Pickup measures

To create a pickup measure at the beginning of a piece

Follow these steps to convert the first measure into a pickup measure. If you wish to add a pickup measure before the first measure of your piece, first insert a measure at the beginning (see To Insert Blank Measures Within a Document).

1. From the Document Menu, choose Pickup Measure. The Pickup Measure dialog box appears.
2. Click the rhythmic value corresponding to the sum of the pickup note or notes.
3. Click OK (or press enter), and enter the pickup notes. SongWriter will still play back the entire measure—including the invisible rest before the pickup measure. If you need to respace the pickup notes, see “To respace pickup notes.

To respace pickup notes

When you originally create a pickup measure, SongWriter positions the pickup notes according to their placement as dictated by the meter.

1. Click the Selection tool  , and select the pickup measure. If you have multiple staves, select the one with the most notes.
2. From the Utilities Menu, choose Apply Music Spacing. SongWriter respaces the measure.
3. From the Utilities Menu, choose Update Layout.

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