Protips on Editing

By A-R's house editors

An incipit is a brief notational segment placed before the first measure of a piece, in each staff, intended to clarify the relationship between the notation of the edited transcription and that of the source from which the piece has been transcribed. In editions of Western music, incipits are used primarily in editions of music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and early baroque, as many of the notational conventions of these earlier eras—particularly those concerning clefs, rhythmic values, meter and key signatures, and metrical organization—differ significantly from those used in modern music engraving. In choral and vocal music of the Renaissance and before, where vocal ranges can be somewhat less standardized than those of later music, it can also be helpful to include range finders at the start of each part as a guide to performers.

By A-R's house editors

This is the third in a series of UnderScore posts on word division in lyrics within music, covering syllabification guidelines for German. Please note that the rules given here may differ in small details from guidelines given in style manuals not primarily concerned with sung texts.

By A-R's house editors

This post lays out some general rules for the notation of triplets and other tuplets within A-R’s house style, illustrated by examples from our volumes.

By A-R's house editors

The category of grace notes includes various types of ornamental notation: appoggiaturas, acciaccaturas, coulés, slides, Nachschläge, and many others. This article covers guidelines on styling and formatting them within your edition.

By A-R's house editors

This is the second in a series of UnderScore posts on word division in lyrics within music, covering syllabification guidelines for Spanish and French. Please note that the rules given here may differ in small details from guidelines given in style manuals not primarily concerned with sung texts.

By A-R's house editors

In editing vocal music, one of the most important concerns is, of course, the words being sung. This series of posts aims to clarify A-R’s recommended best practices on word division within music, including rules specific to various languages commonly encountered in the Western art music tradition. This post begins the series with a brief introduction, followed by rules for Latin and Italian.

By A-R's house editors

In Western ensemble music, various brackets and braces are used to distinguish groups of instruments by family, type, or both. This article gives an overview of their functions and tips for their correct use.

By A-R's house editors

In Western art music of the common-practice period, barlines are used to divide written or printed music into metrical sections, or measures. In general, the placement of barlines should follow the source, with differences noted in the critical notes or in a general editorial statement. This article provides an overview of the most basic types of barlines and offers tips on how to use them correctly and consistently.

By A-R's house editors

Stemming appears, at first glance, a straightforward issue. Indeed, A-R house style employs very simple rules for stemming single notes and chords. However, stemming rules regarding multiple melodic lines and parts on a single staff are slightly more complex. Following a brief introduction to the basic rules of stemming, this article will address these more complicated scenarios.

By A-R's house editors

Time signatures are a fundamental attribute of musical notation that indicate the meter in a piece of music. In general, when changing time signatures in an edited score, the score should follow the source. However, there are certain issues to keep in mind that depend on the type of music being edited.