David Barnert wrote: | Bernard wrote- | | > 2. |: at the beginning of a section is not ugly. And I do | > not like being forced to accept incorrect notation in that | > if a |: is missing then the repeat should be made from the | > previous double bar. | | But it *is* ugly at the beginning of a piece. Apparently, | Beethoven agreed. Open the score of any of his symphonies (or | any other classical "sonata-allegro" movement, for that | matter) and note that there is no opening |: although the | first section repeats. It cannot be bad abc to preserve this.
Well, "ugly" is in the eye of the beholder. One of the common problems in orchestra and band rehearsals is getting the initial counting correct. If the instruments don't all start together, and the music doesn't start exactly on a bar line, it's fairly common for people to have different understanding of when they are to come in. Sometimes this can only be resolved by showing the full score to some of the later entrants, so they can copy some cue notes to their page. This could all be solved if everyone's part had a clear [| or |: at the beginning, with however many rests your part has before you are to start. If the initial bar line and rests are omitted, the result is very often mass confusion and a lot of work to coordinate all the entries correctly. Labelling the first bar line with a big, fat "A" will also help. To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
