About the interpretation

The notes may not always appear in the score as you initially expect them to. This is because there are a number of situations that require special techniques and settings. Below you can find a list of some of these and where to find more information about handling them:

  • Notes at the same position are considered parts of a chord. To get independent voicing (for example notes with different stem directions), such as for vocal material, you need to use polyphonic voicing.

    Figure: Without and with polyphonic voicing

  • If two notes beginning at the same position have different lengths, the longer is displayed as a number of tied notes. To avoid this, you can either use the “No Overlap” feature or polyphonic voicing.

  • One note is often displayed as two notes with a tie. This is only how the program displays the note, there is still only a single note “stored”.

    Figure: This single note in the Key Editor is displayed as two tied notes in the Score Editor.

  • Generally the program adds ties where necessary (if a note stretches over a beat), but not always. For more “modern” notation of syncopated notes (fewer ties), you need to use the syncopation feature.

    Figure: The same note, without and with Syncopation

  • If you want a long note to be displayed as two (or more) tied notes, you can use the Cut Notes tool for this.

  • If a note has the wrong accidental, this can be changed.

  • If two notes on the same position are too close to each other or if you want their “graphical order” in the score reversed, you can do this without affecting playback.

  • Stem direction and length is normally automatic, but you can set it yourself.

  • If you are scoring for piano and therefore (or for other reasons) need a split staff, there are special techniques for this.