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

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8 answers

In a folk jam session, when asked which key my non-transposing chromatic instrument (like a violin) is in, what do I answer?

I know of transposing instruments. A transposing instrument is one where the player reads a C, plays a C, and what sounds is the name of the key of the instrument. Those instruments are often referred to with the key in their name, for example Bb…
Amedee Van Gasse
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Super Ultra Hyper Mega Meta Scales

If you are as obsessed with Jacob Collier as I am, you probably know what I'm talking about. If not, it is essentially a scale that continually modulates, taking you through multiple keys. Jacob coined the Super Ultra Hyper Mega Meta Lydian scale,…
WillRoss1
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17
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Capitalization of key names (C Minor vs. c minor)

I was taught when I was young that minor key names should be written with the note in lowercase, as well as the word "minor". Nowadays on recordings, etc., I usually see both capitalized. What was the original reason for this rule, and why has it…
Sophie Alpert
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4 answers

What does this double-treble double-bass staff mean?

Half-way through Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# minor there is this connected set of double clefs. Can anyone tell me what to do? It was a single set of bass and treble clefs for half the piece. I thought maybe there was a D.C. al Coda thing going on…
Toby Samples
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17
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3 answers

Chopin: marche funèbre bar 15 impossible place

Chopin sonata #2 Opus 35: Look at the left hand: Db from small octave and F from 1-st octave. Neither I, nor anybody of my acquaintances can stretch the hand so far. My idea was to replace F 1-t octave to F small octave. But this is a hack of…
user4035
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3 answers

What is the difference between singing and speaking?

I can both sing and speak C#3 . There would be a difference between using the note for singing and speaking. What is the difference between singing and speaking? If it depends on what kind of vocal technique one is using them please tell me so. I…
user20754
17
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4 answers

How to notate time signature switching consistently every measure

It seems my musical journey's always pushing me into left field territory when it comes to notation ... So this time I'd like to know what would be a good way to notate a consistent switching of time signature every measure. The piece I'm writing…
Creynders
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Can the harmonic series explain the origin of the major scale?

This Wikipedia article is the source for two overtone series charts... The numbers above the harmonic indicate the number of cents' difference from equal temperament (rounded to the nearest cent). Regarding harmonic 11, is it a 'out of tune'…
Michael Curtis
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Is it acceptable to play the same note simultaneously on different strings on cello?

For a piece I am performing with a local school orchestra, a final open A is to undergo an "insane" crescendo to a Fortissississimo, which our conductor interprets as "as loud as possible." A fellow cello player suggested I play a double note with…
nanofarad
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Reasoning for redundant "natural" (but not courtesy accidental)

I understand why you'd add courtesy accidentals, but I was browsing through some old sheet music lying around here and came across this, and can't seem to come up with a reason for this natural in bar 2: What am i missing here? The signature's G…
Creynders
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How do I notate a staccato on a unison note?

If there is a stem on either side of a note, or the stems are DOWN below ledger lines, where does the dot indicating staccato go?
Wendy
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17
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7 answers

Can piano studies be played as a performance piece?

I've learned that Etudes are performance pieces, but what about piano studies like Hanon and Czerny?
Lenny
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17
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3 answers

Chord stretched across treble clef and bass clef

I'm a beginner at piano, and struggling to understand what I'm looking at here, and how to play it. I've bought and downloaded some piano sheet music from musicnotes.com. It's in 12/8 time, and part of it looks like this: How am I to interpret the…
Nik Silver
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1 answer

What does "m.Iz." or "m.Tz." mean in a score?

What does "m.Iz." or "m.Tz." (or "m.I%." or "m.T%.": I don't know if it is a "%" or a "z") mean in this score? The piece is the waltz "Diana Triste" of the Colombian composer Luis A. Calvo (1882-1945). Here is the link to the…
J.C.M.H.
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Why is it common to write tuba sheet music in concert pitch?

I play E♭ tuba in a wind orchestra, and we always get the notes written in concert pitch, and we have to logically "transpose" to the instrument key on the fly. How common is this approach? Why is it done? Additional info to clarify: When I was…
awe
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