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

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1500 questions
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11 answers

Why do people with perfect pitch perceive tunes not in 440 Hz out of tune?

I do not have perfect pitch, but I heard that people who have it might have difficulty when a piece of music is not tuned to the usual 440 Hz pitch standard; it sounds out of tune for them. But this makes no sense to me. As long everything is in the…
StefanH
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6 answers

How do classical composers write music?

I am starting to learn about music theory and today it hit me how do classical composers such as Mozart and Beethoven are able to write music for instruments they don't play, such as (for example purpose) timpani or trumpet. Is it all music theory…
Rick Rhodes
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19 answers

How often is it recommended to change bass strings?

With the risk of being a duplicate question of How often should I replace the strings on my guitar? I'd like to ask the same thing for bass guitar. Bass strings are pricier than guitar strings, so I don't want to replace them more often then I…
Yoav Weiss
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11 answers

When is a piece in A minor versus C major?

When would you say a piece, or a movement in a symphony, is in A minor versus C major? They both use the same notes on the scale... what would indicate that the piece is in A minor? Let's take an example. The 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th…
ktm5124
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12 answers

Pay-to-Play Gigs

There is a local open-mic where I live that charges its musicians to play on stage for 10 minutes. The amount of money is trivial ($2), but I have the gnawing sense that, no matter how you coat it, paying to play isn't right, even under the…
thank_you
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36
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11 answers

Why are there many guitarists, but only one drummer in a band?

In a band, there will be many guitarists. However, there will always be only one drummer. Why can't there be more than one drummer in a band? Are there any cultural or musical reasons behind it or that's just the way things are?
Computernerd
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8 answers

How do you determine if you're ready to join a band?

I've been pondering joining a band for some time now, but I usually get stalled at deciding whether or not I should spend more time learning to play first. I don't want to go through potential embarrassment of being told that I completely suck. Is…
Adam Lear
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9 answers

What is the best way of learning the notes on the fretboard.

What is the best way to learn the notes on the fretboard. Are there any good tips on how to do this?
gwc
36
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8 answers

How to tell the time signature of a song by listening?

Every song has some kind of time signature; even if different parts of the song have different time signatures, there is always a time signature. When learning a song by ear and no score, knowing the time signature and where beat 1 is significantly…
Dom
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6 answers

Does leaving a capo on "hurt" the strings?

On occasion I've accidentally left a capo on (overnight). Does this decrease the life of the strings, staying in tune time, hurt the neck, or anything else that's bad?
bobtheowl2
35
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12 answers

Can people really sight-read advanced pieces?

I find it hard to read a staff and play it on the keyboard fluently. The most common scene for me is that I read one note on the paper and then lower my head and find out the location of that note and knock it. It seems even harder when playing…
Robot Dreamer
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9 answers

Why are C♯ and D♭ different frequencies?

I am a music enthusiast, and I was recently reading What is the difference between equivalent Flat and Sharp keys as far as musical notation? Are there any reasons to prefer one over the other? This part struck me as odd: C♯ and D♭ actually differ…
yasar
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10 answers

How to bend and release without flicking the other strings?

I'm trying to bend up then back down on the G string (so it plays both notes, I'm not muting the bend back down to G) but I always catch my fingernail on the D string. So when I let the bend back down to G, my fingernail flicks the D string and…
NotDan
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9 answers

Will a 61-key keyboard severely restrict my piano repertoire?

I'm planning on trading my 88-key digital piano for a 61-key portable music workstation as I'm more inclined into rock keyboards as of late than classical music. However, I do enjoy playing classical parts, and I wonder if buying a keyboard with a…
Diego
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5 answers

The notes outside the major scale form a pentatonic scale

Something that woke me up in the middle of the night, realising that if you take the 12 notes in an octave in western music, and from that you remove all those belonging to a major scale, you are left with 5 notes arranged as a pentatonic scale!…
palako
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