Am I notating this 2 layered staccato right?
How should I notate syncopations happening at the level of the sixteenth note? I'm composing a piece and in the piano accompaniment, there are 2 layers of staccato, one being on beat eighth notes so 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + etc. and the other being a sixteenth note off that beat. So far I have been notating it this way: sixteenth rest, eighth notes for as long as possible in the bar, sixteenth tied over to the next bar. But is there a better way to notate it? Here is how it is being notated right now. You can see it starts with the staccato accompaniment alone in the bass and then the main melody and the second layer of accompaniment joins in at bar 5. I only have 1 bar's worth of the upper layer of the accompaniment because I want to make sure that it is being notated in a good way before I continue writing the accompaniment to the melody.
Piece so far, with sixteenth note level syncopations at bar 5
I have been given 2 suggestions so far. Those are cross staff beaming of sixteenth notes and breaking the beam in between the third and fourth eighth note of the right hand and not having tied sixteenth notes. I was told that at 90 beats per minute, it will barely make any difference to the rhythm whether I have the sixteenths rearticulated or tied and that a pianist would get confused by both the tied note and the note that starts the tie having a staccato articulation. Here is what the piano accompaniment looks like with cross staff beaming:
So what is the best way to notate this 2 layered staccato? Is it cross staff beaming or is it the way I have notated it with 2 layers of eighth notes? I will probably put sempre staccato in the piano staff and if I want to change it to legato, I will mark it as such.
(2)2 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
To take Laurence's examples, I would definitely prefer to read B. A is terrible for me, C is tolerable, B give me the easiest understanding of what's going on.
Incidentally, Beethoven used this device a great deal, and A is how he usually did it. Here's an example (bars 15-20):
The wedges are one of Schnabel (the editor)'s many eccentricities. They mean the same thing as a staccato, but Schnabel differentiated between a harder and softer staccato (sometimes called "portamento") for which he used the dot. Beethoven didn't make any such distinction in his manuscripts. (I couldn't find another performance with music that doesn't use Schnabel's score, but none of the several other scores with which I am familiar use this wedge.)
Here are three possibilities. I think I'd rather read B. The LH should really keep the same notation it's had from the beginning.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.