Editing Sheet music (section)

== Purpose and use ==
[[File:Oregon, My Oregon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Sheet music for the song "[[Oregon, My Oregon]]"]]
Sheet music can be used as a record of, a guide to, or a means to perform, a [[song]] or piece of music. Sheet music enables instrumental performers who are able to read [[music notation]] (a pianist, [[orchestra|orchestral instrument players]], a [[jazz]] band, etc.) or singers to perform a song or piece. Music students use sheet music to learn about different styles and genres of music. The intended purpose of an edition of sheet music affects its design and layout. If sheet music is intended for study purposes, as in a [[music history]] class, the notes and staff can be made smaller and the editor does not have to be worried about page turns. For a performance score, however, the notes have to be readable from a [[music stand]] and the editor has to avoid excessive page turns and ensure that any page turns are placed after a rest or pause (if possible). As well, a score or part in a thick bound book will not stay open, so a performance score or part needs to be in a thinner binding or use a binding format which will lie open on a music stand.

In [[classical music]], authoritative musical information about a piece can be gained by studying the written [[Sketch (music)|sketches]] and early versions of compositions that the composer might have retained, as well as the final autograph score and personal markings on proofs and printed scores.

Comprehending sheet music requires a special form of literacy: the ability to read [[music notation]]. An ability to read or write music is not a requirement to compose music. There have been a number of [[composer]]s and [[songwriter]]s who have been capable of producing music without the capacity themselves to read or write in musical notation, as long as an [[amanuensis]] of some sort is available to write down the [[melody|melodies]] they think of. Examples include the blind 18th-century composer [[John Stanley (composer)|John Stanley]] and the 20th-century songwriters [[Lionel Bart]], [[Irving Berlin]] and [[Paul McCartney]]. As well, in [[traditional music]] styles such as the [[blues]] and [[folk music]], there are many prolific songwriters who could not read music, and instead played and sang music "by ear".

The skill of [[sight reading]] is the ability of a musician to perform an unfamiliar work of music upon viewing the sheet music for the first time. Sight reading ability is expected of professional musicians and serious amateurs who play classical music, jazz and related forms. An even more refined skill is the ability to look at a new piece of music and hear most or all of the sounds ([[Melody|melodies]], [[Harmony|harmonies]], [[timbre]]s, etc.) in one's head without having to play the piece or hear it played or sung. Skilled composers and conductors have this ability, with [[Beethoven]] being a noted historical example.
[[File:Full score.jpg|thumb|A [[Conductor (music)|conductor]]'s score and [[Baton (conducting)|baton]]|left]]
Classical musicians playing [[orchestra]]l works, [[chamber music]], [[sonata]]s and singing [[choral]] works ordinarily have the sheet music in front of them on a [[music stand]] when performing (or held in front of them in a music folder, in the case of a [[choir]]), with the exception of solo instrumental performances of solo pieces, [[concerto]]s, or solo vocal pieces ([[art song]], [[opera]] [[aria]]s, etc.), where memorization is expected. In [[jazz]], which is mostly [[improvisation|improvised]], sheet music (called a ''[[lead sheet]]'' in this context) is used to give basic indications of [[melody|melodies]], [[chord (music)|chord]] changes, and [[arrangement]]s. Even when a jazz band has a lead sheet, chord chart or arranged music, many elements of a performance are improvised.

Handwritten or printed music is less important in other traditions of musical practice, however, such as [[traditional music]] and [[folk music]], in which singers and instrumentalists typically learn songs "by ear" or from having a song or tune taught to them by another person. Although much [[popular music]] is published in notation of some sort, it is quite common for people to [[Learning music by ear|learn a song by ear]]. This is also the case in most forms of western [[folk music]], where songs and dances are passed down by oral – and aural – tradition. Music of other cultures, both folk and classical, is often transmitted orally, though some non-Western cultures developed their own forms of [[musical notation]] and sheet music as well.

Although sheet music is often thought of as being a platform for new music and an aid to composition (i.e., the composer "writes" the music down), it can also serve as a visual record of music that already exists. Scholars and others have made transcriptions to render Western and non-Western music in readable form for study, analysis and re-creative performance. This has been done not only with folk or traditional music (e.g., [[Béla Bartók|Bartók's]] volumes of [[Magyars|Magyar]] and [[Romanians|Romanian]] folk music), but also with sound recordings of improvisations by musicians (e.g., [[jazz piano]]) and performances that may only partially be based on notation.  An exhaustive example of the latter in recent times is the collection ''The Beatles: Complete Scores'' (London: Wise Publications, 1993), which seeks to transcribe into [[Staff (music)|staves]] and [[tablature]] all the songs as recorded by [[the Beatles]] in instrumental and vocal detail.