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How Do I Play This Section of Jimbo's Lullaby (Piano)? Novice (Self Studying) Music Theory and Piano

In the segment of the piece shown below (measures 9–13), which notes and dyads do I play on which beat(s)? Specifically, measure 9.

"Jimbo's Lullaby" measures 9–13

I've been trying to use the below video to figure it out. 32 seconds in on this video, the pianist plays Bar 9 of this piece. I am very confused as to the ties and slurs in Bar 9 and what he is actually playing. The time signature is 2/2 (think there is a typo in the key signature). For the measures shown and the video, it appears the pianist is playing G5, F4-G4, F4-G4, F4-G4, Eb4, F4-G4, Db4, Eb4, F4-G4, Eb4. I counted the number of F4-G4's in the video so I know how many he is playing, but I am not sure which notes correspond to which of the F4-G4 dyads (in the red box in the attached pic).

(Secondarily, when I attempt to add up the note values for the first bar (9) I am confused as to how you can have a "whole note" plus all the other notes within the bar, and all their values add up correctly.)

The video I'm using as a reference is:

Aaron
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DeanP
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  • Two things: 1. what makes you think that "there is a typo in the key signature"? `2/2` is a standard and common time signature, it indicates that the *pulse* is based on a "minim" (half note, 1/2) and there are two beats of that pulse for each bar; 2. what you indicate are *two different voices*: E♭ and D♭ belong to another voice which is *not* the same as that used by F and G. The fact that they are on the same stave isn't relevant: you can have a whole note on the bottom stave and still have 8 quavers on the bottom. – musicamante Aug 06 '21 at 02:15
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    As @musicamante wrote, this is an example of "multiple voices" — a common occurrence in piano music. I've linked to another similar question on the same topic, and there are many others. You can look at the "Linked Questions" list for your question, the duplicate I've proposed, and others. You could also search for "multiple voices", "too many notes", or "too many beats." – Aaron Aug 06 '21 at 03:13
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    (Hm, I wonder whether _et un peu gauche_ is meant to be a bit of a pun, on a left-hand passage...) – Andy Bonner Aug 06 '21 at 14:18
  • Guys thank a lot. Not sure I am entering this in the right place. – DeanP Aug 06 '21 at 17:19
  • Yes, I can watch the video and figure out how to play bars 9&10. My goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the score notation (slurs vs ties, etc.) so that I can pickup a piece of music (without a video and play it). I still don't understand how many times to play the dyads F4-G4 in bars 9&10 and why. – DeanP Aug 06 '21 at 17:31
  • Read up on Multiple Voices and everything you guys mentioned—thanks so much. – DeanP Aug 06 '21 at 17:33
  • Does your previous comment mean that your question has been fully answered? If yes, please consider "accepting" the most helpful answer by clicking on the check mark next to it. If not, please let us know what remains unclear. – Aaron Aug 07 '21 at 20:46
  • @AndyBonner what else could it possibly be? – phoog Aug 08 '21 at 00:53
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    @musicamante the key signature in the still image (not in the video) is a typo because it shows G flat and C flat (i.e., the flats are placed as if it were a bass clef staff, but it is a treble clef staff). – phoog Aug 08 '21 at 01:05
  • @phoog good catch (the clef is misaligned too, now that I look at it); I actually thought that the OP was referring to it to point out the meter, and was led to think that they believed that 2/2 was a typo. – musicamante Aug 08 '21 at 01:12
  • @musicamante I didn't notice the clef. In that case it's [French violin clef](https://dictionary.onmusic.org/terms/1506-french_violin_clef)! Still, the actual notes are placed for treble clef, so it is indeed an error rather than truly being written using French violin clef. – phoog Aug 08 '21 at 01:17
  • @phoog Well, my French isn't fluent, but I take it _gauche_ would also carry a face-value meaning of "a little awkward," maybe bumbling, and it's a lullaby for an elephant. Just wondering whether the whole "_main gauche_" thing was intentional or just me reading into it. – Andy Bonner Aug 09 '21 at 14:20
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    @AndyBonner my French isn't quite fluent either, so [Wiktionary to the rescue](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gauche)! If you're into etymology, it's fascinating: _gauche_ is a cousin of English _walk_ and replaced _senestre_ in the 1500s (presumably because "clumsy" was less negative than "evil"). It's hard to say for sure, of course, because bass pitches evoke elephants and are typically played with the left hand. If he'd wanted an awkward sparrow, he could've specified the l.h. for a treble passage, which would have been a clear joke. Still, I think he must have known what he was doing. – phoog Aug 09 '21 at 15:10
  • I've voted to reopen this question because when I voted to close it, I had not realized that it was largely about the slurs and ties in the red box: "which of the curved lines are slurs vs. ties? How can I tell the difference?" The supposed duplicates have nothing to do with that. @Aaron, what do you think? – phoog Aug 09 '21 at 15:15
  • @phoog Agreed. I've edited the question to make it more clear what's being asked and to steer clear of it being a "transcription" question. – Aaron Aug 09 '21 at 15:34
  • Reopen. The "duplicate" questions don't get into slur versus tie. OP didn't ask about the staccato with tenuto, but I imagine that explained would be helpful too. – Michael Curtis Aug 09 '21 at 16:40

2 Answers2

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A portato indication is not uncommon in piano music. M-W's definition, semidetached phrasing in musical performance, is good. It's also described as somewhere between legato and staccato with reference to the piano. It's almost always dots under a phrase/slur marking for piano; it can be dots or dashes for string.

Note the nuances Brahms indicates in second measure, right hand, of this example from his second Piano Quartet, op.26, second movement, m.10:

enter image description here

The right hand has two separate phrases, the second of which consists of two slurred notes and two portato notes. Brahms is clearly indicating something about the duration/touch of these notes -- a bit detached, but still within a single phrase with the two legato notes (it's a slow movement, so a short staccato sounds odd here, IMO). The upper strings, however, have two bows over the last four eights notes, not one. These match the two phrase marks in the piano's left-hand for those beats.

In the OP's Debussy example, the flats are misplaced in the treble clef key signature. The portato (ending legato/phrase mark and the dot over the second F+G) in the first measure can refer only to the attack and the notes' relation to the first F+G and not their length/release, since the tie to the following notes takes precedence.

DjinTonic
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  • Thank you DjinTonic. Do you have any idea if a Portato symbol is available in Sibelius? Tried to reproduce the Debussy phrase in Sibelius to understand how it plays back and could not find a Portato symbol. Searched their manual and forum with no luck, so I just posted the question on the Sibelius forum. – DeanP Aug 07 '21 at 16:25
  • @DeanP Sorry, I'm not at all familiar with the program, but I would try simply adding the staccato and then a phrase over/legato sign between the notes. – DjinTonic Aug 07 '21 at 16:30
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The video explains everything: rhythm, notelength, pedal, ties, slurs ...

There's one point to emake clear: the slur above the staccato which means portato:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portato

Albrecht Hügli
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    Portato is for strings, this is piano piece... – Divide1918 Aug 06 '21 at 09:33
  • That's *if* they're slurs. Look more like ties to me. How to play portato on piano..? – Tim Aug 06 '21 at 11:01
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    They look like ties, true. But how differentiate slurs from ties when they include only 2 or 4 notes? Portato can be played on any Instrument: something like nonlegato and tenuto, but certainly not staccato or legato. Of course its not the same like on a string (bow) or woodwind and brass Instrument. Organ would be clearer than a Piano. Maybe in this case here the composer wants to say *espressivo*? – Albrecht Hügli Aug 07 '21 at 15:55
  • The video _demonstrates_ all of those things. It doesn't explain anything, least of all why and how the notation describes the music being played. – phoog Aug 08 '21 at 00:57
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    Where you are right, you are right, phoog. ;) – Albrecht Hügli Aug 08 '21 at 12:10