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

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1500 questions
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votes
9 answers

Are 7th chords made up from 4 notes?

I'm new to guitar, and I have been learning basic chords over the months. I know that C Major is made up from C E and G When learning C7, there's an extra finger and that makes up 4 notes, so, C E G and Bb? I saw in some website, that it's made up…
user65342
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6 answers

How do I train myself to sing pure vowels?

When singing in languages like Italian or Latin (which don't run to diphthongs the way English does), I sometimes find it hard to sing pure vowels, particularly when holding a note for a while. Should I attack this as an "ear" problem (and I need…
Monica Cellio
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9 answers

How to play proper time when another instrument is playing out of time?

As a drummer, I'm expected to provide a metronome-like precision and a foundation to a band. When playing in a band and having an instrument (i.e. guitar) which doesn't play in time correctly or is having tempo issues (speed-up most of the time), I…
Alen Siljak
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4 answers

Why is there a key signature change in Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata (2nd movement)?

I have listened to the Hammerklavier Sonata many times, sometimes while following the score, and I have noticed that, in the second movement, there is a change in the key signature for just a little. This has baffled me for quite some time. I…
George
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10 answers

How to figure out key from key signature?

I know the major scale formula so can easily work out the signature by building the scale from tonic, but I've never learnt it the other way... How to know the key/scale from the signature of sharps/flats. I know there's links to circle of fifths…
Mr. Boy
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2 answers

I wish you a merry Christmas: what is this chord progression called?

Is there a special term for this chain of secondary dominants V/IV, V/V, V/vi ? (or in C major: C,F,D,G,E,Am) It’s a frequent chord pattern in the era of Baroque and has also been used in the Classic period but it also appears in Pop-music, e.g.…
Albrecht Hügli
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9 answers

How to transcribe an arpeggiated 4-note chord to be playable on a violin?

I finished arranging the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in F minor for a string quartet, only to find out that the chord at bar 7 is impossible for a violinist. My instinctual reaction was: No, it isn't impossible, listen, it is…
Caters
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8 answers

Is it good practice to speed up and slow down where not written in a song?

When a accelerando and ritardando is not written, is it bad to speed up and slow down where you think it “sounds better?” This seems like against practicing with a steady beat, because it makes a metronome useless.
Marvin
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7 answers

Why can't I identify major and minor chords?

I am playing violin for 6/7 years now and doing ABRSM grade 7 this year. Problem is I still can't identify chords. Sad/Happy feeling doesn't work for me even a bit. Because of this, I can't identify whether a chord is major or minor and at least…
Lasitha Yapa
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4 answers

Learning an alternative moving-do solfege -- futile?

Here's a fairly specific but multi-faceted question. I can only solfege (moving-do) in my head up to about Allegro 16ths at best, and I've been thinking if maybe there are ways to speed up. I noticed that I can solfege faster in a Japanese accent…
Rei Miyasaka
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3 answers

Why are almost all the people in this orchestra recording wearing headphones with one ear on and one ear off?

I was watching this video showing the behind-the-scenes recording of Ed Sheeran's 'Perfect' single, and I noticed that everyone in the orchestra (that I could see) is wearing headphones with one ear on and the other off (or just with no second ear…
stanri
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2 answers

What does this 'x' mean on the stem of the voice's note, above the notehead?

I was looking at the score for Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire (On Youtube), and on the voice staff none of the notes are connected with each other and they have this x or * on their stem: What do these symbols mean? At the beginning of the…
Shevliaskovic
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3 answers

What is this type of notehead called?

I was looking through some sheet music when I came across a notehead that looked very odd. It looks like a whole note with two lines on both its sides. Here is an image of the notehead: What is this type of notehead called, and what is its…
xilpex
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4 answers

Is it better practice to read straight from sheet music rather than memorize it?

My music teacher sometimes tells me too memorize a song, but sometimes also tells me to read straight from sheet music. This confuses me as I am unsure which one is better practice. Is it better practice to read straight from sheet music rather than…
xilpex
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1 answer

What 1968 Moog synthesizer was used in the Movie Apollo 11?

I was watching the short YouTube video How ‘Apollo 11’ Gives the Moon Landing New Life | Anatomy of a Scene and near the end the narrator says: My music composer, Matt Morton decided to do a period score, using only instrumentation that was around…
uhoh
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