I’ve got a pet peeve to share: Capitalising Every Word In A Song Title Is Silly! Not only does it look clunky, but it’s also not correct grammar.

This isn’t just a matter of personal preference. There are long-standing style guides that set the standards for how titles should be written. A few of the big ones are:

• Chicago Manual of Style (widely used in US publishing and the music industry, first published 1906).
• AP Style (standard in US journalism, first published 1953).
• Oxford / British Style Guides (common in UK publishing and academia, with roots in the early 20th century).

Looking for some backup, I put the question to ChatGPT, and got the confirmation I was looking for. So here it is, for your reference (or to quickly scroll past):

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🎵 Title Capitalisation Cheat Sheet

1. Songs / Pop & Jazz Titles (Title Case)

• Capitalise: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs.
• Lowercase: a, an, the, and, but, or, for, nor, on, at, by, to, in, of, with (unless first or last word).

Examples:

• ✅ Bridge over Troubled Water
• ✅ A Whiter Shade of Pale
• ✅ Land of Make Believe

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2. Classical Works (Sentence Case Is Common)

• Only the first word and proper nouns get capitals.
• Generic terms (concerto, symphony, variations, quartet) stay lowercase.

Examples:

• ✅ Variations on a theme by Erik Satie
• ✅ Piano concerto in A minor, Op. 16
• ✅ Symphony no. 5 in C minor

👉 If writing for a US or non-academic audience, Title Case is also acceptable:

• Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie

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3. General Writing / Blogs / Articles

• Chicago Style → Title Case (common in books, websites, publishing).
• Oxford / UK academic style → Sentence case.

Examples:

• Chicago: How to Badger Your Neighbours with Daily Trumpet Practice
• Oxford: How to badger your neighbours with daily trumpet practice

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✅ Quick Rules to Remember

1. Don’t capitalise short joining words (of, on, a, the, and, in) unless at the start/end.
2. Songs = Title Case. Classical = Sentence case. Blogs = depends on audience.
3. Consistency beats perfection — pick one system and stick with it.

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All that said, I’ve noticed albums in my own collection where the song titles are printed entirely in UPPER CASE, sidestepping the issue altogether. 🤣

Thank you to my friends who have reached out following news that my musical hero, Chuck Mangione, has passed away.

Chuck and his music have had the most significant impact on me as a musician. More than any other artist or teacher. And given the role of music in my life, it would be fair to say that Chuck was (and continues to be) a major influence in my life. It is truly an honour to have an association with the Mangione family, and to also know that Chuck heard and appreciated a video I recorded covering one if his tunes.

There’s a reason why the flugelhorn is my instrument of choice and Chuck’s music is in my heart: It Feels So Good.

Fans of Chuck may be interested in the Chuck Mangione Facebook Group, of which I’m an administrator, and my published Chuck Mangione transcriptions.

Recently, I published forScore Custom Stamps for Trumpet Players, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how popular the download has become. A big thank you to everyone who checked it out! I hope the stamps have been useful to you.

After receiving a few questions about additional stamps for non-brass players, I decided to take the idea a step further. Here’s a new release containing a comprehensive set of 106 annotations designed for musicians of all types—not just brass players. Like the earlier set, these stamps use my favorite Jazz font, which I find friendlier-looking and easier on the eyes compared to traditional music fonts.

From the iPad screenshot, you’ll see that this expanded collection makes the default forScore set practically redundant. If I knew how to remove those from my iPad, I would! All of the stamps are black in their default form, but you can easily customize their colors as needed.

Help yourself to this expanded collection of forScore Custom Jazz Stamps. I hope you find them as useful and practical as I do.

Update 30/12/2024: By request, I’ve added an additional collection of note names A to G in the same Jazz font. So grab that collection too, if you would like it!

For guidance on importing and using the stamps, refer to the instructions in the forScore User Guide.

💡 Tip: Be sure to download the ZIP file to your PC or Mac. Avoid trying to open it directly on your iPhone or iPad unless you have an app that can handle ZIP files.

Resources:

• forScore Custom Jazz Stamps ZIP file.
• forScore Custom Jazz Stamps Text A-G ZIP file.

Created by me and free for you to use.

What do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know.

The launch of Apple’s 13″ iPad finally convinced me to move on from playing paper charts and go digital. Now, I use my iPad for all my big band charts, musical theater books, method books, and more—no paper required. I’m a very happy convert.

Like most iPad-reading musicians, I rely on the forScore app to manage and display all my sheet music. Within the app, I use stamps and other annotation tools to mark changes and highlight important details. While forScore includes a limited range of built-in stamps for common markings, it also allows you to import custom stamps created outside the app.

As a trumpet player, I’ve created nearly 40 custom stamps that give me quick access to the markings I use most often. And as with most things I create, what’s mine is yours too! Below, you’ll find a ZIP file containing my forScore custom stamps, ready for you to download and import into your app.

My stamps are styled primarily in a Jazz font, with each being a PNG image with a transparent background, sized at 144×144 pixels. For guidance on importing and using these stamps, check out the instructions in the forScore User Guide.

💡 Tip: Be sure to download the ZIP file to your PC or Mac. Don’t try to open it on your phone or tablet, unless you have an app on the device that can open ZIP files.

Resources:

• forScore Custom Stamps for Trumpet Players ZIP file.

Created by me and free for you to use.

What do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know.