Rehearsal Markings

I am preparing my score and parts for an orchestral reading. Are there any guidelines as to where you place rehearsal letters in the score? Are the placements of the markings decided upon intuition along with general phrases/sections in the music? Also can you have a rehearsal marking in a place where part of the ensemble is playing tied-over notes?

I am preparing my score and parts for an orchestral reading. Are there any guidelines as to where you place rehearsal letters in the score? Are the placements of the markings decided upon intuition along with general phrases/sections in the music? Also can you have a rehearsal marking in a place where part of the ensemble is playing tied-over notes?

Anywhere you felt it necessary to put a double-bar, put a Rehearsal Letter, regrdless of tied-over notes or phrasings...

Put more, rather than less.... also, include all measure numbers.

Anywhere you felt it necessary to put a double-bar, put a Rehearsal Letter, regrdless of tied-over notes or phrasings...

Put more, rather than less.... also, include all measure numbers.

Great, thanks for that!

Ties matter not. Major moments in the music (double bar lines) and/or sections that simply need to be divied up because of the amount of time before the last one.

You have to put yourself in the conductor's shoes for this. Think about where a conductor would ask the players to start and put rehearsal markings there and at important formal divisions in the music. I would actually use rehearsal numbers instead of letters (who knows, you might make a mistake in parts and miss giving some players rehearsal letters, but if you use numbers it's not going to take up much time for the player to figure out where to start since measure numbers will at least be at the beginnings of systems). You don't need a rehearsal number at every double barline, especially if you write like Stravinsky and feel the need to put a double bar before every meter change!

or every key change in a musical.

Rehearsal markings: where they are necessary... I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with that being on a tied note. As long as it's not the entire orchestra tied over :)

.... As long as it's not the entire orchestra tied over :)

Why not?

I've seen that quite a lot

You have to put yourself in the conductor's shoes for this. Think about where a conductor would ask the players to start and put rehearsal markings there and at important formal divisions in the music. I would actually use rehearsal numbers instead of letters (who knows, you might make a mistake in parts and miss giving some players rehearsal letters, but if you use numbers it's not going to take up much time for the player to figure out where to start since measure numbers will at least be at the beginnings of systems). You don't need a rehearsal number at every double barline, especially if you write like Stravinsky and feel the need to put a double bar before every meter change!

pretty good advice here

Just make it very clear in both parts and score. Large letters and in a circle or bracket.