NOTATIO

Dynamics depend so much on context and instrument that I wonder whether anything so precise as being between mf and mp can really exist in practical terms. Tchaikovsky's marking of pppppp in his sixth symphony is for the bassoon, on which instrument it has doubtful meaning, so it is usually played o...

I think one should be wary of using mezzo on its own as a dynamic, in case it is confused with mezza , an abbreviation for mezza voce which is primarily, but not exclusively, a vocal direction to use a half tone, which is usually rather quiet (more likely sounding pp than mp ). This is cancelled by ...

RMK wrote: ↑20 Aug 2025, 14:53 … … …[0ff-topic]

BTW, is finaleforum.com officially dead?

It's still working. I think this was a false report.

I always write dotted notes, as in the first beat of D. For the second beat of D I would have dotted semiquavers (16ths). No-one playing what I have written thus has ever hesitated or questioned the meaning, or indeed commented either for or against. What I might add, is that the hybrid look of D co...

… … … 4) You wrote: "notice that the C# in the D major scale is called Db in the Ab major scale. ... Although these are the same note, they are not even displayed on the same line or space of the staff line." These are the same note in the sense that a keyboard player on an equal-tempered...

I think that everything you want can be done in Finale. However, you might be better to ask for detailed help on https://www.finaleforum.com/

Apropos of the presence or absence of markings in 19th century scores, I find the difference in approach between the vocal markings, dynamics, tone colour et al , of Verdi and Wagner, both born in 1813, fascinating. Wagner is very sparing with such markings, while in his maturity Verdi sometimes has...

This is not something I've thought about, but I suspect you may be right and that over consistency in this matter can look rather mechanical. Interesting placement of bass clefs in the first example: was this a normal convention at the time? FWIW Out of idle curiosity, and with no idea what I might ...

My uncertain interpretation (I learnt the cello to Grade VIII in my 1950s adolescence, although I became a trombonist): first pair, G as an octave harmonic plus D on open D string; next three pairs A, B, A on the D string, the D's all on the G string. However, I'm not certain, so a currently active ...

Thank you for posting this: it's very interesting.