Help needed: Chords in multiple part score

• Dec 4, 2015 - 00:35

Hi all,

Forgive this naive question, but I have downloaded "Oh No" (Zappa) from the musescore webpage. This is a multiple part score, with each part clearly defined. I lack sufficient musical knowledge and need help with the following. The score has chords over the very top staff, which happens to be the "vocal" part transposed up a major second from the concert instruments, e.g., guitar. Am I to assume that these chords are in the concert key and not the "Vocal" key (up a major second)?

Thank you for your time and effort in your reply.

Bob


Comments

I don't think one could assume anything in particular. If you post the score - or a link to it - we could maybe guess from the context. That is, see whether the chords seem to match the music in concert key or transposed.

In reply to by Bob_B

OK, Vocal isn't really Vocal but rather Bb Trumpet (but using Synth Voice sound, very strange), so that should explain the major second transpositioning. Changing its transpositioning to none (prime) gets rid of the 2 sharps in that staff, which is consostent woth Guitar, Vobraphone, Organ and Bass Guitar, so seems correct.
My Musical thero knowledge is rather limited, but in the first measure we now find the notes E, D, G and B, I think that pretty much matches the Em7 chord symbol, doesn't it? (the notenames plugin to the rescue ;-))
Next measure, Asus2 chord symbol, notes A, B, F#, E, C#, sort of fits too?

In reply to by Mjmatthews51

See https://musescore.org/en/node/89541. I think you might be confused about how these things work, but it's actually quite strsaightforward. "Instrument" is about the abstractions needed for notation - name to display on staff, what clef to use, what transposition to use, usable pitch ranges, etc. It also selects the default sound to use for playback. The Mixer is just about changing the latter.

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