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Strange symbol similar to a fermata
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Topic: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
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joyussohl
PS Silver Member
Newbie
Posts: 3
Strange symbol similar to a fermata
on: August 09, 2012, 02:21:00 PM
I wasn't sure where to post this, since I'm not a student and have been playing for 40 years, but I'm recently encountering a strange symbol in the Christian praise team sheet music I'm given, and I'm not quite sure what it means.
It always looks to me like a bandaged finger with a dot indicating the 'knuckle' below the fingertip, and I'd guess it's a distorted fermata . . . what is that thing?
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1piano4joe
PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 418
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #1 on: August 09, 2012, 05:30:51 PM
I can't be sure without seeing what your describing but it may be a fermata. There are (to my knowledge anyway) three kinds of fermata. A round one is by far the most common. There are two others a square fermata and a triangle fermata. Some modern composer's have expanded the symbol's usage to indicate approximate duration. Different shapes and sizes indicate the duration of the hold. If posting a picture isn't possible, I would suggest either a google search for musical symbols or checking out either wikipedia or the dolmetsch website for music. Hope that helps, Joe.
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joyussohl
PS Silver Member
Newbie
Posts: 3
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #2 on: August 09, 2012, 07:19:02 PM
OK I attached a scan of that section - sorry it's a bad scan - I'm still new at using the scanner, but the image includes the odd fermata.
Thank you for replying.
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1piano4joe
PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 418
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #3 on: August 09, 2012, 08:13:16 PM
The triangle fermata is short and the square is long. The curvature of your symbol suggests to me that it's just a stylized regular fermata where the top is unusually thickened and resembles a sort of wig and is probably a typesetter/printing thing. I hope that helps. Joe.
There are also double dotted and triple dotted fermata which sometimes use a number supposedly to indicate the duration of the hold. What does two or three times infinity or my discretion exactly mean anyway? Anybody understand this?
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joyussohl
PS Silver Member
Newbie
Posts: 3
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #4 on: August 09, 2012, 10:25:08 PM
hahhaha well . .I'd guess it's relative to the entire piece... if there's a triple dotted fermata, it means . hold it three times as long as you held the single... artistic expression. funny!!
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j_menz
PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 10148
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #5 on: August 09, 2012, 11:26:25 PM
It's a regular fermata. It only looks odd because of the weird font used (check out the clefs).
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"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility. There are so few of us left" -- Oscar Levant
quantum
PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 6289
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #6 on: August 09, 2012, 11:38:12 PM
I concur, it is a regular fermata. The font is different that's all. I've frequently encountered this style font in jazz charts. In my version of Finale the font is actually called "Jazz."
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Made a Liszt. Need new Handel's for Soler panel & Alkan foil. Will Faure Stein on the way to pick up Mendels' sohn. Josquin get Wolfgangs Schu with Clara. Gone Chopin, I'll be Bach
ajspiano
PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 3392
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #7 on: August 09, 2012, 11:39:10 PM
i concur also.
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keypeg
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Sr. Member
Posts: 3931
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #8 on: August 11, 2012, 02:48:13 PM
When I learned to hand draw music, there were three steps to the fermata - the curved shape, the dot, and thickening the top part. This symbol looks like an exaggeration of "thickening the top part". It's a weirdly drawn fermata.
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scherzo123
PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 481
Re: Strange symbol similar to a fermata
Reply #9 on: August 13, 2012, 02:14:37 AM
I agree with j_menz.
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