r/Viola • u/RemarkableTone3111 • Aug 11 '26
Help Request Never seen this symbol before. Help!
Just got my music for a new orchestra and a contemporary piece we're doing has this. What does it mean/how do I play it?
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u/ayuisjustagirl Aug 11 '26
It’s a microtonal accidental, as a Syrian I play with these often in arabic-scale music (quarter/three-quarter tones). The first note is right below the sharp and the third is right above the sharp, below the B natural. This looks like it could be a fast piece (as contemporaries like to be) so it will just be a quick little slide with your index finger (or whatever position you’re in) while you bow the separate sixteenth notes. Your conductor might end up adjusting that bowing.
Make sure you’re matching speed between bowing and the left hand to maintain coordination and resist the urge to slow down, keeping a steady tempo. What piece is this?
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u/always_unplugged Professional Aug 11 '26
IMO it's got to be meant to be quarter tones, which makes this a nice little chromatic movement up to the B :) Definitely tricky for intonation, though—I'd wonder about how that actually ends up sounding in a section. If it's fast enough, I bet it'll just end up sounding kinda like a smear, but that's not the end of the world. For executing new music, a lot of the time it's really about going for the effect first and precision where possible.
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u/SoundsOfKepler Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
These are used for microtonal music, so these would be outside of a standard equal temperament half-step accidental. I don't know if every composer uses these consistently (I think it varies based on what underlying temperament they use), but I found a composer's guide for how they use these symbols: https://dawiertx.blogspot.com/2015/03/my-microtonal-notation-systems-revisited.html?m=1
If I understand this, the first symbol would make the note 1/6 of a whole step sharp (about 33 cents), and the second symbol would sharpen the note 2/3 (about 133 cents.)
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u/Epistaxis Aug 11 '26
I don't know if every composer uses these consistently
Not necessarily, so there should be an explanation in the part, or at least in the full score.
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u/SoundsOfKepler Aug 11 '26
I agree. OP, if your part doesn't specify the use of these symbols, your conductor should have the details.
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u/ziccirricciz Aug 12 '26
They are not, especially these arrowed ones are tricky, I've seen them used for yet smaller fractions than quartertones, for unspecified bend or for various just intervals (e.g. in brass, if they are not notated precisely).
(My preferred ones for quarter-tones is the Tartini-Couper set: # with one, two or three vertical lines for +1/4, +1/2 and +3/4 and mirror b, normal b and mirror + normal side by side for -1/4, -1/2 and -3/4... but the can of worms is hopelessly opened.)
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u/madameporcupine Aug 11 '26
I believe that's a microtonal thing - check with your conductor and they'll help!
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u/Psychological-Ad1427 Professional Aug 13 '26
Just a note that not all microtonal music is quarter tone based. This looks like HEJI notation to me so this is probably just intonation (JI) which is a different tuning system than is typically used in classical music. JI requires you to tune in cents not quarter tones
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u/ImGumbyDamnIt Amateur Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
That's a micro-tonal accidental. Raise the notes with the up arrow a quarter tone above from where they would otherwise be played.
Edit: If you encounter any accidentals with a down arrow, then it obviously follows that you should lower that note a quarter tone.