Is there a way to select a bar for note entry without using the mouse? Say, I’m in Write, and I want to select the whole rest in the right hand of bar 34, but I’d rather not reach for the mouse, is the a way to type that action in the keyboard?
If you have something selected, you can use the arrow keys to navigate to the part where you want to input notes, and then type Shift-N or Return to go ‘into the staff’, i.e. show the caret and start Note Entry. But this only works if you already have something selected, for which you need at least one click in the score.
The only key command to start a selection out of nowhere seems to be Cmd/Ctrl-A (Select All), but it’s not very practical.
1 Like
If nothing is selected in the music area, press any arrow key on your computer keyboard to select the first note, rest, or other item on the top staff in the current layout.
1 Like
Also you can skip to the downbeat of the next / previous bar with ⌘→ / ←
and then extend the selection to the end of a bar with ⌘⇧→
1 Like
Thanks everyone. Good info to know all around. In my case I’m hoping to someday be able to have nothing selected but be able to press a couple of keys and the bar number and the instrument abbreviation and have it go to that bar number with the first note or rest of that bar number for that instrument and select it and make it ready for entry.
Cheers.
You may not have to wait for this.
As @DanielMuzMurray pointed out, you start with the arrow key, which gives you the first selection. Then hit J - which will make the Jump Bar appear. You can then type in F and the Flow number, to reach the flow you want, then do the same for the bar number… your destination is just a couple of keyboard clicks away. The mouse is not needed.
I recently read this intersting remark
which I more or less suspected to be a very good advice that I had benn too lazy to follow, and I started to experiment without a particular purpose.
So I opened a simple project (2 players), remaine in (Page) View mode, and Il wanted If I could quickly have the first note ine the top staff select withiut the mouse.
I hit an arrow key, the firstt item became )hilited (== seklected), it was the start tempo indication…
I hit the j key, and the jump bar appeared.
Then I tried a Go to Bar 1. command Nothing happened. Nothing more with a :Goto Bar 2. Then I tried some Selection … jump bar command, the only one I could make work was Select to the end of System!
After that I tried the Start Note Input command. It worked. My first note was an E, so restarting from scratch, the following mouse-less sequence worked
Arrow key
j key
Start Note Input Command
E key
StopNote Input Command (or Shift-N key)
worked.
But is it really the only way?!
If nothing is selected, Shift+N normally activates the caret to the top-left for me, I think. Although I’m not at my computer to check.
Yes, I just checked and that is the behaviour.
You can even just press Shift+N when the tempo is selected. Note Input will begin at whatever is selected or else at the top-left measure of the window.
1 Like
Yes, but what if I do not want to input notes, just to do some light editing?
Pressing Tab will cycle through items that are at the same rhythmic position e.g. from tempo to note to dynamic… (although you can’t go back to system objects once you’re in the staff, but you can just reinput these).
2 Likes
Wow! The Tab tip is great! Where is it found in the help.
Thanks a lot!
See Step #3:
1 Like
Thank again 
!
1 Like