Questions tagged [ottava]
For questions about 8va (all'ottava) and related notation.
30 questions
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What is the meaning of 8va combined with the bracket?
I am learning from Bastien Piano for Adults 1, and on page 57 there is 8va mark (which is explained) but at the bottom of the page, there is additional bracket. What is the meaning of the bracket (or ...
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Ottava markings - Should this 8va be 8vb?
Perusing the score of Charles E. Ives' Concord Sonata, in the 4th movement "Thoreau", p. 10, I noticed some ottava markings; in particular, "8va" above the treble clef, and another ...
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What's a readable way to indicate both multi-measure rallentando and 8va?
In a piece I'm working on I've got a 4-meas. rallentando to a new, slower tempo. The piano RH, in those same 4 measures, also has an 8va section. Either of them I'd want to engrave spanning the 4 ...
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Treble clef change during a piece
I originally asked this as a follow up on this thread, 8va or clef change? but it was suggested by "Elements in Space" (thanks, Elements!) that I should ask this as a new question, and link ...
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In a classical guitar score, when a section plays very low notes, is it better to use 8va bassa, G clef transposed 1 octave down or the F clef?
My music knowledge background
I never studied music in a music school, but I've composed music for some years and know some theory that I've picked up and read about over the years. I do not have much ...
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Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody 2, unusual markings?
Disclaimer: I'm a musician but not a pianist. My hobby is to study musical scores of other instruments just to learn a little more about them and how they work.
I came across some unusual markings for ...
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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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Bass Clef Changed to Treble Clef in the Middle of the Music Sheet (Are The Clefs Notes in Same Octave?) [duplicate]
Halo, it may be duplicate of other questions with the same titles. But I don't find answers I'm looking for in those...
I'm quite new to music sheet, but I can basically read notes already after some ...
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8va or clef change?
I've been transcribing music on and off for a few years now as a hobby and noticed while reading someone else's sheets that they have heaps of clef changes midway through the piece. It sort of blew my ...
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Notation for 8va on the repeat
In piano music sometimes there is a section that is repeated, and on the repeat one (or both) hands are to play an octave up (or down).
I've seen this notated in English in the following form:
2nd ...
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Why aren't octave clefs used in piano notation?
It's not uncommon to find piano music where the left hand plays primarily in octave 1, or the right hand in octave 6 (i.e. below the staff of a bass clef or above the staff of a treble clef). This ...
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LilyPond: stack order of Multimark engraver
I continue my struggle (began here) with engraving Barrozo's collection of Czerny exercises. The problem is in engraving brackets that Barrozo uses to mark parts for repetition. Following advice of ...
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8 below note played as octave or singular note?
I'm working on the piano solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, and I'm unsure - when there is an 8 underneath this E, is it meant to be played as just the lower E, or as a full octave (as in the measure ...
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What is the meaning of an 8 followed by a dotted line? [duplicate]
There is a 8 and a bunch of dots going over the notes. it doesn't look like octave lines, though.
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Why use 5 or more ledger lines below the bass clef instead of ottava bassa lines for piano sheet music?
One thing that has bothered me when listening to classical music with the sheet music also scrolling by is its persistent use of 5 or more ledger lines for low enough bass clef parts instead of ottava ...
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Do accidentals carry through 8va? [duplicate]
I recently picked up a collection of Czerny exercises, including Thirty New Studies in Technics, Op. 349.
In number 12, measure 17 begins with a C# accidental. Later in the measure, in the 8va section,...
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How do accidentals apply with octave signs?
In the measure below, does the natural sign still apply with the octave up sign?
The first natural sign (first blue square) means that all following E5's in that measure will be natural, so the first ...
user64861
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Different Piano Octaves
What comes after 8va and 15ma in Piano music? I have tried searching, but nothing helpful comes up.
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When to use 8va in musical notation? [duplicate]
I want to know after how many ledger lines should you start notating music with the 8va symbol. I have read that the flute often has music written on ledger lines. So up to how many ledger lines can a ...
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How does 8va work on a staff with multiple voices?
I am writing a piano score and at one point I have a bar with multiple voices, one of which is quite high above the staff.
I would like to write the top voice with 8va to make it more readable, but I'...
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Very high notes on the treble clef
I was wondering, why on most music sheets the high notes on a treble clef are written above the upper lines and take up so much space on a page whereas it would be better to use 8va and 16va to notate ...
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Ledger Lines vs. 8va notation
As musicians sight reading music – are you very comfortable reading parts in ledger lines or is it more convenient having higher/lower parts notated within the staff with an 8va (or 8vb) symbol?
For ...
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What's this odd '+8vb' marking with a dashed line?
I have only been studying music for a couple of days now, and I was advised to look through music I like, so I can further my understanding.
Whilst doing so, I have come across some markings that I am ...
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How can I overcome '8va' for a few notes?
Let's say I have a whole passage marked with 8va, like below:
I want to play just the circled notes at their normal octave. Is there a way to denote this, instead of ending the 8va bracket and ...
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What is the meaning of an 8 followed by dotted lines?
In Hanon's The Virtuoso Pianist - exercise 33, there are dotted lines with the numeral 8 above and below joining three measures together - what do they mean?
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Octave shift context
I'm learning this amazing piece of music from Nikolai Kapustin ... although I already play it well (kind of, at least most of it), I'm still unsure about some parts... so I decided I should ask ...
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Octave changes on 2nd time
Suppose a piece of music contain two subsequent parts than differ only by octaves (say, second part is entirely 8va). Is there any way to show this in sheet music, except by writing each part ...
user15155
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Is "16va" proper notation?
Is the notation "16va" or "16vb" ever used to mean to transpose what is written up or down two octaves?
I cannot think of how else you would represent the highest and lowest notes ...
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"First ending" has a notation "2nd time R.H. 8va"
In a simple piano book I'm using (Jumbo Easy Piano Songbook: 200 Songs for All Occasions - Hal Leonard Corp.), one of the songs (The Entertainer - Scott Joplin) that has a first and second ending, ...
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Adding 8va line (both high or low) in Sibelius 7 doesn't play back
I'm working with Sibelius 7 and even though I'm adding 8va lines at some parts of my score, when playing it back I get the same sound I should be getting if I didn't have them.
Any ideas why this ...
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