Book excerpt: (Berklee Guide). Whether you notate music by hand or use computer software, this practical reference will show you today's best practices rendering the details of your scores and parts. Improve your music's legibility and express your ideas clearly to get the best possible representation of your music. You will learn to: create scores that are easy to conduct and parts that are easy to perform; understand the unique practices and standards for handwritten vs. computer-generated scores, such as those by Finale and Sibelius; lay out scores with proper instrument order, measures per page, and common alignment practices; understand the publication standards for orchestral, big-band, vocal, and rhythm-section-based scores; use appropriate practices for different styles, such as pop, commercial, classical, and jazz; and more. Music Notation Preparing Scores and Parts is used as a notation textbook by Berklee College of Music's Contemporary Writing and Production Department. It presents the definitive word in score and part preparation, based on contemporary publishing-industry practice.