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Grace notes

    A grace note is a type of musical ornament, usually printed smaller than regular notes. The Short grace note, or Acciaccatura, appears as a small note with a stroke through the stem. The Long grace note, or Appoggiatura, has no stroke.

    Grace Notes palette (Advanced workspace)

    Create grace notes

    Grace notes can be found in the "Grace notes" palette in the Basic or Advanced workspace.

    Add a grace note

    Use one of the following methods:

    This will add a grace note of the same pitch as the regular note. To add a sequence of grace notes to a regular note, simply repeat the above actions as many times as required. See also, Change pitch (below).

    Note: When a grace note is added to the score, a slur is not automatically created with it, so the latter needs to be added separately. See Slurs.

    Add a chord of grace notes

    Grace note chords are built up just like regular chords:

    1. Enter the first note of the chord as shown above
    2. Select this first grace note and enter subsequent notes as you would for any other regular chord (i.e. Shift+A...G).

    You can also create a grace note chord by using the add interval shortcut in step 2: Alt+1...9 for intervals from a unison to a ninth above.

    Change pitch

    The pitch of a grace note can be adjusted just like a regular one:

    1. Select one or more grace notes
    2. Adjust pitch using the keyboard arrow commands, namely:
      • ↑ or ↓ to increase or decrease the pitch by a semitone;
      • Alt+Shift+↑ or Alt+Shift+↓ to increase or decrease the pitch one step at a time, according to the key signature.

    Change duration

    If you want to change the duration of a previously created grace note, select it and choose a duration from the toolbar or enter with one of the keys 1...9 (see Note input).

    Manual adjustment

    The position of a grace note after a note (such as a trill termination) may have to be adjusted by selecting the note, going into edit mode and using the left/right keyboard arrows; or change the chord offset values in the Inspector.