Lesson 25- Score Formats
A musical score is a copy of a piece of music
that shows all of the instrumental parts together, giving a view of the
entire piece. Conductors often work from scores, because they are able to
see everyone's part at the same time. There are different kinds of score
that are quite common. For example, a close score, also
called short score or condensed score, is a
score that has two or more instrumental or vocal parts on each staff. (The
three names close, short, and condensed are synonymous, and
can be used interchangeably.) The two-stave format is a commonly used
short score type, and looks very much like a piano score. ('Stave'
is the plural form of the word 'staff') When using two staves, the
top staff uses the treble clef and the bottom staff uses the bass clef,
unless the instruments being written for are all of one or the other
clef:
 Notice that each staff of the short score has
notes that have their stems pointing upward, and notes with stems pointing
downward. The stem direction seems to break the rule that notes above the
middle line must point their stem downward, and notes below the middle
line must point their stem upward. In two-stave short score, the
understanding is that in the top staff, notes with stems upward are to be
sung or played by the soprano voice(s) (or instruments) and notes with the
stems downward are to be sung or played by the alto voice(s) (or
instruments). In the bottom staff, notes with the stems pointing upward
are to be sung or played by the tenor voice(s) (or instruments) and notes
with the stems downward are to be sung or played by the bass voice(s) (or
instruments). It is much more common for voices to perform from a score
like this rather than instruments. Instrumentalists prefer to see simply
their own part on the page. Vocalists rely more on seeing their notes in
relation to the other existing parts- it makes it a little easier to sing
in tune.
It is possible to have more than two staves in a short
or close score. If you are writing, just as an example, for a full
orchestra, but wish to conserve space, you may choose to use a short score
format of, let's say, four staves: first staff for woodwinds, second staff
for brass, third staff for strings, and the fourth staff for percussion.
Sometimes composers will use multiple staves in this fashion, but will use
the upper staves for the high notes and the lower staves for the low
notes, then indicate with small lettering which instruments play which
notes. Here is an example of such a score:
  It will
probably be obvious right away that there are benefits and disadvantages
to using such a score format. The main advantage is that you are able to
see the notes of a medium-sized orchestra at a glance. As you get better
at recognizing chords, you can perceive the general tonality of the piece
quickly using this type of score.
The main disadvantage in using close score for
orchestra is that it becomes rather difficult to narrow down which
instrument is playing which notes. So if you detect problems in a
rehearsal situation, it can be a frustrating trying to determine which
instrument is at fault. Often, publishers will choose to provide both a
full score (see below) and a short score with each
orchestral or concert band publication. This is very useful, because it
allows the conductor to work from a full score in rehearsals, then provide
the option of switching to a short score for performance. The short score
usually will require less frequent page turns, because more music can be
fit onto one page. As you can see, you also have to be a bit "creative"
with your use of stem directions if you have three or more parts on a
staff! And because several instruments are on one staff, it is not
possible to show the proper transposition of a transposing instrument such
as Clarinet or Bb-trumpet.
For fairly straightforward music, a short score is ideal- it shows
everyone's part in a concise format. But it is sometimes desirable to show
each part on its own staff. Let's go back to the excerpt at the beginning
of this lesson. Since it was intended for four players, a score showing
each part on its own staff would require four staves. A score that shows
each part on its own staff is called open score or
full score. (The two terms open and full are
synonymous, and can be used interchangeably.) There are many different
types of open score, depending on the number and type of instruments for
which you are writing. For example, here is the excerpt given above,
rewritten in open score for string quartet:
You can see that all of the notes of the short
score excerpt have been given their own staff, according to stem
direction. In the top staff of the short score, the stems up have been
given to Violin I, and stems down to Violin II. The viola (an instrument
shaped like a violin, but slightly bigger and tuned a perfect 5th lower)
gets the notes that were the stems up notes of the bass staff of the short
score. The cello is given the stems down notes. With the open score
format, the conductor can see each player's part clearly, because each
part is on its own staff.
If the excerpt was intended for voices, a modern
vocal score, also called modern choral score is
frequently used. Here it is:
 It looks
like the string quartet score, except that the tenor line has been
given a "vocal tenor clef", a clef that looks like a treble clef with
an '8' beneath it. You will have seen this before, in
Lesson 24, and it means to sing the notes an octave lower
than treble clef.
There are many, many types of both close and open scores, and so it is
not feasible to list them all. This lesson is simply intended to give you
an idea of how the various score formats work. The quiz for this lesson
will require you to transcribe music from one score format to
another. Here are the formats you will be required to know:
SHORT (CLOSE) SCORE:
FULL (OPEN) SCORE for String Quartet:
FULL (OPEN) SCORE for Choir: |
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