sheet music question

It means "swing feel"

In swing, if you see a pair of quarter notes, you'll play them as if they are a dotted quarter note followed by an eigth note, but not quite.

What you're really going for is a rhythm where you would count them as triplets, giving 2/3rds of the 2 beats to the first quarter note, and the last third of the 2 beats to the second quarter note.

A measure of 4 quarter notes would (graphically) have the following beat pattern:

triple-let triple-let

X-----X--X-----X--

thanks for the reply king.

sorry if this was a stupid question.

thanks for the reply king.

sorry if this was a stupid question.

Not stupid at all!

If you don't know what something on a piece of music means, you probably aren't going to play it correct.

I hope my explaination made sense to you.

What about moderately or slowly?
What does that mean?

Is it some sort of time signature for the cords?

Maybe i'm not asking the right question.

This is the first music book I have ever bought, I see the cords above words in the song when I get to that word in the song I should be at that cord right, *example*

Slowly
G>>>>>>>>>>>D
Go away from my window

G>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>D
Go at your own chosen speed

I start the song with G sing "go" strum a pattern until I sing the word "window" at window D should be played simultaneously then back to G and "go" is this correct? This is what I thought you were supposed to do but maybe i'm doing it wrong.

Now before the song starts what is "slowly" telling me?
Is it some sort off time signature for the cords?

I know the notes are 4/4.

So are the cords 4/4 too with "slowly" meaning to play them as half notes *example*

slowly = 1/2 note G+2+G+4+D+2+D+4
Moderately = 1/4 note G+G+G+G+D+D+D+D

(this example is just a guess i have no idea what moderately or slowly mean)

It's telling you the relative tempo (speed) of the tune. Most songs use descriptive words rather than metronome marks, because tempo can be a highly expressive thing - you leave it up to the performer to decide if 'Moderate' is 72 beats per minute or 80.

Most sheet music uses Italian terms, which can be even more flexible than English ones. Andante is slow, at about a walking pace.... "Andantino" (a little andante) some folks will interpret as a little slower than andante, some folks will play it a little faster than andante.

So what 'Moderate' is telling you is that you won't race, but you won't go real slow either. Anything in between is appropriate - you're the musician, you decide!

Thanks note boat, I think when i first saw it, It just threw me for a loop, and i made it harder than what it was.

Here are my thoughts based on my limited experience (I'm not a professional)

The tempo is set by the conductor (of a band or orchestra) or the performer(s) of a piece. The descriptive terms are relative but once the tempo is established then everyone has to be in precise time or 'tempo'.

When musicians play together it is extremely important that they be in precise time or 'tempo' with each other.. Picture the orchestra for a moment with many different instruments playing many different parts. The conductor leads them by signalling the tempo with the baton. They have rehearsed together many times as well as practiced their individual parts and each individual musician is very precise in playing his/her part correctly and in 'perfect' tempo.

The tempo for a particular piece of music is not necessarily the same each time it is played but it should be consistent throughout that piece of music without an unwanted slowing down or speeding up (lagging or rushing) during the song- in other words- to "keep a steady beat". It is good to keep that in mind when practicing and even to use a metronome to learn how to be consistent, tapping your foot in time is a good way too. When playing with someone else, or a group, if you miss a note you have to skip it, you don't get a second chance, the music/beat goes on and you have to be right in time with it, the right beat in the right measure.

I hope I didn't make it sound difficult. I think it comes naturally after awhile. I'd like to hear other's perspectives and comments on this- keeping a beat and playing in time.

Here is the url to a wikipedia article about music tempo with hyperlinks to other webpages. I'll also also copy two of the paragraphs which I think apply to your question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo
Basic tempo markings
The most common tempo markings in Italian are:

Grave - very slowly and almost solemn - unsmiling, grave, earnest, serious
Largo - slowly and broadly - ready, wide, broad
Lento - "slow" but usually only moderately so
Adagio - slowly
Andante - [andare, ~ a corsa] - at a walking pace, go, ride - riding
Moderato - at a moderate tempo, neither fast nor slow - temperate
Allegretto - "a little allegro", understood to be not quite as fast as allegro
Allegro - lively, frisky - (quickly)
Vivace - very fast, lively and brisk
Presto - fast, quickly, swiftly
Prestissimo - very, very fast.
-------------

Can tempo terms be defined with the metronome?
Most musicians would agree that it is not possible to give beats per minute (BPM) equivalents for these terms; the actual number of beats per minute in a piece marked allegro, for example, will depend on the music itself. A piece consisting mainly of minims (half notes) can be played much more quickly in terms of BPM than a piece consisting mainly of semi-quavers (sixteenth notes) but still be described with the same word.

Metronome manufacturers usually do assign BPM values to the traditional terms, but these values are by no means correct for every piece.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo