Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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Are there any machine-readable databases of chord progressions available?

I'm interested in doing some linguistics-inspired computational musicology on chord progressions and am wondering if there are any freely available databases of chord progressions. Obviously, I could construct one manually from lead sheets,…
James Tauber
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Is there any set of 2-6 notes that doesn't have a chord name?

Is there any combination of up to six notes in the chromatic scale that could not be classified and named as a chord? Can anyone give me an example and explanation if so?
Ethan Richardson
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Why does standard notation not preserve intervals (visually)

(Disclaimer: I don't know much about music theory but ...) The notes A, B are a whole step apart, and B, C are a semitone apart, yet their distance in standard notation is the same visually (from a space to a line, ... etc). Why ? It's unnecessarily…
ankrisac
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4 answers

Could B♭ instruments be built in C? Why are they in B♭ in the first place?

Why did the clarinet and trumpet get made to 'be' in B♭? Could they have been made to produce concert pitch C? This would make a composer's life so much easier when physically writing scores. Surely a slightly longer instrument wouldn't make…
Tim
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Beatles - Because: Chord progression

I am currently looking at this tune but I'm a bit confused by a part of the progression. It seems to be using chords built mostly from the C# harmonic minor scale. So, my current understanding tells me we could…
Dan
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2 answers

Two whole notes on the same measure, what does it mean?

I'm starting to analyze the Slavic March by Tchaikovsky. In measures 6, 8 and 9 the Clarinet has these repeated whole notes, but I don't know what they mean (I'm not a clarinetist). The bassoon/fagotto also has the same repeated whole notes in…
Víctor López García
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14 answers

Ideas for a musical instrument to learn that is easier on the fingers

I am hoping to learn to play a musical instrument (I cannot play anything as yet) that is easy on fingertips and am looking for some suggestions, please. I have psoriasis on my fingertips and it usually spreads to just above the first knuckles. I…
Mhia
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7 answers

Speed of playing notes in different octaves

Is it common for pieces to have lower notes played slower? Do instruments with lower registers typically play slower? I ask because notes in lower octaves are closer together in frequency. For example, A0 to A#0 is about 1.6 Hz different while A1 to…
thaimin
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I feel like I don't evolve, and sometimes shamed when playing with someone better than me

I'm currently 15 years old, and I play violin on the church. I started playing there when I was 9 years old, and always loved doing what I do, specially for the reason I do it. I sometimes play with people who just started like my 9 year old self.…
MucaP
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Very little time to learn pretty complex songs. What should my strategy be?

I got invited to join this band. They've got plenty more experience than I do, but I've been playing with one of the members for quite a while and, I guess, I wasn't doing so bad, since he's now invited me to join this more advanced project. They've…
Wellington Rodrigues Pereira
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Is it ok for a choir to learn by listening?

I'm in a high school choir and we just got a new teacher. He is adamant that we don't listen to rehearsal tracks or recordings, because "real musicians don't." Is there merit to this? Is it better to learn a piece by working on rhythms and notes…
Nicole
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5 answers

As a soloist, should I face the audience or the conductor during long tutti sections?

I am playing a violin concerto with an orchestra and a fairly large audience in a few weeks. So my question is, in the long Tutti parts where I don't play, should I face towards the audience, and what should my posture be like?
S.L
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"The intervals considered dissonant have changed since the 'Middle Ages'"; How so?

In reading my new book 'Complete Classical Music Guide', I understand the following: If two notes are separated by a consonant the sound is pleasing to the ears. If they are of a dissonant interval they clash with each other. Therefore they have…
cmp
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Does piano soundproofing require floating walls? Getting conflicting answers from professionals

I have just placed a new hybrid piano in a small 9x13 room in my apartment. I want to use the room for playing and for singing. Costly steps have already been taken, and, much to our dismay, we still need much improvement. At this point we have…
Money Pits
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Is it possible to create the illusion of a sub-harmonic?

The way I understand it, a normal plucked tone consists of a great many overtones in addition to the base tone. A pinched harmonic, however, shifts the base tone higher into the overtone series by establishing a node in the string's range of…
luser droog
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