Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
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How to algorithmically find a chord progression for an infinite arbitrary melody?

My question is primarily about this piano performance: The number Pi is played with the right hand by mapping each digit to a note in the A minor scale: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 G# A B C D E F G# A B In the mean time the left hand…
roldugin
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Classical examples of a 'fifth voice' or 'ghost soprano'

There is an interesting phenomenon in choral (and perhaps also instrumental?) singing in which typically four voices are arranges in such a way that a 'fifth voice' or 'ghost voice' can be heard. It is not terribly well documented, but Barbershop…
Yellow
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Is 41/16 a proper time signature?

I know nothing about music theory so please forgive my terminology. I made a pattern that I've counted off as having 41 16th notes. I'm counting 1-e-and-a-2-e-and-a...etc and the pattern ends on ...10-e-and-a-11. I only understand time signatures…
cheaterpushups
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How do you practice Audiation (playing music in your head)?

Time for a tricky question. Audiation appears to be the practice of playing music in your head. I found an answer referring to what audiation is in https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/9621/to-sing-is-good-for-ear-training-but-is-it-crucial,…
Alexander Troup
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How do you avoid falling into the same patterns every time you improvise?

I think every player that tries to improvise gets to a point where he starts playing things out of memory without focusing too much on the ideas in his head. It happens to me all the time. I just hate it when I play long sequences of sixteenth notes…
Anthony
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Is there any official/semi-official standard for music symbol visual appearance?

Is there any official or at least widely recognized source that documents the visual parameters of music symbols? Something that says things like: "The note head shall be an ellipse with the proportion of the larger radius to the smaller radius of…
Vilx-
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Why does the pedal sign look like “Leo”?

I play piano. I took Trinity College London grade 6 practical and finished my theory course. I still don't understand why the Pedal sign looks like the word “Leo”. Could someone tell me why "Leo"?
MyMor12
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Why can't I sing high notes as a young female?

I am 14 years old and want to become a singer. I have seen that most female singers can usually hit these amazing high notes with no problem whatsoever. Like, for example, Hasley can do somewhat high notes, and you can actually hear that she is…
Freneda
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Do people with perfect pitch distinguish between equal temperament and just temperament?

Do people with perfect pitch distinguish between equal temperament and just temperament? Suppose someone with perfect pitch is singing a duet and wants to harmonise in thirds above the main melody. Will they harmonise in equal temperament or just…
chasly - supports Monica
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Is it possible to have perfect pitch but zero sense of relative pitch?

I'm sure that most musicians have a good sense of relative pitch. Given the name of a well-known song and a starting note, they can sing it in that key, whether or not it is the original key. I have always assumed until now, that people with…
chasly - supports Monica
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What's the difference between the "smooth" strings and the "rough" strings?

On my acoustic, the first 4 strings are "rough" - that is they are covered in a type of metal corkscrew. The last 2 strings though are completely smooth, and don't have a corkscrew finish. Why are the higher strings completely smooth? I do notice…
bobobobo
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How should I play two notes together on lines below the staff?

How should I play two notes together on lines below the staff?
Chadee
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6 answers

What makes the tonic the tonic and when do I know it changed?

What makes a note the tonal center of a scale other than forcing the listener to come from and go back to the selected note as the center? Or is that what makes that note the tonal center? Also at what point can you say for sure that the tonal…
Nathan Glick
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Why did we never simplify key signatures?

I understand that the key signature indicates what are the exact notes represented on the staff lines and spaces and thus tells us the diatonic scale in which the music is composed, which in turns gives us a clue about which key the music is…
Thibault J
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Scope of accidentals in measureless music

An accidental usually only lasts until the end of a measure, but what if there are no measures? I'm writing some music without bar lines (blame Satie) and am wondering what to do about notating accidentals, and how people will read accidentals in…
Bob says reinstate Monica
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