Copyist Work

What is copyist work?

In the way I refer to it, copyist work can involve a few pieces. Ultimately, though, perhaps the most important goal of copyist work is to help band members feel comfortable and confident while reading music, resulting in strong, trusting relationship throughout the band. When playing music, we want to truly create music. The easier the charts are to read and understand, the quicker we can get to creating music with one another.

But, copyist work isn’t just for bandleaders. Do you want to sell sheet music of your songs? Did you write your songs by hand and want it professionally engraved? Did you record a song but don’t know how to write it out as written music? Do you just need help writing out music? Do you have a bunch of charts that all look different and now you want them to look the same? I can help with all of those.

Below, I’ve listed some of the things I can do as a copyist. If you are unsure of whether or not I can help, just ask!

Formatting – I can make your charts look professional and easy to read, as well as customizing fonts, directions, styles, etc.

Consulting – I can meet with you to discuss how to format your charts to make them as easily readable as possible.

Engraving – I can type up handwritten charts, turning them into clean, professional sheet music, ready for both reading and publication.

Transcriptions – I can take a recording of your ideas or song and write them out into sheet music.

Reductions – I can take a full score and condense it into a piano score or similar smaller score.

Part Creation – I can take a score and create individual parts from it.

Consolidation – I can make numerous charts look unified, which is particularly helpful when compiling a folder for a band or show.

Proofreading – I can read through your music and make sure it is free of errors, ambiguities, or uncertainties, as well as proofing accuracy to a recording.

Folder Creation – I can print & tape parts and organize them into folders for individual band members.

Demo MIDI Recording – I can create a demo MIDI recording to aid the musicians in learning the material.

Lessons – I can teach you the ins and outs of music software, as well as work on specific questions and troubleshoot problems.

I specialize in Finale, though I am also adept in MuseScore and Sibelius.

Some of the musicians I’ve worked with as a copyist include Etienne Charles, Jumaane Smith, and Matt Fattal.

If you are interested in hiring me for copyist work, email me at josephherbstmusic@gmail.com, and we can discuss rates and your project.

Below is an example of a page from one of my sextet compositions. 

Throughout the whole chart, I use the same font for text, which creates a unified look. I also do this throughout all of my charts so that the look stays consistent chart to chart.

When I pair instruments up outside of the expected setting or I change the pairings, I note who you are playing with so you know who to listen for before you start playing. 

As much as possible, I like to add measure numbers and rehearsal marks to aid with rehearsing and communication. Very often, people will have a question about the music or want to rehearse a certain section or measure and having both measure numbers and rehearsal marks allows for seamless communication. I only include measure numbers at the start of the lines as I found they got in the way of the music when added to every single measure.

Though not prominent in this example, I go through each part double checking the accidentals. Unless music is largely diatonic and in one key, accidentals are more helpful than key signatures. When working with accidentals, I read the parts as if I’m sight-reading, looking for patterns in the music, such as scales or triads, as well as any instances where there may be any doubt as to what the note is. My goal is to eliminate all doubt.

Most importantly, I want the music to look like it sounds. Though all parts of formatting play into this, I show this through double bar lines. Double bar lines mark a new phrase or a notable change, such as the start of a melody. This piece consists of a lot of 8-bar phrases, which you can see pretty quickly thanks to the double bars and having the start of most phrases on the left hand side of the page.