That one is a bit of personal taste and budget. You have to consider a few things like:
- 1. How much work are your pages going to get?
- 2. Are my pages going to be susceptible to lots of pencil marks (ie. on a ship gig)?
- 3. Are my parts going to disappear (ie. because of that forgetful Guitar player who leaves his book at the all-night diner)?
- 4. Am I working in a well lit stage/room (ie. do you have stand lights on the gig)?
The best bet is a high white paper of at least a 20-22 stock thickness. This paper isn’t the cheapest option – it’ll mean an initial investment but your charts will definitely last longer on the gig. The paper wears better and can take some abuse.
If you’re worried about pages getting ripped, written on, abused, lost, stolen, combusting go the cheapy route – a big ole box of copier or printer paper. This stuff is cheap, which means you can afford to print off another copy when needed and don’t sweat lost, torn or graffitied parts.