Bernard Hill wrote on 29 Jul 2003

> I did not say "beginning of a piece" I said "beginning of a section". It
> has always been standard notation to assume the first repeat is from the
> beginning of the work. We are talking about
> 
> .... | ..... | .... | .... :|
> .... | ..... | .... | .... :|
> 
> which is ambiguous. And should maybe be
> 
> .... | ..... | .... | .... :|
> |:.. | ..... | .... | .... :|
> 

In British traditional music as notated for at least the past half century, this form 
is not 
ambiguous but rather normal notation for 4 bars repeated followed by 4 bars 
repeated. I can see that this has limitations, but it presents a simple, elegant and 
traditional notation, and I am loathe to move away from this as it would make old 
manuscripts and publications less comprehensible. I know that other cultures  have 
different conventions in this area, and I think that both forms should be admissable.

Music notation is based on convention, and happily there is no absolute way of 
notating music, thus allowing development of interpretation.

BarryBarry Say
------------------------------------------------------
B & J Say Smallpipes  - http://www.nspipes.co.uk
Making and Repairing Bagpipes in the Northumbrian Tradition.


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