Photo: Brett Sayles

Is there a 1024th note?

The 1024th note Anthony Philip Heinrich's Toccata Grande Cromatica is an absolute joy to sight-read – slightly hungover – on a Sunday morning. The piece contains the shortest note value ever used in a published work – a 1024th note.

classicfm.com - 6 times the music you're reading makes you go :-O - Classic FM

Which electronic keyboard is most like a piano?

6 Digital Pianos with the Most Realistic Piano Sounds Kawai MP11SE. You'd have trouble finding any list of keyboards with realistic piano sounds...

Last updated Oct 23, 2018

Is it OK to lay down an upright piano?

You might find yourself wondering “can you lay an upright piano on its back during the move?” We don't recommend moving a piano on its back. For...

Last updated May 13, 2022

Join almost HALF A MILLION Happy Students Worldwide

Promotion

6 times the music you're reading makes you go :-O

Those alarming times that a 1024th note, a thrice-sharpened F or a 'prestissimamente' tempo marking creep up in the score

A mid-bar change from Johann Sebastian Bach

In number 26 of the Goldberg Variations, JSB thinks it's just fine to change time signature in the middle of a measure. The simple triple (3/4) moves to a compound triple meter (18/16) at an alarming speed, and makes our head hurt a little bit.

The triple F#

Yep, it's a rare thing, but it does exist. You'll find a thrice-sharpened F near the end of the last movement of Reger's Clarinet Sonata, Op. 49/2. F### - that's more hashtags than a One Direction fan account that's just been followed by Harry Styles.

The 1024th note

Anthony Philip Heinrich's Toccata Grande Cromatica is an absolute joy to sight-read – slightly hungover – on a Sunday morning. The piece contains the shortest note value ever used in a published work – a 1024th note. It's actually notated incorrectly as a 2048th note – but after that many tails on a note, who's really counting?

Any prestissimo

Beethoven was eager in those sonatas. As fast as possible? Steady on, old chap.

In fact, anything in Beethoven's fair hand

He was a messy one.

Alkan's Le Chemin de Fer ('The Railway') in D minor

Right-hand sixteenth notes with a half note equalling 112 on the metronome (224 quarter notes per minute). You do the maths.

Take a listen (with mind-bending score)

Alkan's Comme le Vent

It's two honourable mentions for the virtuoso composer/pianist. Here's the first from his set of Etudes in all the minor keys Op.39. It's marked prestissimamente (eighth note = 160), is in 2/16, lasts over 4 mintues and contains perpetual triplet demisemiquavers. Yeah, have fun with that.

This graphical score.

Ok, now we're getting silly. Antosca's stave-less One Becomes Two has that feeling of stepping into an elevator shaft, when there's no elevator.

But sometimes there are nice surprises.

Cheers, composer (for once)

Who made first song?

The earliest fragment of musical notation is found on a 4,000-year-old Sumerian clay tablet, which includes instructions and tunings for a hymn...

Last updated May 17, 2022

What finger do unmarried girls wear rings on?

Most often, however, unmarried women who wear a ring on their left ring finger wear it as a symbol of a promise. So for this special little finger,...

Last updated Apr 16, 2018

Promotion

Are old piano keys worth anything?

Ivory keytops are not valuable. Because the trade in ivory is completely outlawed around the world, the keytops are not valuable. But even if it...

Last updated Dec 27, 2019

Why do we use drop D?

When you tune to Drop D, you extend its range a full step lower. Tuning to Drop D makes it easier to shift your guitar to a range that makes it...

Last updated Apr 16, 2021

Join almost HALF A MILLION Happy Students Worldwide

Pianoforall is one of the most popular online piano courses online and has helped over 450,000 students around the world achieve their dream of playing beautiful piano for over a decade.

Learn More »

Promotion

What music is best for depression?

Songs to Battle Depression “Unwell” by Matchbox Twenty. ... “Better Place” by Rachel Platten. ... “Screen” by Twenty One Pilots. ... “Last Hope” by...

Last updated May 12, 2019

Promotion

Does a digital piano need tuning?

A digital piano is maintenance free – there are no hammers and strings to produce sound so there's no tuning required.

Last updated Jul 18, 2019