Hey Guys,
When writing Guitar music in standard notation for the upper registers on the fretboard.Do you just continue to add leger lines,or is there a more appropiate method? For instance,do you specify the neck position by number? :oops:
Once you get beyond about four ledger lines (15th fret G) it gets hard to read.
Typically, the solution is to write it an octave lower with the ottava (8va) sign.
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Once you get above the third leger line on top of the staff, it's approriate to write it an octave lower and bracket it with an "8ve" symbol above. It gets difficult to read, otherwise.
A :-)
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Thanks guys! :D
Hang on, is it 8ve that raises it by an octave or 8va? There's one for lowering isn't there? Which one is which?
8va and 8ve are the same thing - 8va is the abbreviation for the Italian "ottava", and 8ve is the abbreviation for the English "octave". In my experience, 8va is much more common.
There are several ways to lower the pitch an octave. The traditional is to write out "8va basso". I've seen some publishers use 8va below the staff to indicate lowering the pitch (it's written above the staff to raise it).
If you want to write a whole piece in octave transposition, you just use '8' with the clef. An 8 directly over the clef means the whole thing is played up an octave; an 8 right under the clef lowers the piece.
And for what it's worth, if you want to do 2 octave transposition, you do any of the above by using "15" (because if you go up 15 letter names, you're at the second octave). So 15va is played two octaves above what's written.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Thanks for that comprehensive reply :), my threadjack is over.
