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Why did John Williams use a march to symbolise Indiana Jones?
John Williams is famous for using certain styles of composition to represent characters (e.g. a military march style in Superman to represent freedom/USA etc.), but why was Indiana represented by the Raider's March? He's a hero, but not in a…
Woodman
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How to improve the blend between male and female voices on the same part in a choir?
I sing in a small volunteer choir (12-15 people) in which we have women and men singing together on some parts. (Aside from the common tenor-shortage problem, sometimes we sing three-part songs, and lower altos and higher tenors end up together.) …
Monica Cellio
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What's this rectangular notation symbol?
I recently encountered a symbol in a Violoncello score which I was not able to identify. It is shown in the image below after the p (piano).
I looked for it in the Musescore documentation and in the Lilypond notation tables, but was unable to find…
Fabian
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What does "TAG for Three-part voices" mean?
Reading some three-part a cappella music, I see "TAG for Three-part voices" above the staff. Any idea what that might mean?
19 is the measure number. There are 27 measures total in the song, so this is the start of the last 8 measures. There's an…
Adam Monsen
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When, if ever, are arpeggiated six-four chords really "real"?
Textbooks traditionally teach that there are four types of six-four (i.e., second inversion) chords:
Pedal six-four (also sometimes called neighbor), where the bass stays the same;
Passing six-four, where the bass functions as a passing note…
Richard
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14
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Why is there both a sharp and a natural sign in parentheses before this note?
On Andre Gedalge's Traite de la Fugue book, there are these examples, where before the F note, there is both a natural and a sharp sign, both of which are in different parentheses.
Which one do I choose? And why did the author include both of…
Shevliaskovic
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Is the sense of resolution of a harmonic cadence psychologically "intrinsic", or is it created through conditioning?
If we took someone who had never heard western music before and played a piece of music with, say, a deceptive cadence and a perfect cadence in it, would they understand it? I.e., would they feel that the piece is not quite over when they hear the…
axelotl
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Piano scales: Why bother with hands together?
During my first ten years studying classical piano, the scales that I played were hands together, parallel. But the only literature that actually has scales in both hands, for more than one bar per page, is quite advanced and non-solo: Brahms piano…
Camille Goudeseune
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Soundproofing a room for drum set practice
When I practice my drums in the house, it tends to be a little too loud for people in other rooms. While I know I could trade-in my drums for an electronic kit as an alternative, I'd really rather keep my acoustic kit.
I'm considering creating a new…
Dan Moulding
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Is there a reason not to play A/C# as x42225?
I'm having a hard time fingering A/C# as this sheet suggests: x42220. I've tried:
barring with the first finger, but it's difficult for me not to touch the high E.
barring with the first finger and muting the high E with my little finger, which was…
Anna
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Can't sing high notes anymore after a bad cold
I'm a twelve year old female that sings with a choir (I'm a mezzo soprano that sings alto when there is no sop 2 part).
Around Christmas last year, I got a really bad cold. Like, so bad I could only sing three notes (they were in my mid range). I…
user52107
14
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Why don't tuning forks produce overtones?
I want to know how a tuning fork can produce a pure tone.
I do not understand the process because I know, although not sure, the presence of air inside an instrument introduces the harmonics of the fundamental frequency (e.g. guitar or violin…
Oguz
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Musical systems with more than 12 notes
From what I remember of music theory, all music (at least Western music) boils down to scales that revolve around the 12 notes (circle of fourths/fifths). I know there are scales in different regions that have different combinations of those notes…
Lance
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Why do music directors use keyboard (or similar) instruments for composing music?
I have seen that most of the film music directors use keyed music instruments for composing music. I hardly saw directors use other instruments like strings or wind instruments for the same. What would be the reason for this behaviour?
Sooraj
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Where was the D clef used?
I recently came across this score by Henry Work called "Grandfather's Clock". And i was a bit confused at first regarding this clef in the chorus. It seems to be a D clef.
I was wondering if this clef was popular at the time, or was used for any…
garyF
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