Thanks to Callie for the educational reminder about Part Markers. Certainly I use them for all the purposes outlined.

I believe one of the most important features outlined by Callie is
Quote:
Section Paragraphs: adding a part marker to your Band-in-a-Box® song will move that section to a new line within the lead sheet, making it easier to see - this is optional, and can be adjusted within the Display Options window.


This feature is extremely useful for creating readable leadsheets, a subject I am a bit passionate about, as you can tell from my recent post on 'Notation Problems'. These days you often come across tunes where the sections are not necessarily of 8 bars length. I often encounter AABA tunes where the 'A' section is 10 bars. Thus, you want one line on a leadsheet which only contains 2 bars. This is handled well by the part market when using the 'Print' Notation button. However the part market does not do the same thing when using the Leadsheet Window (AltW) green button. Here, you have to fill in the Lead Sheet Options box saying exactly how many bars you want on every line. frown This is extremely time consuming and you have to know about this quirk. I simply do not understand why the part marker method would not be a better!

Also it is very difficult to get a Tag ending to go down onto a separate line.

In answer to Callie's question "How many part markers do you typically add to your Band-in-a-Box® songs?":

The most common song form is a thirty two bar AABA tune with each of the 'Section Paragraphs' being 8 bars. Add an extra part marker for a four-bar Intro, and one for the Tag Ending. So, most often one uses 6 part markers.

Unfortunately, many modern pop tunes do not follow this 'section paragraph' convention and you often need part markers to create 4, 3, 2 and 1 bars on a line. Of course, many published sheet music copies do not bother with the starting a new 'section paragraph' on a new line but I much prefer the common Fake Sheet method of producing leadsheets, as outlined in my previous post: http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=457880#Post457880

Callie, I put your 'section paragraph' description in inverted commas because I have not previously heard it called that. I think it is a good description but BIAB normally calls simply a 'Section', as in 'Bar-Based Section Letters'.

Grah Jive Talk
"Don't worry baby, they'll swing their arses off."