Pick-up bar problems

Dorico
1

Hello all,

I’m using Dorico 3.5 Pro and I whenever I try to create a pick-up bar, Dorico simply moves the notes to the left and reinserts beats back in to the bar. So, in a 4/4 bar, I delete the first 3 beats (through both system track and insert-delete rests) and it shifts my 2 quaver pick-up to the start of the bar but adds in another crotchet and a minim rest ot make up the bar to full bar.

Any and all help appreciated because I’m becoming very frustrated!

Thanks inadvance,

Nick

2

Welcome to the forum, Nick. It sounds like you have a 4/4 bar with three beats’ rest and a pair of eighth notes/quavers at the end of the bar. You need to do two steps:

  1. First, you need to remove those rests at the start of the first bar. Select the half rest (minim rest) at the start of the first bar, and type Shift+B to open the bars and barlines popover. Type -3q into the popover. This will remove three quarters’ (crotchets) worth of time.

Your music will now start at the start of the first bar, but of course metrically it’s all out of whack, because your pick-up is now at the start of a 4/4 bar. Here’s the second step:

  1. Select the time signature at the start of the first bar and in in the right-hand panel, open the Time Signatures panel, and in the Create Time Signature section, activate the Pick-up bar of checkbox. The drop-down below should be set to 1/2 beat by default, and you need to change this to 1 beat. Click the 4/4 button below the drop-down, and the time signature will be replaced with one with the pick-up bar you’re after.

(As an alternative to this step, you can also select the time signature at the start of the first bar, then type Shift+M to open the meter popover, type 4/4,1 into the popover, and hit Return. This creates a 4/4 time signature with a one beat pick-up.)

That should put everything right.