Understanding note grouping

[Nils_Berg]

Hi all,

Is there anybody out there who would know how to make the two quarter notes marked in orange be written as a half note instead of the current two quarter notes beamed together?

Thanks in advance!

[sjanssens]

This is controlled globally by the Note Grouping options. From the menu: Library → Notation Options → Note Grouping (Or press J and start typing grouping and select Note Grouping). It’s best to set this up globally so it covers the entire project.

Alternately, when you enter the time signature, you can indicate the beat pattern: [2+2+2]/4. (As opposed to: 2+2+2/4, which would display the compound time signature.)

If you have an individual case that goes against the global setting, you can Force Duration, this is the C-clamp button on the left panel, or “O”.

[PjotrB]

To clarify: if you apply Force Duration to existing notes, they won’t change their appearance retroactively. The usual trick is:

• make sure Insert Mode is not active
• select the note
• type 6 to change it into a quarter (a rest will appear)
• then type (letter) O to Force Duration
• then type 7 to change it back to a half note
  In short: 6o7.

Edit: Hi @judddanby! Let nobody complain about the amount of helpful people on this forum

[judddanby]

@sjanssens

If you have an individual case that goes against the global setting, you can Force Duration, this is the C-clamp button on the left panel, or “O”.

To add to @sjanssens’s last point about individual cases:

Before entering note that defies standard notation (like your half note across the half-bar):

1. o (that’s letter “O”) to engage Force Duration
2. 7 (or however you select half note value)
3. enter pitch

Modifying already-entered note that defies standard notation:

1. Shorten your half-as-two-tied-quarters by any rhythmic amount
2. o (that’s letter “O”) to engage Force Duration
3. 7 (or however you select half note value) to lengthen it back to a half note written explicitly as such

EDIT: Oops! @PjotrB beat me to it as I typed

[Janus]

@Nils_Berg

Thanks in advance!

The tied notes are technically correct here because they span the half bar (6/4 is a compound meter). Had you specified 3/2 as the meter, you would automatically have had a minim notated.

[Mark_Johnson]

… And thus this particular example is not in fact affected by any Note Grouping options.
It’s either force duration or it should be 3/2. (But this does look like 6/4 to me.)

[Janus]

@Mark_Johnson

But this does look like 6/4 to me.

How so? The beaming of the quavers speaks 3/2 to me.

[Mark_Johnson]

Well, hearing all the notes, it still sounds waltz-like to me. Not much point in switching from 3/4 to 6/4 … but that is way off topic.

[jim6]

Thanks.
This make perfect sense - but I cannot make it work - I still have:
eighth tied to quarter tied to eighth.
What I want is eighth tied (across the middle of the bar) to dotted quarter,
But I would settle for just a half note.
So far I have not found a way to make Dorico do that.

[DanielMuzMurray]

Just to be clear: Force Duration is not working for you?

[judddanby]

Probably not the best way, but:

1. beat 2.2 eighth need O to lock it as an eighth
   

   

2. beat 3.1 O to force dotted quarter
   

   

3. click on the beat 2.2 eighth and T to tie
   

   

There may well be a better way with options settings. I’ll look around.

[jim6]

Thanks!
I have been able to do something like that and I notice that it does what I want (either way) if there is an eighth note in the beat 4.2, but reverts to a tie when that is a rest. Hmm…

Take that back - I just added back the first tie across the middle of the bar and FINALLY I get eighth tied across the middle of the bar to a dotted quarter which is what I am trying to get. I have not yet figured out a way of making this happen with the Notation Options.

Sooner or later this amazing scoring program will make sense to this Finale refugee. Thanks to everyone’s rapid responses on this forum - so far the best applications forum I have ever participated in. I still am only about 30% successful at finding what I want to know in the Help.

[judddanby]

(I added screenshots above — helpful?)

[judddanby]

Another way: If you set Notation Options > Note Grouping > Simple Time Signatures With or Without a half-bar > Notate as a single note you can simply enter a half note on beat 2.2, which will result it an eighth tied to a dotted quarter. (This one isn’t obvious, since the description specifies “starting on a beat.”)

Note: the settings under the Notation Options > Note Grouping > Time Signatures With Half-bars might also need to be adjusted.

[Nils_Berg]

Thank you all for your input and help! Force duration did the trick.
Every time I visit this forum I’m feeling not only a little bit more Dorico-clever, but also a little bit more hopeful that the world is indeed a place where people can actually help each other out every once in a while