Simple Entry tool
When you click this tool, SongWriter displays
the Simple Entry palette, containing an individual icon for each rhythmic
value (quarter note, eighth note, and so on) and other tools for adding
grace notes, sharps, tuplets and so on. (If the Simple Entry palette doesn’t
appear, choose its name from the Window Menu.) Using the tools on this
palette, you can enter music into your score by clicking one note at a
time, typing in notes with your computer keyboard, or with aid from a
MIDI keyboard. Each tool in the Simple Entry palette corresponds to a
keyboard shortcut, which allows you to easily change tools in preparation
for entering, and then additional keyboard shortcuts can be used to edit
the note you just entered. You can use these keystrokes in tandem with
the ,
which works much like the cursor in a word processing program, to enter
all of your music with your computer keyboard. In addition, you can use
special keyboard shortcuts to add articulations and expressions, as well
as clef, key, and time signature changes on the fly. The Simple
Entry keyboard commands are summarized in the diagram that appears
on your Quick Reference Card.
For hands-on Simple Entry training, open
EntryExercise.MUS located in the SongWriter 2012/Tutorials folder.
Special mouse clicks and keystrokes
The numeric keypad located on the right
side of most desktop computer keyboards is used for many Simple Entry
keyboard commands. To specify a keystroke is to be pressed on the numeric
keypad, we’ll use the terminology “numpad-keystroke” (e.g. press numpad-5
to choose the Quarter Note tool). Keystrokes that are not preceded by
“numpad’ are to be struck on the letter and number keys on the left side
of a standard desktop keyboard (also known as the QWERTY keyboard).
Alternative Simple Entry key commands
for laptop users
If you are using a laptop computer, there
may not be a numeric keypad available on your keyboard. If this is the
case, you may find the default keyboard commands difficult to use. In
response to this, we have provided an alternative set of Simple Entry
keystrokes optimized for laptop computers, do the following. To use the
key commands optimized for a laptop computer:
- Click the Simple Entry tool, then from the
Simple Menu, choose Simple Entry Options. The Simple Entry Options
dialog box appears.
- Click Edit Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard
Shortcuts dialog box appears.
- In
the Keyboard Shortcut Set section, click the Name popup menu and select “Laptop Shortcut
Table”. Note the new key mappings in the window above.
- Click OK. Your new keystrokes are available.
To reference a keystroke, click the Simple Menu and then Simple Edit Commands
(and then the category). These lists of keystrokes have been updated to
reflect the Laptop Shortcut Table.
Entering Notes or Rests
- Press
numpad 1-8 (or Command-Option-Shift 1-8), then click on the staff to enter
a 64th note through double whole note. Select the duration and then press
. (period) to specify a dotted note.
- Press
9 and then numpad 1-8 (or Ctrl-Alt-ShiftCommand-Option-Shift 1-8), and
then click on the staff to enter a tuplet based on the duration.
- Press
T, then numpad 1-8 (or Command-Option-Shift 1-8), and then click on the staff to
enter a tied note.
- Click
the Eraser tool
then click a note, rest, accidental, tuplet, tie or dot
to erase it.
- With a note
selected, press Enter to activate the Simple Entry Caret.
- Press
the the up arrow key to move the caret up diatonically, or
the down arrow key to move the caret down diatonically.
- Hold
down Shift and press the up arrow key to move the caret up an octave,
or the down arrow key to move
the caret down an octave.
- With
the caret active, press numpad 1-8 (or Command-Option-Shift 1-8) to select a duration, 64th note
through double-whole note, for the next note entered. Select the duration
and then press . (period) to specify a dotted note.
- With
the caret active, press Enter Enter to enter a note at the pitch
specified on the staff of the rhythmic duration chosen in the Simple Entry
palette. (Notes entered with the caret are selected automatically.)
- With
the caret active, press a letter key A-G to enter a note of that
pitch. SongWriter enters the note within the range of a fourth higher or lower
than the pitch specified on the caret.
- With
the caret active, press 0 to enter a rest on the staff of the rhythmic
duration chosen in the Simple Entry palette.
- With
a note selected, hold down Shift and press a letter key A-G to
add a note of that pitch to the selected note. SongWriter adds the note within
the range of a fourth higher or lower than the pitch specified on the
caret. The added note is selected.
- After
entering a note with the caret, hold down Command
and press Enter to add a note to the previous entry at the pitch
specified by the caret.
- Press
a number key 1-8 (on the QWERTY keyboard) to add a note of that
interval (unison through octave) above the selected note. The added note
is selected.
- Hold
down Shift and Command
and press 9 on the QWERTY keyboard to add a ninth above the selected
note. The added note is selected.
- Hold
down Shift and press a number key 1-9 on the QWERTY keyboard to
add a note of that interval (unison through ninth) below the selected
note. The added note is selected.
- With
the caret active, play a note or chord on a MIDI keyboard to enter
pitch(es) of the chosen duration.
- Press
the Escape key to hide the Simple Entry Caret.
Selection
- Option-click
the note or rest to select a note or rest.
- Option-shift-click
a notehead to add it to the current selection within a chord.
- Press
the left arrow key when a note is selected to move the selection
one note or rest to the left. If no note is selected, SongWriter will select
the last edited note.
- Press
the right arrow key when a note is selected to move the selection
one note or rest to the right. If there is no note or rest to the right,
the caret appears.
- Press
Command-left
arrow when a note is selected to move the selection one measure
to the left.
- Press
Command-right
arrow when a note is selected to move the selection one measure
to the right.
- Press
Command-up
arrow when a note is selected to move the selection up a note in
a chord. If there is only one note in the staff, or the top note in the
chord is selected, selection moves to the staff above.
- Press
Command-down
arrow when a note is selected to move the selection down a note.
Selection can be moved to the staff below. If there is only one note in
the staff, or the bottom note in the chord is selected, selection moves
to the staff below.
- Press
Command-A
when a note is selected in a chord to select all notes in the chord.
- Press
Escape or Clear to clear the
selection.
Note: Notes just entered
with the caret are selected automatically.
Accidentals
- Press
= when a note is selected to make the selected note sharp. With
no selection, press = to select the Sharp tool.
- Press
- when a note is selected to make the selected note flat. With
no selection, press - to select the Flat tool.
- Press
N when a note is selected to make the selected note natural. With
no selection, press N to select the Natural tool.
- Press
Shift - (minus) when a note is selected to make the selected note
double-flat.
- Press
Shift = when a note is selected to make the selected note double-sharp.
- Press
numpad -(minus) when a note is selected to lower the selected note
by a half step. With no selection, press numpad - to select the Half Step
Down tool.
- Press
numpad +(plus) when a note is selected to raise the selected note
by a half step. With no selection, press numpad + to select the Half Step
Up tool.
- Press
Command-Shift-(minus)
when a note is selected to show or hide a cautionary accidental
on the selected note.
- Press
P when a note is selected to add a parenthesized accidental. Press
this keystroke again to toggle between parenthesized and non-parenthesized
accidental.
Modify Notes and Rests
- Select
a note (without the caret active) and press the up arrow key to
move the note up diatonically, or the
down arrow key to move the note down diatonically.
- After
entering a note with the caret press Option
up arrow to move the note just entered and the caret up diatonically
or Option
down arrow to move the note just entered and the caret down diatonically.
- After
entering a note with the caret press Shift-Option
up arrow to move the note just entered up an octave or Shift-Option down arrow to move the note just entered
down an octave.
- Select
a note then press Option
1-8 on the QWERTY keyboard to change the note or rest value (64th
through double whole note).
- Select
a note and press . (period) to add a dot to the note.
- Select
a note and press 9 to begin a tuplet.
- Select
a note then press R to change a note into a rest. Press
R again to change it back to a note.
- Select
a note and press T to add a tie to the next note. Press
Shift-T to tie to the previous note.
- Select
a note with a tie and press Command-F
to flip a tie.
- Select
a note then press Option-G
to toggle the note between grace note, slashed grace note (for flagged
grace notes), and full note.
- Select
a note or rest then press H to hide the selected note or rest.
- Select
a note then press \ (backslash) to change the enharmonic spelling
of the note.
- Select
a note and press Delete to erase it. Without a note selected, press
Delete and then click on a note, accidental, tie, dot or tuplet to erase
it.
Beams, Stems and Ties
- Select
a note then press T to tie the selected note to the next note.
Press Shift-T to tie the selected
note to the previous note.
- Select
a note then press / to break or join the beam on the selected note.
Press Shift-/ to restore default
beaming.
- Select
a beamed note then press Option-/
to create a flat beam.
- Select
a note then press L to flip the stem of the selected note. Press Shift-L to restore the default
stem direction.
Adding Articulations
- Select a note and press numpad * or Option-A and press an articulation shortcut key
to add an articulation to the note. For example, A for an accent, S for
staccato, etc. Click Select (or press Enter) to open the Articulation
Selection dialog box where you can choose from a list of articulations.
(Note the shortcut assignment appears in the upper right corner of each
articulation in the Articulation Selection dialog box.)
- Press Command-numpad
* or Command-Option-Shift-A and then press an articulation shortcut
key (or click select or press Enter to choose an articulation)
to add a sticky articulation to the caret and mouse cursor. Now, the chosen
articulation will appear on all notes entered until the sticky articulation
is removed. Press Command-numpad
* or Command-Option-Shift-A again to remove the articulation
from the caret and mouse cursor.
Adding Expressions
- Select
a note and press X. Then press an expression shortcut key
to add an expression to the note. Click
Select (or press Enter) to open the
Expression Selection dialog box where you can choose from a list of expressions.
Changing the key, time and clef
- Select
a note, press Option-K
and press a key signature shortcut key to change the key signature
or click Select to open the Key Signature dialog box where you can specify
the new key. The key change appears
at the current measure.
- Select
a note, press Option-T and press a time signature shortcut key
to change the time signature or click Select ore press Enter to open the
Time Signature dialog box where you can specify the new meter. The key change appears at the current
measure.
- Select
a note, press Option-C and press a clef shortcut key to change
the clef or click Select or press Enter to open the Change Clef dialog
box dialog box where you can specify the placement and clef type for the
clef change.
Contextual menus
The Simple Entry Contextual Menu is reached
by control-clicking
on a note or rest. A contextual menu will appear where you can select
from various options to edit the note or rest you clicked. The item chosen
from this menu applies to all selected notes.
|
Menu item
|
What it does
|
|
Delete
|
Deletes the note(s)
|
|
Show/Hide
|
Hides non-hidden note(s) or rest(s). Shows
hidden note(s) or rest(s)
|
|
Toggle Note/Rest
|
Change note(s) to rest(s) or rest(s) to
note(s)
|
|
Add Articulation
|
Shows Waiting for input dialog box. Type
an articulation shortcut to add articulation or press Enter to choose
the articulation to be added
|
|
Add Expression
|
Shows Waiting for input dialog box. Type
an expression shortcut to add expression or press Enter to choose the
expression to be added
|
|
Change Clef
|
Shows Waiting for input dialog box. Type
clef shortcut to add a clef change or press Enter to choose the desired
clef
|
|
Change Key Signature
|
Shows Waiting for input dialog box. Type
key signature shortcut to add a key change or press Enter to choose the
desired key
|
|
Change Time Signature
|
Shows Waiting for input dialog box. Type
time signature shortcut to add a time signature change or press Enter
to choose the desired time signature
|
See Also:
Simple Entry
Main tool
palette
