Protips on Editing

By A-R's house editors

This Protip demonstrates the use of the Styles menu in Word to produce a clean manuscript for submission to a publisher. In word processing software applications there is usually more than one way to create a desired layout and text format on the screen and page; however, not all of them are good practices for manuscript preparation. While a Word document might look good on the screen, under the surface there may be unwanted formatting that is at risk of being copied over into the production files and causing problems in the proofs. Understanding and mastering the Styles menu is the key to a clean manuscript, and will also save time and energy in the long run by making Word documents easier to format and navigate.

For the complete Recent Researches in Music Style Guide, click here (PDF).

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By A-R's house editors

This is the fifth in a series of UnderScore posts on word division in lyrics within music, covering syllabification guidelines for Russian and Church Slavonic. 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 is the fourth in a series of UnderScore posts on word division in lyrics within music, covering syllabification guidelines for English. 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 Western music of the Baroque era—spanning approximately the seventeenth through mid-eighteenth centuries—many of the same conventions for instrumental and score order apply as for music of the common practice period. But because of the central, fundamental role played in baroque music by basso continuo accompaniment, the bass line is typically set apart from the rest of the texture. This post gives guidelines for score order in music from this era that includes a basso continuo line.

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.