Standard notation question

[John Bertotti]

I moved into the next section of the Bickford method. It has a quarter note with a g with a sharp on it and a D above it. Two notes, are they both played sharp or is the G only sharp and the D played natural?
Also when more than one note is shown like a chord are they always played low to high?
And lastly when playing in a different key and say the F is sharped at the beginning all Fs are sharped throughout the piece, but if a natural is placed before an F in any given measure all Fs in that measure are natural. Do they all revert to sharp after that measure or do they remain natural through out the piece? I think they revert to sharp after the measure with the natural but need it clarified for me. Thanks all John http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[sbarnes]

the f# at the beginning of a piece is called a key signature and yes, it applies to all f's in the entire song (unless the key signature changes) - the natural sign appearing before the f is then called an accidental and it stays in effect until you cross the next barline when it would revert back to the original key signature....

in your first example the g would be sharp and the d natural - unless otherwise dictated by the key signature....

you might like to go to www.musictheory.net for some really good explanations....

[John Bertotti]

Thanks sbarnes I'll check it out. I only just got into the other keys. I have been going over some of the other scales and definitely don't understand why you would sharp the notes on the way up and not on the way down. I understand why they are sharped going up but not why they aren't going down. John http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Rroyd]

The scales you have described in your second post are what are referred to as melodic minor scales, with scale tones 6 and 7 being raised 1/2 step when ascending. #A natural minor scale does not alter any tones, and a harmonic minor scale raises scale tone 7 only. #For example, if you are playing in A minor and the chord progression includes an E or an E7, then scale tone 7 will be raised 1/2 step so that chord will have the correct tones, and you have a harmonic minor scale. #(G becomes G#) # If you are playing in A minor using the natural minor scale tones, no tones are altered, and#chords would be A minor, D minor, E minor, C, F and G. #(This is also often referred to as the Aeolian mode.) # The melodic minor is not nearly as common as the other two in traditional music, being used more extensively in classical literature.
Don't let yourself get bogged down by trying to absorb all the theory at once; if you can find songs that exemplify what you are learning about, it generally will make more sense, and makes it easier to learn and understand. Depending on your musical interests, it's possible you might not ever even use some of that information you are learning.
#In regards to your chord-pick direction question, generally that will depend on the rhythm, by picking downward on the beat, and upward on the off-beat.

[John Bertotti]

Thanks Rroyd, "hmm! exciting it is when one begins to understand the explanations given". Whoa I just typed a Yoda sentence the force must be with me. Seriously, I get it, I'm even approaching understanding. Saturday was my first day adventuring into different keys, major and minor. I was concerned it would be much harder than Marine boot camp but so far nothing tops that. Thanks all and for all the newbies remember anything is possible regardless of age. I'm 38 and actually had someone tell me I was to old to learn play and read music so why bother. I can't repeat what I told him. Thanks all John

[John Bertotti]

another question, if a note other than the key signature, is sharped or flattened in a measure does it also remain that way for the whole measure or for just that individual note or for that note throughout the rest of the piece. I ask because an etude I'm looking at uses a sharp on the last note of the measure and a natural in the next. Thanks John

[August Watters]

What you're probably seeing is a "courtesy accidental." It's an accidental placed where one isn't really required, but placed to avoid that moment of indecision where you wonder if the alteration is still in place.

Normally an alteration applies to that note only, for the rest of the measure. It doesn't affect other notes, including notes of the same letter name in other octaves, and it is automatically cancelled at the end of the bar. Although this is the most common convention, there are exceptions for some instruments and musical styles -- for example in piano music it's not unusual for an accidental to apply to all the notes of that letter name in different octaves, for the current measure.

If the last note of the bar is altered (as you have described), and the note reoccurs quickly in the next measure, it would be common to use a courtesy accidental (usually a natural, and sometimes in parentheses) to say "I know you already realize this note doesn't need a natural, but I'm just reminding you not to carry over the alteration from the previous measure."

Hope this helps!

August W

[John Bertotti]

Thanks August, just the explanation I needed. John