5 ms·

What are some troubles guitarists are having with musical notation?

by moehm 5y ago

imperistan 5y ago
The same note can be found on different strings. Sheet music doesn’t tell you which one to play. That just one example that makes it hard
- moehm 5y ago
  On a piano, musical notation doesn't tell you which finger or hand you should use. This seems similar. Just for clarification, I asked because GP said: > You can’t quite run it on different hardware: unlike on a piano, the note does not uniquely determine how something is played on, say, a guitar.
  - nautilius 5y ago
    It’s not similar, because it doesn’t even tell you where to put the finger of your choice in a guitar, whereas that is uniquely specified on a piano. Of course, on top of that, you also have a wide range of ways to modify how you play on a guitar.
    - moehm 5y ago
      I still don't see the point. If you practice a piece, you have to practice how to put which finger where, on a piano or a guitar. It's part of practicing to figure this out. > Of course, on top of that, you also have a wide range of ways to modify how you play on a guitar. Yeah, same with the piano. And I think, with most of all instruments.
      - nautilius 5y ago
        You can easily build a robot that you feed sheet music, and that robot will then be able to press the right buttons on a piano keyboard. This is not possible for a guitar (and others) because there is no unique mapping between the note on the sheet and the position on the instrument.
nautilius 5y ago
This sounds needlessly antagonistic, but I hope I’m just reading nuance wrong.
- moehm 5y ago
  You probably do. I play two instruments (not guitar obviously) and I want to know why musical notation is a problem for guitarists. I know it's not really suited for e.g. non-western or modern quarter-tone music. But since I don't play the guitar I would like to understand the reasoning behind your qoute: > You can’t quite run it on different hardware: unlike on a piano, the note does not uniquely determine how something is played on, say, a guitar. Is that more clear?
  - nautilius 5y ago
    It’s still antagonistic because sheet music is not ‘a problem’ for guitarists.
    - moehm 5y ago
      I never said it's a problem. I asked what's the problem that "You can’t quite run it on [...] say, a guitar."
      - nautilius 5y ago
        You specifically refer to guitarists’ problem with notation, not the mathematical non-uniqueness. You ask you want to know why “musical notation is a problem for guitarists.” It’s not.
        moehm 5y ago
        Am I missing something, or are you directly contradicting your original comment? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28725817 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28725817

What are some troubles guitarists are having with musical notation?

by moehm 5y ago

What are some troubles guitarists are having with musical notation?

The same note can be found on different strings. Sheet music doesn’t tell you which one to play. That just one example that makes it hard

moehm 5y ago
On a piano, musical notation doesn't tell you which finger or hand you should use. This seems similar. Just for clarification, I asked because GP said: > You can’t quite run it on different hardware: unlike on a piano, the note does not uniquely determine how something is played on, say, a guitar.
- nautilius 5y ago
  It’s not similar, because it doesn’t even tell you where to put the finger of your choice in a guitar, whereas that is uniquely specified on a piano. Of course, on top of that, you also have a wide range of ways to modify how you play on a guitar.
  - moehm 5y ago
    I still don't see the point. If you practice a piece, you have to practice how to put which finger where, on a piano or a guitar. It's part of practicing to figure this out. > Of course, on top of that, you also have a wide range of ways to modify how you play on a guitar. Yeah, same with the piano. And I think, with most of all instruments.
    - nautilius 5y ago
      You can easily build a robot that you feed sheet music, and that robot will then be able to press the right buttons on a piano keyboard. This is not possible for a guitar (and others) because there is no unique mapping between the note on the sheet and the position on the instrument.

nautilius 5y ago

This sounds needlessly antagonistic, but I hope I’m just reading nuance wrong.

moehm 5y ago
You probably do. I play two instruments (not guitar obviously) and I want to know why musical notation is a problem for guitarists. I know it's not really suited for e.g. non-western or modern quarter-tone music. But since I don't play the guitar I would like to understand the reasoning behind your qoute: > You can’t quite run it on different hardware: unlike on a piano, the note does not uniquely determine how something is played on, say, a guitar. Is that more clear?
- nautilius 5y ago
  It’s still antagonistic because sheet music is not ‘a problem’ for guitarists.
  - moehm 5y ago
    I never said it's a problem. I asked what's the problem that "You can’t quite run it on [...] say, a guitar."
    - nautilius 5y ago
      You specifically refer to guitarists’ problem with notation, not the mathematical non-uniqueness. You ask you want to know why “musical notation is a problem for guitarists.” It’s not.
      - moehm 5y ago
        Am I missing something, or are you directly contradicting your original comment? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28725817 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28725817