Stem length question

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Hector Pascal
Posts: 94
Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

Stem length question

Post by Hector Pascal »

Hi all,
Should I (or should I not) lengthen the stems of the tied notes to match the preceding beam's height? (I should mention that I chose the beam height so as to keep the lower of the fractional beams higher than the bottom staff line).
Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 4.26.47 pm.png
Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 4.26.47 pm.png (517.39 KiB) Viewed 3156 times
Thanks as always!
Cheers,
Hector.
Hector Pascal
Posts: 94
Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

Re: Stem length question

Post by Hector Pascal »

Here is what it looks like with the fractional beam sitting on top of the bottom staff line. The problem with this is that the fractional beam interferes with the bottom stave-line (Gould mentions that there must be one clear stave-line between the innermost beam and the first ledger-line; p.19).
Screen Shot 2023-03-22 at 10.39.49 am.png
Screen Shot 2023-03-22 at 10.39.49 am.png (362.75 KiB) Viewed 3121 times
Any thoughts welcome as I continue to research it.

Cheers,
HP.
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John Ruggero
Posts: 2453
Joined: 05 Oct 2015, 14:25
Location: Raleigh, NC USA

Re: Stem length question

Post by John Ruggero »

Very nice ties! :)

As far as I know, the stem lengths don't have to match. At least that is what I see in well-engraved music. Perhaps others disagree.

And yes, one should avoid doing anything with beams that obscures the outer staff lines and thus obscures reading ledger line notes. And there are various situations in which this can happen, so one needs to judge each instance. Another case is when the ledger lines touch each other. That is also poison for reading.
Last edited by John Ruggero on 26 Mar 2023, 17:01, edited 1 time in total.
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Hector Pascal
Posts: 94
Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

Re: Stem length question

Post by Hector Pascal »

Thanks for your reply, John, which is much appreciated!
Cheerio,
HP.
NeeraWM
Posts: 185
Joined: 30 Nov 2021, 12:11

Re: Stem length question

Post by NeeraWM »

I second John's answer.
Stem lengths don' have to match.
Especially, beams do not have to obscure the first and the last staff line.
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