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I’m attacking this book again. The last time I plowed into life happened and it fell to the wayside. Anyway, in Book One, Part One, Lesson One, Mickey says, “Get a music writing book, and write everything in it for retaining as you go on.”
I’m certain he’s on to something with writing things down to retain them longer term. I’m curious if any of you have favorite such books/journals that are widely available for taking music related notes.
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04-26-2026 11:45 AM
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I make my own staff paper using MS Word (actually LibreOffice Write, a work-alike) and tables, I use a notebook-sized paper punch to punch holes, and use a loose-leaf notebook to store it all.
When Mickey Baker wrote his book it was difficult to make your own staff paper, so you had to buy some. Now it's very easy.
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I did book one. I did write the lessons out..don't remember if he suggested to write them in every key..but I did it anyway.
Originally Posted by BelairPlayer
This is a two year course if you follow his instruct. When I finished I was able to read and write music in all keys and play basic
harmonic chords that were used in many charts/fake books of the day.
I had to push myself to do this. Im glad I did..it opened up my ability to grasp more studies in harmonic structures and applied theory and prepared me
to look for a very good teacher.
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I did keep such notebooks when studying for my music degree decades ago. Still have them, tho I rarely consult them, having internalized the info long ago.
In the Dida Pelled interview of Ben Monder he mentions that staff paper notebooks are hard to find nowadays.
- She indicated that you can buy a Real-Book-sized spiral-bound book of staff paper online for about $10. Not sure if The Big Book of Staff Paper is the one she's talking about, since the interview is only 11 months old and the price is $18, not $10.
- I found numerous other choices on Amazon, too. Hal Leonard makes a variety of manuscript paper products.
When I taught private lessons actively, I could not find loose leaf staff paper that had the line spacing I preferred, so I scanned a blank page from one of my notebooks and laser-printed a bunch of them onto three-hole-punched loose-leaf paper.
Nowadays, Berklee College of Music has a bunch of free, downloadable PDFs that present many options to print your own blank music manuscript paper. There are a lot of other cool online resources at that page, too, such as ear-training apps for intervals and for rhythms.
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I've just got 2 of these. I got one cheap from a charity shop but the stave lines are quite feint and don't photocopy well. I have pages and pages of notes, transcriptions and ideas ( a lot of BH) but they are all over the place. I still use a written diary and have loads of stuff in those that I should collate. I'm trying to get it all organised.
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My local music shop had this in the clearance rack. It works fine, but I'd rather have something spiral bound.
Amazon.com
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I write out stuff to give to band members so tear out pages are best for me and even though I haven't categorised stuff yet, separate sheets are best for me. Are the spiral bound sheets perforated? Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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But I’ve still got 200 blank pages left.
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Trial: upload of 10- and 12-stave music staff paper PDFs
See if this works
staff paper 12 staves.pdf
staff paper 10 staves.pdf
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Don't you find those staves too close together for writing for guitar? With 3 ledger lines below and at least 3 ledger lines above, plus chord symbols, it's a bit of a squeeze. Originally Posted by dconeill
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No, I don't. Originally Posted by garybaldy
Since I make my own staff paper, if I need more space I just make them with more space, obviously with fewer staves per page. I've found that 10- and 12-staff/page are good general purpose sizes.
If you make your own you can have as much control over the spacing as you'd like.
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You can print out blank manuscript paper from here: Free Sheet Music, Free Manuscript Paper, Music Tools, and More
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I was referring to those as per the links. If you modify them they are then different. In fact if they are ok for you why do you modify them? Originally Posted by dconeill
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Thanks everybody. I’ve found a very modestly priced HalLeonard spiral bound book with big staves for old eyes. It’s priced right for lots of scratch notes/ideas. I’ll condense ideas I want to keep longer term in a musician’s Moleskine journal with staves on the right and places for written notes on the left.
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Nicely spaced staves in the Moleskine. Originally Posted by BelairPlayer
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I don't use pencil and paper anymore, music notation software is what I like.
It's easier to organize with folders, it's quicker to notate with, it's way easier to edit and you can play it back without your guitar if you're so inclined. You might want to consider using software. I use musescore.
an example...
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