Toward a Definition of Sheet Music

The absence of a universal description for the term 'sheet music' may be attributed to the complexity of previous and modern-day connotations associated to it. Academicians have argued that the most logical and simplest means of defining the term is by describing each phrase separately. Using such an approach, sheet music may be regarded as any of a vocal or instrumental publication furnished within a limited format. Historic accounts revealed that the term first appeared in a publication in Lawrence, KS, during the late 1850s.