Day 441: By Hand

Are you familiar with the experience of going to the doctor and he/she gives you the prescription and you cannot read what it says or even what the signature is? Well, it is a common stereotype that doctors have terrible handwriting. However, there is one thing that's written sloppier than prescriptions and that is music. Because of the meticulous detail that goes into every note, clef, stem, bar line, etc. it's impossible to make it look clean without a ruler. All of this to say, that when you go back and are trying to play music from handwritten scores it is damned near impossible and definitely a challenge. You can complain about it, try to find a better copy of the score, or notice that half the score is computer typed, but none of that matters. You eventually have to realize what Dr. Albert preaches: "it is what it is." However, for your amusement, below is our current musical score. The first two photos are handwritten and the last two are typeset. Note the difference.