Copyist

Until the 1990s, most copyists worked by hand to write out scores and individual instrumental parts neatly, using a calligraphy pen, staff paper, and often a ruler.

In the 1990s, copyists began using scorewriters – computer programs which are the music notation equivalent of a word processor.

Once a composition is fully entered into a scorewriting program, the computer can be instructed to print out the parts for all of the different instruments.

[9] Ingres and Delacroix highly emphasised the value of learning from other painters by going to the Louvre and discovering their artistic personalities.

It was found that copying caused the participants to assess and compare their own artistic style with others, which led to more creative pieces, in comparison to the control group.

[14] Artists frequently only paint a selected area of the work, due to time constraints or individualistic stylistic decisions.

[15] In the late 19th century, the number of copies which were sold under false pretences were high due to the absence of any considerable legislative deterrence.

However, gender stereotyping was prevalent regardless: female copyists frequently had their work denounced as lacking creativity.

[15] These perspectives mirrored contemporary misconceptions around women lacking intelligence and so inferior to their male counterparts.

[15] These attitudes meant that women were rarely accused of being a fraud, because this would have implied the possession of mental skill (deceit).

Being a female copyist in the 19th century regularly had negative implications upon a woman's reputation due to the high risk of slander and damnation.