Introductory measures

Noteman says: This is the recommended method for creating introductory measures because it is much easier to resize the introductory measure if needed (as a staff system).

1. Enter the notation for the introductory measure in the first measure of the document.
2. Begin the "real" music in measure 2.
3. Choose the Measure tool and double-click measure 1. The Measure Attributes dialog box appears.
4. Next to Barline, select Invisible.
5. From the Time Signature dropdown menu, choose Always Hide.
6. Check Hide cautionary clefs, key and time signatures.
7. Under Behavior, deselect Include in measure numbering and click OK.
8. Double-click measure 2. The Measure Attributes dialog box now lists this as measure 1 due to the previous step.
9. Under Behavior, select Begin a new staff system and click OK.
10. Choose the Page Layout tool . The Page Layout menu appears.
11. Choose Page Layout > Avoid Margin Collision to deselect it.
12. Right-click the first system (which contains the introductory measure) and select Edit Margins. The Edit System Margins dialog box appears.
13. Increase the Right margin and click Apply until the introductory measure is the desired width.
14. Click the second system (which contains the first measure of "real" music). The Edit System Margins dialog box now displays Values for System: 2.
15. Increase the Left margin and click Apply until the first system of "real" music clears the width of the introductory measure (including a small horizontal gap).
16. Decrease the Distance between systems value (this will have to be a negative number) until the two systems align vertically.
17. Close the Edit System Margins dialog box.
18. Before making other page layout changes, be sure to re-enable Page Layout > Avoid Margin Collision (this will not affect systems that have already been adjusted).

You may want to adjust measure widths and/or beat spacing in the first two measures. Additional edits are required to resize notational elements in the introductory measure.

1. Enter the notation for the introductory measure in the first measure of the document.
2. Fill measure 2 with rests on each beat, and hide the last rest.
3. Begin the "real" music in measure 3.
4. Choose the Measure tool and double-click measure 1. The Measure Attributes dialog box appears.
5. Next to Barline, select Invisible.
6. From the Time Signature dropdown menu, choose Always Hide.
7. Under Behavior, deselect Include in measure numbering and click OK.
8. Double-click measure 2. The Measure Attributes dialog box now lists this as measure 1 due to the previous step.
9. Next to Barline, select Invisible.
10. From the Key Signature dropdown menu, choose Always Hide.
11. From the Time Signature dropdown menu, choose Always Hide.
12. Under Behavior, deselect Include in measure numbering and click OK.
13. Double-click measure 3. The Measure Attributes dialog box now lists this as measure 1 due to the previous step.
14. From the Key Signature dropdown menu, choose Always Show.
15. From the Time Signature dropdown menu, choose Always Show.
16. Click OK.
17. Choose the Clef tool and double-click measure 3. The Change Clef dialog box appears.
18. Under Show Clef, select Always and change Clef Size to 100%.
19. Click OK.
20. Choose the Staff tool and highlight all of the contents of measure 2, except for the last beat.
21. Right-click the partial measure selection and choose Force Hide Staff (Cutaway).

You may want to adjust measure widths and/or beat spacing in the first two measures. Additional edits are required to resize notational elements in the introductory measure.