Introduction of notes and rests (5)

Subjects covered:

• Adding triplets and tuplets
• The enharmonic tool

Adding triplets and tuplets

The triplet means that 3 notes are played within the normal duration of two notes. Tuplet is a term used to indicate any irregular group of notes such as 5 notes instead of 4, 15 instead of 16, etc. Here are some examples:

Let us see how to create these measures.

• Start Pizzicato. Add the notes using the tools learned in the previous lessons, to obtain:

• Open the Main Palette and select the Tuplet tool . Place the mouse cursor arrow where the first triplet must start:

• Click and drag to the right by holding down the mouse button. A triplet appears and extends to the right by following your movement. Stretch it to cover the first three notes, then release the mouse button to obtain:

Without other specifications, the tuplet tool automatically draws a triplet with a hook and the digit "3". If you maintain the Control key while adding the tuplet, Pizzicato opens a dialog box that lets you select all the characteristics of the tuplet.

• Place the cursor as follows:

• While holding the Control key, click and drag over the 6 sixteenth notes. Release the mouse button. The following dialog box appears on the screen:

• The higher part lets you specify the ratio used to play the notes. For a triplet, we have 3 notes instead of 2. To create our example, we need 6 sixteenth notes instead of 4. Fill in figures "6" and "4" in the two upper text boxes.
• The left radio buttons let you specify the tuplet orientation. By default, Pizzicato orients it correctly, but you can reverse it at will. Just below, you have a little popup menu entitled Drawing. You can select either a bracket or a curve to group the notes. In our example, select the curve.
• The right radio buttons select the tuplet style. 8 styles are provided in order to adapt to the various needs of musical notation. To confirm modifications, click OK. The measure becomes:

• Once placed, the tuplet can be adjusted at 3 points (the tuplet tool must be selected):

• By clicking and dragging the left end, the tuplet moves in its entirety,
• By clicking and dragging the figure, it moves vertically. The curve does not move. Slightly move figure "6" upwards, in our example.
• By clicking and dragging the right end, the curve widens or narrows according to your movement. You can also go up or down to vary the angle of the curve. The left end does not move. The figure moves proportionally.
• By double-clicking one of these areas, you can reach the definition dialog box.

• Place the cursor as follows:

• Click and drag over the width of the 5 notes, while going a little upwards to follow the angle of the notes. By releasing you get a curve with a "6". The characteristics of the last tuplet was memorized and taken again for the next tuplet. As we want a "5", double-click the figure. The dialog box appears. Fill it to have 5 notes instead of 4. Adjust the position of the figure to finally get:

• To complete the example, create a tuplet on the last 9 notes. As explained, use the key to directly reach the dialog box. Fill it to have 9 notes instead of 8. For the style, select the fifth choice. Click OK and adjust the position of the tuplet including the figures 9:8. You have now the example of the beginning of the lesson:

The tuplet tool has a shortcut key. It is lowercase letter "n". It does not act directly on the score but lets you select the tuplet tool without opening the palette.

Here is how to erase a tuplet:

• Be sure that the tuplet tool is selected and place the mouse cursor on one of the three access points (left end, right end or figure)
• Use the erase key of the keyboard: the tuplet disappears.

When you place a tuplet between two staves, Pizzicato associates it with the staff being the nearest to the location you clicked. Take this into account, because the tuplet will behave correctly only if it is attached to the correct staff.

When you call the tuplet definition dialog box at the same moment you place it on the score (with the control key), the style you select (curve or bracket, 3 instead of 2, etc.) becomes the current style. The next tuplet you create will take the same style. If you do not want to modify the current style, you just need to place the tuplet and then modify it (if necessary), by double-clicking the tuplet to call the definition dialog box.

If the automatic justification is active, Pizzicato calculates the contents of the measure and arranges the notes consequently. It is thus impossible to introduce a rhythmic voice having more beats than the total number of beats of the measure (here 4 beats). To introduce a tuplet, it happens that you must, for example, place 3 eighth notes in a measure where only 2 will fit. Let us examine the following measure:

Two methods exist to encode it. Fill the measure with the following notes:

Then, add a triplet covering the last two notes:

With the eighth note tool selected, add an eighth note between the two notes of the triplet, at the level of an A note. You get the desired measure:

Another way would be to disable the automatic justification and to place all the notes in the measure (it is not possible with Pizzicato Light or Light Plus, which do not let you disable the automatic justification):

Then add the triplet, reactivate the automatic justification and, with the tool of the eighth note for example, simply click on the first note, in order to force Pizzicato to calculate the measure again. You get the same result. By disabling the automatic justification, you could fill the measure with four beats and a half. By adding then the triplet, the total duration was reduced to four beats.

In this specific case, another alternative would have been to first introduce the triplet into the empty measure (with the justification activated) and then insert the three quarter notes in front of the triplet.

The enharmonic tool

Two notes are enharmonic to each other if they have a different name but correspond to the same sound and the same key on a musical keyboard. F sharp is an enharmonic of G flat.

The enharmonic tool is located in the Notes and rests palette :

Create a new document and fill in the following measure:

Select the enharmonic tool and click on the head of the first note (A #). The measure becomes:

Pizzicato replaced the note by its enharmonic note. Click again on this note, you get another enharmonic of A #, C double flat:

By clicking a third time, you get again A #.

The shortcut key is figure "9". It acts directly on the score, without selecting the tool in the palette. Position the mouse cursor on the second note and type "9" on the keyboard. Do the same for the 2 other notes. You get:

This tool is useful to correct the notes introduced using a musical keyboard.