Right now the default rhythmic value for note entry is a quarter note.
I don’t believe that can be changed in settings but I’d like to see that feature.
Also, the default note value should reflect the meter. If I’m doing note entry in 6/8 time, the default note value should be a dotted quarter note.
Why not 1/8?
Sorry, but the default duration is irrelevant to most note entry situations. As a duration-before-pitch user, I really don’t care what the default is, since I change it to whatever duration I am intending to use…
Most, but by no means all. For example, I’m entering a lot of harmony exercises which are almost entirely in half notes; I keep entering quarter-notes by mistake and having to correct them. It’s clear from previous threads that some people (though no doubt a minority) would welcome this feature.
So I guess you need to change the default duration for each species of counterpoint?
Who said anything about counterpoint?
Well that speaks volumes…
@Brad_Edwards while I do not find that a change would significantly influence what I do to any great extent, there certainly are times when being able to change the default note value for entry would provide a bit more efficiency.
Rather than advocating a specific note value based on meter, perhaps simply an option that allows one to change the default value at will would be sufficient. I’m a trackpad person myself so having a setting option, for example, at the top of the right-click context menu to quickly change it would be work well for me.
I do find it interesting how what seems like a simple suggestion for improvement is often met by certain members in this forum with vehement opposition. It’s important to remember that implementation of an option (as opposed to a change of default) really is just that - providing an option.
So focusing on the alternatives without creating any significant impact on existing workflows for others, as with options, often elicits a warmer welcome of new ideas. Thank you for bringing this suggestion forward.
Please elaborate. I wasn’t aware of it “speaking” anything except that these are not counterpoint exercises.
Well, I didn’t want this thread to spin off into an argument. At the most basic level, giving users the option to customize default note values seems like a fairly simple feature but maybe from the coding side there’s a challenge I don’t understand.
Besides that possibility, I don’t see a significant downside to it. If you don’t want to use the feature, just ignore it.
And I’m really not wanting to be argumentative. Just curious to understand your workflow.
Dorico has two modes of note entry (duration before pitch and pitch before duration)
If you use the latter, you must enter a duration for every note (default or not) - so the concept of any default duration is irrelevant.
If (as I do) you use duration before pitch, you choose a duration and every subsequent note uses it, until you change that duration.
So you want to add complexity to the program to (perhaps) save a single keystroke?
Please let me know if I am missing something.
Now that you put it that way, I guess it’s not a great feature request. Recently I’ve been working exclusively in 6/8 and that it would be handy to set the dotted quarter as my default. Just lazy I guess.
So, not all of us find your suggestion irrelevant. I think it is reasonable to suggest things we would like to see in the software whether or not it ever comes to fruition. There are certain users here in this forum that are always a bit harsh with new ideas. Their opinions are no more valuable or appropriate than everyone elses’ opinions so please do not apologize. And, no, your request does not suggest laziness.
I for one would highly welcome if Dorico would remember my last used note value when re-entering note input mode. I’m constantly undoing unneeded quarter note entries because I subconsciously keep expecting note entry to pick up where I left off. That’s just how my brain works.
I recall a post from Daniel though stating that the developers had no intention to change this any time soon, but I can’t seem to find that now.
Well, that certainly makes sense! You know, we can set a “note value” for the grid but the default doesn’t change — unless we change the duration while doing entry. Triple meters add the complexity of frequently needing dotted rhythms. Then again, (in x/8 meters) you often have to switch between 1/8 notes and dotted 1/4s. (But is the default not a 1/4 but 1/8? Which is the most frequent in a particular piece?)
So, musing down the rabbit hole, can we have an option to select a dotted 1/4 with a single keypress (yeah, I know that I can double tap; just not used to it yet); can we assign a command key to do so?
Would we want the rhythm to revert to the “default” value after every note entry (which makes more trouble for all the non-defaults values)?
For me, I often find I have fallen victim to forgetting to change the duration while I happily enter a string of notes at the wrong duration! That’s my bad and, if I’m alert enough, I can fix it right away. One way or another – whether there’s a default or not – I’m going to screw up because of my inattentiveness. 
I am an unwilling participant in Graves Law: "Make something idiot-proof, and the universe will just build a better idiot.” (Speaking for/about myself; no offense intended!)
So, when would the default “take over”? After each note of a different duration, or only when we’ve “forgotten“ to change it back? 
A default of that kind would be helpful, whether the last duration entered or an assigned value (like the grid).
— Jim
My procedure: Let us say, I am inputting dotted quarter notes into a bass line. The phone rings, or I get myself a cup of tea, so I leave my desktop. Once I return to the computer, I put the caret back to the beginning of the last entered note. On the MIDI keyboard, I hit the last entered note again and proceed with the further input. No need to reselect a rhythm of a dotted quarter note - as Dorico remembers the last input note value - if one puts the caret to the right position.