Music Manuscript Book

[SteveS]

I'm looking for a music manuscript book and wondered if other members have any suggestions of likely suppliers/options.

I'm intending to use it to keep a record of the first few bars of tunes that I play - something I can pull out discreetly in sessions.

 

- size suitable for carrying in a concertina case (A6 size?) or bag

- as many pages as possible

- hard or soft bound

- not too expensive

- flat opening

 

Thanks

Steve

Edited February 26, 2015 by SteveS

[Geoffrey Crabb]

May be helpful,

 

Google - music manuscript books uk or music manuscript pdf

 

Geoffrey

 

 

 

[SteveS]

Thanks Geoffrey

 

I've already googled and couldn't find anything suitable.

 

Wondered if anyone here had any recommendations and/or preferences.

[Graham S]

I just Googled "music manuscript book" and got several results from The Music Room and Amazon. "Music manuscript notebook" gets several more results.

[Sidsqueezer]

Or could you get a music app to do this and run it on a smartphone, which can be discreetly used in a session.

[SteveS]

This looks promising from Moleskine

[Tradewinds Ted]

I have the Moleskine one, picked it up last year at Waterstone's in case they have a shop near you and you want to take a look first rather than ordering.

 

Nice quality, but I haven't used it really. But my needs were a bit different than your own. The same small size that makes it discreet and easy to store, means that you can't fit many bars on a line, or page. But since you just want the starting few bars, that may suit you just fine. (also means the staff is a bit small for my eyes these days)

Also, the standard binding means it doesn't sit completely flat. Although it might if you break the back a bit.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Tradewinds Ted

[Tradewinds Ted]

Another option is to print your own pages, at whatever size and scale, and even colour you want, and then bind it however you wish (or not)

This website offers a wide variety of free graph paper formats too.

www.incompetech.com/graphpaper/musicstaff

Edited February 26, 2015 by Tradewinds Ted

[John Wild]

Instead of writing out the 1st few bars of each tune, could you write the ABC notation?

If so, then the program EasyABC has an item in the tools menu, View incipits.

This generates a file of the first few bars of each tune in the currently open file.

You can specify how many bars to use.

 

The file could then be printed or saved as a PDF file.

[chas]

Instead of writing out the 1st few bars of each tune, could you write the ABC notation?

If so, then the program EasyABC has an item in the tools menu, View incipits.

This generates a file of the first few bars of each tune in the currently open file.

You can specify how many bars to use.

 

The file could then be printed or saved as a PDF file.

As an example of what John proposes, here's an extract from one of my tune lists (32 bar reels).

John McKenna’s 1 – GBdB cAFD|GABc dBcA

Josie McDermott’s – DGGF G3 d| e3d edBA

Knotted Cord – A3 B AEEG|ABcd edBA

Lady Anne Montgomery – FADA FADA FAdA BAdA

Larkin’s Beehive – BABd edge

Longford Collector – G3 A Bcdf|edBc dedB

London Lassies – G2 BG dGBG| eaag eg g2

 

That's just an alphabetical list but I do the same thing with tune sets:

Capt. Lano's/Lady in the Boat (G/D) G2B d2d : dfA d2A

 

It takes very little time to get used to abc notation and it frees you completely from needing manuscript paper.

Before adopting this method, I had a roll of adhesive manuscript tape so I could write the first few bars on a length and stick it into an ordinary notebook.

Edited February 27, 2015 by chas

[Perry Werner]

The Moleskins are really nice. The only problem is is that the spaces on the staves are almost too small to write manuscript on.

By the way, they are available in 2 sizes.

Vest pocket and the other is like a small notebook.

I am in the U.S. and have found them at Barnes and Noble or better yet order them from Amazon.

[Jody Kruskal]

For the past 6 months, I've been using my smartphone to show me written prompts for session tunes. Using a free app called Documents, I can nest all my tune pdfs in folders. One folder for Old-Time one for Irish one for kids concerts etc. Making the pdfs was a chore but easier than writing it all out by hand and it looks better, much easier to read. Also, the material won't be lost if I misplace the phone.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Jody Kruskal

[Paul_Hardy]

Instead of writing out the 1st few bars of each tune, could you write the ABC notation?

If so, then the program EasyABC has an item in the tools menu, View incipits.

This generates a file of the first few bars of each tune in the currently open file.

 

I back John on this as a good way to provide tune start reminders. I generate a 'Cheat Sheet' for the tunes in my tunebooks - in fact three versions for different page sizes and content for use on different size devices - see http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/tunebooks/ and scroll down to the Cheat Sheet section. The parameters to EasyABC are described in my tunebook process page.

[SteveS]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

While I like the idea of having the first few bars of tunes on my iPhone or iPad, that's just another thing relying on battery power.

 

A book is useful since I can use it to jot down new tunes too, and it looks like it'll fit nicely into my concertina case, bag or pocket - and doesn't rely on batteries.

 

I prefer the musical staves to ABC.

 

Still not decided.....

[Pete Dunk]

I prefer the musical staves to ABC.

 

ABC files are a means to an end, and that end is to print standard staff notation, which is something it does rather well and it's free!

[John Wild]

And the EasyABC program can print the incipits in music stave format, in preference to the ABC text

Edited February 27, 2015 by John Wild

[Łukasz Martynowicz]

I use a large moleskine - it is very durable and large enough to actualy note something useful. With this larger version I can fit both ABCs and lyrics on the same page (or on the same spread) and actualy read the lyrics while I play.