Grouping Notes

Now you are going to add a slur to the eighth notes in the second measure. Here’s how:

1.)  Select the slur tool from the Groups palette.

2.)  Drag a marquee around the notes that you want to group.

     When you release the mouse button, a slur appears, joining the selected notes.

     You can alter the shape of the slur by dragging its handles. If you like, try dragging the different handles now to see their effects on the slur.

Entering Symbols

Overture has palettes of ornaments, articulations, noteheads, tablature, dynamics, text and clefs; collectively known as “symbols.” This section introduces you to the basics of placing and moving symbols on the score.

Dynamics
In this section, you will add dynamic markings to the score. The first marking is a mezzo-piano symbol at the start of the piece.

1.)  Choose the mezzo-piano tool from the Dynamics palette.
      You can pull the palette down temporarily from the Tool Bar, or you can tear off the palette for repeated uses.

2.)  Position the pointer under the first note of the score and click.
      A mezzo-piano symbol appears where you click. If you didn’t place it in the proper position, move the pointer over the symbol so that it becomes a drag cursor, and drag the symbol to the right place.

Some dynamics symbols, such as the crescendo hairpin, are resizable. To see how this works, add a crescendo and diminuendo to the score.
1.)  Choose the crescendo hairpin from the Dynamics palette.

2.)  Position the pointer at the start of the second measure, press and hold the mouse button, and drag to the right.
      As you move the mouse, you should see the crescendo symbol appear and grow.

Now add a diminuendo in the third measure, using what you learned above. When you are done, your score should look like this:

Ornaments
You add ornaments to the score in the same way you add dynamics, except that ornaments are attached to specific notes, so you must click the note or select a group of notes to ornament. Try adding a fingering mark to the score.

1.)  Choose the Finger 5 tool from the Ornaments palette.

2.)  Position the pointer over the F in measure two and click.
      The fingering ornament appears.

You don’t have to place ornaments one at a time: you can add the same ornament to many notes at once by dragging over them when the ornament tool is selected.

NOTE ABOUT MOVING: When you drag an ornament, it is restricted to either horizontal or vertical movement. That is, if your first mouse movement after clicking the button is vertical, the ornament will only move up or down on the page. To move it horizontally, you must release the mouse button, then drag left or right.

Adding Voices

Now it’s time to add a second voice to the score (for an explanation of voices, see “Voice” in Chapter 1).

1.)  Set the note duration to dotted half notes using the note palette.
      Click the half note icon, then the augmentation dot icon to add the dot to the half note.

   Half Note                                                                                              Augmentation dot

2.)  Select Voice 2 from the voice pop-up menu.
      The voice pop-up menu is at the bottom of the score window.

     
       Notice when you select Voice 2 that the notes belonging to Voice 1 become dimmed:
                                                                                      Dimmed notes
                                                                                       indicate non-active
                                                                                       voice

3.)  Position the cursor at the beginning of the second measure and click F.
      Don’t worry about the stems — you’ll clean them up after you add the rest of the second voice.

                                                                           New Note inserted
                                                                           on Voice 2

4.)  Add more notes, one per measure: an F, then a G, then another final F.
      Your display will look like this:

New notes entered on Voice 2
      
       It’s a bit of a mess, with the stems from each voice going in the wrong direction. Here’s how to change stem direction:

1.)  Choose Edit>Select All (or type Command-A) to select all the notes in the currently selected voice.
      The note heads become hollow to indicate that they are selected.

2.)  Choose Notes>Stem>Stem Down (or type Command-D) to make the stems point down.

Stems for all notes on Voice 2 now point down

3.)  Switch back to Voice 1 by choosing it from the Voice pop-up menu at the bottom of the score window (or by pressing Command-1).

4.)  Choose Edit>Select All (or type Command-A) to select all the notes in Voice 1.

5.)  Choose Notes>Stem>Stem Up (or type Command-U) to make the stems point up.

6.)  Show all voices by selecting All from the voice pop-up menu (or typing Command-0 [zero]).
      Your display will look like this:

There’s just one final bit of clean-up to do to complete this section: the fingering mark and slur in measure two need to be moved.

1.)  Using the Arrow Cursor, drag the fingering to the desired location in the score.

2.)  Using the Arrow Cursor, option-drag the slur up to the bottom of the notes.
      If you don’t hold down the option key while dragging the slur, you’ll reshape it rather than move it.

      Your score should look like this when you’re finished:

Cursor Toggle

You’ve probably noticed that you switch back and forth between the Arrow Cursor and items that you want to add to the score quite frequently. Type the letter “C” to toggle between the Arrow Cursor to the most recently used palette.

Erasing Score Elements

To erase any item from the score:

1.)  Select the Eraser Cursor from the Tool Bar (or type the letter “E”).

       Eraser Cursor

2.)  Position the cursor over the note or symbol you wish to delete and click.

Saving

You cannot Save in this demonstration version of Overture.