[2.]—The first matter to claim attention in making a manuscript copy of music is choice of the right kind of music-paper. This will primarily be determined by the number of staves each score requires. Most paper contains twelve staves to the page. This is a most convenient number, allowing for a two-, three-, four-, or six-stave score.
Song-paper: three-stave score, two staves being braced for the piano part, with a third for the voice part. This latter is at a considerable distance above the other staves, to allow room for writing in the words.
Organ-music paper: three-stave score, two staves braced for manual part, and another underneath for pedal part.
Quartet-paper: four-stave score, no brackets or clefs.
Quartet-paper with accompaniment: six-stave score, two bracketed for piano part.
Full-score paper: much smaller than short-score staves. Very useful for other purposes where a small, narrow stave is required.
For piano and violin music, paper should be chosen the staves of which are wide apart, to allow of the large number of leger lines frequently required.
Scoring.
[3.]—The paper chosen, the first use of a pen will be in ruling the score-lines. A “score” technically is as many staves as are performed simultaneously: two in pianoforte music, three in organ music, four in an unaccompanied quartet, six in four-part vocal music with piano accompaniment, and so on. These staves have a line drawn down their left-hand edge. Hence the name, from their being scored through.