A standard musical score represented in digital format is analyzed for its constituent parts in order to identify notational directives for traversing through the musical score. A linearized version of the musical score is generated that is in substantially the same visual format but allows the reader to traverse through the musical score exclusively in a forward direction and without need for jumps in a reverse direction or forward jumps beyond the subsequent consecutive page. In certain embodiments, forward jumps may be minimally limited to a page within the musical score while in other embodiments a forward jump may be minimally limited to a line or a measure. In yet other embodiments, reverse jumps may be entirely eliminated while in still other embodiments, reverse jumps within pages may remain unchanged.