?

Just out of curiosity, but how much are composers - classical or otherwise - influenced by the instruments they personally play? I'm not talking about how much they feature a given instrument, but rather how they approach a new piece for orchestra or symphony? In other words, does someone who composes at a piano work differently than someone who uses, say, a clarinet or violin as their primary instrument? I know it makes a huge difference in popular music, whether it was written on a piano or a guitar, but what about orchestral work?

Weird question, but is th ehuman voice polyphonic? (Not talking about Tbetan throat-singing or other vocal devices, just plain old garden variety singing) In other words, I can't play, for instance, an Am chord on my guitar without using at ;least three strings. But, I can easily sing an Am, or any other minor along the scale. Does that mean that our voices naturally produce polyphonic chords when we sing what we expect to be a single note?

My wife has lost between 20-30 pounds over the last six months despite eating normally and being relatively healthy, and now refuses to see a doctor to find out why. She claims it is because of stress (her mother has been in hospice and passed away recently) but I feel she is in denial and doesn't want to address what is most likely a serious medical condition. I'm at my wits end. How do I convince her that she needs to see a physician as soon as possible?

First the disclaimer, I know absolutely nothing about woodwinds, other than saying "gee, those sound nice!" So, please forgive me if this seems a silly question.

Why are most clarinets pitched to Bb? It seems such an odd key to settle on, so how did Bb become the standard?

Hi. I want to make some T-shirts as Xmas presents that have Caesar s portrait and either "Vini, vidi, vinci and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" or "I conquered Britain and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." I ve tried three different on-line translators and received three different answers, and my own grasp of Classic Latin is far too shaky. And yes, I realize T-shirt can t be translated, but I think just leaving it in English would be part of the joke.

Technically, as I was born in 1962, I am part of the Baby Boomer generation, but I refuse to be lumped in with that catagory. Those of us born in the early-mid 60's share very little with those born in the 50's. We were literally babies in the 1960's, grew up in the 1970's and cam of age in th e1980's. We suffered general the malaise under Ford and Carter and the national renaissance under Reagan, and to us the protests and idealism of the Flower people was just old news. We smoked a lot of weed, but only for fun, not because we thought it enlightening, and looked at life in a completely different, often darker vein than did those who grew up during the Hippy/Vietnam/Kennedy/Nixon era.

In short, the entire idea that those of us born after 1960 should be considered Boomers is nonsense. Any thoughts?

Are there numbers or specific names assigned to the notes on a chromatic run that fall outside of the key signature? For instance, if I'm playing a bass run of

A, C, B, Bb, A, what would the Bb be called?

Or, if it was written in numbers, would it be shown as

I, IIIb, II, IIb, I or is there a special set of terms for Chromatic scales?

For some reason my signature here on YA has been replaced by a question mark instead of my name, Justin. I'm sure I must have hit something wrong, but I'll be damned if I can find it. Also, how does one upload an icon instead of the blank image? I've looked in the Preference section, but don't see it.

Music is a strange business. Stll, as much as we all love making music, it is a business, fickle as it may be. How do you personally define someone as a Professional Musician? If they make their living at it? If they are paid, even a small amount for their effort? A percentage of their income even if it isn't their primary vocation?

I have been in and out of bands all my adult life. Sometimes I made good money and some nights I played for beer and some nights I had to buy my own beer, but, under no circumstances would I call myself a pro, as music has always been a sideline, not my job. In fact, in the area I live there really aren't any full-time musicians with the exception of a handful of high school or middle school teachers who only teach music and not other subjects, and two or three guys I know who supplement their disability checks by playing. But, if you took the view that being paid for playing a bar gig makes you a pro, you couldn't throw a rock without hitting one!

What is your definition of a Professional Musician?

I am asking this question not as a political comment or to spark debate, but out of honest curiosity. I keep seeing statistics of how many people have simply dropped out of the job market and are no longer employed or seeking employment and I can't understand how they survive. Are there really enough programs out there that employment is no longer necessary?

FWIW, I have been steadily employed since I was 18 (part-time prior to that since I was 11) and my family and I barely make enough to get by. How is it possible to not work and still manage?

I've tried before to tune a guitar to 5ths, like a cello, but drop tuning sounded floppy and up tuning resulted in some really weird string tensions, including a broken B and E string! I know Robert Fripp tunes in 5ths, but he must use a customized set of strings?

At any rate, have any of you ever tuned a guitar or bass CGDA? What strings did you use?

I'm part of a local theater group, and also help with the grade school Christmas plays. (We're a small town, about 150 people, so small budget on everything) We have a set of portable stage platforms, heavy 4x8 ft. with short folding legs that need moving frequently. For years we've simply carried them, two people to a panel and a lot of sweat, but would like to find a way to store them and move them easier. I _think_ they make carts for this purpose, but am having trouble finding one that can hold five panels. They weigh about 150 pounds per panel and fold up relatively flat, maybe 4 in. ?

Have any of you used folding stages? How did you move and store them?

This is purely out of curiosity, since I can't read music. (Actually, I can read music, in a hunt and peck fashion, but can't sight read, so I only play by ear)

I understand how the Alto clef fits into the grand clef and the reason it was originally used to write for the viola. But, given that its lowest note is an octave C below Middle C, wouldn't it be far simpler to use the Treble clef, since the lowest note on the clef would coincide with the lowest open note on the viola? I realize everything would sound an octave lower, but that really wouldn't matter in the final outcome, would it?

What am I missing?

All right, i know most serious violist/violinists are perfectly happy with an instrument that has not been improved since the17th Century, but come on, for those of us who are only casual players isn t time to bring the damn fiddle into the modern world? Wooden tuning pegs are insane. I ve just spent fifteen minutes retuning my viola because the pegs slip anytime the humidity changes. This is a constant fight with both my fiddle and my viola. OTOH, my guitars, basses, mandolin and every other instrument I own stay in tune just fine. What s the difference? We guitarists ditched wooden pegs a century ago. A few simple tweaks to the violin, primarily getting rid of the scroll and replacing the archaic tuning system with simple, efficient and affordable metal tuners would go a long ways toward improving the instruments playability. No more slipping, sticking or fine tuners needed.

Some electric violins have already gone this route. Isn t it time acoustic violins and violas do the same?

Okay, I m done grumbling now! ;)

Okay, it's not fair to say I don't like ALL jazz, just most of it. I hear a song like Take Five or the Peter Gunn theme and, yeah. those songs move! But for the most part jazz just leaves me cold. Am I missing something? Where would be a good place to start if I wanted to get a better appreciation of the genre?

For the record, I love Rock, Classical, Opera, some Country and Folk and really like the Blues, I've even played bass in a band that did a huge amount of Standards and Swing tunes, so I've been exposed to Jazz, I just don't get it I suppose.

Right off the bat I'll say it: I think the so called obesity epidemic is being exaggerated in hopes of sin taxes and class action lawsuits against the food industry. For proof I offer the fact that while the percentage of obese Americans is supposedly exploding, the mortality rate continues to fall or hld steady, th eonly exception being among middle-aged white women whose deaths are attributed to suicide and substance abuse. Were this epidemic real, wouldn't the death rate be rising steeply as well?

I have a cheap viola which stays in tune just fine _until_ I forget to dampen the case humidifier, then the pegs slip horribly. Eventually I would like to put mechanical pegs on it, but wondered which are best, Perfections, Peg-Heads or the much less expensive Grover Sta-Tites?

FWIW, taking this viola to a luthier to have the peg holes adjusted is out of the question because A: the work would cost more than the instrument is worth, and B: there are no violin shops within 150 miles of where I live. I don't mind spending the extra on mechanical pegs because in the unlikely event that I someday upgrade to a better viola (I would need to win the lotto!) I would swap the pegs out into it.

Some comments on another post made me curious: How many of you as guitar players read sheet music and how many of you use Tablature, or both?

I can't sight read. I've been trying to read standard since I was 6, tried again as a teen and several times as an adult (piano, guitar/bass, viola/mandola) and I just can't make it work. The upside is, I learned to play by ear very early.

Tab, otoh, is self-explanatory, simple to learn and better still, can indicate the actual techniques for lead guitar passages. At best, Standard is an uncomfortable fit for transcribing anything beyond Classical guitar. Standard works well for some instruments such as horns, keyboards, etc, but is a poor choice for guitar or bass.

To my mind Tab for guitar beats Standard Notation hands down, but that's just my opinion. What's yours?

Hi. Another of my seemingly endless viola questions! How much does upgrading the bow matter? I recently purchased a bottom of the line viola - the postage cost nearly as much as the instrument - but it is playable. I'm changing strings and the tailpiece, but the bow that came with it is junk. I have a decent bow I purchased for my electric viola (from Amazon, so not expensive, obviously) but it works fine on both my violas.

My question is, would upgrading to a better bow, most likely a 50.00-75.00 carbon fiber, be worth the expense given how cheap my viola is, plus the fact that I'm doing this on my own, no instructors involved? I suspect the biggest part of the sound problems I experience are 'pilot error,' not equipment. Would I be wasting my money with a bow in that price range?

I'm a beginner viola player (self-taught since there are no instructors in my area) and I love the somber tones the instrument can produce. While I'm sure most of the tone comes from the instrument and string combination, are there techniques in playing that enhance the darker tones of the viola?