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Topic: printing piano music (Read 8564 times) previous topic - next topic

printing piano music

I'm new to NoteWorthy, and I'd be glad to buy a registered version if I can get it to print out nice sheet music. My kids would like to use it to write piano songs, but I can't seem to find the right commands to have the print-out look right.

Specifically, how do you get it to print 4 complete measures to a line, and then start the next line. Is there a "carriage return" command? Creating a new staff for each line doesn't seem like the right answer. I've tried affecting the print-out using the point size, but that doesn't really work very well. What am I missing here? There must be a way to do this.

Thanks.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #1 –
I'm not sure what you are asking Noteworthy Composer to do BUT if you are asking it to print out blank sheet music so that your children can write notes on the printed out sheet, well Noteworthy was not designed to do this. You might be better off using a drawing or word processing package where a little bit of effort and then a save will provide a template for ever!

If you mean that you dont know how to format the number of measures to a line once you have entered the notes (and either Noteworthy or you have entered the bar lines), then you should know that the number of measures on a line is calculated automatically by Noteworthy dependant on the printer/font/point size being used.
There is a little lattitude in this where, for a given printer/font/point combination, you can force fewer measures to a line by inserting spaces into a measure. This though is not easy and takes patience to get it right.

Why not let your kids write piano songs directly into Noteworthy .Let them hear what they are writing as they write it ! The program is a gem and you will not regret paying for the registered version.

Richard

Re: printing piano music

Reply #2 –
Hello Rick and Richard,

*** if you are asking it to print out blank sheet music
*** so that your children can write notes on the printed
*** out sheet, well Noteworthy was not designed to do this.

To print blank music sheets, insert 12 or so new staffs with nothing in them (just add the clefs you want) and go to page setup and select 'Extend last system'. Go to the print preview screen and see if you have enough staves to fill the page. Otherwise add more staves or change the point size.

*** Specifically, how do you get it to print 4 complete
*** measures to a line, and then start the next line.

Do you mean blank staves or ones with music? If you want the bars to align I'm not sure if you can get Noteworthy to do this. (I'd like to know how)

x

PS: A good way to get music sheets is to download MIDI files off the internet and print them with Noteworthy.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #3 –
No, I'm not looking to print out blank manuscript paper.

We'd like to use NoteWorthy to compose songs, by entering the notes on the staffs, and than have it print out the sheet music that can be used at the piano. Our problem is that the print-outs don't look right. For example, if you were to have 16 measures on a page, how do you get it to print 4 lines of 4 measure each. The automatic "word wrap" function doesn't make the line breaks where we want them, and leaves the bar line off the last measure on each line.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #4 –
Rick,
See also the thread 'Assembling sets of tunes'. You cannot force new lines or for that matter new pages - as Richard stated, you have to juggle font sizes (the note font rather than the lyrics font, although both affect the layout). Both these as yet unavailable options are on my 'Wish List' - why not put it on yours, if enough people request it we may be lucky! But don't let this put you off - I agree with Richard, the program is very user friendly and incredible value for money.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #5 –
Rick,
You could ask yourself how important it is to have a 4 (staves) x4 (bars) page. I agree that being able to "kick" a bar over to the next line would be great, but it wasn't the end of the world for me.

A

Re: printing piano music

Reply #6 –
Rick,
You could ask yourself how important it is to have a 4 (staves) x4 (bars) page. I agree that being able to "kick" a bar over to the next line would be great, but it wasn't the end of the world for me.

A

Re: printing piano music

Reply #7 –
If bar lines are missing off the end of the lines, it is because
you need to adjust the margins, in the Margins tab of the Print Setup dialog.
The default values often do not work. Make sure you use at least
0.40 for each direction.

I find I can get pretty good control of the printout using
the staff font size. No, you can't force line and page breaks
where you want them - this is a much requested feature and may
show up in a later version. Each upgrade (free) is a significant
improvement.

If you have lyrics, you can play with the lyric font size to make
the song a little longer, or shorter so it fits on a page.
If you don't have lyrics, and REALLY want control of line
breaks, than you can insert empty lyrics (use an underscore
for each note). A whole bunch of consecutive underscores
should stretch the staff, as Noteworthy makes sure the lyric
fits under each note. This is a bit tedious, however.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #8 –
Thank you all. The advice that did the trick for us was to adjust the inside and outside margins. We settled on 20 point notes with a 1.00 inch margin. We are now quite happy with the sheet music, although I think a little more staightforward control of the line breaks would be nice. I'm going to order a registered version this afternoon.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #9 –
Just like to add my name yet again to the list of users who would like to be able to set the print-out to say 4 measures per line

Re: printing piano music

Reply #11 –
I, too, would like to be able to say where the line of music breaks. When writing out songs for singing, I want to preserve the verse structure on the page (many hymnals do this). It also improves sightreading for many people since one sees the entire musical/poetic phrase.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #12 –
i want piano music but i will need it written like this example................below
cefg meaning use letters of keys please i am trying to learn to play the piano!!!!!!!!!!

i am only 15

Re: printing piano music

Reply #13 –
i want some sheet music, not blank. i want to play cristmas songs, love songs, classical songs, ect. i cant find a site that has the notes to play them. do you know of any?

Re: printing piano music

Reply #14 –
For sheet music, check out:

The Scriptorium: http://nwc-scriptorium.org

Choral Public Domain Library: http://www.cpdl.org

Free scores: http://www.free-scores.com
Caution: There is a similarly-named web site with a different topic.

Musica Viva: http://www.musicaviva.com

There are others, but I do not know all of them. Be sure to determine whether or not the music is free to copy and/or perform. Just because it can be downloaded does not necessarily mean that it is totally free.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #15 –
Lots more links to free sheet music at my Dogstar Music Free Sheet Music page.

(For old-timers:) By the way, please note that the URL has changed, update your bookmark (if applicable) once you reach the page.

Re: printing piano music

Reply #16 –
Oh, and about the original subject of this thread: now NWC allows you to perform a "line break" where you want (at least if it doesn't do it before).
Use "force system break" in the bar properties. See https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=1410.
I don't remember the first version of NWC which allowed it, probably 1.70 (at this time it is 1.75.2), two years ago or so.