N.P symbol

[warburtonj]

Can anyone tell me what n.p means on a piano score.  Thanks.

[49410enrique]

hmm difficult to say without seeing the music (usually the music clues us in as to what is appropriate) but NC usually means "no chord", i'll venture to guess NP means "no pedal"

[mike_lang]

I'm not sure I've seen that before -- where did you find that marking?

[warburtonj]

Its on the Rachmaninov arrangement of Flight of the Bumblebee I downloaded from here https://www.maksimmrvica.com/downloads/scores/

I think it probably does mean 'no pedal'

[keypeg]

The site has several versions for downloading.  It occurs in the Rachmaninoff version which for some reason has a few Cyrrilic letterings in there even though most of it uses our letters.  Your "n.p." is "p.r." and occurs the first time in m. 1, 3 and 5.  I think by seeing patterns in the music somebody might know what it is saying.  (Or if they know what p.r. stands for in Russian).

[jimbo320]

N.P.= No Pedal

[keypeg]

N.P.= No Pedal

See previous post.  It's not n.p.  It is p.r. in Russian lettering.

[drkilroy]

I do not know Russian, but it is similar to Polish and I think p.r. it can mean "prawa ręka" which means "right hand".

I checked it in the translator - "right hand" in Russian is (in approximate transliteration) "pravo rhuka", which would suit the abbreviation "p.r.".

So - "p.r." means "right hand", I am almost sure. Hope this helps.

Best regards, Dr

[pianowolfi]

In this case, however, it means left hand. Otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. In my Pianostreet edition it says m.s. which means mano sinistra, left hand.

[jimbo320]

Thanks for setting me straight Keypeg...

[drkilroy]

In this case, however, it means left hand. Otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. In my Pianostreet edition it says m.s. which means mano sinistra, left hand.

I looked at the score and I think it seems that the first notes in the measures (the one with the stem up in measures 1 and 3 and with stem down in measures 5-9) are to be played with the right hand while the other notes are to be played with the left hand. That would make more sense.

Best regards, Dr

[pianowolfi]

Have you tried it? I have and to me it doesn't make so much sense.

[drkilroy]

Well, that is what Rachmaninov says, perhaps it did make more sense to him.

Alternatively, it could be an editor's mistake.

Best regards, Dr

[49410enrique]

the LH vs RH i deal makes sense, my Gottschalk piece I just started learning for the Spring term had a m. and I was like what they heck (i am used to md ms norally)!? finally figured out it (main gauche (seen as MG in French piano music) indicates that a section should be played with the left hand, and can be seen on the treble or bass staff vs MD main droite...)

if there's confusion on actually following the designation, let the music be they guide, learn it both ways and use the easier technical approach that allows proper interpretation and technical execution of the gesture in the music with the least physical difficulty. I mean after all we tend to make technical decisions for musical reasons right?

[threelittlemaids]

The abbreviation "n.p." will only be found in music printed by a Russian publisher and actually should be "л.р." which stands for левая рука ("levaya ruka") and means "left hand". The marking "n.p." occurs in the last bar of the first stave on page 5 (the third page of music) in Vaneyev's arrangement for solo piano of Kreisler's "Praeludium und Allegro in the style of Pugnani" (published by Muzgiz of Moscow in 1954), but further down the same page, and also on later pages in the same publication, it appears in Cyrillic characters as "л.р." (it should be noted that the letter "r" is written as "р" in Cyrillic script, just as it is in Greek).

[kosulin]

п.р. can mean "правая рука", i.e. "right hand"

[keypeg]

Yes.  As answered 13 years ago.   Good to see more confirmations.