On 19 Mar 2005, at 12:19 PM, Christopher Smith wrote:
Your point about the New Real Book not having measure numbers illustrates my point even better than it does yours.
How, exactly? My point is that proper layout and use of rehearsal letters and double bars is *waaaayyyyy* more important to musicians keeping their place in the form than measure numbers.
So much so that even when there are no measure numbers, it's perfectly easy to keep your place.
Turn to the "Daahoud" lead sheet in the original Real Book (sorry, not the New Real Book)
Well, that's cheating. No one -- least of all me -- is going to point to the original, illegal, Real Book as a model of good copying or good musical practice (or good anything).
in a rehearsal. Say to the musicians, "I would like the rhythm section to break in bar 3." Which bar are they going to break on, the 3rd bar of the form, or the 3rd full bar (which is the 2nd bar of the form)?
If the chart had been properly copied (according to the standards of the New Real Book), there would be no eighth rest in the pickup measure, and there would be a boxed rehearsal letter [A] in the first full measure. So you could say, "There's a break in the 3rd bar of [A]" -- or, even, "There's a break in bar 3" -- without any confusion at all.
Speaking of which, let's go back to the New Real Book. Open it up to "Airegin." Are you going to tell the band "The bass breaks on beat 4 of bar 2" or "The bass breaks on beat 4 of the second bar of [A]"?
In fact, Finale-copied lead sheets that HAVE bar numbers sometimes serve to confuse the issue. In the case of Daahoud, if I referred to bar 3, they might ask back, "Bar NUMBER 3, or the 3rd bar of the form?"
That's an argument for *more* consistency, then, not less.
Again, I think it is an absolutely terrible idea to have one numbering system for pieces with symmetrical 8-bar phrases all the way through, and a different numbering system for pieces without.
Why?
Because consistency is good, and a lack of consistency invites confusion.
- Darcy ----- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brooklyn, NY
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