Octave Signs
| Ottava The 8va sign is placed above the staff (as shown) to indicate the passage is to be played one octave higher. (An 8vb sign is placed below the staff to indicate the passage is to be played one octave lower. |
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| Quindicesima The 15ma sign is placed above the staff (as shown) to indicate the passage is to be played two octaves higher. (A 15mb sign is placed below the staff to indicate the passage is to be played two octaves lower.) |
8va and 15ma are sometimes abbreviated further to 8 and 15. When they appear below the staff, the word bassa is sometimes added.
Read more about this topic: List Of Musical Symbols
Famous quotes containing the word signs:
“The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in their turn speak of things. Without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produce no concepts; therefore it is dumb.”
—Umberto Eco (b. 1932)