Instructions for Composers

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Playable Notes and Skills

Things to Avoid

Piano

  • Five-finger position starting on a natural note.  
  • Two-note chords, preferably 5th or smaller in each hand.
  • Clusters.
  • Legato (on single note lines only).

Piano

  • Position shifts.
  • Pedaling.
  • Different articulations between the hands (no melody and accompaniment, no legato and staccato at the same time).    

Guitar

  • (General note: The guitar is written in the octave treble clef (notes are written an octave above sounding. The open strings are E, A, D, G, B, E)
  • Natural notes on top 4 strings (D’-G”), bass E and A open.  
  • A minor and E major chords (strumming only).

Guitar

  • More than one fretted note at a time (other than listed  chords).  
  • Eighth notes at speeds over quarter=100.
  • consecutive notes that must be played legato with the same finger on different strings.

Violin & Viola

  • Fingers 1, 2 and 3 on top 3 strings (whole step, whole step and half step above each open string).
  • E string: E F# G# A and maybe B
  • A string: A, B, C#, D, and maybe E 
  • D string: D, E, F#, G, and maybe A

Violin & Viola

  • Bows over 1.5 seconds.
  • Slurs.
  • Double stops.
  • String crosses that skip a string.
  • Consecutive notes that must be played legato with the same finger on different strings.
  • The fourth string

Cello

  • Fingers 1, 3 & 4 on top two strings (whole step, whole step, half step above each open string).
  • A string: B, C# D
  • D string: E, F#, G
  • Finger 2 is possible (for example 1st string C Nat, or 2nd string F Nat) but has not been used extensively in their solo music. 

Cello

  • String crosses that skip a string 
  • Bows over two seconds
  • Consecutive notes that must be played legato with the same finger on different strings.
  • Double stops

Flute  

  • Range from F above middle C, to G an octave above, natural notes.   

Flute 

  • More than 1 or 2 accidentals per piece (they probably have not encountered accidentals in their method books, but are capable of learning them).
  • Slurs of more than 2 notes.
  • Breaths over 4 seconds.
  • Slow tempos.
  • Dynamics.