kev11111111111111
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guitar notation
Hi !
does anyone know why guitar is notated up an octave than the actual sound ? Is it because the second harmonic is as strong as the first ? I noticed when I play an A above middle C on the guitar it's starts to sound thin, where as if I play the same note on a sampled flute for example the note is full and round.If I then play an A below middle C on the guitar the note sounds closer to the A on the flute an above ? Is this because of the strength of the 2nd harmonic on the guitar ?
Appreciate any help on this I can get - I looked on google and theres loads of info and how to transpose on guitar but none on why the guitar is transposed !
Kev
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Guitarhacker
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/24 10:07:56
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my thoughts..... I don't read music...especially guitar music. So with that in mind..... If I recall correctly, the musical notes for a guitar are written one octave lower than the actual sound..... is that what you are talking about? I would think the reason for doing that would be to make the guitar music easier to read by keeping most of the notes on the two staffs. If not... the higher notes would all be on ledger lines and when I was studying piano.... there are ledger lines in both direction on that sucker. I had a difficult time getting the whole ledger line thing into my head. I pity the poor flute and piccolo players.
post edited by Guitarhacker - 2010/02/24 10:10:36
My website & music: www.herbhartley.com MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface BMI/NSAI "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer "
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RabbitSeason
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/24 11:12:08
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I don't know the official reason for this, but I think Herb is right - it makes it easier to read by keeping the notes "centered" around one staff or two staffs (staves?).
I do read music, and my musical career started as a 4th grader on alto sax. In the school band, each instrument's sheet music looked tailored to that instrument's range. Yes, the fingering on a flute/clarinet/sax/oboe are all very similar, but that doesn't mean you'll be playing in the same octave. Does that make sense? Fouth grade was a long time ago.
Herb - the more you read music, the easier it gets in navigating those ledger lines!
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kev11111111111111
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/24 11:42:08
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Guitarhacker
my thoughts..... I don't read music...especially guitar music. So with that in mind.....
If I recall correctly, the musical notes for a guitar are written one octave lower than the actual sound..... is that what you are talking about? I would think the reason for doing that would be to make the guitar music easier to read by keeping most of the notes on the two staffs. If not... the higher notes would all be on ledger lines and when I was studying piano.... there are ledger lines in both direction on that sucker. I had a difficult time getting the whole ledger line thing into my head. I pity the poor flute and piccolo players.
yep I mean the musical notes are written one octave lower than sound.You're prob. right,it most likely is to do with keeping all the notes in one staff ! Got a habit of overcomplicating things at the moment I have lol.Thanks for your input Kev
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bdickens
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/24 12:05:15
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Y'all have it backwards. Guitar sounds a octave lower than written.
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Guitarhacker
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/24 12:57:37
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same story...same reasons..... but thanks for the heads up.... Byron.
I don't read guitar music or any music for that matter so it's not something that's at the top of my mind.....
I play mostly by ear. Ledger lines...what ledger lines.... I'm simply playing above the 12th fret and up to the 22nd ...and higher if I bend it up....
My website & music: www.herbhartley.com MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface BMI/NSAI "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer "
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kev11111111111111
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/24 16:49:43
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bdickens
Y'all have it backwards. Guitar sounds a octave lower than written.
Kcuf !!!!!!!!
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danbob
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/24 18:19:01
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Similar thing with writing vocal lines and then having them sung by a man or woman ... the note a man sings when he sees it written on a treble clef is an octave lower than the same note sung by a woman.
That's probably a contemporary thing. EG when I'm singing tenor lines in old-fashioned SATB scores it's usually written high on the bass clef, which is actually where the note is. But that's a pain for many people ...
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Kalle Rantaaho
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/25 04:39:37
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Many instruments (if not most?) have their particular "scaling" of notation. I first bumped into this when I tried to understand some
horn section parts (I don't read music) and was told that all of the instruments I was fidlling with had their own notation routine.
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Chappel
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/25 07:44:41
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Middle C on the guitar is the second string, first fret. This means many of the guitar's notes are actually in the bass clef. To make it easier to play guitar music is generally written one Octave higher than it sounds. Like many other instruments the guitar is a "transposing instrument". Guitar notation is transposed up an Octave so that the notes played the most show up on the treble clef. http://cnx.org/content/m10672/latest/
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Guitarhacker
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/25 07:45:15
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I think writing for orchestra would be a headache... all those Bb instruments and there are a few other "strangely pitched" instruments as well...although I can't remember the keys...I'm thinking Eb as well.....
My website & music: www.herbhartley.com MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface BMI/NSAI "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer "
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Chappel
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/25 09:28:58
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The writing/composing part isn't difficult. You write for a transposing instrument just like you do a non-transposing instrument; you write the actual notes you want the instrument to play. The notation that the transposing instrument uses has to be transposed for the musician that plays it. Time consuming before computers when it had to be done by hand, now it takes less than a minute.
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kev11111111111111
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/25 15:11:47
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danbob
That's probably a contemporary thing. EG when I'm singing tenor lines in old-fashioned SATB scores it's usually written high on the bass clef, which is actually where the note is. But that's a pain for many people ...
Thats the thing though isn't it,if you're playing the guitar in the tenor range,or singing in the tenor range,it makes sense to notate it on the bass clef ?! I think thats what I'll do in future - write the part in what ever clef is easiest for the song. Kev
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kev11111111111111
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/25 15:16:35
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Kalle Rantaaho
Many instruments (if not most?) have their particular "scaling" of notation. I first bumped into this when I tried to understand some
horn section parts (I don't read music) and was told that all of the instruments I was fidlling with had their own notation routine.
Yep,theres loads of instruments like this ! Clarinet,and Horns are two I can think of of the top of my head.Theres probably a really good reason for it - but it's still annoying !!! Kev
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kev11111111111111
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Re:guitar notation
2010/02/25 15:18:37
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Chappel
Middle C on the guitar is the second string, first fret. This means many of the guitar's notes are actually in the bass clef. To make it easier to play guitar music is generally written one Octave higher than it sounds. Like many other instruments the guitar is a "transposing instrument". Guitar notation is transposed up an Octave so that the notes played the most show up on the treble clef.
http://cnx.org/content/m10672/latest/
thanks for the link and post ! I think I got it now, Kev
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