we ran across 15ma in a piece in Faber&Faber. We all know what 8va means but could not explain 15ma. My guess is that once you hit the one octave above a specific note then there are 7 more notes to the next octave and perhaps the ma stands for Major? As in Major 7th above the first 8va? Can anyone give me some specific explanations for this? Thank you

-- Sharleen Mulcady (shar-leen@lycos.com), March 21, 2002

Answers

8va is short for the Italian "ottava" meaning "eighth" - so you play an eighth (an octave) above the written pitches.

15ma is short for the Italian "quindicesima" meaning "fifteenth" - so you play a fifteenth (two octaves - don't count the middle note twice!) above the written pitches.

-- Jason (jsifford@pianoped.com), March 22, 2002.

Jason,

My student thanks you, all the employees at my local music store thanks you, and last of all, I thank you. Sharleen

-- Sharleen Mulcady (shar-leen@lycos.com), March 22, 2002.

You're welcome! Glad I could help!

-- Jason (jsifford@pianoped.com), March 23, 2002.