What Does This Natural Mark Mean?

[mobius017]

I've been playing with this score I found for "Daisy Bell." If you have a look at measure 41 (on the second page; the measure immediately before the chorus on page 3), you'll see in the second line (the treble line for the instrumental) that there's a natural sign. I have a few questions about it:

1. Which note does this natural sign apply to? You can see there are multiple voicings for the end of the "verse" part of the song, which makes things a little more cluttered. I assume the natural is for the C, since that's what line it's on.
   • Furthermore, regarding the voicings, I assume that the first line voicing gets used until the third verse, because it just seems like the end of the song is the most logical place to change the notes...you know, to add emphasis/end with something different. But that just seems logical to me. Is there any better way to tell when to use what voicing?
2. The key of the song is G major, so only F gets sharped in the first place. There is a C# back in measure 38, but since a sharp/flat expires at the end of the current measure, the C in measure 41 should've been natural anyway. So why is the natural sign included in measure 41?

Thanks!

 

[inactive]

That's a courtesy accidental. It's there to gently remind the performer to return the C♯ back to C♮. Purely optional and done solely at the discretion of the transcriber/composer/copyist.

 

[mobius017]

@parallax_fifths: Thank you very much!

 

[mobius017]

Here's another question: if you have a look at bar 41 on page 3 of "Daisy Bell," in the treble for the accompaniment, you'll see a set of slurred notes near the top of the staff and a set of chords underneath. Judging by the length of the notes and the fact that the song is in 3/4 time, it seems to me that these two sets of notes must be alternate voicings--otherwise, bar 41 would have 5 beats in it, for example. However, if you have a listen to the song on YouTube, I think you can clearly hear that the second set of notes is being played alongside the first, despite the fact that the scores look the same. In fact, MuseScore's automated accompaniment plays the song the way YouTube does. Can anyone explain what's going on here?

 

[AALLF]

Oh, I think that is just different parts on the same staff. The slurred note is one part, and the chords are another part. The slurred note is for 3 beats, and the chords rest for one beat and then play 2 quarter notes.

 

[mobius017]

Oh, I think that is just different parts on the same staff. The slurred note is one part, and the chords are another part. The slurred note is for 3 beats, and the chords rest for one beat and then play 2 quarter notes.

Ah, thank you! I somehow got completely the wrong idea about what segments that look like that meant, based on something else I'd read; I'd thought different sets of notes were supposed to be played on subsequent repetitions. (Of course, there is an actual notation for doing that sort of thing, at least at the end of passages, but still.).

 

[mobius017]

Here's another interesting one: what's going on with the vertical accent marks in measures 47, 66, and 68? As I've seen, this mark means as follows, per Accents and Markings - How to Make Sense of "^" and ".":

The third one shown, the vertical accent, is played with the same dynamics as a regular accent mark but condensed into about half the original length of the note (depending on style, song, preference, etc.), essentially a combination of accent and staccato. This type of accent is known incorrectly as marcato by many classically-trained musicians, and even as just a "rooftop accent" by those not knowing its name at all. It is correctly known as martelato or martellato, which is Italian for "hammered".

Having said that,

• Measure 47: has the mark applied to a dotted half note, which is tied to another half note. Tying the two notes essentially should add their durations together, so putting a mark on the first note that carries an implied staccato doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
• Measures 66 and 68: in the accompaniment, these have the vertical accent with a further staccato mark below it. Since the vertical accent carries the implied staccato, this combination becomes...super staccato? Like, an accented note that is twice as short, as though it were staccato-ed twice?

 

[inactive]

That's a marcato marking, and its interpretation depends upon the instrument, performer, genre, etc. In the context of this particular piano transcription, I would treat it as an accent.

Or, if you want to be fancy, the moment you play the accented note, try depressing the sustain pedal for a split second to help it ring out a bit more, then release the pedal while still holding the notes down with your fingers. This can somewhat imitate the style of marcato a string player might perform.

Marcato - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[mobius017]

That's a marcato marking, and its interpretation depends upon the instrument, performer, genre, etc. In the context of this particular piano transcription, I would treat it as an accent.

Or, if you want to be fancy, the moment you play the accented note, try depressing the sustain pedal for a split second to help it ring out a bit more, then release the pedal while still holding the notes down with your fingers. This can somewhat imitate the style of marcato a string player might perform.

Marcato - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ah, that makes sense. Thank you!

 

[inactive]

I figure that it would be prudent to point out that my suggestion regarding the damper pedal will only work on either a real piano or a piano VST that simulates the sympathetic string resonances that occur when the dampers are lifted (pedal depressed).

 

[mobius017]

Yup, of course--you obviously would need the pedal ;) .