ElasticDog

Piano Sheet Music Notation Style Guide

Last updated 4 min read

Focusing solely on piano music, not choral or orchestral scores, which have differing concerns.

Staff Sizes

Default to 7 mm.

Minimum of 6.5mm, but try 6.7 mm first, if you need to squeeze things in.

It’s less frequent to see sizes outside of that 6.5mm to 7.0mm range, but you may run across 6 mm to 7.4 mm sizes in the wild.

Note that LilyPond sets the staff sizes in points (defaulting to 20), and one point is equal to 2540/7227 mm.

#(set-global-staff-size 20)

In MuseScore, this is set by the staff space configuration under the Page Settings, which would be multiplied by four to reach the total size (ignoring that line thickness also adds a small amount).

Total Staff Size (mm)PointsStaff Space (mm)
7.421.061.850
7.0201.750
6.719.061.675
6.518.51.625
6.418.411.600
6.017.071.500

Note

When viewing letter-sized pages on a 13” iPad Pro, everything is effectively 8% smaller, so the default value of 7.0 mm is actually scaled down to 6.44 mm.

Bars per System

This…is…tricky! Try a minimum of 4, as a starting point.

Too loose and it can create page turn problems, inhibits smooth reading by forcing larger eye movements, makes it difficult to understand phrasing and overall structure.

Too dense and rhythm becomes harder to read, accidentals severely impact note spacing, etc..

Needs to have balance, but keep in mind that it can also be genre-specific. Musical theater and lead sheets tend to use 4 bars/system even if that means very wide spacing.

Staves per Page

Minimum of 6, maximum of 12.

That means from 3 to 6 systems when using a grand staff. Spread them out evenly to take up the available vertical space.

ragged-last-bottom = ##f

In LilyPond, you can also force a specific page count if you want to still rely on its optimal breaking algorithm and not need manual system/page breaks.

\paper {
  page-count = #2
}

Paper Margins

Start with 15 mm all around.

If you need to fit more onto a page, try 13 mm top/bottom margins, or down to 10 mm at the most. Adjusting top/bottom margins is much less sensitive than left/right margins, which should probably not be below 15 mm. Unless…

I like using even smaller margins for display on an iPad. LilyPond’s default margins from before v2.25.15 were well suited for tablet display:

\paper {
  top-margin = 5\mm
  bottom-margin = 6\mm
  top-system-spacing.basic-distance = 1
  top-markup-spacing.basic-distance = 0
  left-margin = 10\mm
  right-margin = 10\mm
  inner-margin = 10\mm
  outer-margin = 20\mm
  binding-offset = 0\mm
}

Text Alignment

  • Tempo markings should be flush left to the time signature.
  • Lyrics should be on a horizontal line for the entire system.
  • Dynamics applying to both staves should be vertically centered in the grand staff unless nudged, but still on a horizontal line for the entire system.
  • Dynamics and expression text should be aligned to the same baseline.
  • Composer and lyricist credits should be exactly aligned vertically and spaced evenly from horizontal margins respectively (composer on right, lyricist on left).

Measure Numbers

Measure numbers should appear at the beginning of every system except the first, which is understood to start at measure 1. The older convention of labelling every 5th or 10th measure is outdated and offers little value for modern use.

All measures are counted sequentially, starting with 1. The only exception is a pickup measure (anacrusis), which is considered measure 0.

In some historical contexts, repeated music with alternative endings (e.g. first and second endings with volta brackets) may reuse the same measure numbers. This practice undermines the core purpose of measure numbering: to provide clear and consistent reference points for rehearsal, instruction, and discussion. Their utility lies in navigation, not in representing the total measure count. I fully acknowledge that not everyone agrees with that perspective.

Further Reading

Graph View