Why are there 'repeats' in sheet music?!
Question: Why are there 'repeats' in sheet music!?
This has been bothering me for a hwile!. When you're reading sheet music, the two little dots at the end of one of the measures symbolize that you should go back to wherever is marked and you should play that section again!. Why is this!? I guess what I'm really asking is, Why do you play again what the person listening JUST heard!?Www@Enter-QA@Com
Answers:
Interesting question!.
I can make several comments on that:
---One of my composition teachers said that there should be an optimum balance between fresh material and repetition!.
Where that optimal balance is is a matter of debate!.
Anton Webern has been criticized for erring in one direction, Philip Glass for erring in the other direction!.
---We are living in the jet age, so we are in a bigger hurry than our forefathers!. If you take a sampling, betcha you will find more repeat signs in Eighteenth Century music than in Nineteenth Century music, and fewer still in Twentieth Century music!.
Half the time, current-day performers ignore repeat signs!.
When we played Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony in my hometown orchestra, we skipped the repeat signs in the first movement without the conductor even telling us to!.
---Some composers favor a repetition, but with a little twist!.
I just finished listening to "O Fortuna!." I noticed that the melody is introduced low and soft, then repeated an octave higher and loud!.
The Swan Lake theme is introduced soft by the oboe, then repeated loud by the French horns!.
This measure might be the optimal balance between familiarity and novelty!.
---Even in the early Eighteenth Century, performers were expected to do some embellishing the second time around!. Many performers today don't realize this, so they play the repeats verbatim!.
As for myself, I have been so conditioned by my composition teachers to provide lots of novelty that I don't dare write any repeat marks!.
I read somewhere that the amygdala--otherwise known as the pineal gland--is the organ responsible for sexual attraction to that which is unfamiliar, but not TOO unfamiliar!. That's why you don't fall in love with your first cousin, but nor do you fall in love with a rhinocerous!.
I wonder if the amygdala also has some control over our musical tastes!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
I can make several comments on that:
---One of my composition teachers said that there should be an optimum balance between fresh material and repetition!.
Where that optimal balance is is a matter of debate!.
Anton Webern has been criticized for erring in one direction, Philip Glass for erring in the other direction!.
---We are living in the jet age, so we are in a bigger hurry than our forefathers!. If you take a sampling, betcha you will find more repeat signs in Eighteenth Century music than in Nineteenth Century music, and fewer still in Twentieth Century music!.
Half the time, current-day performers ignore repeat signs!.
When we played Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony in my hometown orchestra, we skipped the repeat signs in the first movement without the conductor even telling us to!.
---Some composers favor a repetition, but with a little twist!.
I just finished listening to "O Fortuna!." I noticed that the melody is introduced low and soft, then repeated an octave higher and loud!.
The Swan Lake theme is introduced soft by the oboe, then repeated loud by the French horns!.
This measure might be the optimal balance between familiarity and novelty!.
---Even in the early Eighteenth Century, performers were expected to do some embellishing the second time around!. Many performers today don't realize this, so they play the repeats verbatim!.
As for myself, I have been so conditioned by my composition teachers to provide lots of novelty that I don't dare write any repeat marks!.
I read somewhere that the amygdala--otherwise known as the pineal gland--is the organ responsible for sexual attraction to that which is unfamiliar, but not TOO unfamiliar!. That's why you don't fall in love with your first cousin, but nor do you fall in love with a rhinocerous!.
I wonder if the amygdala also has some control over our musical tastes!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Well, there are many different reasons!. Alot of times (if the song has lyrics) you'll find repeats because there is a second verse to a song (for instance, you wouldn't really want several different arrangements for every single verse of Mary Had a Little Lamb)!. Other times it's because the composer wanted it that way (maybe because he wanted to lengthen the song)!. There are usually also a first and second ending!.
If you don't like the repeats in the song, then just cut them out and keep playing!. If you feel that it helps the song, then leave the repeats!. You could also try making the repeat different from the first time you played it by adding different dynamics!. There are alot of reasons you might want to play a section again (add length to the song, add more drama, or my personal favorite: if I mess up, I take the repeat to prove that I really CAN get it right :P), but if it seems illogical to you, then don't play it twice!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
If you don't like the repeats in the song, then just cut them out and keep playing!. If you feel that it helps the song, then leave the repeats!. You could also try making the repeat different from the first time you played it by adding different dynamics!. There are alot of reasons you might want to play a section again (add length to the song, add more drama, or my personal favorite: if I mess up, I take the repeat to prove that I really CAN get it right :P), but if it seems illogical to you, then don't play it twice!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
If the composer wants to hear a section of music the same, why not just simply make a repeat sign rather than re-write it all over again!? Plus!.!.!.it can sound different like the first time can be piano and the second time it can be forte, that way the compose doesn't have to write out the same thing he would like to hear again just to change the dynamic marking!. Sometimes instruments have a second time only marking, so when the instruments repeat back to that section, more are added in without re-writing it!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Because it is supposed to sound different everytime you play a repeat! That's the fun about it!. That's why I love Schumann!. He wasn't particularly meticulous about dynamics and he leaves so much room for lyricism!. Everytime a phrase is repeated, I love to make a difference!. Sometimes, it's an echoe (softer)!. Sometimes, the first time around, the phrase anticipates a climax that occurs the second time (louder)!. Sometimes, you change the articulation a bit (in Bach in particular)!.
Don't make pieces sound monotonous! HAVE FUN WITH THEM!
Good luck!
EDIT: OK, I was kind enough to answer your simply RE-TARDED question nicely, but you seem incapable to understand what I mean!.
The point is to cause a difference in INTERPRETATION, NOT REWRITING the section!.
Sometimes there's a formal reason!. Most of the time, it's for the performer to make a difference!. A repeat does not mean, 'play it as though your first time round was tape recorded'!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Don't make pieces sound monotonous! HAVE FUN WITH THEM!
Good luck!
EDIT: OK, I was kind enough to answer your simply RE-TARDED question nicely, but you seem incapable to understand what I mean!.
The point is to cause a difference in INTERPRETATION, NOT REWRITING the section!.
Sometimes there's a formal reason!. Most of the time, it's for the performer to make a difference!. A repeat does not mean, 'play it as though your first time round was tape recorded'!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
if the song has the same set of notes twice, they use the symbol to show a repeat of that section, to keep the musc page shorter!. ultimately to save time and paper i guessWww@Enter-QA@Com
probably because when they used to write out music by hand, it saved time, plus it shows that i part of a song is being repeated!.!.!. it saves paperWww@Enter-QA@Com
So it sticks in their headsWww@Enter-QA@Com