You are here: Encyclopedia > S > Simple Entry

Simple Entry

Using the Simple Entry method, you can enter notes quickly and accurately with a mouse, computer keyboard, or with a MIDI keyboard. While using any of these methods, keyboard shortcuts are available to select tools from the Simple Entry palette previous to each entry, as well as keystrokes you can use to edit the note you just entered, or any note in the score. These keystrokes also offer the capability to efficiently enter articulations and clef, key signature, and time signature changes. See Simple Entry Keyboard Shortcuts for a list of these keystrokes.

For a hands-on Simple Entry tutorial, see EntryExercise.MUS.

Using a mouse to enter music

Click the Simple Entry tool $image\Simple_Entry_Tool.gif$ . The Simple Entry palettes appear. (If they don’t, you’ve probably hidden the palette by double-clicking its close box. Choose Simple Entry palette and Simple Entry Rests palette from the Window Menu.)

See Simple Entry palette for more information on moving and resizing the palette.

Click the desired note (rhythmic value) icon in the palette. Click additional tools as needed, such as Sharp, Flat, Grace, Tuplet, Dot or Tie. Click the staff. A note appears at the pitch you clicked. To build a chord, click another pitch above or below the first note.

If you want to enter a tuplet (a triplet, quintuplet, etc.), click the Tuplet tool on the Simple Entry palette and the duration of the tuplet (an eighth note tuplet or a half note tuplet, regardless of the duration of the first note). In any of these instructions, you can press one of the shortcut keys on your keyboard to switch tools instead of clicking an icon (for example, press a number on the numeric keypad 1-8 to select a duration tool - 64th through double-whole note).

Consult your Quick Reference Card (or Keycuts-Simple Entry) for a complete list of Simple Entry keyboard shortcuts.

To change the rhythmic value of a note, click the icon representing the new value; then click the note. To change the rhythmic value of a rest, select the desired rhythmic-value icon on the Rests palette, and then click the rest.
To change a rest to a note, Ctrl-click the note to select it. Type R. The note turns into a rest.
To delete a note, click the Eraser ; then click the note. The note disappears. If you click on a notehead that’s part of a chord, only that note disappears. If you click a rest, it disappears.
To move a note vertically, click and drag the note up or down. To move a rest, Ctrl-click the rest to select it, then drag it up or down. If you want to move a whole chord up or down, Ctrl-A-click the chord.
To hide a note or rest, Ctrl-click the note to select it then press the letter H key. Press the H key again to display the note or rest again.
To flip a stem, Ctrl-click the note to select it then press the L key. This process freezes the stem up or down, so that it’s no longer free to flip if, for example, it gets transposed. To restore the note to its “flippable” status, press shift-L.
To make a note sharp, flat or natural, click the Sharp tool , Flat tool , or Natural tool ; then click the note. A sharp, flat or natural appears next to the note, if needed by the key signature.
To raise or lower a note by a half step, double-click the Half Step Up or Half Step Down icon ( or ); then click the note. The note is raised or lowered a half step. If appropriate for the key signature, an accidental will appear or change.
To remove any accidentals from a note, click the Eraser tool ; then click the accidental.
To hide a courtesy accidental, Ctrl-click the note to select it then press Command-Shift-(minus). A courtesy accidental appears. For parentheses, press the P key. If you’ve hidden an accidental, press the A key again to display it again.
To tie a note to the next one, double-click the Tie icon ; then click the notehead. To tie every note of a chord, click its stem. Click the notehead (for a single note) or the stem (for a chord) to remove the tie.
To dot a note, double-click the Dot icon ; then click the note. Click again to add another dot (you can add up to ten dots). To remove the dots, click the Eraser tool ; then click the dot. All of the dots are removed.
To change a note to a grace note, double- click the Grace Note icon , then click the note. Click the note again to restore it to full size. Press Ctrl-G when the grace note is selected to toggle between grace note, slashed grace note (for flagged grace notes) and full size.
To create or break a beam, Ctrl-click the note to select it then press the / key. If the notes were flagged separately, they’re now beamed. If they were beamed, the beam is broken (and the notes are individually flagged, if they’re not beamed to any other notes). Use Shift-/ to restore the beaming to SongWriter’s default settings.
To flatten a beam, Ctrl-click the note to select it then press Ctrl-/. If the beam was angled, it will now be flattened. If the beam was already flattened, the beam will now return to the default angle.
To enter a tuplet, click the Simple Tuplet tool $image\Simple_Entry_Tool.gif$ and the desired rhythmic duration icon, then click the staff. For more complicated tuplets, shift-click the staff to display the Simple Entry Tuplet Definition dialog box.

Using your computer keyboard to enter music (Simple Entry)

All of the functionality that exists for entering notes with a mouse, and more, is available using your computer keyboard, and the Simple Entry Caret. The Simple entry Caret works much like the cursor in a word processing program. While using your computer keyboard with Simple Entry, the Caret allows you to specify pitches, rhythms, and other entry items before entering.

You can also use modifier keystrokes to edit the note you just entered. In this section, you’ll first learn how to specify the next note to be entered using the Simple Entry Caret, and then how to modify the previously entered note. The following instructions describe entry for standard notation staves.

Click the Simple Entry tool $image\Simple_Entry_Tool.gif$ . The Simple Entry palettes appear. (If they don’t, you’ve probably hidden the palette by double-clicking its close box. Choose Simple Entry palette and Simple Entry Rests palette from the Window Menu.)

See Simple Entry palette for more information on moving and resizing the palette. Though the Simple Entry palettes do not need to be visible to enter notation with the Simple Entry Caret, it’s a good idea to display them at first until you have become familiar with the corresponding keyboard shortcuts and modifiers.

From the Simple Menu, ensure Use Simple Entry Caret is checked.Then click OK. When this option is checked, a vertical line appears in the score. The caret also displays a note of the duration selected in the Simple Entry palette, as shown in the above image. Accidentals, ties, dots, and tuplets can also be indicated on the caret before entering the note. If you do not see the caret, select one of the duration tools in the Simple Entry palette.
To choose the desired rhythmic duration for the next entry, click a duration tool in the Simple Entry palette, or type the corresponding keystroke in the numeric keypad (1-8). The caret displays the chosen rhythmic duration. See the numeric keyboard diagram above (under Using a mouse to enter music), or refer to the diagram on your Quick Reference Card. Note that if you are using a notebook computer, as an alternative, you can hold down Ctrl-Alt-Shift and press a number on the QWERTY keyboard.

Note: The QWERTY keyboard is the letter keys and the numbers above them. The Numeric Keypad is the set of number keys on the right side of a standard desktop keyboard.

To specify the pitch before entering, you can use the up and down arrows on the computer keyboard until the caret displays the desired pitch. The note moves up and down in the staff diatonically. You can move the caret up an octave by pressing Shift-up arrow, or down an octave by pressing Shift-down arrow.
Select a tool, or a combination of tools, in the Simple Entry palette to specify additional properties of the next note to be entered. For example, to specify a dot and a sharp, click the Dot icon , and the Sharp icon , or press the corresponding keystrokes for these tools to select them. The tools selected in the Simple Entry palette tell SongWriter what to add to the next note when entered. The mouse cursor displays this information as well.
Press the Enter key to enter the note. The note appears on the staff and the caret moves to the right. The note you just entered is selected automatically, so you can use modifier keystrokes to edit it (explained below). Notice the tools chosen in the Simple palette are still selected, and will apply to the next note if you were to hit the Enter key again. To select a single tool (like any of the duration tools), and deselect all others, double-click the icon on the palette, or double-press the corresponding keyboard shortcut. For example, press the 5 key on the numeric keypad twice if you want to choose only the Quarter Note tool for the next entry.
Press 0 to enter a rest of the chosen duration.
Hold down the Alt key and press a duration keystroke to specify a rest of that duration for the next entry.
Type the letter name of a pitch, A through G, to enter it. The pitch appears in the staff of the chosen duration, along with any other items selected in the Simple Entry palette. The caret moves to the right.
To add additional notes above the previous entry, type the interval (1 through 8 or Ctrl-Shift 9) on your QWERTY keyboard. For example, to add a third to the note you just entered, type 3. To enter a fifth, type 5. The interval entered is automatically selected, so, to enter a triad, you would type 3 for the first third, and then 3 again for the second. To enter an interval lower than the note you just entered, hold down the Shift key and type the interval (1-9).

Also, you can hold down the Shift key and type the letter name of a note to add it to the note you just entered. To add a note a fifth or more higher than the note you just entered, hold down the Shift key and press the up arrow, and then type the note letter. To add a note a fifth or more lower than the note you just entered, hold down the Shift key and press the down arrow, and then type the note letter. Note that the caret position changes, and will apply to the next note entered as well. Use Shift-up/down arrow to move it to the desired octave in preparation for the next entry.

Note: The following shortcuts also apply to any selected note. (After entering a note, it is selected automatically.)

After entering a note or rest, hold down Alt and press a number (1-8) to change the duration of the note or rest you just entered (64th through double-whole note).
After entering a note, you can use additional modifier keystrokes to add a dot, tie, accidental, to the note you just entered. Or, even change it to a grace note, flip the stem or break/add beams. To see a list of modifier keystrokes, from the Simple Menu, choose Simple Edit Commands, and then Modify Entry.
After entering a note, to move it up down in the staff, hold down the Alt key and press the up and down arrows. Hold down Alt and Shift and press the up or down arrow key to move the note up or down an octave.
After entering a note, use the up and down arrows to adjust the caret pitch. Then, hold down Ctrland press Enter to add a note to the previous entry.
After entering a note, press 9 to change it to the first note of a tuplet.
Hold down Ctrl and press 9 to open the Simple Entry Tuplet definition dialog box where you can specify more complicated tuplets. See Simple Entry Tuplet Definition dialog box.
To move the selection forward or back a note, press the right and left arrow keys. To move selection forward or back a measure, hold down Ctrl and press the right or left arrow key respectively.
To activate the caret on an existing selected entry, press Enter.
To move selection up or down in a chord or to the staff above or below, hold down Ctrl and press the up or down arrow key.
To change the pitch of existing notes, choose the Repitch tool . Then, activate the caret and type the new note letters (or play pitches on a MIDI keyboard) to alter the pitch without changing rhythmic values.

User Manual Home