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

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1500 questions
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5 answers

Is there any difference between a soprano trombone and a slide trumpet?

Occasionally, I will see people arguing about whether an instrument should be called a "soprano trombone" or a "slide trumpet" yet I have never seen any instrument designated as one as being any different from an instrument designated as the…
NReilingh
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What does this shorthand mean?

I was reading an article on the Internet and saw this notation: 3*3*3*3* – 4331 – tmp+3 – hp – cel/pno – cds (14/12/10/8/6) Then, searching on Google, I could see that this is a shorthand for orchestra instrumentation. But even reading this…
João Paulo
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How do you voice extended chords?

If I have a Cmaj13 chord, it uses 7 notes. Basically all the notes of the scale. In a previous question, I was told that you rarely play all 7 notes for a 13th chord. So how do you know which ones to play, do you just randomly pick notes from it?…
user34288
16
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4 answers

Is the tritone (A4 / d5 / DA3 / Dd6) still banned in Roman Catholic music?

The tritone is one of the most dissonant intervals in music. It is also known as the "Augmented 4th", "Diminished 5th", "Doubly Augmented 3rd" or "Doubly Diminished 6th", and it is composed of three adjacent whole tones. The tritone was banned in…
user53472
16
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4 answers

Why use odd time signatures?

I'm a beginner guitar player, and I'm trying to pick up some of the music theory behind the instrument, and one thing that I've sort of grasped is odd time signatures. I know what they are, and I can read and play in them, but I still don't think I…
aroundthecoroner
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Well-known composers or piano pieces generally suitable for someone with small hands?

One of my struggles with playing the piano is that I have small hands. I can reach an octave - mostly. I can reach it, I just can't maneuver between octaves quickly. Often times a piece will have a running stretch of octaves that I am unable to…
Rebecca Chernoff
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How do I interpret two notes in a tempo marking?

Is this the same tempo as (quarter note) = 90, or is it (half note) = 90? I know what tempo this is because of the marking next to the bar number, but what does the part below the number mean? Is this saying to stay at the same tempo? What does…
nloveladyallen
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Reference songs for interval training (esp. A5/d5; M6; m6)

As the tutor for my school's music department, I spend a lot of time helping students drill intervals. However, I only have a handful of songs to recommend recognition. P8 — Somewhere Over the Rainbow P5 — Also Sprach Zarathustra P4 — Here Comes…
user3169
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J.S.Bach's organ tablature notation

Is anyone familiar with some freely available guide explaining in detail how to read Bach's organ tablature notation? Apparently, Bach was very comfortable in using the tablature notation, especially in his youth, probably because it saved him a…
Kresimir
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Should I retrain myself to be a right handed drummer?

I'm in a slightly strange situation. I have been playing the piano ever since I was a kid, and have in recent years taken an interest in drumming. Not having consistent access to a real drum kit, I got into the habit of performing rhythmic passages…
Avish
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Should I learn to play from memory in an orchestra

I play in an amateur wind orchestra and I noticed that generally people do not play from memory at all and look into the sheets for the entire piece. I'm no exception for the most part but here and there I tried to lift my eyes up and remember the…
Carpid
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What is the historically informed way of playing the 1/16 notes in Handel's Water Music suite no. 1 overture?

Handel's Water Music suite no. 1 starts with a slow overture with 1/16 notes at the middle and end of each measure: Some performances play it "as written" [Koopman], but some play the 1/16 notes delayed and shorter (something like 1/32) [Gardiner,…
user1803551
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Why does this tonal scale from 1737 have both F and E♯?

I've recently encountered Jean Féry-Rebel's "Les Élémens". (Check out that wild opening; it's hard to believe it was written in 1737!) In the fifth measure of the third staff, why does this descending scale include both F and E♯? (Notice that it…
Richard
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Do different modes have the same cadence structure?

In major and minor keys, the perfect cadence is V to I Will this structure remain the same in a different mode? I.e. E Phrygian Mode in the key of C (E F G A B C D), the tonic chord is the iii of the key of C major. So, the scale would be iii IV V…
LittleFunny
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Are musical floppy drives tone wheel instruments?

So I'm doing a project involving classifying electrophones according to MIMO's Hornbostel-Sachs system (see here) and I'm looking at musical floppy disk drives specifically (see here). The drives make sounds mecahnically by electrically pulsing the…
user3684314
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