Are there special symbols made on sheet music/scores for particular instruments? Some examples:
To indicate to a string player to pick and not bow a note?
B. To indicate to a trumpet player to use his cup mute to make a “wah wah” sound?
iii. To indicate to a cello or double bass player to spin their instrument on its endpin?
ד. To indicate to a trombonist to empty his spit valve against the neck of the trumpet player in front of him?
To indicate to double bass players when to use their bows to have a sword fight with each other?
[del]||||[/del]|. To indicate to a trombone player to let his slide fly off his horn and hit that cute girl 3 rows up who laughed at him when he asked her out on a date in the back of her head?
I play handbells, and therefore am familiar with music written for handbells.
There are special notations for a lot of techniques.
If the note is intended to be played on a handchime instead, it is likely to have a diamond-shaped notehead (rather than the more usual round).
A small triangle above or below the note/chord means “martellato” (or mart) which means to hit the bell on the foam table.
If the triangle has an arrow after it, you are supposed to mart and then pick the bell up immediately.
A dot above the note or chord may mean staccato, but often means Thumb Damp which means to place your thumb against the bell when ringing it.
There are different notations for “put the bell on the table and hit it with a mallet” and “hold the bell in the air and hit it with a mallet” (I just can’t tell you what they are from memory).
And there are notations to tell other techniques as well.
String players are instructed to pluck (not pick) the strings by the term pizz. (abbreviation for pizzicato) at the beginning of the plucked passage and arco at the end.
I love both the seriousness and silliness that this question can drive.
For any instrument, how are special techniques notated and how do you deal with them? For a guitar example, tabs that cover EVH’s hammering, tapping and octave tapping and whammy techniques have their hands full.
From a silliness standpoint - I wish there were notations for which Guitar Orgasm face to emply for a given passage.
Con sordino (or sord.) is the usual signal for mutes, in any instrument that uses them.
String players may also occasionally see col legno which means to tap the strings with the back of the bow (for which they often have a backup, cheaper bow). Very rarely they will see col legno tratto which actually means to draw the wood of the bow across the string.
Another marking for string players is a little symbol above the note to indicate whether the composer wants the note played by a “down” bow (starting with the strings nearer the hand and drawing the bow downward) or an “up” bow. Most of the time that decision is left up to the player.
And I’ve now more or less exhausted my knowledge base of string playing.
I have a book of the complete Beatles scores. At one point in “Blackbird,” there’s a drawing of a bird over the vocal staff and a long squiggle to the end of the phrase.
What’s the notation for standing on the side of your double bass a la Stray Cats?