Software for guitar notation

[Gerry]

I have been doing some guitar notation using computer software, but have found difficulty with certain conventions that are used in printed guitar scores, in particular this kind of thing:

graphic.jpg

I couldn't find any straightforward way to do this with either Finale 2001, or SmartScore 3. Perhaps newer versions of this software, or some other software I don't know of, lets you do this kind of notation easily.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Gerry

[Notturno]

I've always written in Note Worthy Composer. This would be possible to write in this software. Have you tried? As I mention you should write first the shorter values and than the longer (sixteens, then eighteen etc.) There is an option, where you can also change the direction of notes (I don't know how it"s called on english)

[Gerry]

I've always written in Note Worthy Composer.

I haven't seen Note Worthy. The problem is that there is no 16th note head, as it has been replaced by a half note, with tail down. I can replicate this in Finale, I think, by putting in the initial 16th note, then hiding its head, and ensuring that the half note is in exactly the right position. But this would be a rather clumsy way to do it.

[Notturno]

I've never used Finale. I heard that the software is sometimes to complicate. In Note Worthy was that very simple. On the web site you can download a trial version. I really recomend it. The only one negative thing was you can't tie the notes in irregular groups with seven or nine etc.

[Gerry]

On the web site you can download a trial version.

Thanks Notturno. Good idea. I'll download the trial version and see how it goes.

[Tarbaby (1953 - 2016)]

In Finale, you can do that by using the "Layers" option for different voices.

Do you have little buttons in the bottom left corner marked 1 2 3 4? If you press "2", you'll be able to write a 2nd voice and it will have its own rhythmic values. (It will also be a different color, but it won't print out that way...) You can flip the stems, as well.

Good luck!

Alan

[JoeO]

I use MusEdit

http://www.musedit.com/

[Gerry]

In Finale, you can do that by using the "Layers" option for different voices.

Yes, you can get the half-note as a second layer, with its tail down, but the problem is to connect to the set of 16th notes, as in the graphic. Sure, you can put in a "dummy" 16th note as the first note of the set in that low A position, but if you position the half-note, which has white space inside, over the top of the dummy note, the black 16th note shows through and fills the head in black, so the base note then looks like a quarter note. Bottom line is you don't see a half note for A, you see a black quarter note.

[Gerry]

In Note Worthy was that very simple..

HI again Notturno. I did as you suggested and downloaded the trial version of NoteWorthy. It has some nice features. But I still can't see how to get the effect shown in the graphic. If I set up the 16th notes with a "dummy" low A as the first note, then put the bottom A as a half-note in its own staff layer, when I combine the layers into one staff the positions and tails are fine, but the white space of the half-note gets filled in by the black quarter-note underneath, so that it no longer looks like a half-note, but a quarter-note.

I would appreciate it if you could a make little NoteWorthy file with those few notes in it to show the same effect as the graphic above, and attach it to a posting.

Thanks

Gerry

[Notturno]

Hmm I don't know how to make a jpg in this software to upload it here... I did it although that is a little different.

[lagrima]

I always thought that notation was curious - we understand what it means (two voices), but it is not literal.

There are other editions of his work with similar passages where the editor indicates a 16th note rest for the upper voice and clearly separates the lower voice. If you are going to use Finale, that is probably the only way to make it work (with two layers). Temporally that is what is really happening anyway.

[Gerry]

Hmm I don't know how to make a jpg in this software to upload it here... I did it although that is a little different.

There's no need for a jpg, as there doesn't appear to be a graphics option. Just attach the noteworthy file using "upload attachment" at the bottom of the text window, and I'll be able to open it in my trial version of the software.

Gerry

[Notturno]

Hmm I don't know how to make a jpg in this software to upload it here... I did it although that is a little different.

There's no need for a jpg, as there doesn't appear to be a graphics option. Just attach the noteworthy file using "upload attachment" at the bottom of the text window, and I'll be able to open it in my trial version of the software.

Gerry

I tried to do it but it doesn"t work. So give me your E-mail and I send it to you

[Gerry]

I tried to do it but it doesn"t work. So give me your E-mail and I send it to you

Thanks Notturno. Yes, I'll PM my address.

But in the meantime, I went back to Finale, and found that it didn't take as long as I thought it would.

Please have a look at the piece in the score section: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=26827

Gerry

[Gerry]

In Note Worthy was that very simple.

Thanks for sending me the NoteWorthy version of the measure. It looks like this:

NoteWorthy.jpg

I can do this in Finale too, without a problem. But it's not quite right, because it seems to show that the four 16th notes should be played, whereas, in fact, only the thumb should be striking the first note. The half-note should be over the top of the first 16th note. Have a look at the Finale version I put in the scores at viewtopic.php?f=12&t=26827 to see the required appearance.

Thanks for introducing me to the NoteWorthy software.