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rest above a note

When writing harmony vocal parts it is sometimes necessary to write a rest above or below a note to indicate that one vocal sings while the other rests.  I have not been able to do this with Noteworthy Composer.  Does anyone have a solution?  Thanks.

Re: rest above a note

Reply #1 –
Easy to do, using staff layering:

Create one staff for the top voice, another staff for the lower voice. Let's say they are Soprano and Alto, but could be tenor and bass if both on bass clef.

If you wish, you can write each staff independently, enable staff layering, then layer the Alto with the Soprano. Or, you can write most of the notes on a single staff, only using the other staff whenever the difference cannot be expressed on a single staff. If you do the latter, you will have to fill empty areas with rests, so that the timing matches. Be sure to make the unnecessary rests invisible (select, right-click, properties).

In the measures where one voice sings and the other rests, you can move the "real" rest vertically (select, right-click, properties)

A similar technique is useful when the two voices move at different beats. it is often easier to do it with staff layering than on a single staff.

Hope that helps. I've done it many times myself, for SATB choral. If you can't solve the problem, come back to this forum and maybe another user can explain it better.

Re: rest above a note

Reply #2 –
An easier solution to this problem, is to enter the (timed) rest, then insert the required note (different timing) to the rest as though it is a chord.  This only works for different note lengths, such as a minim and crotchet.  (Which is presumably what you require)

Re: rest above a note

Reply #3 –
And with the note having a shorter value than the rest.  Further, the added notes must sum (with the rest) to the length of the note which is chorded.

So: 1/8 rest chorded with 1/4 note, followed by an 1/8 note, or two 1/16 notes, etc., all take the time of one 1/4 note.  If you chord an 1/8 rest with a 1/4 note (as before) and then enter a 1/4 note the combination takes 1/4 + 1/8, with the second 1/4 starting after the 1/8 rest.

This means that you can do some combinations, but not others.  You really have to experiment to see how the various combinations work.  Easiest if you have two staves, one with a bunch of 1/4 notes and regular bars, the other with your experiments.
 

Re: rest above a note

Reply #4 –
To move a rest up or down, select the rest, hold down Cntl & Shift, then press the up or down arrow as many times as needed.
Since 1998