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Sheet music is musical notation written down on paper; it is the musical analog of a book.

Reading sheet music is the standard way to learn and perform a piece in some cultures and styles of music. In western classical music, it is very rare for a performer to learn a piece in any other way. With the exception of piano, where memorization is expected, classical musicians ordinarily have the sheet music at hand when performing. Even in jazz music, which is mostly improvised, there is a lot of sheet music describing arrangements, melodies, and chord changes.

Sheet music is less important in other forms of music, however. In popular music, although sheet music is produced, it is nowadays more usual for people to learn the piece by ear (that is, by imitation). This is also the case in most forms of western folk music. Musics of other cultures, both folk and classical, are often transmitted orally, though some have sheet music, and a few use hand signals or some other device as a learning mnemonic.

The skill of sight reading is the ability of a musician to perform an unfamiliar work of music upon viewing the sheet music for it the first time. Sight reading ability is expected of professional musicians and serious amateurs who play classical music and related forms, especially for church musicians.

1 Types of sheet music

Sheet music may come in several different forms. If a piece is written for just one instrument (for example, a piano), all the music will be written on just one piece of sheet music. If a piece is intended to be played by more than one person, each person will usually have their own piece of sheet music, called a part. If there are a large number of performers required for a piece, there may also be a score, which is a piece of sheet music which shows all or most of the instruments' music in one place. Scores come in various forms:

• A full score is a large book showing the music of all instruments. It will be large enough for a conductorConducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs and other musical ensembles often have conductors. A conductor resident with an orchestra (as opposed to a guest conductor) who has involvement with th to use in rehearsals or performance.
• A miniature score is like a full score, but reduced in size. It is too small for practical use, but handy for studying a piece of music.
• A study score is a rather vague term, sometimes used as a synonym for miniature score, and sometimes used to mean a score somewhere between the size of a full and a miniature score.
• A piano score (or piano reduction) is an arrangement of a piece for many instruments, for just a piano. It will often include indications of which instrument plays the various melodies and other notes.
• A vocal score is a piano score which has all the vocal parts, both choralFor the communications operator see Chorus Communications : For the computer operating system see ChorusOS In classical music a chorus is any substantial group of performers in a play, revue, musical or opera who act more or less as one. It can also mean and solo, on separate stavesIn musical notation, the staff or stave is a set of five horizontal lines on which note symbols are placed to indicate pitch and time. The staff is read left to right: one note to the right of another means that it is to be played later. The vertical posi. It is used by singers.
• A short score is a reduction of a work for many instruments to just a few staves. Short scores are not usually published, but are often used by composerA composer is a person who writes music. The term refers particularly to someone who writes music in some type of musical notation, thus allowing others to perform the music. This distinguishes the composer from a musician who improvises. However, a persos on their way to producing a finished piece. Often, a short score is completed before work on orchestrationFor the use of the term "orchestration" in computer science, see orchestration (computers Orchestration or arrangement is the study and practice of arranging music for an orchestra or musical ensemble. In practical terms it consists of deciding which inst begins.

It should be noted that the word score can also refer to the incidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the " film score" or "soundtrack". Incidental written for something such as a play, television programme or film (when it is called a film score).