Changing 4/4 to 2/4 at the start - can I do it?

Hello, having put some music on the staves (about 16 bars) , I realised that the time signature at the beginning should be 2/4 not 4/4. Can I change it , as it will have implications for bar lines etc.

Simple question, sorry for this.

Sure - there are times when we could have more of a conversation, like say if you went from 4/4 to 5/4 there’s an extra step or consideration. But 2/4 - no issues to worry about.

In Dorico, changing time signature is really easy because Dorico knows what beat everything occurs on, counting from the beginning of the flow.

So that means you can change the time signature whenever you like, and a bit like pressing down a set of cookie cutters onto flat dough, Dorico will move barlines around according to the new time signature. Any notes that now span a barline, where before they were inside a bar, get notated as tied notes over the barline. Any notes that should appear as tied notes because of their new position in their new bars (like a quarter note that starts on the 3rd eighth note beat in a 6/8 bar, or a dotted quarter spanning the half bar in 4/4) also appear as ties.

If you’ve ever encountered Dorico automatically turning a dotted half into a half tied to a quarter, or changing how a note’s duration appears after you input the next note, that’s the same principle in play: Dorico always knows when a note starts, how long it is, what the prevailing time signature is, and what your per-flow settings in Notation Options are for beaming and note grouping. You can change your mind about all of these at any time, and Dorico will update how the music looks for you.

Thank you, sorry for such basic questions.

No need to apologise Bill, that’s what this forum is for :slight_smile:

Love the cookie analogy!

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HI everybody. I am in 3/4, change to 4/4 and still only 3 beats in bar. Can anyone help?

Surely, but we’ll need more info. Welcome to the forum!

I see in this thread that your problem may already be solved. If so, well done!