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In a piece that has the Roman Numeral II(for example), I know that means to play on the A string on the violin but when do you switch back to the string you were playing on previous to switching? For the life of me, I cannot remember.
Jim(Thomases Dad)
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There is no hard and fast rule, as far as I'm aware. I would say to stay on the string as long as necessary to accomplish the purpose of that indication. So you might have to think about why that roman numeral is there. Often it's there because the composer wants a specific tone color, in which case you stay on that string as long as you're trying to maintain that sound. But sometimes it's just there to clarify a convenient fingering, in which case you don't really need to think about it afterward.
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Thanks @AndrewH and when you said there is no hard and fast rule, you were not kidding. Such a vague, and I am sure often, answer. I bet many violinists end it at different points, subjective to say the least
Jim(Thomases Dad)
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This is interesting!
I've seen where Roman Numerals above the staff can mean a couple things, but usually have a term, abbreviation or dashes to help identify purpose/length of use - which is helpful.
By themselves, I thought it referred to the one note, but I've read (from several different sources) they refer to playing the 'passage' - but WHAT EXACTLY IS A PASSAGE?
Is it a 'phrase', 'section', 'movement', A/B 'part' like in Irish music, or the whole piece?
A passage is a musical idea that may or may not be complete or independent. For example, fill, riff, and all sections. (Wikipedia)
??? Is it just me - doesn't this definition suck?
...or just a terrible term to use?
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