Notating arpeggios cross-staff, e.g., BWV 866

Dorico
1

Hi all,

I’m looking to notate something similar to the following excerpt from BWV 866:

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Any suggestions how to approach this (e.g., Dorico voice layout so that I can add ties where needed, but still be able to beam the whole thing across staff)?

Many thanks,
Nikola

2

There is a Move to staff below/above function which allows for cross staff groupings. And as far as I remember, ties will generally last to the next note of the same pitch, regardless of if they are “filled” in between. (Not sure about ties between different voices though.)

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3

Thanks, klavierpunk!

I’m aware of Move to staff below/above, and had used it in somewhat less complex settings successfully. Looking at this example, the first challenge is on the second beat, i.e., F, C, E need to be tied to the the following crotchet; at the same time, the following F needs to be tied to a crochet F but that’s a different voice (as the crotchet needs to be upward) - and it seems that, due to them being different voices, I can’t beam demisemiquaver F and hemidemisemiquavers C, Eb, F together.

I’m hence assuming this can’t be notated “natively” in Dorico but I’m hoping there might be a trick or two to pull off this look.

4

To tie notes in different voices, click on the first one and then, holding down ctrl (on Windows) or cmd (on Mac), click on the second one. Then press T to tie them.

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5

Many thanks! This is a vital hint - I think I should be able to do it this way then:

  • notate cross-staff bits as a single voice
  • add additional up-stem and down-stem voices for ties (i.e., crotchets that demisemiquavers and hemidemisemiquavers will tie with). Ties will likely need to be flipped and excess rests removed (e.g., custom scale = 1)
  • use your hint to explicitly select notes from different voice, and use T to tie them!

Perfect!

Thanks again,
Nikola

6

Just to note that “Move to Staff Above/Below” Alt N/M and “Cross Staff Above/Below” N/M are different functions.

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