Note basics

Here’s how to change note basics using our editor — note pitches, rhythmic durations, etc.

There’s usually more than one way to do each of these things, so we’ve included all of them here.

Changing a note’s pitch by dragging

Click the note and drag it up or down:

Changing a note’s pitch by pitch name

• With the note selected, type the pitch letter, A through G, using your keyboard.
• Or: Search the editor for “Set pitch” and choose the pitch.

Changing a note’s pitch by octave

• With the note selected, hit Control (or Command) and the up/down arrow to move up or down an octave.
• Or: Search the editor for “Move down an octave” or “Move up an octave.”

Changing a note’s pitch by transposing diatonically

• With the note(s) selected, use Option and the up/down arrow to move up or down diatonically.
• Or: Search the editor for “Move note(s) up diatonically” or “Move note(s) down diatonically.”

This will transpose the selected note(s) up or down within the current key, according to the key signature.

Changing a note’s pitch by transposing chromatically

• Search the editor for “Move note(s) up chromatically” or “Move note(s) down chromatically.”

This will transpose the selected note(s) up or down a single semitone. If the new pitch requires an accidental, we’ll use a sharp for upward movement and a flat for downward movement.

Changing a note’s accidental

• With the note selected, click one of the accidental icons in the editor’s left panel.
• Or: Search the editor for “Accidental” and choose your desired accidental.
• Or: Use the appropriate keyboard shortcut.

By default, we show and hide accidentals based on customary rules (accidentals hold until the end of the bar, etc.). If you set an accidental on a note whose staff line already has that accidental active, we won’t display the accidental. But if you’d like to force the accidental’s display, just enter the accidental a second time and we’ll force its display. (To unforce the display, enter the accidental yet again.)

Want to add parentheses to an accidental? See cautionary accidentals.

Want to use a double-sharp or double-flat? Use the editor search to find those.

Toggling enharmonic spelling

Want to convert an B flat into an A sharp? Do that by toggling the enharmonic spelling.

• With the note selected, click the “Toggle enharmonic” icon in the editor’s left panel.
• Or: Search the editor for “Toggle enharmonic.”
• Or: Use the keyboard shortcut (default is Control+E).

Changing a note’s duration (relative)

• With the note selected, hit the minus key (-) to increase the note’s duration. Hit the plus key (+) to decrease the note’s duration.
• Or: Search the editor for “Increase duration” or “Decrease duration.”

Tip: This also works if you have multiple notes selected, even if they have different durations among them.

Changing a note’s duration (absolute)

• With the note selected, click the appropriate note type (e.g., “Eighth note” ) in the editor’s left panel.
• Or: Search the editor for “Set quarter note,” “Set eighth note,” etc. (Apologies to our UK friends, but we use the American nomenclature for these, instead of “quaver,” “semibreve,” etc.)
• Or: Use the keyboard shortcut.

Note that there’s no icon in the left panel for the durations 64th and smaller, because these are rare and we want to keep the interface clean. But you can still use those smaller durations via the editor search. If your music uses them frequently, assign a custom keyboard shortcut for quick access.

Here are the names of the appropriate commands in the editor search:

• Set whole note
• Set half note
• Set quarter note
• Set eighth note
• Set 16th note
• Set 32nd note
• Set 64th note
• Set 128th note
• Set 256th note

Using augmentation dots (dotted notes)

• With the note selected, click the “Toggle augmentation dot” icon in the editor’s left panel..
• Or: Use the keyboard shortcut (default is the period/dot key, .).
• Or: Search the editor for “Toggle augmentation dot” or “Toggle two augmentation dots.”

Setting and unsetting ties

First make sure that you have two adjacent notes with the same pitch.

To tie the first to the second:

• Select the first note and click the “Toggle tie to next note” icon in the editor’s left panel.
• Or: Use the keyboard shortcut
• Or: Search the editor for “Toggle tie to next note.”

To tie the second to the first:

• Select the second note and click the “Toggle tie to previous note” icon in the editor’s left panel.
• Or: Use the keyboard shortcut
• Or: Search the editor for “Toggle tie to previous note.”

Converting a note/chord to a rest

To clear all the notes in a beat, hence converting it to a rest:

• Select any of the notes and click the “Clear notes; set to rest” icon in the editor’s left panel.
• Or: Use the keyboard shortcut (default is R).
• Or: Search the editor for “Clear notes; set to rest.”