Forgive me, my daughter has recieved some course music in the post today, I have had a quick look, now I am not musical at all and only know the basics. I can't make head or tale of it.

It is Mendelssohn's Otect for Viola it is 4/4 some of the bars do not add up and in those bars are notes that do not have solid heads. We will be looking at it tonight. Is it something for Viola's only as she normally plays fiddle.

Thanks in advance saves me bothering her teacher!

The following web site gives you more information than you could possibly want to know at this stage, but it's the only one I have bookmarked which talks about notation in "English" terms, ie crotchets, minims etc. I've got other sites bookmarked which are much less complex but talk about "American" terms like whole notes, quarter notes etc. Let me know if you'd rather have American terms.

http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory2.htm

Do post again if this doesn't answer the question.

I'm not a violist but I think I'm right in saying that viola uses a different clef (the alto clef) from the normal treble clef. It's quite an important difference but probably best to take one step at a time!

Notes with solid heads are called crotchets and count for one beat. 4/4 means 4 crochet beats in the bar, but it doesn't mean that all the notes are crotchets! Here are the other most common ones:

Solid head notes with one tail are called quavers and have a half beat, with two tails they are semi-quavers and carry a quarter beat.
Notes without a solid head are called minims and carry 2 beats and non-solid notes without even a stick on them are called semibreves and last for 4 beats.
A little dot after a note adds 50% of the normal time value to it, so a dotted crochet would last a beat and a half.

Hope that helps! Sounds like the notes you mentioned that seemed to be making the bars not add up are minims.

Still confused sorry. I know the basic notes etc. She has been playing fiddle for sometime but never have I seen this in any of her music.

Some of the strange notes are semi quavers

for example one bar is as follows.

4 semi-quavers(not the solid head type, but with minium type heads)

Piece is in 4/4 but this bar is only 4 semi quavers long.

another has 8 normal semiquavers then two of the minium type semi quavers.

This is publishers shorthand for repeated notes in a bar. You get it a lot in orchestral parts.

If there are two dashes through the stem play semiquavers.

I have the parts for the Mendelssohn Octet so if you tell me which viola part you have and the bar numbers I can have a look and tell you exactly how to play these bars

Thanks Janexxx it is Viola II Allegro moderato ma con fuoco Op. 20

This is edition Peters Nr.1782

An example is Oh no! no bar numbers

Bar 16

Yes got it. I have a different edition and these start in the second half of bar 9 in mine They are played as alternating semiquavers.

If bar 15 is written out in full (it's not in mine) it's the same pattern you play rhythmically but different notes.

So Bar 16 is alternating semi quavers of A natural and G flat for half a bar (8 of them) and then alternating semi quavers on A flat and F for half a bar (8 of them). At this speed they sound like trills.

Hope that makes sense.

Thank you so much, will get her to read your post when she gets home, she will understand it better than me. Thanks again.

I'm sure her teacher wouldn't mind helping! It's better than making a guess and possibly learning it wrong.

[I'm sure her teacher wouldn't mind helping! It's better than making a guess and possibly learning it wrong.
[/quote]
Teacher has had a bad year this year, has done me a huge favour already this week, making an 80 mile round trip for daughters singing exam. I don't like to bother her too much. She deserves a medal.

Daughter came home and knew just how to play them, I had never seen them before and was sure she wouldn't have a clue. How wrong I was!

I was trying to be all prepared for tonights practice!

Oh well I suppose I'll have to get used to been shown up by a 12 year old