> > jd IMAP wrote: > > I like the 8vb for the octave lower rather than the 8va. I > think it's > > reactively clearer. And I use it via Smart Shape since it > breaks systems. > > > > But it's a bastardization of the original 8va which does not mean > "ottava alta" or any such thing. It simply meant "ottava" or > "octave." > Its placement above the music means an octave above, and > its placement > below the music means to play the music an octave below what > is written. > > So to put a 'b' in place of the 'a' simply produces a nonsense > abbreviation of a non-existent word. > > Would everybody understand it? I doubt it. Does everybody > understand > what '8va' means when placed beneath a row of notes? > >
I was about to respond to this in strong support of the clarity of '8vb', but then checked against a piece I'd played yesterday, in which I knew I'd seen such a marking. (For reference - Lili Boulanger, 'Nocturne', ABRSM Grade 6 violin. Cracking piece.) And there it is in front of me. '8va' in the bass. Despite my evidently abstract opinion that such a marking 'just looks wrong', I'd misremembered it as '8vb'. Hmmm. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
