What Makes a Sheet Music Publication Better?

We musicians have it hard enough, with keeping our skills up, learning new notes for the next gig, making sure our instruments are in good working order, and dealing with the challenges of every new performance venue. We don’t need the aggravation of inadequate sheet music to read from. What goes into making a sheet music publication better and more usable for musicians?

It’s the little things.

• Making the notes big enough.
• Using music and text fonts that are easy to read.
• Laying out the music to allow for good page turns.
• Using good paper that has enough weight to hold up under heavy use and won’t show what’s on the other side of the page. 
• Printing on a high-quality printer.
• Making the text, including measure numbers, big enough and easy to read.
• Using paper that won’t show glare from the stage lights.
• Showing useful cues.
• Avoiding crowding on the page.
• Making sure symbols and text don’t collide with each other.
• Avoiding too many ledger lines. 
• Making sure there is enough space between the notes so the ledger lines don’t look like another staff line.
• Making sure accidentals are clear.

Some of these points apply only to the printed page, but most are also necessary considerations for those musicians who prefer to read their music on iPads or other electronic tablets.

The best sheet music publishers take care of all these considerations so that the music we see on the stand is the least of our worries.