cross staff or not?

For those who need help with notation issues. (Please use the other available forums for help with software issues.)
Post Reply
Hector Pascal
Posts: 94
Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

cross staff or not?

Post by Hector Pascal »

Hi again,
I have composed this bar of music and notated it four different ways. I would appreciate your thoughts about which version of the notation would be best for the pianist to read. I am currently liking version A and D...
sample.jpeg
sample.jpeg (86.39 KiB) Viewed 2900 times
Hope you are all well :)
Cheerio,
Hector Pascal.
Schonbergian
Posts: 252
Joined: 03 Feb 2017, 02:25
Location: Toronto

Re: cross staff or not?

Post by Schonbergian »

B without question, though most of your rests are redundant when compressed onto just one stave.
MalteM
Posts: 67
Joined: 07 Aug 2018, 18:26

Re: cross staff or not?

Post by MalteM »

IMHO D is horrible, as a pianist I wouldn’t think of two separate rhythms in two separate hands here. I’m not sure whether to prefer A or C, maybe kneed beams are more legible?
How about one of these? I included the variant “B without redundant rests” mentioned by Schonbergian.
Attachments
crossstaffzeugs.cropped.png
crossstaffzeugs.cropped.png (95.65 KiB) Viewed 2862 times
User avatar
John Ruggero
Posts: 2453
Joined: 05 Oct 2015, 14:25
Location: Raleigh, NC USA

Re: cross staff or not?

Post by John Ruggero »

WhIle I would usually prefer that such a passage stay on one staff as at B, in this case I think there is a great danger that the rhythm will be difficult to read unless the chords are beamed continuously. This requires that they be on different staves. So I would vote for A/C above with the the beams completely continuous:
example.jpeg
example.jpeg (51.28 KiB) Viewed 2842 times
M1 Mac mini (OS 12.4), Dorico, Finale 25.5, GPO 4, Affinity Publisher 2, SmartScore 64 Pro, JW Plug-ins, TG Tools, Keyboard maestro

http://www.cantilenapress.com
Hector Pascal
Posts: 94
Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

Re: cross staff or not?

Post by Hector Pascal »

Many thanks, all, for your considered opinions and finely wrought examples. Much appreciated :)
I will take time to examine all these possibilities.
Cheerio,
Hector.
User avatar
OCTO
Posts: 1742
Joined: 05 Oct 2015, 06:52
Location: Sweden

Re: cross staff or not?

Post by OCTO »

Hector Pascal wrote: 15 Nov 2021, 04:05 Hi again,
I have composed this bar of music and notated it four different ways. I would appreciate your thoughts about which version of the notation would be best for the pianist to read. I am currently liking version A and D...

sample.jpeg

Hope you are all well :)
Cheerio,
Hector Pascal.
BTW, for the B version Finale doesn't make the correct beaming. You can follow this instruction video to make them correctly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33b4fznuIVM
Freelance Composer. Self-Publisher.
Finale 27.3 • Sibelius 2023.5• MuseScore 4+ • Logic Pro X+ • Ableton Live 11+ • Digital Performer 10+ /// MacOS Monterey (secondary in use systems: Fedora 35, Windows 10)
Hector Pascal
Posts: 94
Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

Re: cross staff or not?

Post by Hector Pascal »

Thanks, OCTO! The video is very helpful!
Hector.
Post Reply