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Sheet music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form

of music notation that uses modern musical
symbols to indicate the pitches (melodies),
rhythms and/or chords of a song or
instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs –
printed books or pamphlets in English, Arabic Sheet music is a written, notated representation of
or other languages – the medium of sheet musical melodies, rhythms and lyrics (if lyrics are
music typically is paper (or, in earlier present). This is a homorhythmic (i.e., hymn-style)
centuries, papyrus or parchment), although arrangement of a traditional piece entitled "Adeste
the access to musical notation since the 1980s
Fideles", in standard two-staff format (bass staff and
has included the presentation of musical
treble staff) for mixed voices. Play
notation on computer screens and the
development of scorewriter computer
programs that can notate a song or piece
electronically, and, in some cases, "play back"
the notated music using a synthesizer or
virtual instruments.
A Tibetan musical score from the 19th century.
Use of the term "sheet" is intended to
differentiate written or printed forms of music from sound recordings (on vinyl record, cassette,
CD), radio or TV broadcasts or recorded live performances, which may capture film or video
footage of the performance as well as the audio component. In everyday use, "sheet music" (or
simply "music") can refer to the print publication of commercial sheet music in conjunction with
the release of a new film, TV show, record album, or other special or popular event which involves
music. The first printed sheet music made with a printing press was made in 1473.

Sheet music is the basic form in which Western classical music is notated so that it can be learned
and performed by solo singers or instrumentalists or musical ensembles. Many forms of traditional
and popular Western music are commonly learned by singers and musicians "by ear", rather than by
using sheet music (although in many cases, traditional and pop music may also be available in sheet
music form).

"Score" is a common alternative (and more generic) term for sheet music, and there are several
types of scores, as discussed below. The term "score" can also refer to theatre music, orchestral
music or songs written for a play, musical, opera or ballet, or to music or songs written for a
television programme or film; for the last of these, see Film score.

Contents

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1 Elements
1.1 Title and credit
1.2 Musical notation
2 Purpose and use
3 Types
3.1 Full scores, variants and condensations
3.2 Vocal scores
3.3 Other types
3.4 Popular music
4 History
4.1 Precursors to sheet music
4.1.1 Cuneiform tablets
4.2 Ancient Greek notation
4.3 Western manuscript notation
4.4 Printing
4.4.1 15th century
4.4.2 16th century
4.4.3 19th century
5 20th century and early 21st century
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
8.1 Archives of scanned works
8.2 Archives of works in other formats

Elements
Title and credit

Sheet music from the 20th and 21st century typically indicates the title of the song or composition
on a title page or cover, or on the top of the first page, if there is no title page or cover. If the song
or piece is from a movie, Broadway musical, or opera, the title of the main work from which the
song/piece is taken may be indicated. If the songwriter or composer is known, her or his name is
typically indicated along with the title. The sheet music may also indicate the name of the lyric-
writer, if the lyrics are by a person other than one of the songwriters or composers and the name of
the arranger, if the song or piece has been arranged for the publication. No songwriter or composer
name may be indicated for old folk music, traditional songs in genres such as blues and bluegrass,
and very old traditional hymns and spirituals, because for this music, the authors are often
unknown; in such cases, the word "Traditional" is often placed where the composer's name would
ordinarily go. Black market sheet music, such as illegal jazz fake books may or may not indicate
the songwriter or composer.

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Musical notation

The type of musical notation varies a great deal by genre or

style of music. In most classical music, the melody and
accompaniment parts (if present) are notated on the lines of
a staff using round note heads. In classical sheet music, the
staff always contains a clef, often a bass clef or treble clef, a
key signature indicating the key, and the time signature,
which typically has two numbers, the top number indicating
how many beats are in a bar and the bottom number
indicating the unit which the bars are composed of (e.g., 4/4
indicates that there are four beats per bar and that the
quarter note is the unit that the bar is made up from). Most
songs and pieces from the Classical period (ca. 1750) and
later eras indicate the tempo using an Italian expression
such as Allegro (fast) or Grave (slow) and the dynamics
(loudness or softness) using an expression such as "forte" "Queen of my Heart", the hit song of
(loud) or "pianissimo" (very quiet). The lyrics, if present, Dorothy, was very popular as a
are written near the melody notes. parlour ballad.

However, music from the Baroque music era (ca.

1600-1750) or earlier eras may have neither a tempo marking nor a dynamic indication. The singers
and musicians of that era were expected to know what tempo and loudness to play or sing a given
song or piece due to their musical experience and knowledge. In the contemporary classical music
era (20th and 21st century), and in some cases before (such as the Romantic period in German-
speaking regions), composers often used their native language for tempo indications, rather than
Italian (e.g., "fast" or "schnell") and/or added metronome markings (e.g., quarter note = 100 beats
per minute). These conventions of classical music notation, and in particular the use of English
tempo instructions, are also used for sheet music versions of 20th and 21st century popular music
songs. Popular music songs often indicate both the tempo and genre: "slow blues" or "uptempo
rock". Pop songs often contain chord names above the staff using letter names (e.g., C Maj, F Maj,
G7, etc.), so that an acoustic guitarist or piano player can improvise a chordal accompaniment.

In other styles of music, different musical notation methods may be used. In jazz, while most
professional performers can read "classical"-style notation, many jazz tunes are notated using chord
charts, which indicate the chord progression of a song (e.g., C, A7, d minor, G7, etc.) and its form.
Members of a jazz rhythm section (a piano player, jazz guitarist and bassist) use the chord chart to
guide their improvised accompaniment parts; the "lead instruments" in a jazz group, such as a
saxophone player or trumpeter, use the chord changes to guide their solo improvisation. Like
popular music songs, jazz tunes often indicate both the tempo and genre: "slow blues" or "fast
bop".

Professional country music session musicians typically use music notated in the Nashville Number
System, which indicates the chord progression using numbers (this enables bandleaders to change

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the key at a moment's notice). Chord charts using letter names, numbers, or Roman numerals (e.g.,
I-IV-V) are also widely used for notating music by blues, R&B, rock music and heavy metal
musicians. Some chord charts do not provide any rhythmic information, but others use slashes to
indicate beats of a bar and rhythm notation to indicate syncopated "hits" that the songwriter wants
all of the band to play together. Many guitar players and electric bass players learn songs and note
tunes using tablature, which is a graphic representation of which frets and strings the performer
should play. "Tab" is widely used rock music and heavy metal guitarists. Singers in many popular
music styles learn a song using only a lyrics sheet, learning the melody "by ear" from the recording.

Purpose and use

Sheet music can be used as a record of, a guide to, or a means to perform, a song or piece of music.
Sheet music enables instrumental performers who are able to read music notation (a pianist,
orchestral instrument players, a jazz band, etc.) and/or singers to perform a song or piece. In
classical music, authoritative musical information about a piece can be gained by studying the
written sketches and early versions of compositions that the composer might have retained, as well
as the final autograph score and personal markings on proofs and printed scores.

Comprehending sheet music requires a special form of literacy: the ability to read music notation.
An ability to read or write music is not a requirement to compose music. There have been a number
of composers and songwriters who have been capable of producing music without the capacity
themselves to read or write in musical notation, as long as an amanuensis of some sort is available
to write down the melodies they think of. Examples include the blind 18th-century composer John
Stanley and the 20th-century songwriters Lionel Bart, Irving Berlin and Paul McCartney. As well,
in traditional music styles such as the blues and folk music, there are many prolific songwriters
who could not read music, and instead played and sang music "by ear".

The skill of sight reading is the ability of a musician to perform an unfamiliar work of music upon
viewing the sheet music for the first time. Sight reading ability is expected of professional
musicians and serious amateurs who play classical music, jazz and related forms. An even more
refined skill is the ability to look at a new piece of music and hear most or all of the sounds
(melodies, harmonies, timbres, etc.) in one's head without having to play the piece or hear it played
or sung. Skilled composers and conductors have this ability, with Beethoven being a noted
historical example.

Classical musicians playing orchestral works, chamber music, sonatas and singing choral works
ordinarily have the sheet music in front of them on a music stand when performing (or held in front
of them in a music folder, in the case of a choir), with the exception of solo instrumental
performances of solo pieces or concertos or solo vocal pieces (art song, opera arias, etc.), where
memorization is expected. In jazz, which is mostly improvised, sheet music – called a lead sheet in
this context – is used to give basic indications of melodies, chord changes, and arrangements. Even
when a jazz band has a lead sheet, chord chart or arranged music, many elements of a performance
are improvised.

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Handwritten or printed music is less important in other traditions of musical practice, however,
such as traditional music and folk music, in which singers and instrumentalists typically learn songs
"by ear" or from having a song or tune taught to them by another person. Although much popular
music is published in notation of some sort, it is quite common for people to learn a song by ear.
This is also the case in most forms of western folk music, where songs and dances are passed down
by oral – and aural – tradition. Music of other cultures, both folk and classical, is often transmitted
orally, though some non-Western cultures developed their own forms of musical notation and sheet
music as well.

Although sheet music is often thought of as being a platform for new music and an aid to
composition (i.e., the composer "writes" the music down), it can also serve as a visual record of
music that already exists. Scholars and others have made transcriptions to render Western and
non-Western music in readable form for study, analysis and re-creative performance. This has been
done not only with folk or traditional music (e.g., Bartók's volumes of Magyar and Romanian folk
music), but also with sound recordings of improvisations by musicians (e.g., jazz piano) and
performances that may only partially be based on notation. An exhaustive example of the latter in
recent times is the collection The Beatles: Complete Scores (London: Wise Publications, 1993),
which seeks to transcribe into staves and tablature all the songs as recorded by the Beatles in
instrumental and vocal detail.

Types
Modern sheet music may come in different formats. If a piece is composed for just one instrument
or voice (such as a piece for a solo instrument or for a cappella solo voice), the whole work may be
written or printed as one piece of sheet music. If an instrumental piece is intended to be performed
by more than one person, each performer will usually have a separate piece of sheet music, called a
part, to play from. This is especially the case in the publication of works requiring more than four
or so performers, though invariably a full score is published as well. The sung parts in a vocal work
are not usually issued separately today, although this was historically the case, especially before
music printing made sheet music widely available.

Sheet music can be issued as individual pieces or works (for example, a popular song or a
Beethoven sonata), in collections (for example works by one or several composers), as pieces
performed by a given artist, etc.

When the separate instrumental and vocal parts of a musical work are printed together, the resulting
sheet music is called a score. Conventionally, a score consists of musical notation with each
instrumental or vocal part in vertical alignment (meaning that concurrent events in the notation for
each part are orthographically arranged). The term score has also been used to refer to sheet music
written for only one performer. The distinction between score and part applies when there is more
than one part needed for performance.

Scores come in various formats.

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Full scores, variants and condensations

A full score is a large book showing the music of all

instruments and/or voices in a composition lined up in a
fixed order. It is large enough for a conductor to be able
to read while directing orchestra or opera rehearsals and
performances. In addition to their practical use for
conductors leading ensembles, full scores are also used A conductor's score
by musicologists, music theorists, composers and music
students who are studying a given work.
A miniature score is like a full score but much reduced in size. It is too small for use in a
performance by a conductor, but handy for studying a piece of music, whether it be for a large
ensemble or a solo performer. A miniature score may contain some introductory remarks.
A study score is sometimes the same size as, and often indistinguishable from, a miniature
score, except in name. Some study scores are octavo size and are thus somewhere between
full and miniature score sizes. A study score, especially when part of an anthology for
academic study, may include extra comments about the music and markings for learning
purposes.
A piano score (or piano reduction) is a more or less literal transcription for piano of a piece
intended for many performing parts, especially orchestral works; this can include purely
instrumental sections within large vocal works (see vocal score immediately below). Such
arrangements are made for either piano solo (two hands) or piano duet (one or two pianos,
four hands). Extra small staves are sometimes added at certain points in piano scores for two
hands to make the presentation more complete, though it is usually impractical or impossible
to include them while playing. As with vocal score (immediately below), it takes considerable
skill to reduce an orchestral score to such smaller forms because the reduction needs to be not
only playable on the keyboard but also thorough enough in its presentation of the intended
harmonies, textures, figurations, etc. Sometimes markings are included to show which
instruments are playing at given points. While piano scores are usually not meant for
performance outside of study and pleasure (Liszt's concert transcriptions of Beethoven's
symphonies being one group of notable exceptions), ballets get the most practical benefit
from piano scores because with one or two pianists they allow the ballet to do many
rehearsals at a much lower cost, before an orchestra has to be hired for the final rehearsals.
Piano scores can also be used to train beginning conductors, who can conduct a pianist
playing a piano reduction of a symphony; this is much less costly than conducting a full
orchestra. Piano scores of operas do not include separate staves for the vocal parts, but they
may add the sung text and stage directions above the music.

Vocal scores

A vocal score (or, more properly, piano-vocal score) is a reduction of the full score of a vocal
work (e.g., opera, musical, oratorio, cantata, etc.) to show the vocal parts (solo and choral) on
their staves and the orchestral parts in a piano reduction (usually for two hands) underneath

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the vocal parts; the purely orchestral sections

of the score are also reduced for piano. If a
portion of the work is a cappella, a piano
reduction of the vocal parts is often added to
aid in rehearsal (this often is the case with a
cappella religious sheet music). Piano-vocal
scores serve as a convenient way for vocal
soloists and choristers to learn the music and
rehearse separately from the orchestra. The
vocal score of a musical typically does not
include the spoken dialogue, except for cues. Excerpt of a piano-vocal score (from the
Piano-vocal scores are used to provide piano opera William Ratcliff, by César Cui). Play
accompaniment for the performance of operas,
musicals and oratorios by amateur groups and some small-scale professional groups. This
may be done by a single piano player or by two piano players. With some 2000s-era musicals,
keyboardists may play synthesizers instead of piano.
The related but less common choral score contains the choral parts with no
accompaniment.
The comparable organ score exists as well, usually in association with church music for
voices and orchestra, such as arrangements (by later hands) of Handel's Messiah. It is
like the piano-vocal score in that it includes staves for the vocal parts and reduces the
orchestral parts to be performed by one person. Unlike the vocal score, the organ score
is sometimes intended by the arranger to substitute for the orchestra in performance if
necessary.
A collection of songs from a given musical is usually printed under the label vocal
selections. This is different from the vocal score from the same show in that it does not
present the complete music, and the piano accompaniment is usually simplified and
includes the melody line.

Other types

A short score is a reduction of a work for many instruments to just a few staves. Rather than
composing directly in full score, many composers work out some type of short score while
they are composing and later expand the complete orchestration. (An opera, for instance, may
be written first in a short score, then in full score, then reduced to a vocal score for rehearsal.)
Short scores are often not published; they may be more common for some performance
venues (e.g., band) than in others.
An open score is a score of a polyphonic piece showing each voice on a separate staff. In
Renaissance or Baroque keyboard pieces, open scores of four staves were sometimes used
instead of the more modern convention of one staff per hand.[1] It is also sometimes
synonymous with full score (which may have more than one part per staff).
Scores from the Baroque period (1600-1750) are very often in the form of a bass line in the
bass clef and the melodies played by instrument or sung on an upper stave (or staves) in the

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treble clef. The bass line typically had figures written above the bass notes indicating which
intervals above the bass (e.g., chords) should be played, an approach called figured bass. The
figures indicate which intervals the harpsichordist, pipe organist or lute player should play
above each bass note.

Popular music

A lead sheet specifies only the melody, lyrics and harmony,

using one staff with chord symbols placed above and lyrics
below. It is commonly used in popular music and in jazz to
capture the essential elements of song without specifying the
details of how the song should be arranged or performed.
This shows what the first two
A chord chart or "chart" contains bars of a song would look like
little or no melodic information at on a lead sheet.
all but provides detailed harmonic
information. Some chord charts also indicate the rhythm that
should be played, particularly if there is a syncopated series of
A chord chart, of the type "hits" that the arranger wants all of the rhythm section to perform.
which indicates the rhythm Otherwise, chord charts either leave the rhythm blank or indicate
that the "comping" musicians slashes for each beat. This is the most common kind of written
(piano, bass, drums) should music used by professional session musicians playing jazz or other
play as they accompany the forms of popular music and is intended for the rhythm section
song. (usually containing piano, guitar, bass and drums) to improvise
their accompaniment and for any improvising soloists (e.g.,
saxophone players or trumpet players) to use as a reference point
for their extemporized lines.

A fake book is a collection of jazz songs and tunes with just the
basic elements of the music provided. There are two types of fake
books: collections of lead sheets, which include the melody,
chords, and lyrics (if present); and collections of songs and tunes
with only the chords. Fake books that contain only the chords are
used by rhythm section performers (notably chord-playing A C scale in regular
musicians such as electric guitarists and piano players and the notation (above) and in
bassist) to help guide their improvisation of accompaniment parts tabulature notation for
for the song. Fake books with only the chords can also be used by guitar (below).
"lead instruments" (e.g., saxophone or trumpet) as a guide to their
improvised solo performances. Since the melody is not included
in chord-only fake books, lead instrument players are expected to know the melody.
A tablature is a special type of musical score – most typically for a solo instrument – which
shows where to play the pitches on the given instrument rather than which pitches to produce,
with rhythm indicated as well. Tabulature or tab is widely used in the 2000s for guitar and

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electric bass songs and pieces in popular music genres such as rock music and heavy metal
music. This type of notation was first used in the late Middle Ages, and it has been used for
keyboard (e.g., pipe organ) and for fretted string instruments (lute, guitar).

History
Precursors to sheet music

Cuneiform tablets

Musical notation was developed before parchment or paper were used for writing. The earliest form
of musical notation can be found in a cuneiform tablet that was created at Nippur, in Sumer (today's
Iraq), in about 2,000 BC. The tablet represents fragmentary instructions for performing music, that
the music was composed in harmonies of thirds, and that it was written using a diatonic scale.[2] A
tablet from about 1,250 BC shows a more developed form of notation.[3] Although the
interpretation of the notation system is still controversial, it is clear that the notation indicates the
names of strings on a lyre, the tuning of which is described in other tablets.[4] Although they are
fragmentary, these tablets represent the earliest notated melodies found anywhere in the world.[4]

Ancient Greek notation

Ancient Greek musical notation was in use from at least the

6th century BC until approximately the 4th century AD;
several complete compositions and fragments of
compositions using this notation survive. The notation
consists of symbols placed above text syllables. An
example of a complete composition is the Seikilos epitaph,
which has been variously dated between the 2nd century
BC to the 1st century AD. A photograph of the original stone at
Delphi containing the second of the
In Ancient Greek music, three hymns by Mesomedes of two Delphic Hymns to Apollo. The
Crete exist in manuscript. One of the oldest known music notation is the line of
examples of music notation is a papyrus fragment of the occasional symbols above the main,
Hellenic era play Orestes (408 BC) has been found, which uninterrupted line of Greek lettering.
contains musical notation for a choral ode. Ancient Greek
notation appears to have fallen out of use around the time of
the Decline of the Roman Empire.

Western manuscript notation

Before the 15th century, Western music was written by hand and preserved in manuscripts, usually
bound in large volumes. The best-known examples of Middle Ages music notation are medieval

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manuscripts of monophonic chant. Chant notation indicated the notes of the chant melody, but
without any indication of the rhythm. In the case of medieval polyphony, such as the motet, the
parts were written in separate portions of facing pages. This process was aided by the advent of
mensural notation, which also indicated the rhythm and was paralleled by the medieval practice of
composing parts of polyphony sequentially, rather than simultaneously (as in later times).
Manuscripts showing parts together in score format were rare, and limited mostly to organum,
especially that of the Notre Dame school. During the Middle Ages, if an Abbess wanted to have a
copy of an existing composition, such as a composition owned by an Abbess in another town, she
would have to hire a copyist to do the task by hand, which would be a lengthy process and one that
could lead to transcription errors.

Even after the advent of music printing in the mid-1400s, much music continued to exist solely in
composers' hand-written manuscripts well into the 18th century.

Printing

15th century

There were several difficulties in translating the new printing press technology to music. In the first
printed book to include music, the Mainz Psalter (1457), the music notation (both staff lines and
notes) was added in by hand. This is similar to the room left in other incunabulae for capitals. The
psalter was printed in Mainz, Germany by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer, and one now resides in
Windsor Castle and another at the British Library. Later, staff lines were printed, but scribes still
added in the rest of the music by hand. The greatest difficulty in using movable type to print music
is that all the elements must line up – the note head must be properly aligned with the staff, or else
it means something other than it should. In vocal music, text must be aligned with the proper notes
(although at this time, even in manuscripts, this was not a high priority).

Music engraving is the art of drawing music notation at high quality for the purpose of mechanical
reproduction. The first machine-printed music appeared around 1473, approximately 20 years after
Gutenberg introduced the printing press. In 1501, Ottaviano Petrucci published Harmonice Musices
Odhecaton A, which contained 96 pieces of printed music. Petrucci's printing method produced
clean, readable, elegant music, but it was a long, difficult process that required three separate passes
through the printing press. Petrucci later developed a process which required only two passes
through the press, but was still taxing since each pass required very precise alignment for the result
to be legible (i.e., so that the note heads would be correctly lined up with the staff lines). This was
the first well distributed printed polyphonic music. Petrucci also printed the first tablature with
movable type. Tabulature is a form of music notation which indicates where on an instrument the
player should play the notes, rather than indicating the notes. Single impression printing, in which
the staff lines and notes could be printed in one pass, first appeared in London around 1520. Pierre
Attaingnant brought the technique into wide use in 1528, and it remained little changed for 200
years.

A common format for issuing multi-part, polyphonic music during the Renaissance was part-books.

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In this format, each voice-part for a collection of five-part

madrigals, for instance, would be printed separately in its own
book, such that all five part-books would be needed to perform
the music. (The same part books could be used by singers or
instrumentalists.) Scores for multi-part music were rarely
printed in the Renaissance, although the use of score format as a
means to compose parts simultaneously (rather than
successively, as in the late Middle Ages) is credited to Josquin
des Prez.

The effect of printed music was similar to the effect of the

printed word, in that information spread faster, more efficiently, Frontispiece to Petrucci's
at a lower cost and to more people than it could through Odhecaton
laboriously hand-copied manuscripts. It had the additional
effect of encouraging amateur musicians of sufficient means, who could now afford sheet music, to
perform. This in many ways affected the entire music industry. Composers could now write more
music for amateur performers, knowing that it could be distributed and sold to the middle class.

This meant that composers did not have to depend solely on the patronage of wealthy aristocrats.
Professional players could have more music at their disposal and they could access music from
different countries. It increased the number of amateurs, from whom professional players could
then earn money by teaching them. Nevertheless, in the early years, the cost of printed music
limited its distribution. Another factor that limited the impact of printed music was that in many
places, the right to print music was granted by the monarch, and only those with a special
dispensation were allowed to do so, giving them a monopoly. This was often an honour (and
economic boon) granted to favoured court musicians or composers.

16th century

Mechanical plate engraving was developed in the late sixteenth century.[5] Although plate
engraving had been used since the early fifteenth century for creating visual art and maps, it was
not applied to music until 1581.[5] In this method, a mirror image of a complete page of music was
engraved onto a metal plate. Ink was then applied to the grooves, and the music print was
transferred onto paper. Metal plates could be stored and reused, which made this method an
attractive option for music engravers. Copper was the initial metal of choice for early plates, but by
the eighteenth century pewter became the standard material due to its malleability and lower cost.[6]

Plate engraving was the methodology of choice for music printing until the late nineteenth century,
at which point its decline was hastened by the development of photographic technology.[5]
Nevertheless, the technique has survived to the present day, and is still occasionally used by select
publishers such as G. Henle Verlag in Germany.[7]

As musical composition increased in complexity, so too did the technology required to produce
accurate musical scores. Unlike literary printing, which mainly contains printed words, music

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engraving communicates several different types of information simultaneously. To be clear to

musicians, it is imperative that engraving techniques allow absolute precision. Notes of chords,
dynamic markings, and other notation line up with vertical accuracy. If text is included, each
syllable matches vertically with its assigned melody. Horizontally, subdivisions of beats are marked
not only by their flags and beams, but also by the relative space between them on the page.[5] The
logistics of creating such precise copies posed several problems for early music engravers, and
have resulted in the development of several music engraving technologies.

19th century

In the 19th century the music industry was dominated by sheet music
publishers. In the United States, the sheet music industry rose in
tandem with blackface minstrelsy. The group of New York City-based
music publishers, songwriters and composers dominating the industry
was known as "Tin Pan Alley". In the mid-19th century, copyright
control of melodies was not as strict, and publishers would often print
their own versions of the songs popular at the time. With stronger
copyright protection laws late in the century, songwriters, composers,
lyricists, and publishers started working together for their mutual
financial benefit. New York City publishers concentrated on vocal
music. The biggest music houses established themselves in New York Buildings of New York
City, but small local publishers – often connected with commercial City's Tin Pan Alley
printers or music stores – continued to flourish throughout the country. music publishing district
An extraordinary number of East European immigrants became the in 1910.[8]
music publishers and songwriters on Tin Pan Alley-the most famous
being Irving Berlin. Songwriters who became established producers of
successful songs were hired to be on the staff of the music houses.

The late 19th century saw a massive explosion of parlor music, with ownership of, and skill at
playing the piano becoming de rigueur for the middle-class family. In the late 19th century, if a
middle-class family wanted to hear a popular new song or piece, they would buy the sheet music
and then perform the song or piece in an amateur fashion in their home. But in the early 20th
century the phonograph and recorded music grew greatly in importance. This, joined by the growth
in popularity of radio broadcasting from the 1920s on, lessened the importance of the sheet music
publishers. The record industry eventually replaced the sheet music publishers as the music
industry's largest force.

20th century and early 21st century

In the late 20th and into the 21st century, significant interest has developed in representing sheet
music in a computer-readable format (see music notation software), as well as downloadable files.
Music OCR, software to "read" scanned sheet music so that the results can be manipulated, has
been available since 1991. In 1998, virtual sheet music evolved further into what was to be termed

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digital sheet music, which for the first time allowed publishers to
make copyright sheet music available for purchase online. Unlike
their hard copy counterparts, these files allowed for manipulation
such as instrument changes, transposition and MIDI (Musical
Instrument Digital Interface) playback. The popularity of this
instant delivery system among musicians appears to be acting as a
catalyst of new growth for the industry well into the foreseeable
future. A bound hymnal containing
hymns for members of a
An early computer notation program available for home computers church congregation to sing
was Music Construction Set, developed in 1984 and released for during services.
several different platforms. Introducing concepts largely unknown
to the home user of the time, it allowed manipulation of notes and
symbols with a pointing device such as a mouse; the user would
"grab" a note or symbol from a palette and "drop" it onto the staff
in the correct location. The program allowed playback of the
produced music through various early sound cards, and could print
the musical score on a graphics printer.

Many software products for modern digital audio workstation and

scorewriters for general personal computers support generation of The screenshot from a
sheet music from MIDI files, by a performer playing the notes on a 2000s-era scorewriter
MIDI-equipped keyboard or other MIDI controller or by manual program. While the first
entry using a mouse or other computer device. scorewriter programs from the
1980s had poor-quality
In 1999, Harry Connick, Jr. invented a system and method for notation, 2016-era
coordinating music display among players in an orchestra.[9] scorewriters provide
Connick's invention is a device with a computer screen which is professional-looking music
used to show the sheet music for the musicians in an orchestra notation.
instead of the more commonly used paper. Connick uses this
system when touring with his big band, for instance.[10] In the
classical music world, some string quartet groups use computer screen-based parts. There are
several advantages to computer-based parts. Since the score is on a computer screen, the user can
adjust the contrast, brightness and even the size of the notes, to make reading easier. As well, some
systems will do "page turns" using a foot pedal, which means that the performer does not have to
miss playing music during a page turn, as often occurs with paper parts.

Of special practical interest for the general public is the Mutopia project, an effort to create a
library of public domain sheet music, comparable to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain
books. The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) is also attempting to create a virtual
library containing all public domain musical scores, as well as scores from composers who are
willing to share their music with the world free of charge. Some scorewriter computer programs
have a feature that is very useful for composers and arrangers: the ability to "play back" the notated
music using synthesizer sounds or virtual instruments. Due to the high cost of hiring a full

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symphony orchestra to play a new composition, before the development of these computer
programs, many composers and arrangers were only able to hear their orchestral works by
arranging them for piano, organ or string quartet. While a scorewiter program's playback will not
contain the nuances of a professional orchestra recording, it still conveys a sense of the tone colors
created by the piece, and of the interplay of the different parts.

See also
Eye movement in music reading
List of Online Digital Musical Document Libraries
Manuscript paper
Musical notation
Music stand, a device that holds sheet music in position
Scorewriter – music notation software
Shorthand for orchestra instrumentation

References
1. Lalage Cochrane. "Open score". In L. Root, Deane. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford
University Press. (subscription required)
2. Kilmer, Anne D. (1986). "Old Babylonian Musical Instructions Relating to Hymnody". Journal of
Cuneiform Studies. The American Schools of Oriental Research. 38 (1): 94–98. doi:10.2307/1359953.
3. Kilmer, Anne D. (21 April 1965). Güterbock, Hans G.; Jacobsen, Thorkild, eds. "The Strings of Musical
Instruments: their Names, Numbers, and Significance" (PDF). Assyriological Studies. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. 16: 261–268.
4. West, M.L. (1994). "The Babylonian Musical Notation and the Hurrian Melodic Texts". Music &
Letters. Oxford University Press. 75 (2): 161–179. doi:10.1093/ml/75.2.161.
5. King, A. Hyatt (1968). Four Hundred Years of Music Printing. London: Trustees of the British Museum.
6. Wolfe, Richard J. (1980). Early American Music Engraving and Printing. Urbana, IL: University of
Illinois Press.
7. "Music Engraving". G. Henle Publishers. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
8. The Parlor Songs Academy, In Search of Tin Pan Alley. http://parlorsongs.com/insearch/tinpanalley
/tinpanalley.php
9. U.S. Patent 6,348,648 (https://www.google.com/patents/US6348648)
10. "Harry Connick Jr. Uses Macs at Heart of New Music Patent". The Mac Observer. 2002-03-07.
Retrieved 2011-11-15.

External links
Archives of scanned works Wikimedia Commons
has media related to
International Music Score Library Project (Wikipedia Sheet music.
article) – A public domain sheet music library featuring

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original scores scanned to PDF. Wikisource has

Sheet Music Consortium (http://digital.library.ucla.edu original text related to
/sheetmusic/) – Metasearch using OAI-PMH. this article:
Music for the Nation (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem Sheet music
/mussmhtml/mussmhome.html) – American sheet music
archive.
Historic American Sheet Music – Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
(http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/hasm/) Digital images of 3042 pieces of sheet music
published in the United States between 1850 and 1920.
Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music (http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/) – sheet music
project of The Sheridan Libraries of The Johns Hopkins University.
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Pacific Northwest Sheet Music
Collection (http://content.lib.washington.edu/smweb/index.html) This collection contains
historical sheet music from and about Washington State, the Pacific Northwest and the
University of Washington.
The European Library (http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org) – digital images of the most
important pieces of sheet music published in Europe, free access.
National Library of Australia (http://www.musicaustralia.org) – Australian sheet music
archive.
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana (http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/inharmony
/welcome.do) - sheet music from the Indiana University Lilly Library, the Indiana State
Library, the Indiana State Museum, and the Indiana Historical Society.
University of Virginia (http://search.lib.virginia.edu/catalog?complete=true&
f%5Bformat_facet%5D%5B%5D=Musical+Score&f%5Bformat_facet%5D%5B
%5D=Online&f_inclusive%5Bsource_facet
%5D%5BUVA+Library+Digital+Repository%5D=1&facet.limit=500&id=format_facet&
search_field=keyword&sort=date_received_facet+desc&width=490) – 18th-, 19th-, and early
20th-century American and European Sheet music from the University of Virginia Library.

Archives of works in other formats

Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki) (http://www.cpdl.org) – free sheet music archive
with emphasis on choral music; contains works in PDF and also other formats.
Mutopia project (http://www.mutopiaproject.org) – free sheet music archive in which all
pieces have been newly typeset with GNU LilyPond as PDF and PostScript.
Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/4) – sheet music section of
Project Gutenberg containing works in Finale and/or MusicXML format.
Three examples of sheet music (http://bach.nau.edu/UWDigital/Washington.html) as
interactive hypermedia at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext (http://bach.nau.edu/).
Werner Icking Music Archive (http://icking-music-archive.org/index.php) – free sheet music
archive ; contains works in PDF and also other formats (MIDI files).
Open Music Score (http://openmusicscore.org) – Free public domain sheet music in
MusicXML format.

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TabCrawler (http://www.tabcrawler.com) - Extensive archive of sheet music published for

educational use in ASCII and PDF.

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Categories: Musical notation Sheet music Music technology Music software Printing
Music history

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