Before reading this topic it is essential that you are comfortable with navigating through the score. If you are not then read Navigating the score, and make sure that you read it well.
The keypad (also called the number pad) is a vital part of editing and inputting notes. The keypad and how it works are discussed more fully here. However, the following points briefly summarise what you need to know.
All you need to do to change the properties of a note or rest is move to it with the navigation keys, choose the right keypad layout and then press a key on the keypad.
For example, to make a bar rest into a quarter note rest, do the following:
Before you start creating new notes, you need to know how to edit the durations of the notes and rest which are already in the score.
First, navigate to the chord, note or rest that you want to edit and then make sure that the number lock is turned on.
You now need to choose a keypad layout. The F8 and F9 layouts contain all the duration settings. The keys are listed below.
When you press one of these keys, Sibelius will change the duration of the note, but only if there is enough room in the bar for the new duration. For example, if you move to the last quarter note of a bar and try to change it into a whole note, nothing will happen. This is because there is literally no more room left in the bar.
Sibelius may add extra rests after the one you just changed, or even remove notes, to make sure that the total length of the bar remains unchanged.
To see how this works, try the following:
If you use the left and right arrows to move across the items in the bar, you will see that there are now two quarter note rests and a half note rest. The second and third rest were added to make sure that the bar was complete.
If you now move back to the first quarter note and press Keypad5 to change it to a half note, you’ll see that the second quarter is removed. This is done because there is no room for it in the bar.
When Sibelius makes changes like this, it tries to change as little as possible but you need to be prepared for the fact that changing the duration of one item can also affect other items.
Putting notes into the score is extremely easy. All you need to do is move to a rest, type the letter N, choose the duration you want from the keypad and then type a letter for the pitch. For example, to input a half note C at the start of a bar, do the following:
If you need to put a note into the middle of a bar, then you’ll need to edit the rests or notes that are already there. This is because there must be a rest or note at the position where you want to start entering pitches. The example below shows you how to add a C to the fourth quarter note of the first bar in a new piano score. To make things more interesting, the note will be added to the left hand staff.
To add more notes after the first, just keep typing letters on the keyboard. Each note that you add will have the same duration as the last, so creating scales is easy. To input a scale of C major, do the following:
You have to choose a duration before you start inputting notes, unless the rest that you have selected has the same duration that you want to use, in which case you can simply start entering the pitches. That duration will then apply to every note which you create.
All you have to do to change the duration in mid flow, is choose a new duration from the F8 or F9 layouts, although you must choose that duration before you enter the note that you want to have that duration.
The following example shows how to enter a half note on C, followed by two eighth notes on D and E, a quarter note on F and finally two half notes on G and C.
You can use the up and down arrow keys to change the pitch of a note. The note will not move in semitones (half steps). It will move through the scale which is set by the key signature. You can also use Control+UpArrow and Control+DownArrow to move a note up or down an octave.
These keys will work both when inputting notes and when editing notes after they have been created. The example below shows you how to correct a note whilst inputting notes from the beginning of a new score.
One of the most important reasons for using the Control+UpArrow and Control+DownArrow keystrokes is to shift a note into the right octave after you have created it. The following example shows you how to input a C4 (C in the fourth octave) on the piano[a] staff.
Adding naturals, sharps and flats is done in exactly the same way as adding durations. To add an accidental to a note which has already been created, move to the note and press one of the keypad keys to set the accidental. The F8 layout contains the three most common accidentals and the keystrokes are as follows:
The keystroke acts like an on or off switch, in other words, a toggle. If the note does not have the accidental you chose, then that accidental will be added, but if it already has that accidental, then it will be removed.
You can also add accidentals whilst inputting notes, but as with durations, the accidental must be set before you input the note. The example below shows how to enter a four note passage which includes E flats when the key signature is C major.
You’ll notice that the second E, on the fourth quarter, is also an E flat. This is because when you input notes continuously, a flat will apply to every note with the same pitch, until you enter the next bar, at which point, the original key signature is put back. The example below shows what happens when you add a sharp and input a passage, which takes you into the next bar. Again, the key signature is C major.
The notes which are input are: D, E, F sharp, F sharp, F natural and F natural. This is because the fifth note is at the start of a new bar and the F sharp only held up to the end of the previous bar.
You will not need to worry about adding accidentals if those accidentals are included in the key signature. For example, if the key is D major, then typing an F or C will in fact add an F sharp or a C sharp.
If you want to add a natural note which the key makes sharp or flat, for example, an F natural in D major, then you will need to add a natural to the F to cancel out the sharp in the key signature.
If you select a note after it has been input, in other words, move to it with the arrow keys, then any accidentals that you add will only apply to the selected note. For example, if you add four E naturals to a bar and then select the second note and press Keypad9, only the second note will be turned into an E flat. The other notes in the bar will remain unchanged.
To tie two notes together, do the following:
You can also add ties whilst inputting notes. Just press KeypadEquals in the F8 layout immediately after entering the pitch of the note. For example, to enter four quarter notes on C, D, D and E, with the second and third quarters tied, do the following:
You can add single, double and triple rhythm dots to any note. You do this through the keypad as well, and as with the other duration keys, they apply to every note which you enter from that point on.
If you select a note and try to change its duration to something which will not fit in the bar, then Sibelius will not change the duration. However, when you are inputting notes continuously, you can have a duration which will not fit and Sibelius will break the note up and tie both of them together across the bar line.
For example:
There is not enough room in the bar for the third note, since it is a half note and there are already three quarter notes in the bar. To get round this, Sibelius breaks the half note into two quarters and places the second one in the next bar. The two notes are then tied together to make them sound as a half note.