"This book will revolutionize the study of music...The book weaves strong patterns from the conflicting habits of different places, people and periods. It doesn't tell you exactly what to do, but inspires a confidence that your own decisions, thus informed, will work."--BBC Music Magazine
"Brown has produced a work of the greatest scholarship and utility....Recommended--required!--for all libraries with music collections serving upper-division undergraduates and above."--Choice
"His substantial book presents many new findings and demonstrates new approaches. Brown has contributed greatly to our understanding of period technique, especially for string instruments" --Notes
"His book offers a wealth of advice and ideas, ideas which should be thought of as creative and enabling, not restrictive."--Early Music Review
"Brown's grasp of primary sources is wide-ranging and scholarly, lavishly illustrated with musical examples, often of unfamiliar repertory. He uncovers many questions and possible answers, which can hardly fail to stimulate the thinking performer."--Gramophone Early Music
"The fact that the book focuses on notation will make it permanently useful, something to consult."--The Musical Times
