I have been trying to find a default that will create a dotted note if it begins a beat, but will divide at the beat group if it starts mid-beat. I see an option that shows a dotted note that begins mid-beat but ALSO crosses the half bar, and that doesn’t give me the default I want. In this example, I want what appears in the second bar to be the default, whereas I get what happens in the first bar by default. The first bar would be acceptable in cut time, but you want to expose the beat if the dotted value doesn’t begin on it.
Forgive me if the example doesn’t show. I’m new to this forum. Basically, I want to divide the dotted quarter if it doesn’t begin on the beat in 4/4. I still want it to divide at the half bar, if it crosses it.
I know that I can force it, but it really should be the default. The current default is lazy notation.
No, it doesn’t. If you take out the tie in the middle of the bar, then the tied second eighth and quarter combine into a dotted quarter. That is how my document is currently set.
I was experimenting a bit and when I switched this setting I saw appear what you wanted… Apparently another setting is interacting with it. Let me try a few more.
FWIW, my settings in that library are the out-of-the-box defaults. In fact, I haven’t changed any defaults yet - not until I get to know the program better.
That worked, although I suppose if I want a dotted half at the end of a bar, I can force it. I think it should be possible to have both, since that first setting you mentioned does it, except it has that tie across the middle of the bar.
A few of the prefs are a bit more complex than the illustrations provided. They’re not all perfect explanations, but they certainly show info more efficiently than words.
