So, I just spent about 20 minutes erasing markings from my part to "Appalachian Spring" which we start rehearsing on Tuesday. It's a rental from Boosey&Hawkes, so I don't know who had it last - but man was there a lot of pencil!
Rather than just rant, though, I thought I'd share my ideas about which markings can be helpful and which are usually annoying and unnecessary. I hope others will put in their .02 as well since we all have different ideas about how to do things.
Some helpful markings:
- figure in top left corner indicating number of bars rest from previous page(e.g. -9- )
- indication of "V.S." in lower right corner if there's stuff to play immediately
after the page turn
- cues in small letters indicating when an instrument enters during extensive bars of rest (e.g. If the low brass come in at "G" after 100 bars rest, write "trb." under the staff). This isn't necessary if there's only a few bars rest.
Markings that aren't so helpful:
- fingerings (especially when they're Bb trumpet fingerings!). If you're playing in an orchestra, shouldn't you know the fingerings by now?
- writing things like "LOUD" above a printed indication of
fff or "MUTE!" above
con sordino, etc.
- lines indicating every beat and most of the subdivisions thereof.
- anything in heavy, dark pencil which obscures the staff/notes/key sig./etc.
I'm sure lots of people will say their teachers always told them to write stuff in, and I get that. But I guess I don't understand why stuff that's ALREADY IN THE PART has to be amplified with other markings.