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

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1500 questions
22
votes
2 answers

Is this piece of renaissance music really in the locrian mode?

A fifteenth-century dance manual contains this piece of music: which appears to be (uncharacteristically) in the locrian mode. Is it really, or am I mis-reading? Does anybody know of other music from this period in this mode? Any in multiple…
Monica Cellio
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9 answers

Exactly what does "diatonic" mean?

Is the meaning very context dependent, or can it be defined in general terms? Does the meaning change by author or period? Sometimes it's used to refer to anything that stays within a specific tonal key or context, but sometimes when people talk…
TaylorSwiftFan5932
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1 answer

What does this 7 mean above the F flat?

It seems to look like a fingering number but I don’t have 7 fingers and the note is already marked with a fingering number. This is from Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66.
A dude with a question
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3 answers

What do the pedals on grand pianos do?

I have been playing the piano for some time now, and have recently switched from the electric piano to the grand piano. My grand piano has three pedals. What does each of the three pedals do?
xilpex
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22
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5 answers

Which are all the musical intervals that are valid?

I have been reading around many sources, but it seems there is not a full standardized way in naming intervals, some sources say that such a thing as a diminished first exist. So I started making an interval chart and realized something, intervals…
Cheche Romo
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22
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8 answers

Problems With Learning a Second Instrument

I’m trying learn jazz piano. For about ten years I played the violin; solo and in orchestras and quartets. I’ve also absolutely no trouble enjoying for instance Keith Jarrett’s more complex solo pieces (Radiance, La Scala, etc.) in addition to more…
Frans
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3 answers

Unknown Musical Symbol: Straight Dotted Line Between Eighth Note Stems

What does the dotted line mean between the eighth note stems in the LH part? This appears in the Dover edition of Haydn's Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major. It is present in both movements one and two. When I've looked at other versions of this piece,…
Julie
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3 answers

What are the four chords that so many pop songs are based on?

Apparently, a lot of pop music is based on the same four chords, the video does not say which those may be. Any idea what four chords they are talking about?
Neil Meyer
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1 answer

What is the meaning of this small vertical line?

During this question about "China Gates" by John Adams another question came up: What is the meaning of the little vertical line in bass clef bar 4 in front of the C? The same mark re-appears several times in the piece, for example in bar 19 in…
Arsak
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7 answers

Cleaning a tarnished flute

My flute is tarnished and needs to be cleaned... I was afraid if I polished it, I would break something on it. I read online that it's a bad idea to remove tarnish on a flute yourself as you can ruin the pads. I have some questions regarding…
Melanie Shebel
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6 answers

Prokofiev's style

I have a predilection for music from the first half of the 20th century. I can't pinpoint the exact reason why, I suspect it is from absorbing so much music from movies, tv series and computer games which mainly draws on late romantic and early…
Raskolnikov
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5 answers

Fermata over a rest at the end of the piece?

Why? It seems to me that as soon as you stop the instrument from making a sound at the end of the piece, it's done. I understand that the final rest is necessary to fill up the measure, but why put a fermata over it? Do you sit there and prevent…
Mickael Caruso
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5 answers

Is it possible to find the correct chords from melody notes alone?

I'm caught up in this thought. My friend gave me just the melody notes of a song. Here it is, So, here is the problem: "without having the chords supplied, there is no way of knowing what the chords should be." For example: The E note that begins…
John Eipe
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10 answers

Why does music sound bad when played backwards?

I am not sure where to post this, but I hope it fits here. If you have ever recorded music, and play the track backwards, you'll notice it sounds quite strange, almost demonic. I have always wondered, why doesn't music sound good when played in…
user1864
22
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4 answers

The loudest acoustic instrument

There are more than a hundred different acoustic instruments, some of which are very loud. What is the loudest acoustic instrument?
SovereignSun
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