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General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by Mike Shawaluk - 2025-10-06 01:13 PM

One thing I forgot to mention about rest chords is that you have to create them by first placing the rest, and then press Ctrl-Enter to add the chord member notes. If the rest chord's note is pointing in the wrong direction, you can highlight the rest chord and press Shift+up arrow or Shift+down arrow.

General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by AndyL - 2025-10-06 12:56 PM

Again - thank you so much for your help.
I *thought* I had tried your solution, and couldnt get the 'rest chord' to enter.
(I tried many varients, trying to understand what Mike had written. I see now where I had misunderstood)
And take your point about the stem direction on the 2/4 chord.
It was correct in my original - must have changed as I tried various opotions..

Thanks David - I had considered layering - but thought there must be a more elegant solution!

Again - thank you Mike and Flurmy for your help with this.
On to the next bar!

Andrew.

General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by Flurmy - 2025-10-06 12:00 PM

Layering works but, if only for this, it's an overkill.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb|Tonic:G
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4,-1|Opts:Stem=Down|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|RestChord|Dur:8th|Opts:Stem=Up,ArticulationsOnStem,HideRest|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:5|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2,1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-5^,-3|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-5,-1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|RestChord|Dur:8th|Opts:Stem=Up,ArticulationsOnStem,HideRest|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-5,-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2|Opts:Stem=Up
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

Hint: read attentively what Mike wrote.

N.B. NWC doesn't care, but the stem direction of the 2/4 chord was wrong.

General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by David Palmquist - 2025-10-06 11:34 AM

Sometimes strugglng to understand the workings of these complicated chording and apply your knowledge just isn't worth the effort.

Layering can be your friend.

Here I think you can do what you need using a layered staff. Add a new staff below the one you're working in. You can either fill it with rests (with visibility=never) until you reach that particular bar, then copy the lower notes of the chords in that bar to the new staff. Delete them from the top staff, and set the top staff to "Layer with next staff."

You can also simply copy the entire original staff to the new one, and going to the target bar in both staffs, do the same as above.

General Discussion / Re: Page layout

Last post by David Palmquist - 2025-10-06 11:24 AM

Just looking at previously unread posts, don't know why there are so many.

The original question here commented on the length of the last staff on the last page. Here is someone's trick from years ago that I use for multi-page single instrument charts:

Add a Section Close bar line at the end of the last bar and assign a system break to it. This forces that bar to end at the right margin. Then add a system break at, say, 5 or 6 bars from the end so the last line looks right. Depending on whether or not you have other system breaks near the end, tweak them until you get the layout looking right to you.

(This is for single staffs. If you're printing a piano part or a score, you would work with the top staff in the group.)

The charts I did recently ran two and three pages. If I plan to print to PDF and print both sides of a page, I try to put a page break either side of a long rest to make page turns less frantic. If I plan to print just one side, I try to use not more than 3 pages, because they will fit a music stand when opened out.

I try to fit the same number of systems on all the pages, but if, for instance, I have 29 systems, that will take three pages. I would use page breaks to make the first page 9 systems and the second and third 10 each.

last line is not 6 bars from the end so 5 bars appear on the last line. Move back a few bars again and add a system break. Usually by the time I've done the last 3 of 4 systems on the page, everything looks good.

Generally I don't want the same number of bars on every system on the page. It is easier on the instrumentalist's eyes if the bar lines aren't perfectly aligned.

General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by AndyL - 2025-10-06 11:17 AM

OK (Sigh) this made perfect sense to me - until the next bar.
Please help me understand how this should work.
From what I understand I need to 'steal' 3 eigth beats from the top line.
But whatever I try doesnt work.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposer(2.751)
|Editor|ActiveStaff:1|CaretIndex:4|CaretPos:-3
|SongInfo|Title:""|Author:"<Name>"|Lyricist:""|Copyright1:"Copyright © 2025 <Name>"|Copyright2:"All Rights Reserved"
|PgSetup|StaffSize:16|Zoom:4|TitlePage:Y|JustifyVertically:Y|PrintSystemSepMark:N|ExtendLastSystem:N|DurationPadding:Y|PageNumbers:0|StaffLabels:None|BarNumbers:None|StartingBar:1
|Font|Style:StaffItalic|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:10|Bold:Y|Italic:Y|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:StaffBold|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:StaffLyric|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:7.2|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:PageTitleText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:24|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:PageText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:12|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:PageSmallText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User1|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User2|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User3|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User4|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User5|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User6|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|PgMargins|Left:1.27|Top:1.27|Right:1.27|Bottom:1.27|Mirror:N
|AddStaff|Name:"Staff"|Group:"Standard"
|StaffProperties|EndingBar:Section Close|Visible:Y|BoundaryTop:12|BoundaryBottom:12|Lines:5|Color:Default
|StaffProperties|Muted:N|Volume:127|StereoPan:64|Device:0|Channel:1
|StaffInstrument|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb|Tonic:G
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4,-1|Opts:Stem=Down|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|RestChord|Dur:8th|Opts:Stem=Up,ArticulationsOnStem,HideRest|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:5|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2,1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-5^,-3|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-5,-1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-5,-2|Opts:Stem=Up
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2|Opts:Stem=Up
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
!NoteWorthyComposer-End

Really appreciate the help you are giving me....
Noteworthy is a great programme - and so well supported...
I dont normally use it for complex things - but just occasionally things crop up

Andrew.

General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by AndyL - 2025-10-06 09:46 AM

Brilliant! thank you....
Exectly what I wanted - in a elegant way.

General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by Mike Shawaluk - 2025-10-05 01:36 PM

Let's see if I can post this before Lawrie beats me to it

(Disclaimer: I am American, hence I use the fractional note names.)

This is easy to correct, as follows:

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb|Tonic:G
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4,-1|Opts:Stem=Down|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|RestChord|Dur:8th|Opts:Stem=Up,ArticulationsOnStem,HideRest|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:5|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2,1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

The thing to remember when you are using two parts per staff is that when you have two notes of different durations at the same position (like the dotted quarter stem up and plain quarter stem down), the duration that is reserved for that position is that of the shorter note. NWC created the "rest chord" as a way of dealing with this. A rest chord is basically a split chord where one of the two notes is a rest. Also, in a rest chord, the rest duration must be less than or equal to the note duration (i.e. you can't have a half rest and a quarter note.) So for your example, I change the lone quarter note to a rest chord with an eighth rest, which "steals" an eighth duration from the first two notes, so that the total duration is now 3 eighth beats, and the parts line up again.

You'll notice that the rest is shown greyed out. That is because a rest chord has an option of hiding the rest in the printout, since you don't always want to see them.

General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by AndyL - 2025-10-05 12:15 PM

Sorry guys .... got my notes mixed up....

Its doted crotchet quaver quaver quaver
over
crotchet crotech crotchet.
<Image Link>
So 3/4 time.

Not sure if Ive added a clip correctly or not ....
Dont see where I can add a rest to sort the timing out?

Andrew.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposer(2.751)
|Editor|ActiveStaff:2|CaretIndex:2|CaretPos:2
|SongInfo|Title:"Piano Template"|Author:"<Name>"|Lyricist:""|Copyright1:"Copyright © <Year> by <Name>"|Copyright2:"All Rights Reserved"
|PgSetup|StaffSize:18|Zoom:5|TitlePage:Y|JustifyVertically:Y|PrintSystemSepMark:N|ExtendLastSystem:N|DurationPadding:Y|PageNumbers:0|StaffLabels:None|BarNumbers:Plain|StartingBar:1|AllowLayering:N
|Font|Style:StaffItalic|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:11|Bold:Y|Italic:Y|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:StaffBold|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:9|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:StaffLyric|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:PageTitleText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:24|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:PageText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:12|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:PageSmallText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User1|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:13|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User2|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:13|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User3|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:13|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User4|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:13|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User5|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User6|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|PgMargins|Left:2.54|Top:2.54|Right:2.54|Bottom:2.54|Mirror:N
|AddStaff|Name:"Right Hand"|Label:"Piano"|Group:"Standard"
|StaffProperties|EndingBar:Section Close|Visible:Y|BoundaryTop:18|BoundaryBottom:10|Lines:5|WithNextStaff:Brace,ConnectBars|Color:Default
|StaffProperties|Muted:N|Volume:127|StereoPan:64|Device:0|Channel:1
|StaffInstrument|Patch:0|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb|Tonic:G
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4,-1|Opts:Stem=Down|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Down
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:5|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:4|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2,1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up
|Bar
|AddStaff|Name:"Left Hand"|Group:"Standard"
|StaffProperties|EndingBar:Section Close|Visible:Y|BoundaryTop:10|BoundaryBottom:10|Lines:5|Color:Default
|StaffProperties|Muted:N|Volume:127|StereoPan:64|Device:0|Channel:2
|StaffInstrument|Patch:0|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127
|Clef|Type:Bass
|Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb|Tonic:G
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Rest|Dur:Whole|Opts:Stem=Down
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposer-End

General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar

Last post by Mike Shawaluk - 2025-10-05 11:55 AM

I'm pretty sure Lawrie is spot on with this one. It sounds like you might have mixed or overlapping chords with different durations, which means you need to make one of the notes a rest chord. But it would really help to see a copy of the sheet music you are trying to enter.