Writing music

Now that you have set up your project, you can start writing the music. The following tasks take you through inputting the notes and notation items required for this piano piece, with a separate task for each item for clarity, although Dorico is designed so that you can also input most items at the same time as inputting notes and other notations: you don’t have to stop note input to add a dynamic, for example.

Other common notations not included in this piece, such as lyrics and chord symbols, are in a separate section at the end of the guide.

Some steps involve performing actions in specific bars. The bar number of the currently selected item is shown in the status bar at the bottom of the window. The system track (the translucent gray line above the system) also displays every bar number; you can hide/show the system track by pressing Alt/Opt-T. Alternatively, you can show bar numbers for every bar in the music by pressing Ctrl/Cmd-Shift-L to open Layout Options, clicking Bar Numbers in the category list on the left of the dialog, then choosing Every bar for Show bar numbers in the Frequency subsection.