SHOSYS ACADEMY 7 LESSON: Conventions Of Italian Navigation Markings
Kelvin Sholar
1 Introduction To The Blog Series
This series of lessons and tests incorporates an easy music appreciation curriculum for adult beginners who are remote learning, or are self-taught. Lessons are posted on Mondays while Tests are posted on Saturdays. For more in depth and private guidance, I offer personal instruction by Zoom (Personal Meeting ID 8522954569) – for 1 dollar a minute. Time schedules range from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 60 minutes. Email me at [email protected] to set up personal instruction. I accept payments and cash gifts by Cash App ($KelvinSholar), Zelle ([email protected]) or Paypal (paypal.me/kelvinsholar).
2 Knowledge Of Ways And Means Of Dealing With Specifics
In Lesson 6, we learned about conventions of Italian dynamic, accent and tempo markings. In this Lesson, we will learn about conventions of Italian navigation markings. This knowledge resides in the Ways branch (1.20) of the Tree of Knowledge (1.00), at the third leaf from the left (1.21) – Conventions.
2.1 Conventions Of Italian Navigation Markings
The word “navigate” is normally used when one wants to plan a route using a roadmap. In music, Italian navigation markings help musicians plan a route through written music. In particular, navigation markings in music help musicians plan when to repeat a section of music, and when to jump to other parts.
In some written music, each measure is numbered, so that a performance can be started from any given measure. In other written music, sections of a longer composition are designated with rehearsal letters (i.e. A, B, C…AA, BB etc…). According to Roger Kamien, lowercase letters (i.e. a) are used to represent small sections of a melody, while uppercase letters (i.e. A) are used to represent larger sections of a melody (Kamien 36). A primer mark is used for varied repetitions (i.e. a’).
Repeat markings are placed at the beginning and ending of sections of written music which are to be played exactly the same way again (Miller 84). In the following example, an ending repeat marking is shown on the far left; it looks like two line of different thickness with dots on the staff. A beginning repeat looks like a mirror image of an ending repeat.
In some cases, a measure is to be repeated once or a number of times; signs called measure repeats are used then. When multiple measure have only rests, then a multiple measure rest sign is used. In other cases, a section of a song is to be repeated but a different ending occurs;then, endings are designated with ordinal numbers. For example, there might be a first, second and third ending when a main section is to be repeated three times, but with three different endings. Finally, when a single note is to be repeated, one uses note repeat signs.
Italian navigation markings are used when the performer is jump around written music to different sections. A “Segno” is an S shaped sign that means “jump to this point”. They are normally used in conjunction with the terms “Dal Segno” or D.S which means “jump to the Sign”. “Capo” means the beginning or “head” of a score; while “Dal Capo” of D.C. means “go to the beginning”. “Fine” means “ending”. “Coda” means “end part”; it is often used together with sign that tells when to jump to the coda. “D.C. al Coda”, (which means “jump to the beginning, then jump to the coda”), or D.S. al Coda, (which means “jump to the sign, then jump to the coda”), tells how to navigate a score using the Coda or Segno signs. “D.C. al fine”, (which means “jump to the beginning, then jump to the end”), or D.S. al fine, (which means “jump to the sign, then jump to the end”), tells how to navigate a score using the Coda or Segno signs.
3 Bibliography
Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. Taxonomy Of Educational Objectives: The Classification Of Educational Goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Company, 1956
Kamien, Roger. Music: An Appreciation. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018
Miller, Michael. The Complete Idiots Gude To Music Theory. New York: Alpha Books, 2005