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I think I'll go crazy if I think about every possible way. Which example best adheres to standard notation practice?

  1. cross-staff with mid-staff beaming
  2. cross-staff with all upward beaming
  3. single staff with clef change
  4. single staff with ledger lines
  5. single staff with ottava
Aaron
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prstch
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    It's a matter of opinion. I prefer no.2, but none of them are 'incorrect'. – PiedPiper Mar 04 '21 at 18:26
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    Even though the question asks for opinion, it seems answerable by someone experienced with music typography. I don't believe it should be closed. – user1079505 Mar 04 '21 at 18:46
  • Obviously, there is a more correct type of notation, and there are some arguments. Maybe among music editors there are rules of "good form" in notation, or maybe a completely different way. It's like if you swap the words in a sentence, if you put them wrong, you will be understood, but you will sound like savage. – prstch Mar 04 '21 at 19:02
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    I'd say #1 works better for me – Shevliaskovic Mar 04 '21 at 19:04
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    This is not a matter of opinion. All of the elements depicted have documented best practices. – Todd Wilcox Mar 04 '21 at 22:06
  • @PiedPiper #5 and #3 are definitely incorrect in having overly brief clef or octave changes. #1 and #2 are archaic in having the RH part on the lower staff and #1 has a clear error in stem direction. #2 is closest to being an acceptable alternative but when you look at it, it’s unnecessarily cumbersome compared to #4. – Todd Wilcox Mar 04 '21 at 22:19
  • Yeah, #1 would be a decent contender if it weren't for that initial quarter note stem in the bass directly colliding with the whole notes. – Dekkadeci Mar 05 '21 at 13:10
  • @Dekkadeci I fixed that. – prstch Mar 05 '21 at 13:20
  • @ToddWilcox However "best practice" is not a hard& fast rule. Nobody would accept a piece that had, e.g., eighth notes with hollow noteheads (I'm not talking about harmonic notatation); but choosing when to change clef vs. applying ledger lines has lots of proponents on either side. I agree there are reasons for the "best practice" but there are always exceptions. – Carl Witthoft Mar 05 '21 at 18:14
  • I also agree that this should **not** be closed, as it's quite informative to those planning to write some music scores. – Carl Witthoft Mar 05 '21 at 18:15
  • I would prefer number 1. Well number 2 is almost the same, so OK. I think my next choise after that would be the RH in number 4 combined with the left hand in number 3. Anyway it is a matter of choise or opinion but some are easier to read than others and I find number 1 very easy to read. – Lars Peter Schultz Mar 05 '21 at 20:21

3 Answers3

5

#4 is most correct. The LH stems should be up instead of down. If space between systems is tight, #5 is the second best alternative for the LH only. The only correct RH is #4.

The reasons why for every choice is readability. Brief clef and octave changes are much harder to read. Keeping the right hand on the upper staff and left hand on the lower staff is easier to read.

Note that for the passage depicted, sempre legato is redundant. If this is the beginning of a longer piece that will not have slurs and pedal marks throughout, then the sempre legato makes more sense.

Definitely buy Elaine Gould’s book Behind Bars which has explanations of all of these options and so much more. It is the authoritative reference on standard notation.

Todd Wilcox
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    Sempre Legato is required for the left hand, as it is not otherwise obvious whether the LH should be legato or detached. – Aaron Mar 04 '21 at 23:33
  • The clef/octave changes are borderline, Gould advises against them, but where does Gould state that the hands need to be on separate staves? As far as I can tell from the book she merely states that's the ""most usual" layout (p.304). – PiedPiper Mar 04 '21 at 23:34
  • @Aaron with the pedal mark there it’s mox/nix – Todd Wilcox Mar 05 '21 at 01:20
  • Not at all. Pedal sounds entirely different when notes are played non legato versus legato. – Aaron Mar 05 '21 at 01:47
  • I have a tough time reading #4's highest notes - the C# above Middle C being notated with 4 ledger lines in the bass clef is close to unreadable, at least to me, and I think it's such a terrible idea that I prefer #2. – Dekkadeci Mar 05 '21 at 13:13
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    @Dekkadeci you should see how many ledger lines show up in violin or clarinet scores! Sometimes a bunch of ledger lines is still easier to read than tossing in multiple clef changes. This is partly because, once a run or phrase starts, it's easy to "read" the local interval rather than think all the way"back" to what the note & octave is. – Carl Witthoft Mar 05 '21 at 18:11
  • As of matter of readability I really like number 1, although number 2 is almost as good. Anyway it is plain wrong to say that only the RH in number 4 is correct. The others are certainly also correct and, as I said, I like number 1. But there is a lot of opinion in this matter. – Lars Peter Schultz Mar 05 '21 at 20:26
  • @CarlWitthoft - One of those days, with enough examples from sheet music in the public domain, I'll publish that Music Stack Exchange question for why piano bass clef music often goes with 5 or more ledger lines instead of ottava bassa lines. Calculating that those notes with ledger lines are (often) an octave away from the next closest notes on the sheet music is not easy, IMO. – Dekkadeci Mar 06 '21 at 16:12
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None of these examples are incorrect, an experienced pianist should be able to read all of them, but some of them could be improved:

    1. a downward stem on the first low F# would be better. The sixteenth rest should probably be nearer the lower stave.
    1. the beams on the sixteenth notes (particularly the second quarter) could be a bit more slanted
    1. the LH stems should all point up
PiedPiper
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I like the right hand of #4 and the left hand of #3. They eliminate the right hand cross staves of #1 and #2 and also the changes of clefs and 8va and 8vb markings. The left hand is almost the same in 3&4 so it’s a toss up but I think stems up is a little cleaner.

John Belzaguy
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    I have a tough time reading #4's highest notes - the C# above Middle C being notated with 4 ledger lines in the bass clef is close to unreadable, at least to me, and I think it's such a terrible idea that I prefer #2. I'd much rather have cross-staff beaming or a clef change when it makes the right hand more readable. – Dekkadeci Mar 05 '21 at 13:31
  • @Dekkadeci Multiple ledger lines are often used in piano music although not as typically above bass clef. In this case it is just one note and is clearly a 5th above the previous note. The reason I chose what I did is I think it is the cleanest looking and visually represents what the music sounds like. – John Belzaguy Mar 05 '21 at 15:02