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Introduction of notes and rests (1)

Subjects covered:

• How to introduce notes and rests?
• How to delete a note or a rest?
• How to move a note or a rest?
• How to select tools with the keyboard?
• Automatic justification

Watch also the following video:

• Introduction of notes and rests (1) (10'22) - Flash - Quicktime

How to introduce notes and rests? [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]

In this lesson, we will start to place notes and rests on the staff.

If you are using Pizzicato Drums and Percussion, we suggest you to use a template with a normal staff. You will find some in the File menu, Open template item. For instance, select the xylophone.

Except for Pizzicato Light, you can increase the value of the score zoom to facilitate this lesson and the following ones

A set of tools is available to encode the notes and rests. They are located on the palette titled Notes and rests, in the Tools menu. Start Pizzicato and select the Notes and rests item in the Tools menu. Each note and rest value can be found in it, as well as various other tools:

To place a note or a rest on the staff, you just need to select the corresponding tool and to click on the staff where you want to place the note or the rest. For example let us see in detail how to write the following measure:

Select the half note tool in the notes and rests palette by clicking on it.

Place the arrow of the mouse cursor where the note must come, around the middle of the space between the second and third lines (starting from the bottom) of the measure:

Click and release the mouse. A half note A appears at the expected place. If you click too high or too low, the note will be a B or G note. We will see below how to erase or move a note. For the moment it does not matter.

Select the quarter note tool .

Place the arrow of the mouse cursor where the note must appear, on the second line (starting from the bottom) of the measure:

Click. The note appears.

Select the quarter rest tool .

Place the arrow of the mouse cursor as follows:

Click. The rest appears. Note that the vertical position of rests is automatically adjusted. By clicking a little higher or lower, the result would have been the same.

How to delete a note or a rest? [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]

If you want to delete a note, the A for example, execute the following steps:

• Select any note or rest value on the palette : quarter note, eighth note, quarter rest, whole rest… it does not matter, so long as it is a note or rest.

• Place the mouse cursor on the head of the note:

• On the computer keyboard, hit the delete key. It is the key located at the top right corner of the main keys block, just above the "return" key:

• The note disappears:

Notice in this example that the note and the rest are shifted back to the beginning of the measure. It is the action of the automatic justification. Thanks to this function, Pizzicato automatically adjusts the contents of the measures so that notes and rests are distributed in a balanced way into the measure. The content of a measure, when incomplete, is adjusted starting from the beginning of the measure. By deleting a half note, Pizzicato thus recalculates the position of the two remaining items (the quarter note and the quarter rest).

Thus, if you place a note in an empty measure, even if in the middle of it, Pizzicato will automatically replace it at the beginning of the measure and will equalize the distances between the notes introduced thereafter. You can also place a new note to the left of the first note and Pizzicato will shift the existing notes to insert the new note.

To delete a rest, it is the same principle than for a note. Select a note or rest tool, place the arrow of the mouse cursor on the quarter rest of the score and use the delete key. The quarter rest disappears.

Another practical and easy way to delete a note or a rest is to drag it outside the measure, to the left or to the right.

How to move a note or a rest? [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]

If you followed the example, your measure looks like this now:

Let us see how to move this note into a low C.

• Select a note or rest tool.

• Place the arrow of the mouse cursor on the head of the note. Click by holding the mouse button down and drag it lower to the position of a C note. The note follows your movement. By releasing the mouse button, the note is stabilized. After this operation, you should have:

• To move a quarter rest, it is the same operation. You can move it vertically.

• Considering the automatic justification, the fact of moving a note or a rest horizontally will force Pizzicato to recalculate the spacing. If you move an item without changing the order of the items in the measure, Pizzicato will cancel this movement. On the other hand, if you move a note by dragging it in front of or behind another note or rest (i.e. by changing the order of notes and rests in the measure), Pizzicato will take your modification into account and will readjust consequently the spacing of the measure.

By adding a note, it is also possible to move it directly:

• Select the tool.

• Place the arrow of the mouse cursor at the level of a G :

• Click and hold down the mouse button and drag it lower, to the position of a C. Release the mouse button. The added note has followed your movement.