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1500 questions
20
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9 answers

When singing, how to avoid being distracted by vocal harmony or other vocal lines?

I'm not a professional singer but I love singing. I find it very difficult to focus on my own vocal line when I hear other vocal lines. For example, When I was in the college choir, I sang bass, and sometimes I get distracted by other vocal parts,…
netvope
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Why does a minor sixth chord contain a major 6th interval?

This is something that has always puzzled me. Perhaps I am going about this the wrong way but when I build chords I always build them based on the scale that corresponds to the quality of the chord. For example... CMaj7 = C-E-G-B ; Same notes that…
Zenacity
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4 answers

Will a marching band on the go sound out of tune to an observer due to the Doppler Effect?

Upon reading Simon Singh's Big Bang, I came upon an explanation of the Doppler Effect (besides the known Formula 1 and ambulance sirens examples): Trumpeters were split into two groups and asked to play the note E-flat. One group of trumpeters…
Shevliaskovic
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20
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12 answers

Can a chord contain both the C and C♯ notes? (as opposed to containing C and D♭ notes)

Can a chord contain both the C and C♯ notes? Or do you always have to use D♭ rather than C♯ in a chord that already contains the note C? I'm guessing the answer is no, both C and C♯ should not be allowed - but I do see a lot of inconsistency on the…
asgeo1
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20
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2 answers

What do Four Vertical Dots mean?

I was looking through a score by Bartok (5th String Quartet) and came across a symbol I didn't recognize. There is a dot between each line in the clef. What does this mean? Edit: Here's another example, which looks more like a barline:
Josiah
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20
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6 answers

Get back into an instrument after long break?

In my youth I played lots of piano, for over 10 years, and became quite good at it. During college, however, I just didn't have the time to keep it up. It looks as if I'll soon have access to a piano again, and of course I want to pick it up again.…
Lagerbaer
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20
votes
12 answers

How to obtain a Clean yet Distorted guitar sound?

I'm kind of a guitar effects noob so sorry if this is an extremely stupid question. How do you obtain a clean and distorted tone using pedals and amp? An example of the kind of sound I'm looking for is can be found in a lot of songs but my primary…
John Henderson
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4 answers

What does this 'Led' or 'Σed' indication mean?

In Mark Levine's The Jazz Theory Book, there is this example to be played on the piano: The Jazz Theory Book, figure 3-149 I've never had any piano training/lessons, so I don't really know the indications. What does 'Led' (or is it 'Σed') mean?
Shevliaskovic
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4 answers

What is the best way to learn to sing harmony?

I am quite capable of singing the lead vocal but have a difficult time finding the 3rd or 5th harmony in order to harmonize with someone else. Is there a method of learning to hear or find the harmony notes in order to be able to sing them or must…
Rockin Cowboy
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8 answers

Becoming a good guitar teacher

I am thinking of starting guitar teaching and, of course, I am aiming to become a good guitar teacher. I don't think it will happen in the near future, because I don't have enough skill level yet, but since this is my plan, I think it's a good time…
Silver Light
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20
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7 answers

Keeping track of problems during rehearsals

As a mostly untrained conductor, one problem I've always had is keeping track of problems with a piece as we work through it. Something will stick out and I'll want to go back, but all I could manage was a slash or other simple mark that isn't…
derekerdmann
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2 answers

How cold is too cold to move a piano?

I'm having a piano moved by professionals to my house tomorrow morning when its supposed to be between 40-45 degrees F and 65% humidity. I've asked them to cover it during the move. It should take less than an hour to move it from the store to my…
deltaray
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1 answer

How do you read Graphic Scores?

I recently found out about the graphic notation. I was reading up on it on wikipedia, but there was very little information about how the scores are read besides you read them left to right. There is an example score on the wikipedia page that looks…
Dom
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11 answers

Why do Major keys contain minor chords?

Looking through each Major Key: At position II, III, VI are MINOR chords. At position VII, this is a DIMINISHED chord. Looking at the C Major Key as an example, this chord progression is made up from CDEFGAB with no sharps or flats, unlike the…
user13175
20
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3 answers

Are octaves, fifths, fourths and thirds considered as "consonant" in all music cultures?

Our western music culture revolves around the rule that certain intervals are very consonant, and others (such as the interval between a B and F) are dissonant. The octave is the most consonant interval we have, and we are able to use notes from…
Lee White
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