Owain Sutton wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of dhbailey
Sent: 25 May 2007 10:25
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Finale] Key signature question
I find it curious, and I am trying to wrack my brains (feeble though
they may be) as to just when I became aware of that sort of stuff. I
definitely was aware of it long before I got to college, and I don't
recall ever having it explained to me. I just was observant of the
printed music, more observant of many who are far better at their
instruments than I am at mine.
I think there's a few kindred spirits on this list! My pupils now are
the victims of this and of what you've describe. They don't get the
choice of glossing over everything prior to the first note when they
look at a new piece...
My students, when I ask them to play a certain exercise or song from
their lesson book, are in for a ragging if they get the key signature or
the meter wrong.
But I don't just say "You forgot to check the key signature."
I'll say something like "I asked you to play exercise number 5."
"But I am."
"No, you 're not playing the exercise number 5 I asked you to play."
"Yes I am."
"Point to it." They do so.
"Now point to the start of the exercise number 5 you're trying to play."
They invariably point to the first note.
"Well, you see, the exercise number 5 that I'm asking you to play starts
with a clef sign. Then what do you see?"
"The key signature. oops."
"What comes next?"
"The meter."
"And THEN comes the first note. You weren't playing exercise number 5
because you were playing in the wrong key. Publishers don't pay
engravers the large amounts of money that engravers got when that book
was published to waste their time engraving useless symbols -- it's all
important and you need to pay attention to it."
They remember that pretty fast. After that, when there's a similar
incident I only need to remind them to start at the beginning of the
exercise.
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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