Fwd: Re: please please please - before you ship 1.4

[Amelie Zapf]

> > >
> > > `/,     `//,     `/3/,     `/44/,
> > >
> > I must admit I've never seen the `/3/, notation used.
> > Does it mean that three bars are repeated once
> `/3/,
> > or that one bar is repeated three times?
> `/,3`/,
> or 3 bars 3 times?
> `/3/,3`/3/,
> 
> Just guessing. :-) I agree with Rune, but I want to hear from A. Zapf on
> this topic. She
> requested it.
> 

In 10 years of big band and small group playing, leading and arranging, I've
never come across a more-than-four bar repeat. ".////." is the longest I've
seen. The main goal in music notation, IMHO, is legibility. Imagine a
substitute player coming in at the last minute and having to play prima vista.

Myself, I would not write a 16-bar-repeat in percent style, but I suggest that
"./16/." is favorable in that case - for better legibility. So, my opinion in a
nutshell:

        1 to 4-bar repeats:                     "./." to ".////."
        5 and more bars (if at all necessary):  "./128/."

Regards,

Amy
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