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Outside Shore Music / Mastering MuseScore

Crossing lines

Published 3 months ago • 2 min read

Hello! This week I will be away from my regular studio for at least part of the time, but there should be no interruption to my regular live events.
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In ​Practical Counterpoint​, we are beginning the process creating our own fugues! If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out the first part of the project, Subject and answer.

Mastering MuseScore

If you are interested in getting the most out of the world's most popular music notation software, join our community with a Mastering MuseScore membership for the most comprehensive training & expert support available!

MuseScore Café

This week in the MuseScore Café with Marc Sabatella, we discuss techniques for notating contrapuntal music for piano and other keyboard instruments. We'll look at copy and paste, diatonic and chromatic transposition, working with multiple voices, cross-staff notation, and more.

The free MuseScore Café is live on Wednesday at 12:30 PM Eastern (16:30 GMT, or 17:30 during the winter months), and you can access past episodes in the archive.

Tip of the Week

Music for piano and other keyboard instruments sometimes contains passages where a melodic line starts on one staff and then crosses over to the other. In this video post, I show you how to create this type of notation in MuseScore Studio.

Musicianship

If you are serious about learning music - theory, composition, improvisation, and more - become a Gold-level member and receive access to all of our music courses and workshops, as well as exclusive benefits like my weekly Office Hours, in addition to our acclaimed Mastering MuseScore resources.

Music Master Class

This week in the Music Master Class with Marc Sabatella, we look at the fugue expositions being created for the Practical Counterpoint​ course.

The free Music Master Class is live on Thursday at 12:30 PM Eastern (16:30 GMT, or 17:30 during the winter months), and you can access past episodes in the archive.

In Theory

Fugues and other forms that involve imitative counterpoint often contain passages in which a given motif or theme is transposed and repeated at a different pitch level. In such cases, the transposition might be exact or it might contain "tonal adjustments" to suit the context. In this video post, I show the most common type of tonal adjustment that is often found in fugues: a simple change to the initial notes of the transposed "answer" to the subject that keeps it grounded in the original key.

Until next time, keep making music!
Marc Sabatella

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Outside Shore Music / Mastering MuseScore

by Marc Sabatella

My name is Marc Sabatella, and I am the founder of Outside Shore Music - a pioneer of online music education since the dawn of the web. As the creator of Mastering MuseScore, A Jazz Improvisation Primer, and other resources, I have dedicated most of my life to helping as many musicians as I can. Subscribe to my free newsletter for MuseScore tips, theory insights, and more information on how to create your best music!

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