[starletofthesea]

hi so recently, my best friend (who plays trumpet) just got through the Carnival of Venice. i was intrigued by how a person can play that song, so now i'm trying to play it myself. however, i've come across either something i'm counting wrong, or a misprint in the music.

(6/8)|(eighth)(eighth)(eighth)(sixteenth triple)(sixteenth triple)(sixteenth triple)

...in case that was a bad diagram, it's in 6/8 time, with three eighth notes at the beginning and then followed up by three triplets made up of sixteenth notes. every time i count it, i get the measure to have four and a half beats. am i counting something wrong?

i've also noticed something on a note similar to a tremolo on a string instrument, there are like 2 marks on the stem of the note. does anybody know what that means?

 

[AltoRuth]

If I'm understanding you correctly the measure is correct. Each of the eight notes gets 1 beat, and each combination of 3 16th notes (a triplet) is the equivalent in value to one eighth note. Thus, three eighth notes + three 16th note triplets = 6 beats to the measure. If I've misinterpreted your question or have been unclear, please feel free to ask again.

As to the second question, I'm not sure. In older editions of music, that notation could mean that the note is to be played multiple times over one beat. e.g. a hatch across the stem of a quarter note may be indicating that the note should be sounded twice in one beat; it was an alternative to printing out two eighth notes, and was most likely done as a space saver. However, don't take my answer to the bank---it's hard to know without seeing it what it might indicate.

Regards,
Ruth

 

[starletofthesea]

oh wow thank you. that was a really silly mistake. i guess it happens when you're sick. thanks again.