A Markov source model is described for a simple subset of printed musi
c notation that was developed as an extended example of the document i
mage decoding (DID) approach to document image analysis. The model is
based on the Adobe Sonata music symbol set and a finite-state language
of textual music messages. The music message language is defined and
several important aspects of message imaging are discussed. Aspects of
music notation that appear problematic for a finite-state representat
ion are identified. Finally, an example of music image decoding and re
synthesis using the model is presented. Development of the model was g
reatly facilitated by the duality between image synthesis and image de
coding that is fundamental to the DID paradigm. (C) 1996 SPIE and IS&T
.