Using letters for bar "numbers"?

[davidmglasgow]

Hi smart people—

I’m writing an extended introduction to an existing work, and need to number the measures “a” through “w” rather than “1” through “23” to avoid confusion with the original intro. I found a thread from 2019 at that discusses exactly the problem I’m facing but doesn’t offer a solution:

@leight79

I was wondering if there were any plans to introduce an option to change bar numbers to letters only. For example, in musical theatre extra bars at the beginning of numbers are often lettered where an intro has been added at the top of a number, before the bar numbers proper kick in. For now, the only option I can see is to change the first bar’s bar number to 0 and then add the letter. But this is not really satisfactory (I end up with 0a, 0b, 0c, 0d rather than A, B, C, D).

So here’s 2025 me, brand-new Dorico Pro 5 refugee from Finale, wondering whether something has been discovered/added to Dorico since then? Thanks in advance!

[asherber]

I think you can get what you want:

1. Select m.1 and add a bar number change (Ctrl+Shift+B). Select type as Subordinate and tick “Hide primary bar numbers”. This will get bars “numbered” with letters.
2. Select the bar where you want numbers to start and add another bar number change. Select type as Primary and set the Primary value to 1. This bar and the ones that follow now have numbers.
3. If you want capital letters instead of lowercase, look in Engraving Options > Bar Numbers > Sequence.

[leight79]

Hi David.

This has been a function in Dorico for a while now (since I asked that question!). @Asherber has answered it for you. Welcome to Dorico! You won’t look back!

[davidmglasgow]

Perfect! Thanks so much for the quick and idiot-proof (me-proof, even! ) solution, @asherber!

[davidmglasgow]

And you’re right, @leight79 — I am loving Dorico and its supportive community!