Note Entry and Editing
Keyboard Entry
Throughout this tutorial, the primary working method will be based on the use of the keyboard and the palettes. We'll stay out of the menus as much as possible except in those cases where there's no alternative. This is absolutely the most efficient way of using the program.
It's imperative to correct playback that the numbers or notes you add to your staves be correctly placed within the measure. The program plays notes back based entirely on their position within the grid with no account being taken of the actual duration of the preceding note.
By far the simplest and most efficient way of achieving correct, horizontal placement of the notes is by use of the [Tab] key. This moves the cursor to the right by the distance corresponding to the currently selected duration. Thus, in a 4/4 measure with the current duration set to a 1/4 note, each press of [Tab] will move the cursor to the next whole beat. To extend the benefits of the [Tab] key, see the advanced option "Note Duration Quick Entry".
The current duration can be set in any one of three ways: from the {Note} menu, from the Notes palette or from the keyboard. The most efficient of these three is to make the changes from the keyboard. [F4...F9] represent, in sequence, the durations running from a Whole note to a 1/32nd note. The only value which cannot be set in this manner is the 1/64th note. This must be set from either the menu entry or the palette (the palette, of course, being the handiest of the two).
Right clicking on any of the notes in the "Notes" palette activates automatic cursor advancement. This means that each time you enter a note in the tablature the cursor is automatically advanced along the same string by an interval equal to the current note value. This function can be toggled on and off with [Ctrl]+[Space].
The shortcuts [Ctrl]+[
] and [Ctrl]+[
] can be used within the tablature to jump directly to the last or the first string, respectively. When used in the stave, the cursor moves exactly one octave in the corresponding direction.
Entering notes or rests in the notation stave
| • | Place the cursor in the location of the natural note in the stave either with the cursor keys or by simply left clicking on the correct location. |
| • | Change the current duration, if necessary, using any of the methods described above. |
| • | Press [Enter/Return] to enter a note or [.] (period/full stop) to enter a rest. You can also insert a particular note by typing its initial in English notation (A, B, C... G) to insert the corresponding note in the current octave. If you type the initial in lower case, the note will be inserted one octave higher.. |
| • | This enters the natural note. To apply an alteration, press [-] or [+] |
Notes: You can also insert a note directly into the stave by calling up the context sensitive menu (right click) or by clicking on the notation while maintaining the [Alt] key pressed.
When you enter a chord, it is recommended to start with the highest note because TablEdit always tries to position the new note on the highest string first. If you have not taken this precaution, you can easily correct it by typing [J].
When the cursor is located in notation, you can type a number from 0 to 9 to force the minimum fret. This one is displayed in red on the Fingerboard.
See also: http://el-kay.com/tabledit/en/EnteringNotes-1.htm
Entering notes or rests in the tablature
| • | Place the cursor at the desired location on the string using the cursor keys ( [,, , ] ) or by left clicking. |
| • | If you don't want to use the currently selected note value you can change the current duration using any of the methods described above. |
| • | To insert a note, type a number to represent the fret where the a note is to be played. For frets between 10 and 19, first enter [1] then a number between 1 and 9. For example for fret 16, type [1] followed by [6]. The procedure is the same for frets 20 to 24. If you have activated the automatic cursor advancement mode, you can type [Maj]+[A] for 10, [Maj]+[B] for 10, etc... |
| • | You can increase or reduce this number by pressing [+] or [-]. If only one note is selected and its reduced pitch is too low for the current string, TablEdit tries to select another string. |
| • | To insert a rest, set the desired duration value and press [.] (period/full stop). |
| • | To delete a note or a rest, select it with cursor then press [Delete]. |
| • | If you've accidentally entered an incorrect duration value for a note and only notice the mistake after having entered further notes, [Alt]+[Delete] or [Alt]+[Insert] moves all the notes of the score to the left or right (respectively) starting from the cursor position. |
Note: By default, you'll hear each note as you enter it. To cancel sound output during note entry, just turn the sound output of the current module off in the MIDI Options dialog or, more alternatively, select "No sound" in MIDI Setup dialog.
Editing notes
From the keyboard
| • | Place the cursor on the note to edit using the cursor keys. In the case of multiple notes, mark these as a block. If the cursor or block is on an empty space the commands have no effect. |
To move (or copy) a single note or a block of notes:
| • | Press [Ctrl]+[X] (cut) [Ctrl]+[C] (copy). |
| • | Move the cursor to the destination position |
| • | Press [Ctrl]+[V] (paste). |
To move a note upwards or downwards across the neck of the instrument (in order to adjust the fingering)
| • | Press [Ctrl]+[+] (to move toward the bass) or [Ctrl]+[-] (to move toward the treble). This can also be done with the mouse via the Tools palette. The fret position is automatically increased or decreased to correspond to the pitch value of the original note. |
With the mouse
To move a single note or a block of notes:
| • | Select the notes to be moved or copied and then release the mouse button |
| • | Move the mouse pointer to the left-hand edge of the selection and, when the pointer changes shape, click on it and keep the mouse button held down. |
| • | Drag the selected block to the desired position. A "ghost" outline of the selected block is displayed during the operation. This outline, composed of a series of broken lines, follows the movement of the mouse pointer. If the outline disappears, this means that it's current location isn't valid. If you release the mouse button at this point, the operation is canceled. |
| • | When the outline arrives at the desired location simply release the mouse button and the notes will be pasted into place. The newly inserted block becomes the current selection. |
To copy a single note or a block of notes:
Follow the above directions, pressing [Ctrl] during the operation.
All of the above operations can be canceled by using the "Undo" function ([Ctrl]+[Z]).
Notes:
| 1. | Copying notes directly from the stave has certain, specific effects. TablEdit ignores fret positions completely and considers only the actual pitch of notes so copied. This means, for example, that you can copy the notes from a module for guitar and paste them into a banjo module without losing any of the music. TablEdit will even attempt to save notes whose pitch is too low for the new instrument by increasing their value by an octave. |
| 2. | The key combination sequence [Ctrl]+[Insert] and [shift]+[Insert] normally allows entire measures to be copied and pasted. If, however, the upper left-hand corner of a selected block actually contains a note, TablEdit will treat the operation as the sequence [Ctrl]+[C] and [Ctrl]+[V]. |
| 3. | Pressing the [ ] key while a paste operation allows to "blend" the pasted content with the existing one. |