Pickup bar and corresponding ending bar length

[rpmseattle]

I searched a bit for this, but couldn’t find an answer - I have a piece in 4/4 that starts with a quarter note pickup bar. As is fairly common, the piece ends with a bar containing 3 beats (to correlate with the pickup bar). What is the recommended way to create this 3-beat final bar in Dorico? Thank you.

[Derrek]

Hide a time signature of 3/4 for the last measure.

[rpmseattle]

Thank you, Derrek - confirming that changing the meter of the final bar to 3/4, then hiding it via the properties panel > time signature works great.

[misohoza]

@Derrek

Hide a time signature of 3/4 for the last measure.

Or just add a final barline after third beat.

[rpmseattle]

Thanks, misohoza - confirming that if there is a rest in beat 4, selecting that rest and choosing the final barline (or any barline, for that matter) from the right panel also works great.

[Knut_Nergaard]

It seems to me that it would be in the spirit of Dorico to do the subtraction in the last bar of a piece or before a new time signature/pickup automatically. Of course, whether this is done at all depends on the style and period of the music, but it would be a helpful option to have.

[musicmaven]

@rpmseattle

Thanks, misohoza - confirming that if there is a rest in beat 4, selecting that rest and choosing the final barline (or any barline, for that matter) from the right panel also works great.

There is a big difference, however, because a final barline will not allow anymore measures or beats to appear. It is final. But the concept of delineating the number of beats in a measure can be achieved with placement of barlines. Caveat emptor … users might want to be careful to follow traditional rules of showing time signatures (in traditional musical contexts).

[BalancingScales]

@Knut Nergaard

It seems to me that it would be in the spirit of Dorico to do the subtraction in the last bar of a piece or before a new time signature/pickup automatically. Of course, whether this is done at all depends on the style and period of the music, but it would be a helpful option to have.

@musicmaven

There is a big difference, however, because a final barline will not allow anymore measures or beats to appear. It is final. But the concept of delineating the number of beats in a measure can be achieved with placement of barlines. Caveat emptor … users might want to be careful to follow traditional rules of showing time signatures (in traditional musical contexts).

In addition to what musicmaven said, not every score that starts with a pickup measure has a shortened final measure. I have seen a few scores in my time where this happens. It is rare, but not unheard of.

[rubberfingers]

I’ve found the “Remove Rests” function (in Edit) works also.

[Lillie_Harris]

Note that this is only graphical, though: the time represented by those rests still “exists” in the flow.

A handy way to shorten bars quickly in Dorico 4 is to use the Global Adjustment of Current Bar Insert mode scope, and with that set and Insert mode active, select notes/rests that match the duration by which you want to shorten the last bar, then press Backspace or Delete (just the standard delete, rather than the method of deleting beats using the bars popover, for example).