# writing / reading scores



## reevesbanjo (Aug 30, 2010)

Hey everyone, im new to writing symphonies. Studying Beethoven's recently, im wondering how the notation in them works. Ive provided a link to the score of his 6th symphony, http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/akh8735/large/index.html and i see that the instrumentation is mostly for 2 of each instrument, but in the score I only see one line for each instrument. They almost all have double notes on them (which doesnt make sense to me, because you can only play one note at a time on horn and woodwinds. How does this work, theres obviously 2 instruments per line, so is one playing the top note and one playing the bottom? Basicly im just confused as to how theres multiple notes on a staff that is written for a instrument that can only play one note at a time. I really need help understanding how to read this stuff so I can write it better, can someone help me make sense of this? At the very end of the score, in the violin sections I even see 3 notes played at the same time, but it doesnt specify how many violins there are it just says "violins" in the instrumentation.

heelllpp meeee


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## Wicked_one (Aug 18, 2010)

Well, first of all you must get to know the instruments because, for example, on violin you can play up to 4 notes at the same time .

When you have one line for 2 instruments it means that the two instrument play the same thing (look at the bassoons at m.20). When the clarinets come in (at m.33) you have two distinct notes, one on top of the other. Since the clarinet can't play two notes at the same time, 1 clarinet will play the high note and the 2nd will play the lower note.

Hope that helps! If you have more question, please ask


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

Wicked_one sums it up pretty well. I'll just add that sometimes the word _divisi_ is written to signify the point where the notes are to be spread amongst instruments, and its nullifier, the marking _unison_ is self explanatory.:tiphat:


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## reevesbanjo (Aug 30, 2010)

Thanks guys, that helped me out. I do have a few more questions though. On the staves I cant find where there piccolo and the trombones are, the instrumentation says that those instruments are in it. The parts I see are flute, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpet, violin 1, violin 2, viola, cellos and bass. Later on in the score the "cello/ bass" line breaks into 2 different staves, one for each instrument. But i cant figure out the trombone and piccolo parts, i dont see staves for either of those parts. Im also looking at measure 507, regarding the violin and viola parts, would one instrument play 2 notes, and one play 1 note here, because there is 3 notes written at once. 

thanks for your help


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## reevesbanjo (Aug 30, 2010)

I also cant find where the trumpets are. lol man this is frustrating me


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## Wicked_one (Aug 18, 2010)

In the 4th movement, the Allegro, the "flauto picollo" is the first instrument on the score and the trombones right under the timpani. And the trumpets are from the 3th movement on: "trombe in C, Es"

I suppose you're talking about the 507th measure from the first movement: I am no violinist but I think that chord can be played on a violin. So those 3 notes can be played by one instrument. If there was the _divisi_ sign that Argus wrote about, you would've had some notes with their stem up and other notes with the stem down (the same situation as with the clarinets that I've mentioned).


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

Wicked_one said:


> I suppose you're talking about the 507th measure from the first movement: I am no violinist but I think that chord can be played on a violin. So those 3 notes can be played by one instrument. If there was the _divisi_ sign that Argus wrote about, you would've had some notes with their stem up and other notes with the stem down (the same situation as with the clarinets that I've mentioned).


Of course, each violin section is usually somewhere over a dozen violinists. Though they aren't actually separate voices, the conductor could split them up just for those chords.


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

reevesbanjo said:


> Thanks guys, that helped me out. I do have a few more questions though. On the staves I cant find where there piccolo and the trombones are, the instrumentation says that those instruments are in it. The parts I see are flute, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpet, violin 1, violin 2, viola, cellos and bass. Later on in the score the "cello/ bass" line breaks into 2 different staves, one for each instrument. But i cant figure out the trombone and piccolo parts, i dont see staves for either of those parts. Im also looking at measure 507, regarding the violin and viola parts, would one instrument play 2 notes, and one play 1 note here, because there is 3 notes written at once.
> 
> thanks for your help


At measure 507, that looks like the violins and viola arpeggiate the chord. On 507 and 508, the top note of each of the chords is a half note, which makes sense - when violins 'roll' a chord like that, they just play the bottom notes fast and hold the top 1 or 2 notes (they can't hold more than 2 notes at the same time). So, they all roll the chord. If Beethoven would have wanted them to divide that chord between the violins he should have written "divisi a 3." And you can always just listen to a recording to see what they do 

And yeah, it looks like the piccolo just plays during the 4th movement. The 2 trombones (tromboni), alto and tenor, play only during the 4th and 5th movements.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

Wicked One and Ravellian have it right.
Instruments only appear in the score if they have something to play - manuscript paper is expensive.
And if they didn't - with all (empty) parts for all instruments on all pages - the conductor would die of RSI.
I'm puzzled that someone is embarking on composing symphonies with so little knowledge of the rudiments of musical notation...
cheers,
G


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

reevesbanjo said:


> Thanks guys, that helped me out. I do have a few more questions though. On the staves I cant find where there piccolo and the trombones are, the instrumentation says that those instruments are in it. The parts I see are flute, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpet, violin 1, violin 2, viola, cellos and bass. Later on in the score the "cello/ bass" line breaks into 2 different staves, one for each instrument. But i cant figure out the trombone and piccolo parts, i dont see staves for either of those parts. Im also looking at measure 507, regarding the violin and viola parts, would one instrument play 2 notes, and one play 1 note here, because there is 3 notes written at once.
> 
> thanks for your help


You need to buy and read Norman del Mar's _Anatomy of the Orchestra_.
This contains everything a conductor or composer needs to know about the administration of orchestral music.
Every question you have is answered in theat book.
It will tell you other things. Take page 1 of that Beethoven symphony. All the instruments that play in the first movement are shown on the first stave. Plural names (_flauti_ not _flauto_) are a giveaway (the 4th symphony would have _Flauto_, there being only one.
After bar 13, the bottom half of the page contains bars 14-25, and all the woodwind who aren't playing drop off the page. Note the bassoons in bar 20. The notes there have stems going both up and down - two instruments playing in unison. Whereas check the clarinets in bar 27: 1st clarinet only plays, because written in the D above middle C is a whole bar rest - the 2nd clarinet is silent. If the 2nd only was playing then the rest would be above the notes (the 1st part always appears above the 2nd part. If their notes cross over, then the stems will tell you which is which).
If the cellos and basses are playing the same notes, bear in mind that the basses will sound an octave lower. And the piccolo will sound an octave higher than written...
Read del Mar. It's absolutely fascinating.
cheers,
G


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