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Finale NotePad 2011 Tutorials

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to get notes on the page. If you’re brand new to NotePad, we recommend you start with this tutorial to get a good introduction to navigating around NotePad. Simple Entry is easy to learn; just click the notes onto the staff with a mouse. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to enter your notes into NotePad using the Simple Entry method.

 

Tip: To take a crash course in Simple Entry, you could also jump straight to the Simple Entry Exercises for hands on training: Find "NotePadEntryExercise.mus" on your hard drive.

You are probably familiar with Wizards from other applications, such as word processors and spreadsheets. This Wizard is designed to help you set up a new NotePad document. Let’s create a simple vocal score.

If you haven’t already started NotePad, do so now. If NotePad is already started, click on the File menu and choose New.

 

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You should be aware that the order in which the instruments appear in the third column is the order in which they will appear, from top to bottom, in your score. If you are creating a multi-instrument score and the Document Setup Wizard incorrectly orders your instruments, you can use the small up and down arrows to move the instruments around in the list until they are correct.

Your Wizard should now look like this:

 

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Take a look around the screen. Across the top, you’ll find the standard menu bar. The right side of the screen has a vertical scroll bar, which you’ll use to move the music you’re viewing up or down; and across the bottom of the screen is a horizontal scroll bar, which you’ll use to move left or right through your piece.

You’ll also see the Page counter; this number identifies the current page on the screen. To jump to any page in the score, highlight the current page number, then type a new number into the box and press enter. (This piece has only one page.)

At the bottom of the window, you’ll see the Status Bar.

Below the menu bar is the Main tool palette. You’ll also see the Simple Entry palette below the Main tool palette. Each square tile on these toolbars contains a symbol representing its function. All of these toolbars can be hidden, providing you with more space to view your music, or they can be viewed as palettes that float in front of the music. (Note: Depending on your monitor's video resolution, the toolbars may first appear as palettes on your screen.) To hide any toolbar, simply select it from the Window menu to remove the checkmark. Selecting it again will cause it to reappear. (This also applies to the Smart Shape palette, which will be discussed later.)

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If you look at your score, you may notice that NotePad automatically fills any empty measure with a whole rest (hereafter called a default whole rest). That’s just to save you time. You’ll also notice that the music is displayed as a page of sheet music.

If you’re new to computers, take a moment to click and drag (while holding down the mouse button!) across the menu titles at the top of the screen, noticing how the lists of commands drop down as you pass over each title.

Now that you’ve had a look around, let’s get to work on our masterpiece. If measure 1 of the piece isn’t visible, click the horizontal and vertical scroll bar arrows until it is.

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Another menu has appeared on the menu bar. This menu contains several items: "Check for Extra Notes," "Fill with Rests at End of Measure", and "Playback Notes on Entry." When Check for Extra Notes is selected (a check mark appears next to it; this command is selected by default), NotePad will consult the time signature and not allow you to inadvertently enter extra notes in a given measure. Fill With Rests at End of Measure will add enough rests to fill the measure if you leave the measure and start entering notes in another measure. If you have a soundcard or computer speakers, you’ll hear a brief note upon entering notes when Playback Notes on Entry is selected.

The tools on the Simple Entry palette are divided into different groups. There are duration tools, like quarters, eighth notes, etc. You can also choose an accidental tool, like a sharp or flat tool. Keep in mind that you’ll have to click on the tool to de-select it, if you don’t want to use it anymore. To select a tool and clear all the other tools, double-click on it.

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You probably noticed that the measure width changed when you entered the note. This is a function of NotePad's Automatic Music Spacing feature, which widens or narrows a measure to professional publishing standards depending on the notes present in that measure. NotePad may also move measures from one system to another to maintain the optimum measure layout, based on the new measure width.

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One nice thing about NotePad is that you never have to enter the same music twice. For example, we know that the second measure of "Frère Jacques" has exactly the same melody as the first. Instead of reentering these four notes, you can just copy the first measure into the second.

You’ll always use the Selection tool for copying, moving, and erasing music.

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Voila! You’ve just copied the music from measure 1 into measure 2. Now finish entering the melody.

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The next note in this measure is a half note, so you’ll have to change rhythmic values.

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You could complete the melody the same way, first choosing the rhythmic duration, and then clicking the staff. However, you can enter notes faster and just as easily using your computer keyboard and the Simple Entry Caret.

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Congratulations! You’ve completed your first NotePad melody.

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Let’s add some blues to our melody line to illustrate how to add accidentals. You can add accidentals as you enter the notes by clicking on a duration tool and an accidental tool. While using the caret, after entering a note press - (minus) to add a flat and = to add a sharp. You can also add accidentals to notes that have already been entered. The Sharp tool image\Sharp_Tool.gif and Flat tool image\Flat_Tool.gif will add a sharp or flat to the note, if needed by the key signature.

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But what if you wanted to add a double-flat?

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Because this melody probably wouldn’t sound too great, we’ll remove the accidentals.

Building chords is a snap with Simple Entry. Just select the same duration icon as the note already entered, and then click on the staff above or below the note.

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Note: While using the Simple Entry Caret, type an interval in the number row to add a note above the previous entry. For example, to create a triad over a pitch, simply type 3 twice. Hold down shift and press a number key to add an interval below the last note entered.

Tuplets are any irregular grouping, including triplets, quintuplets, and so on. Let’s add a triplet to the third beat of measure 5, and then a triplet on the last beat.

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Note: While using the Simple Entry Caret, type 9 to initiate a tuplet, then type the notes in as you would normally.

NotePad automatically creates twenty-one measures in a new file. Our short song only uses 8 measures, so we’ll need to delete the extra measures.

Although this tutorial now has the right number of measures, there will undoubtedly come a time when you need to add more.

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Note that as you add or delete measures, the final barline will move to the last measure of the score.

You’re about to discover that your folk song masterpiece, "Frère Jacques," not only looks good—it sounds good, too.

It doesn’t matter which tool is currently selected.

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As you’re about to find out, you don’t have to use the Playback Controls to play back your score:

You can play any NotePad document using either this "Spacebar-click" method or the Playback Controls. Feel free to listen to any of the tutorial documents, even if you’re not specifically instructed to do so.

NotePad offers a quick way to set the tempo.

When you created this document, the computer transferred the song from the disk into its memory; at this moment, all the changes you’ve made to "Frère Jacques" exist only on the screen. If someone trips on the computer’s power cord at this moment, all of your work will be lost.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to save your work back onto the disk at regular intervals—perhaps every 15 minutes or so. To save your work on the disk:

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From the File menu, choose Close to close the active document. If you haven’t saved your work, NotePad lets you know, and gives you the option of saving the changes or leaving the document as it was when it was last saved.

The Simple Entry Rests palette works just like the Simple Entry palette; simply select the desired rest value and click it into your score.

Here’s another trick you may find useful: instead of clicking a rhythmic-value icon before entering a note, you can press a number key on the numeric keypad as you click the staff. Each number key corresponds to a rhythmic value: the 5 key means quarter note, 6 means half note, and so on. Thus, to enter a whole note on the staff, you’d click the staff while pressing the 7 key, no matter what icon is currently selected on either Simple palette.

A diagram showing which keys correspond to which rhythmic values or commands appears in the Simple Entry topic. If you want to take time out for some experimentation before proceeding to Tutorial 2, choose New from the File menu. NotePad will open a new document using the Setup Wizard.

If you’re ready to move on, go right ahead to the next tutorial. If you’ve had enough for one lesson, choose Exit from the File menu.

Some of the entries in the Help contain discussions of topics you’ve just covered. See, for example:

 

SETUP WIZARD

SELECTING MUSIC

COPYING MUSIC

SIMPLE ENTRY

TUPLET TOOL

SAVE (FILE MENU)

PLAYBACK CONTROLS

 

 

 

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