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

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1500 questions
20
votes
8 answers

Are there any benefits of using a Capo?

What is the benefit of using a Capo versus just playing in a different key without one? In other words, why not just transpose the song and play it in the desired key without the capo?
JustnBeaver
20
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6 answers

How do you play loud notes on the piano without slapping the keys?

How do you play loud notes on the piano without generating a harsh, slapping, or percussive sound? I read about pressing down from the surface of the keys rather than from above. And my piano teacher recommends releasing tension after hitting the…
SEL
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4 answers

Is it spelled "violincello" or "violoncello"?

I’m trying to understand the proper spelling of the full name of the cello. I’ve seen it both of these ways, violincello and violoncello. I thought since the cello is part of the violin family it would be violincello, but it seems some places are…
Benjamin Hale
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3 answers

What's the proper piano notation for adding one note at a time to a chord and holding all the notes?

I came across a bar that sounds like this while transcribing a piece for keyboard. Is there a correct/better way to write this?
spider_gem
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7 answers

Vocal range of a crowd

I am planning to sing a song and which has a vocal range of D3-D4. I want the crowd to join in too. Should I raise or lower the tune of this song to better fit the crowd's range? Which key or vocal range is recommended for a crowd (comprising of men…
adir abargil
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5 answers

I find myself making the same mistake when practising - despite focussing on that part- how to remedy?

I'm an extremely newbie musician (preparing for Grade II on oboe - no prior musical experience). I've looked into the best ways to practise (and I have a teacher) but I find myself struggling with certain passages and repeating my mistakes - even…
user6241
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7 answers

Does tuning music to A = 432 Hz versus A = 440 Hz have a measurable effect on listeners?

A brief internet search for "432 vs 440" will bring up a large number of chat discussions and videos discussing whether the tuning makes a real difference. These often seem to boil down to the question of whether people can perceive the difference…
Aaron
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3 answers

How could I get my Classical Music Compositions published and known?

I'm a first timer on this site. Have patience and mercy with me. For years I've been a professor, performer and Conductor. I'm a composer, not that many would know, I'm on my 711th opus. All classical music. Piano concertos, chamber ensembles,…
Maestro Desdichado
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12 answers

Should sight-reading be emphasized less for piano instruction with new developments in technology

I realize this post may be controversial. I've been playing for about eleven years. I'm somewhere at the amateur/intermediate level. When I started sheet music was the only medium available. Since then, nearly every single song ever made has been…
prettykitty
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3 answers

How can I force LilyPond to repeat a chord symbol (relates to alternate endings)?

In chordmode, LilyPond chooses not to display chord symbols when they are the same as the preceding symbol, which is usually the right behavior. However, this behavior gets weird in the context of alternate endings of repeats. Here's a simple…
David Tresner-Kirsch
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5 answers

Why is violin tuning order the way it is?

I get that A is how we define concert pitch, so we tune that first, but then we always tune D-A, G-D, then A-E. Why is that? Is it just convention? My best conjecture/hypothesis is that it makes it more likely that in an orchestra setting, the…
General Grievance
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11 answers

Difference between Baritone and Euphonium

What is the difference between a baritone and a euphonium, and how can you tell? My band director sometimes uses them interchangeably, but I am pretty sure that is not correct. All I know is that this has to do with different valving.
Cody Guldner
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14 answers

If you don't use Solfège, how do you read & memorize music-- what goes through your mind?

I learned solfège as a child, long before I started to learn the musical notes on 5 lines. So I'm used to matching every notes to its solfege equivalent in order to know which piano key to press and how to sing. In the U.S. musicians use C D E F G…
GrandAdagio
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5 answers

How do I choose my first guitar for self-learning?

Let's say I've never played the guitar, or I've only learned to pluck a string and play a chord but have forgotten most of it. Now, I've become interested and would like to try it out. I don't want to spend a lot, and I want something that I will be…
Fabian Fagerholm
19
votes
5 answers

What is the history of considering Rock 'n' Roll to be "the Devil's music"?

Historically, what evidence has been cited in support of the claim that Rock 'n' Roll is the music of Devil? This notion exists in the popular culture, fueled by Footloose and half-remembered grade-school history, that there was some form of…
luser droog
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