In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, David Webber
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>
>From: "Bernard Hill" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>> >How do I tell where the 2nd time bar bracket ends if it is not
>the
>> >end of the piece?
>>
>> Conventionally it goes for one bar and does not have a descender
>at the
>> right hand end. The only time it has 2 descenders is when it's the
>last
>> bar.
>>
>> Gerou: Essential Dictionary of Music Notation.
>
>Hmm. I'm afraid this is very far from conventional in any general
>sense. I play music full of these things at least twice a week,
>and have rarely seen one restricted to one bar, and IIRC the right
>hand end either has a vertical or not, depending on the whim of the
>publisher - usually indicating a strongly marked end-of-section if
>one is present, and that the phrase more or less continues if not.
>:-(
I quote Gardner Read, ("Music Notation") who says [to quote in full]:
"The first ending is marked with a figure 1 and enclosed by a level
bracket with an initial downward jog, ending wiht a similar jog at the
repeat sign. The second ending is marked with a figure 2 and is also set
off with a horizontal bracket - this time beginning with the down-jog
and extended without termination, usually as far as the first barline
thereafter. Of the first ending contuinues onto another line or system,
the bracket minus a downward jog is not given the concluding downward
jog until the repeat mark is reached.
Should there be a third, or terminating ending, the second ending is
notated in the manner of the usual first ending."
Kurt Stone ("Music notation in the 20th century") illustrates with
examples only, all of which agree with Read, except he allows the word
Fine instead of "2" if the 2nd time bar is at the end of a piece.
The little pamphlet "Standard Music Notation practice" bu the Music
Publisher's Association (which is available in PDF on the net somewhere)
says "endings must be bracketed. When a second ending occurs in the
middle of a piece, the bracket should extend for a measure or two and
then end without the closing stroke. When the second ending occurs at
the end of a piece or section, the bracket must be closed." And 2
examples follow, one showing a 2nd time section consisting of 2 bars and
then a thin-thick barline and showing a downstroke on the 2-bar bracket.
>
>(I have played one piece where a second time bar is marked extending
>over half a page or more - as did the first. Although otherwise
>relatively straightforward, it made it a real bugger to sight read!)
WHen all my reference books agree (they don't always!) then I tend to
take it that it's pretty much recommended. And because we have all seen
bad notation doesn't mean that we should produce software which has bad
notation in it! So for us the algorithm of "where does the 2nd time bar
end?" is simple: at the end of the bar and has a downstroke only if the
next barline is not a simple one |.
And the 1st time bracket ends at the repeat-back barline :|
:-)
Bernard Hill
Braeburn Software
Author of Music Publisher system
Music Software written by musicians for musicians
http://www.braeburn.co.uk
Selkirk, Scotland
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