I'd prefer it to be a left-side pane you could hide/show... and in that pane have instruments (perhaps grouped by barline groups?) that you can hide individually OR hide groups (hide strings, brass, perc. and focus on woodwinds).
And if your view is set to "continuous" mode, it should remember where you are!!
That would make workflow 10,000x easier just with just these 2 navigation changes alone. :)
-Sean