Behind Bars (book)

Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation

Author	Elaine Gould
Publisher	Faber Music
Publication date	2011
Pages	704
ISBN	978-0-5715-1456-4

Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation is a 2011 book on music engraving by Elaine Gould, a senior editor at Faber & Faber.

Structure

The book is divided into three main sections.

1. General conventions
   • Deals with the basic rules and principles of notation, applying to most situations.
   • Idiomatic notation
   • Discusses instrument-specific conventions and rules of notation.
   • Layout and presentation
   • Dictates the layout of entire pages and scores, with chapters on electroacoustic and aleatoric music.

Behind Bars: General Conventions

12 years after the publication of the original Behind Bars, Faber released the first section of the book, "General conventions", as a standalone publication, titled simply Behind Bars: General Conventions. It was recommended as "the perfect complement to any reference collection" by Philip Rothman of the Scoring Notes blog.^[1]

References

Citations

1. Faber Music. "Behind Bars: General Conventions". Retrieved 12 January 2026.

Sources

• Anderson, Julian (2011). "Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation, by Elaine Gould". Tempo. 65 (257): 78–82. doi:10.1017/S0040298211000295. ISSN 0040-2982. JSTOR 23020865.
• Chase, Stephen (2012). "Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation". Fontes Artis Musicae. 59 (4): 395–396. ISSN 0015-6191. JSTOR 42765689.
• Foltmann, Niels Bo (2012). "Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation" (PDF). Danish Yearbook of Musicology. 39: 104–107. ISSN 2245-4969.
• Ford, Andrew (5 October 2011). "Every good boy deserves favour". Inside Story. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
• Lombardi, Paul (2011). "Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation, by Elaine Gould". College Music Symposium. 51. doi:10.1017/S0040298211000295. ISSN 0069-5696. JSTOR 26513071.
• Morley, Christopher (11 November 2011). "Sticking with the classicals for a good read". Business Live. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
• Service, Tom (12 January 2011). "Top scores for the book that teaches composers how to communicate". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
• Rothman, Philip; MacDonald, David (1 July 2023). "Behind Behind Bars with Elaine Gould". Scoring Notes (Podcast). Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
• Tokke, Justin (6 December 2017). "An interview with Elaine Gould, part 2: Behind Bars". Scoring Notes. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
• Whittall, Arnold (2011). "Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation, by Elaine Gould". Gramophone. Vol. 88. pp. 102–103. ISSN 0017-310X.
• Wood, Hugh (18 March 2011). "Sight and sound". The Times Literary Supplement. pp. 4–5. ISSN 0307-661X.

External links

• Official website