Songworks Tips and Shortcuts
- (1) To switch from one staff to another quickly, just click on any item in the new staff. That's faster than moving the mouse to click a different staff handle. Another way to switch staves is to use the up and down arrow keys, but clicking on an item in the desired staff is the most convenient when editing.
- (2) If you have deleted an item and want to replace it with another, just
click in the keys of the on-screen keyboard using the desired symbol. Or
play a MIDI note. Deleting a symbol puts the insertion point where it used
to be, and playing a note will always enter the currently chosen symbol at
the current insertion point. Sometimes this is the best way to insert notes
in a tight spot. If the passage's notes are close together it might be hard
to click between two of them with the new note symbol - if the click is
close enough to an existing note the new note will be added to its stem
instead of being inserted before it.
- (3) Using Sketch Mode will greatly speed up editing - perhaps making some
operations in large files hundreds of times faster. If you use version 2.09's
Sketch Mode in a large file, things look better if you temporarily set the note
spacing to a larger value to "open the score up" a little. This is to keep notes
of small value from appearing too close together, and to make editing easier. You
can always change the notespacing again after you've done all your editing.
- (4) When playing a part on the letter keys using Active listening, remember
the proper technique for playing computer keys as a musical instrument: use two
fingers, alternating from one to the other, and don't lift them much - try to keep
the amount of movement small and you'll find it much easier to play fast passages.
Every instrument has its own technique, and though this one is particularly easy to
play (what other instrument can be set to hit the right pitches automatically?) it,
too, has something to be mastered.
- (5) If you get lost when doing an Active listening part, one way to get
back on track is to stop playing and wait until the computer stops to wait
for you, as it will at the first convenient place. Then start tapping notes
again, and it will join you at the right time.
- (6) Don't forget to take advantage of these quick ways to change a symbol
or group of symbols already entered in the staff.
- a. To change pitch of a note or group of notes, select the note(s), hold
down the shift key, and then play the desired pitch or pitches either on
the screen keyboard, the letter keys, or a MIDI keyboard. If changing a
group of notes, they will change one at a time as you play the new pitches.
It doesn't matter if rests or barlines are included in the selection;
they'll be ignored.
- b. To change any staff symbol to a different one of the same type (such
as treble clef to bass clef, key signature to a different key signature,
note to a different vallue of note, etc.) just select the item or items and
then choose the desired new symbol from the selection above the on-screen
keyboard.
- c. To add or remove a sharp or flat from a note or notes already
entered, select the note(s) and then choose the desired sharp or flat from
the selection above the on-screen keyboard.
- d. To make a "precautionary" sharp or flat (one that isn't really needed
except as a reminder) hold down the option key as you do step "c." This
will tell the program to print that sharp or flat even if it's redundant.
- (7) It is a good idea, when entering multitrack music in a single staff, to
lay down track one first and then add the other parts to the notes of track
one. Songworks will switch to track one automatically whenever you try to
place a note past the right edge of the existing music, but that might take
you by surprise: it's better to be aware of the tracks so track one, at
least, is a coherent part.
In any musical composition at least one voice in the staff must be
complete: it must fully take up all the time of each measure. Songworks
allows you to make incomplete secondary voices by placing additional notes,
but these do not affect the time of the measure, which is defined by "track
one."
Because secondary voices do not necessarily make a consistent voice by
themselves, they do not copy and paste well. You can drag-select a group of
notes in a secondary track, but if you then copy and paste them they will
not necessarily come out as expected, because the notes they depended on
for timing are missing. You should copy the entire structure of the
passage, including track one.
- (8) To select all of the contents of a passage, including notes in secondary
tracks, activate track one (either click on a note in track one or else
click on the first staff handle - when in track one all notes and rests in
the staff will appear in black), and then use the shift-click method of
selection: click to the left or right of the passage, then hold down the
shift key and click on the other side of the passage. This selects
absolutely everything in that passage, regardless of track. This way you
don't have to drag a selection rectangle a long distance, and you are
assured of not missing anything.
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