What does this mean?

What do the 3 slashes represent? How should the note be played? And for what group of instruments is this sign usually intended for?

Thanks for the help.

It's a tremolo. Depending on the instrument, it can mean different things.

See the wiki article for clarification...

Thanks! :toothygrin:

Oh, I don't know, maybe someone thought that perhaps writing three slashes on a note covering a number of beats would be easier than writing 9345629875540829 identical notes per beat. :)

For the record, it actually is an abreviation for 32nds, which last as long as the indicated length. (in this case 16/32s and then 16/32s and then another 16/32s).

Now in most instruments, and depending on the tempo, it is unmeasured. which basically means that they play the same note as fast as possible. So the norm is unmeasured. If by any chance the composer wants to have measure (or at a very slow tempo, like Largo or something), in contemporary scores they say so "measured", and in older ones, you just know... (Bach for example).

In the strings this is called tremolo (like robin said).

In the woodwinds and brass it's called fluttertongue (as it's done using the tongue).

In unpitched percussion, it is the same as a trill, and I believe (though not sure), that the term roll is used.

In pitched percussion it is not the same as a trill, and it's called a roll (for that I'm pretty sure, though not 100%).

It's not entirely common in the piano, as the piano cannot go really fast in alternating the same note, so trills are really most common. Still it has been used at certain score (mostly contemporary)

Yeah, demisemiquavers all on the same note. Or just very short notes (scrub, on a string instrument) if it's too fast to count exactly.

Sometimes they will write three dashed inbetween two notes, and those notes are to be alternated between very quickly. Great for rolled octaves on the piano. Tremolo can also be done on plucked string instruments guitar, mandolin, ect., and harp.

For pitched percussion, these signs are treated just how they are on the piano. A trill is a trill between two notes, a roll is a note or notes repeated quickly. Unlike piano, pitched percussion instruments can repeat the same note very quickly, and is so called a roll, as it is more similar to the single stroke roll acheived on drums and other nonpithced percussion instruments.

The use of three dashes between two notes indicates quick alternation, perfect for rolled octaves on the piano or tremolo on plucked string instruments like guitar, mandolin, or harp.