Note input

The Score isn’t only for reading. Note input writes into it: you type a note’s letter (or click a staff) and it goes in at the caret, a step long, and the caret moves on. What you write is the song itself, so the Editor, the Chart and playback have it at once.

Note input

Available on every platform.

Turning it on

Click in a Score pane to put the caret where you want to write, on the part you want to write in, then turn note input on:

Click ✎ Note Input in the pane’s bar. It stays lit while note input is on; click it again to stop.
Or press N, and N again, or Esc, to stop.

The caret turns into an outlined box.

Writing notes

Pick the note’s value with the digits: 1 a 64th, 2 a 32nd, 3 a 16th, 4 an eighth, 5 a quarter, 6 a half, 7 a whole. . dots it, and . again takes the dot off.
Type a letter, A to G. The note goes in at the caret, spelt as the key signature has it (in G major, F writes F♯), in the octave nearest the last note you wrote. The caret moves on by the value.
Hold Shift with a letter to add that note to the chord you just wrote, the nearest one above it.

Each note you write is heard through its track as it goes in, as long as Hear Notes as You Write is on (see Hearing what you write).

A note written replaces whatever started in that step, so you can write over a passage without deleting it first. If there’s no clip where you write, one is made.

The note just written stays selected: ↑ and ↓ move it by a semitone, with Alt (⌥ on a Mac) by an octave.

On a fretted part, each note goes on the free string nearest the last note’s fret, so the hand stays where it was. Re-fret chooses again for a whole passage.

Rests, ties and going back

0 writes a rest: it clears the step and moves the caret on.
+ (or =) ties: the chord you just wrote is held a step longer, over what was there.
⌫BackspaceBackspace (⌫ on a Mac) goes back a step and clears it, so a wrong note is one key away.

Triplets and other tuplets

T writes triplets: each value takes two thirds of its length. T again goes back to plain values.
Alt+5, 6 or 7 (⌥5–⌥7 on a Mac) write fives, sixes or sevens: each note takes its place in the group, and the group is marked as a rhythm cell so the score writes it that way. The same keys again, or a value digit, go back to plain values. Worked by touch, select a note you wrote and use the tray’s Note tool’s Tuplet…: it sets the rhythm of that beat (triplets, fives, sixes, sevens…), and its notes take their places in the group.

With the mouse, a pen or a finger

While note input is on, a ghost note follows the pointer over a staff, on the line or space under it and at the nearest moment. Click to write it there; Shift-click adds it to the chord at that moment.

With a finger, press on a staff where you want the note: it shows there, and its name shows above your finger, so you can read it. Slide to move it, along the staff in time and up or down a line or space at a time; the staff keeps its place while note input is on, with room above and below it for ledger lines; let go to write it, as long as the step length. Letting go on the moment you just wrote adds the note to that chord. Scroll with two fingers.

Worked by touch, note input’s keys are a tool of the tools tray, Note Input, open while note input is on. The Note Input tool’s pad is on the Keypad’s grid. On top are the values (whole to 32nd) with Dot and 3 (triplet), set before you write (a 64th is in the ♪ chip); then the letters C to B, each writing that pitch at the caret in the octave nearest the last note, as the keyboard’s letters do; ♯ and ♭, which move the note just written a semitone, and 8va and 8vb, an octave, as ↑ and ↓ do; ‿ Tie (holds the chord just written a step longer) and Rest (clears the step and moves on); + Chord, which, while it’s lit, makes the letters add to the chord just written instead of moving on; and along the foot ◀ Back and ▶ Next (as ← and → do), ⌫ (back a step, clearing it) and Done. On its side, the pad is in the tray’s column at the right.

From a MIDI keyboard

With note input on and the song stopped, what you play on a MIDI keyboard goes in at note input’s caret, without turning on MIDI Step Input (⌥⌘S)MIDI Step Input (Ctrl+Alt+S)MIDI Step Input (Ctrl+Alt+S (⌥⌘S on a Mac)): a chord is what you hold together, and the sustain pedal with nothing held is a rest. On a drum part, an e-kit’s (or a keyboard’s) hits go in at the caret and it moves on a step. With Re-pitch on, what you play replaces the pitches of the notes at the caret instead, their rhythm kept, and the caret goes to the next note. See Step input.

TAB staves

With the TAB staff shown (TAB Staff in the pane’s ⚙), click on one of its lines to put the caret on that string. Then type as in an Editor pane: digits are frets, ↑ and ↓ change string, ← and → move the caret along. This works without note input.

Drum parts

With the caret on a drum part, the number keys are a drumpad, in or out of note input: each digit strikes a piece of the kit at the caret, and Alt (⌥) with a digit strikes the second set. Striking the same pad again at the same place takes the hit off; another stroke of the same piece (open and closed hi-hat) replaces it. The caret stays where it is, so you can build a beat at one moment, then move on with →.

A drumpad is drawn in the pane’s lower right while the caret’s on a drum part: click a pad to strike it, and its lower strip for the second set. Worked by touch, the pads are the tray’s Drumpad instead.

To change what a pad strikes for this track, right-click it and choose a piece and its stroke, or As the Default Layout.

Outside note input

The digits still set values when note input is off: with notes selected, 1–7 make them that long, and . dots them or takes the dot off. With nothing selected, they set the step length. Worked by touch, the tray’s Note tool has the same lengths (whole to 32nd), with Dot and 3, for the selected notes. Spelling, stems and beams are in Editing notation.

The keys for the pane you’re in are on the keyboard shortcuts card: press ? over a Score pane.

Command	Keys	Where
Note Input	`N`	the pane bar; the keyboard
Value: 64th … whole	`1–7`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (its lengths)
Drumpad at the caret	`0–9, ⌥0–⌥9`	the keyboard; pane (its drumpad); the tools tray › Drumpad
Dot on, off	`.`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (Dot)
Write a note at the caret	`A–G`	the pane: a click on the staff writes the ghost note; the keyboard
Add to the chord just written	`⇧A–⇧G`	the keyboard
A rest	`0`	the keyboard
Note input’s value	`1–7`	the keyboard
Note input dotted	`.`	the keyboard
Triplets	`T`	the keyboard
Fives, sixes, sevens (a rhythm cell)	`⌥5–⌥7`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (Tuplet…)
Tie: the chord a step longer	`+, =`	the keyboard
Back a step	`⌫`	the keyboard

Command	Keys	Where
Note Input	`N`	the pane bar; the keyboard
Value: 64th … whole	`1–7`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (its lengths)
Drumpad at the caret	`0–9, Alt+0–Alt+9`	the keyboard; pane (its drumpad); the tools tray › Drumpad
Dot on, off	`.`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (Dot)
Write a note at the caret	`A–G`	the pane: a click on the staff writes the ghost note; the keyboard
Add to the chord just written	`Shift+A–Shift+G`	the keyboard
A rest	`0`	the keyboard
Note input’s value	`1–7`	the keyboard
Note input dotted	`.`	the keyboard
Triplets	`T`	the keyboard
Fives, sixes, sevens (a rhythm cell)	`Alt+5–Alt+7`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (Tuplet…)
Tie: the chord a step longer	`+, =`	the keyboard
Back a step	`Backspace`	the keyboard

Command	Keys	Where
Note Input	`N`	the pane bar; the tools tray; the keyboard
Value: 64th … whole	`1–7`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (its lengths)
Drumpad at the caret	`0–9, Alt+0–Alt+9 (0–9, ⌥0–⌥9 on a Mac)`	the keyboard; pane (its drumpad); the tools tray › Drumpad
Dot on, off	`.`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (Dot)
Write a note at the caret	`A–G`	the tools tray › Note Input; the keyboard
Add to the chord just written	`Shift+A–Shift+G (⇧A–⇧G on a Mac)`	the tools tray › Note Input; the keyboard
A rest	`0`	the tools tray › Note Input; the keyboard
Note input’s value	`1–7`	the tools tray › Note Input; the keyboard
Note input dotted	`.`	the tools tray › Note Input; the keyboard
Triplets	`T`	the tools tray › Note Input; the keyboard
Fives, sixes, sevens (a rhythm cell)	`Alt+5–Alt+7 (⌥5–⌥7 on a Mac)`	the keyboard; the tools tray › Note (Tuplet…)
Tie: the chord a step longer	`+, =`	the tools tray › Note Input; the keyboard
Back a step	`Backspace (⌫ on a Mac)`	the tools tray › Note Input; the keyboard