of musical notations.
How do I play the slur on ...
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Are whole and half note rests supposed to only be written on specific lines?
I've always written the whole note rest on the 4th line of the staff and the half note rest on the 3rd. I always see it that way and never thought much about it until recently a musician with a lot ...
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On the piano, how should you play staccato with the pedal?
In some pieces, there is a pedal designation along with staccato. How should this be played?
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How to play given notes on the guitar
I'm sorry, if my question is not too generic, but I'm having trouble playing instrumental acoustic peace and would appreciate if you could help me out.
Here are the notes I have (sorry for scan ...
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Why is a note sometimes a 4th and sometimes an 11th?
If I play the chord: GBDA, then this is considered a Gadd9. But if I play the 3rd above the 5th (GDB), it is not called a 10th.
Why don't we refer to all notes by 1-7, and is there a system to ...
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Deciphering the series of numbers shown for songs in a hymn book
Consider almost any song in a church hymn book. Either at the top just above the ledger lines or at the bottom near the credits is a series of numbers usually a set of four to six numbers such as 87 ...
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Need help with a measure within Mozart's 'Rondo alla Turca'
In the 21st measure of Mozart's Rondo alla Turca/Turkish March (3rd movement of K. 331), there's a trill in the treble clef that I can't quite get right. Would you be so kind to expand the measure as ...
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Must "first-time bars" and "second-time bars" appear together?
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeat_sign
When a repeat calls for a different ending, number brackets above the bars indicate which to played the first time (1), which to play the second time (...
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Why do the Canadian and American ways of writing chords symbols differ?
I've been studying music harmony (for the RCM program), and my teacher explained to me that the American way of writing chord symbols slightly differs from the Canadian way. For example, the chord ...
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How do you draw a quarter rest with a pen/pencil?
It seems to me that the quarter rest we see everywhere was drawn with a calligraphy pen. I don't have one of those — I have a sharpened/mechanical pencil or a ball-point pen. So usually when I try to ...
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Why do we need note names like B♭, D♭ etc.? Why not use only A♯, C♯ and so on? [duplicate]
The very same sharp/flat tones can be written in two ways:
C♯ is the same as D♭
D♯ is the same as E♭
…and so on
This is so confusing. What is the reason for it? ...
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Key signature for writing in modes other than major and minor
I have trouble deciding what accidentals to put in the key signature for pieces in Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian or Mixolydian modes. There seem to be trade-offs associated with each choice.
For example, ...
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In chord progressions, how can I refer to a chord that's out of the scale?
I'm training a music that is most on the G Major scale.. But then there's a B chord. As B is not on the G Major scale, how can I refer to it when I'm writing the chord progression?
EDIT
My guess is ...
André Pena