A new digital resource is breaking down the language barrier for professional string-players and students around the world thanks to a Charles Darwin University music expert.
Released recently, the “String App” is a comprehensive string music dictionary at the touch of a button, listing string-playing terms in four languages: English, French, German and Italian.
CDU Head of the School of Creative Arts and Humanities, Professor Martin Jarvis OAM said that because string instruments originated in Europe many of the terms found on sheet music carried instructions in a variety of languages.
“The way a player is instructed to engage the bow with the strings of an instrument is crucial to producing the right sound,” Professor Jarvis said. “There can be confusion about what a word in German or Italian means when translated to English and how it should be expressed musically.
“This dictionary not only translates the actual musical term, but also describes the techniques, so players can understand how the term should be expressed in varying languages, aiding interpretation of style and performance.”
Based on the “String Players Pocket Dictionary 3rd Edition”, which was first published in 2001, the app is the only one of its kind in the world, and has already sold extensively in every continent and every country in Europe.
Professor Jarvis said that while the app was currently text-based, it would be updated with images and film in the next couple of months and would also grow to include translations in Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
The “String App” can be found at the Itunes App Store.