The PSALM Liturgical Music Resource
Layout and spacing issues
- Whenever possible, individual hymns (troparia, stichera, odes of canons, prokeimena, etc). should begin at the top of their own individual page. This is very helpful for assembling sheet music for services when different festal commemorations coincide requiring the combination of hymns.
- Systems should be indented at the beginning of an individual liturgical element (such a new verse, hymn, refrain, etc.), as it helps to focus the singers' eyes on the start of such elements, particularly if the element reoccurs (e.g. a refrain).
- Whenever possible, partial systems (short systems) should be avoided, especially in longer hymns (spanning a page or more). However, in shorter hymns (prokeimena, refrains, litanies and responses) partial systems cannot be avoided, and can even be used to distinguish related liturgical elements, such as verses and refrains (e.g., if a verse ends on a partial system, the refrain should appear on its own new line, rather than continuing on the same line as the verse).
- Most liturgical music can be satisfactorily notated on two staves (two voices in two Layers on the top staff, with stems up and stems down) and two voices on the bottom staff in two Layers, with stems up and stems down. The use of more than two systems ((e.g., SA/T/B or S/A/T/B) is possible
- When there is significant rhythmic independence of voices, such as imitative polyphony
- When there are significant divisi in any of the voices, which results in confusing stemming
- When the tessitura of a voice (most commonly the Tenor) is so high that it requires persistent and extensive and ledger lines (more than 1) that collide with the lyrics. In that case it is best to put the Tenor on its own staff using the tenor-treble clef (with an "8" below it).
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