[WikiEN-l] WikiEN-l Digest, Vol 41, Issue 193

[zero 0000]

> From: "Steve Bennett" <stevagewp at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] The boundaries of OR (contd)
> To: "English Wikipedia" <wikien-l at wikipedia.org>
> Message-ID:
> 	<b8ceeef70612222344k3e5ba806ub0285a333ca38ca5 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> 
> On 12/22/06, Daniel P. B. Smith <wikipedia2006 at dpbsmith.com> wrote:
> > Nit-picks/genuine questions (my musical literacy is almost nil):
> what
> > is "the" key of a piece of music which modulates into many
> different
> > keys and has different key signatures marked within the score? Is
> it
> > a general rule or custom or convention that the first key signature
> > which appears in the score is "the" key signature?
> 
> I think convention is that the first key signature is "the" one. But
> for certain styles, it's certainly possible to have an introduction
> in
> a different key...it would be very simplistic to imply that any lay
> person could successfully determine the key of any piece by following
> rules listed in Wikipedia.
> 
> > Nit-pick number two: how do you tell by looking at the music
> whether
> > it is in C Major or A Minor? That is, can you always unequivocally
> > tell the key of a piece of music by glancing at it, or is judgement
> > sometimes involved?
> 
> To a musical expert, it's usually pretty clear, but there are
> exceptions. And don't forget atonal music which is usually written
> without a specific key signature (ie, superficially like C major and
> I
> minor). And some music actually does have a "key" but was originally
> published with no key, using accidentals instead. You would be wrong
> to describe such a piece as being in C major...
> 
> So, this was a bad example, but that's probably all.

No, these observations mean that it was a GOOD example.  There are
always issues like this that arise in practical situations.  In this
example,
if the key is obvious (that is, anyone who understands music notation 
would agree on what the key is), then we can write "the key is E-flat".
If the key is not clear for some reason, then deciding the key becomes
original research and we need to go looking for a published source
that says what the key is.  The boundary between the two cases is
not precise, but that's life.  Anyway it is "safe" in the sense that if
one editor writes "the key is E-flat" when it isn't completely obvious,
someone else will come along and slap a "citation needed" on it
(preferrably with a note on the talk page).

Zero.


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com