Is it possible to only place the natural harmonic sign on the first note of a series of tied notes? Currently, all my tied notes are having a circle above their noteheads.
I am using Dorico 6
I’m not a string instrument player myself, so I may be wrong, but in my opinion as a composer and orchestrator, I think the situation you describe would be meaningless. If the initial attack on the note is a harmonic, then any note tied to it is a harmonic as well. If you mean to go from an initial harmonic to a stopped note of the same pitch, than it isn’t really a tie and shouldn’t show one. Unless I’ve misunderstood something.
If such a notation is actually used to mean a continuous harmonic, I’m sure some string player will come along and correct me.
I believe that, according to Ms. Gould, author of “Behind Bars,” the correct/preferred notation is to put the harmonic circle above every note in the tied string. So Dorico is doing the right thing. If you were to put the circle over only the first note in the tied string, I would still interpret it as applying to the entire string.
@L3B’s idea of switching from a harmonic note to a stopped note is, at least in what I play, a special effect and rare. If this is intended, I would expect to see “nat” or “ord” above the stopped note, and I would do my best to seamlessly slur/tie the harmonic note into the stopped note. Slur or tie, I as a player wouldn’t be sweating the difference. Dorico’s Player might see things differently..
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Thank you! That’s exactly what I need!
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I agree with your logic, but historically, it is implied that a tied notes are to be performed with the same initial attack.
Thanks for your replay. But majority of historical scores only use the harmonics sign for the first note in a series of tied notes. Having circles on every note was considered to be redundant.