Bar numbers

Bar numbers provide a crucial reference point for music that has multiple players, and make the chronological sequence of the music clear. They indicate where players are in the piece, which allows them to co-ordinate themselves easily in rehearsals and concerts.

Bar numbers can also be useful when preparing parts and scores, as you can use bar numbers and rehearsal marks to help you quickly compare a part to the score and check the music is correct.

In Dorico Pro, bar numbers appear automatically, following the most common practice of showing a bar number at the start of each system in all layouts by default. You can hide and show bar numbers in each layout independently, including showing them at a specified regular interval or in every bar, which is frequently used in film music scores.

Tip

The majority of options relating to bar numbers are on the Bar Numbers page in Setup > Layout Options. This is because it is very common to display bar numbers differently in different layouts, such as in every bar in full score layouts but only at the start of each system in part layouts.