Questions tagged [sheet-music]
Musical notation in written or printed form. Questions asking people to find or transcribe (make) sheet music for a particular song are off-topic.
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How to add verse-specific dynamic to sheet music
I have lyrics of two verses below the staves.
Now I want the second verse to get the fortissimo (ff) dynamic. Now how do I do that? How is that written down in sheet music?
9
votes
1answer
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How to count odd tuplets?
When I first learned how to play music I learned how to play the drums, and thus rhythm was the first thing I knew about music. I still feel like it was best to learn rhythm before pitch, melody, ...
8
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4answers
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Why is there no indication of relative loudness on sheet music?
When I'm playing on a piano I can read which keys I should press and when. But there seems to be no indication how loud each sound should be in relation to another. Why?
It seems to me that this ...
8
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4answers
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How to play this double sharp note
I’m trying to play Toccata by Debussy and the piece is in the key of E. In the sheet music, the F has a double sharp next to it, so that means I would be playing a G sharp. When I looked at the ...
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What do these numbers above the notes on my guitar sheet music mean?
I'm trying to learn guitar. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and learn sheet music at the same time as scales. I've got a PDF document that has a bunch, but I am confused by these numbers ...
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1answer
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What does the 1.-5. notation mean at the top right corner? [duplicate]
What is the 1.-5. notation in the top right corner telling me to do?
8
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4answers
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How to accompany with piano in latin music when given only chords?
Say we want to play piano and we know these things:
We have a I-IV-V-I chord progression
We we want to play a measure in C major (C-D-E-F-G-A-B)
So if we look at I-IV-V-I in C major from the ...
8
votes
4answers
354 views
What do the numbers 2 & 3 mean (duplet/tuplet/finger indication?) in this first bar of a song?
I was looking for a simple anime song piece where I encounter this piece whose first bar does not make sense to me (I uploaded the first bar picture ).
Especially what is meant by 2 and 3 at the top ...
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3answers
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What is the name of the section markers denoted by a number in a box above the score?
(I'm not in the music world but need to know the answer for esoteric reasons.) The image above contains excerpts from one of Stravinsky's pieces. I assume in score writing is it commonplace to notate ...
8
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3answers
961 views
Meaning of “actual notes” above staff
I've been studying The Unanswered Question By Charles Ives and found a peculiarity in the trumpet part. When the trumpet comes in, it has the phrase "actual notes" written above as seen below.
I'm ...
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2answers
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How to transcribe the impossible?
Years ago, I remember seeing sheet music for Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock version of the "Star Spangled Banner". The transcription had a little introduction, in which the transcriber conceded that the ...
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3answers
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Why is the left hand stave missing from the piano sheet music?
Normally, I have both the right and the left hand as here
The left hand stave was always missing in that book of piano sheet music I saw yesterday, however it had letters above the stave for right ...
8
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2answers
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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.
Thank you very much :)
8
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4answers
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Help with interpreting notation in Chopin's nocturne op. 9 no. 2
What are the following notations in Chopin's nocturne op. 9 no. 2:
Tilde sign with accidentals:
tr~~~
Striked note's flag:
Small notes. (I know what mean single small notes right before a normal ...
8
votes
3answers
6k views
Squiggly line in Alto Sax score
I just got some new sheet music for alto sax and wonder how to play this notation:
For example in these contexts:
8
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1answer
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What's the difference between a 7 chord and a +7 chord?
I've come across music that has a "G+7(♭9)". At first I thought this was just an odd way of writing G7(♭9), however there IS a G7(♭9) chord in the song as well. I feel that since they're named ...
8
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1answer
426 views
Why aren't there barlines in the piano solo parts in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5?
In the beginning of this piece you'll notice that the piano solo part has no barlines. Why? And why does he use 16th notes? How can a "16th" note have any meaning without barlines (not to ...
8
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2answers
755 views
When does bar-line go down?
I have a piano theory test real soon and it will require writing modern vocal score in open score.
When I see examples of open score, sometimes the bar lines go through the 4 parts, and sometimes ...
8
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2answers
518 views
Are there any “good practices for sheet music writing” guidelines that are more or less universally accepted?
I'm an amateur musician who sometimes likes to write sheet music for arrangements and for pieces that I figure out by ear. I do this mainly because I can go long periods without playing and when I ...
8
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2answers
1k views
Why are these notes separated on the stave? [duplicate]
So I'm just learning this Coldplay piece and it has notes which are not joined but on the same stave. I'm wondering what the purpose of this is or rather what information it's trying to convey? ...
8
votes
1answer
797 views
Why use cross notes in sheet music for hip hop tracks?
This is an excerpt from the sheet music for a song by Eminem. What do the cross notes mean, and what is their purpose? Why not use normal notes? (I see this frequently in hip-hop sheet music.)
8
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2answers
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How do I play this harmonic? (Guitar)
I've recently started learning to read sheet music for guitar. Something from a version of Capricho Arabe confused me.
The tuning is in drop D.
The first bar is a harmonic on the 7th fret with notes ...
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1answer
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Musical “ellipsis mark” (name & usage of this symbol)
I've been seeing this mark for years, usually in historical (e.g. Baroque) manuscripts, and it's meaning is clear to me. It's a sort of W-shaped squiggle with a tail that (usually) comes at the end of ...
8
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1answer
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How do you write a continuous arpeggio in sheet music?
How would you write an arpeggio that never stops the notes that are played . . . they just keep on ringing. E.g, in the example below, when the E is played in measure 1 beat 1, it continues ringing ...
8
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1answer
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Upside-down down bow
On my Cello Salut D'amour by Elgar score, it has upside-down down bow symbols on it. Does this just mean up bow? I have this on other pieces too:
Salut d'amour, Op.12 (Elgar, Edward)
Mainz: Schott, ...
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4answers
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Where does a “cresc. ” begin (end)?
I'm curious about the "cresc." sign .
which one is getting louder , no.1 or no.2?
and when does this cresc. end ? Does it end until the next sign come out ?
8
votes
1answer
441 views
Vocal sheet music with right-to-left languages
How would sheet music be written for vocals in a right-to-left language (Hebrew or Arabic)? It seems there would be a clash between the left-to-right convention of sheet music and the right-to-left of ...
8
votes
1answer
156 views
How are editorial additions/changes to a score indicated?
How do music editors indicate changes they've made to a score?
Sometimes an editor will make musically meaningful changes to a score, such as
Adding markings the editor believes were omitted by the ...
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4answers
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How does one know if a score is notated well?
I'm a programmer and in programming a code can be bad or good. It is easy to see by the way the structure is built and how blocks of code are arranged, what functions and procedures are used, and how ...
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5answers
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What does it mean to “play what is not written”?
"You must play not only what the composer wrote, but also what the composer did not write." That's a paraphrase of advice that's always stuck with me (but the source of which is long ...
7
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2answers
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What is this “┌3┐” notation called? What is the count? [duplicate]
I am trying to help my wife work out the naming of this notation. Its from the Doctor Who theme and is accompanied after some triplets for the trumpets
Measure is 4 beats, what is the count?
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5answers
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What do different value notes on the same line mean? [duplicate]
I'm learning music theory on my own and thus, I encounter some difficulties in understanding them.This is one of those difficulties.What do those notes (circled in red) mean as each of them has ...
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3answers
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What is the meaning of these lines connecting notes?
I am trying to use a software called guitar pro to copy the sheet music and play the tracks. I am currently stuck in this track as I am not able to understand what does the dot and the little symbol ...
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votes
3answers
9k views
Beamed note with unfilled heads — What is this? [duplicate]
In the 1905 incidental score to Peter Pan by John Crook (1852–1922), there’s a notation I’m unfamiliar with: double-beamed notes with unfilled heads. (See the first four bars of the score below.)
In ...
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4answers
776 views
Voice in bass clef too far apart for one hand
Given the sheet below (4/4 measure signature), how would you play the bass clef?
My understanding is that this is one voice with a large range (not two right?).
I'd hold down G1 & ♭D2 in the ...
7
votes
3answers
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Duration of staccato
Is there such a thing as a duration of a staccato note? I mean if you play a whole note staccato and an eighth note staccato, should the duration be the same? What if somebody needs an extra short ...
7
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3answers
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What does the ° symbol mean , as in F#°? [duplicate]
The internet search engine seems not to recognize it, so I cannot search for it there! I had assumed it was "augmented" but am now very unsure.
Thanks
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2answers
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Meaning of ₵ symbol on guitar sheet music
I have the following sheet music excerpt for Spanish guitar:
What is the meaning of the ₵2 and C3 on the 2nd and 4th measures?
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1answer
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How to indicate a tempo change during a repetition?
I have a quick question: What's the notation used to indicate that a certain part of a piece is supposed to be played at a higher/lower tempo but only during a repetition. For instance, if I have a D....
7
votes
5answers
982 views
Clarinetist learning baroque recorder
I've seen other questions, such as "Resources for learning to play the recorder" and have done a decent amount of Google searches. Basically, I used to play clarinet rather well, but had to quit due ...
7
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1answer
986 views
What does it mean when there are two 1s with a curve over a note?
I have never seen this kind of symbol before and google has failed me.
7
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1answer
6k views
Is piano and recorder sheet music the same?
My daughter (7 years old) can play recorder and is learning to play the piano.
For the recorder, she sometimes has the letters written under the notes. She doesn't think she can read all of the notes ...
7
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2answers
402 views
Fermata tie confusion
Can someone help me understand what the circled notation is instructing in this simple piece by Markham Lee? Are the notes tied? I'm confused as how they can be tied and staccato at the same time.
7
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1answer
664 views
How would I play this piano bassline?
The two notes (A) in the bass clef seem to be played at the same time. However, this is music for piano, so I can't seem to figure this one out.
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4answers
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Do accidentals apply to other staffs of the same type?
In this excerpt from Bach's BWV 772, does the B flat accidental on the lower staff also apply to the upper staff(second to last beat)?
I know that accidentally usually do not apply to different staffs,...
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6answers
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Question about reading music sheets
I started learning the piano a year ago but unfortunately back then I didn't have an excellent teacher; instead of working on reading notes which I'm really bad at, we focused on my playing skills I ...
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2answers
342 views
Bwv 639 Bach/Busoni note length and symbols
I am currently spending some time with this piece of music and I am a bit confused as to how long I should hold some of the notes and what some of the symbols mean.
In blue: Should i repeat/hold the ...
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2answers
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Notating 6 (or more) triplets with a single beam?
Does the bar labeled "One six note phrase" conform to notation standards?
All the examples of triplets that I've seen before have always had the beams break every three notes, similar to the "Manual ...
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2answers
453 views
Bracket symbol added to G clef
What does the symbol mean that is added to the clef in the Tenor voice in Poulenc’s Mass in G Major? It has a similar shape to an old C clef, but it is added to the existing G clef.
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2answers
709 views
Why are page turners only for pianists?
This might be a silly question, but why is it that pianists (sometimes) get a page turner, whereas violinists, cellists etc. turn their pages by themselves? A violinist too can have both hands busy, ...
