Entering notes with a music keyboard |
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The keyboard window [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] In this lesson, we will learn how to introduce notes using the
MIDI keyboard and computer keyboard. It is a fast and precise
method to enter the notes in a measure. Pizzicato lets you introduce notes with a Midi keyboard connected to your computer. If you have a sound card
but no Midi keyboard, Pizzicato offers you a keyboard drawn
inside a window, whose keys can be activated either by the mouse
or by specific computer keyboard shortcuts. If you are a guitarist, you can use the Guitar
Fretboard window (Windows menu) exactly as the
piano keyboard window explained in this lesson. It can be moved on your screen. You can change
its size when you click and drag one of the borders. When you
close this keyboard window with the closing box, its size and
position are memorized and when you open it again, it takes again
its last size and position. You can slide the mouse by holding the button
down. The notes on which you slide will be played. When you open a musical document and ask
Pizzicato to play it, the keyboard window will at every moment
show the notes playing in the score. We will use this didactic
aspect to learn the musical keyboard. The two lines of keys located above the
keyboard space bar of the computer are used as shortcuts to
activate the notes of the keyboard window. Here is the table
showing the equivalence. The white keys are represented in the
first line of keys, between the two SHIFT keys. The black keys
are represented by the second line of keys, when there is one
black key on the musical keyboard. Here is a comparative drawing: It is the position of the keys on your computer
keyboard that is important. According to the country, your
keyboard may be different. Some computer keyboard keys are used
at the same time as a shortcut for the musical keyboard and also
for a tool located in a palette. It is for example the case of
the lower case letter 'c'. It acts to activate the F key and also
to change a clef on a staff. One thus needs some way to
differentiate the use of these keys with double function. The
basic rule is as follows: When the cursor of the mouse is
located inside the keyboard window, all shortcuts are used by
the musical keyboard. In the case of a double keyboard shortcut, you
can thus select between the keyboard and the tool by placing the
mouse inside the keyboard window or outside it. Try now these shortcuts to understand the
equivalence between the two keyboards. Depending on the keyboard
manufacturer, you can simultaneously press several keys. Each
time a key is activated, it is indicated by the small coloured
square. If you press at the same time one of the SHIFT
keys, all the notes will be played an octave higher on the
keyboard, letting you cover about two octaves and a half with the
keyboard shortcuts. The menu located right to the word Octave
lets you to determine the first keyboard C pitch. The first menu
lets you assign another note than a C as the first note. If you
change it, it will not affect the graphic aspect of the keyboard,
but the keyboard will be transposed, because the first key
(normally C) will correspond to another note. By checking the option Fixed width of the
keys, the keyboard keys will always have the width indicated
in the following text box. If it is not checked, the width of the
keys will be adapted to the size of the window so as to keep the
usual proportions found on a musical keyboard. The next menu lets you select the type of
computer keyboard you have. From one country to another, the keys
are laid out differently and the shortcuts are thus also
different. If your shortcuts do not function as indicated above,
test another choice in this menu. The last two choices of this
menu lets you create personal configurations. You can program
them yourself. If your computer keyboard does not exactly
correspond to the progression of the keys or if you want to
assign other keyboard shortcuts to the notes, here is the
procedure to program your shortcuts: How you can introduce notes with the keyboard? [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] It is thanks to the Midi cursor that you will be able to
directly combine the keyboard shortcuts and the notes played on
the musical keyboard. For the rest of this lesson, we will consider that the musical
keyboard is a real musical keyboard, connected by a MIDI cable to
your computer. Most of what follows also applies if you simply
use the keyboard window with its shortcuts. In the Main palette, select the It shows the location where notes and rests will be placed.
The keyboard shortcut of this tool is the lower case letter 'r'.
It is one of the rare tools that is not exclusive, it can stay
selected whereas you select another tool. To disable the Midi
cursor, you just need to use the same shortcut 'r' again or to
click on its icon. When you use the Esc shortcut to select the cursor (the arrow Be sure that automatic justification is activated (it is
always the case with Pizzicato Light). It is essential if you
want to fully use the Midi cursor. As notes and rests will be
placed without the mouse, it is necessary that Pizzicato
correctly places them with the justification, so that the measure
have a nice layout. You can also modify the rhythmic voices popup
menu to introduce several voices. Two methods are possible to introduce the notes on the staff.
Let us initially see the most complete one. To use this method, the cursor tool (the arrow) must be
selected on the main palette, together with the Midi cursor. The principle is to use the Midi keyboard to introduce the
pitches of the notes and the numeric keypad of the computer
keyboard to introduce the rhythmic values. Remember the shortcuts
for the rhythmic values, '3' for the quarter note, '4' for the
eighth note, etc. The Midi cursor tool uses the same shortcuts. If you did not use the correct C of the keyboard, it may
appear one octave higher or lower. It is not important for the
example. If you use the keyboard window, you must press the key
using the shortcut. By clicking with the mouse on the keyboard
window, it will not work. The principle is thus very simple. You press and hold down the
notes on the keyboard and you type the rhythmic value on the
numeric keypad. You do not need the mouse. One hand is located on
the musical keyboard and the other on the numeric keypad. The
Midi cursor automatically advances. You can thus correct the layout of the stems progressively
with the introduction of the notes, by using the stem inversion
shortcut tool 'i'. A remark is essential if you use the keyboard window, because
the dot and the comma are also shortcuts to activate keys of that
window. The following rule applies to indicate the use of the
dot, the comma, as well as the '/' and '=' signs which will be
used below. If the mouse cursor is inside the keyboard window and
that this one is above the score window, the sign will be taken
into account to activate the key of the musical keyboard. If not,
it will be used as a shortcut for the score view. This lets you modify the way in which beams are arranged. You can also use the '9' shortcut to change the last note
entry to its enharmonic. This is useful when Pizzicato writes for
instance an F# and you want a Gb. There is another method to use the Midi cursor. For that,
select a rhythmic value on the notes and rests palette by using
the mouse, the eighth note for example (or using the shortcuts,
provided that the Midi cursor tool is not selected yet, otherwise
a rest will appear on the score) and then select the Midi cursor.
Place it at the beginning of the next measure. From then on, all the keys you press on the musical keyboard
will be placed on the score as soon as you release them. Press
and release successively the keys from C to the next C and you
will get the following result: As the eighth note was selected, all the notes are eighths
notes. By now using a shortcut from 0 to 8, you can change the
selected rhythmic value. Select the quarter note and press some
notes on the keyboard. They are written as quarter notes. You can add a rest if you press a key of the music keyboard
while holding down the SHIFT key of the computer keyboard. This second method differentiates the choice of the rhythmic
values and the choice of the pitches. You initially select a
rhythmic value and then you introduce the notes with the
keyboard, one at a time or as a chord. It is more adapted to a
score containing many notes of the same rhythmic values following
each other. You can of course use shortcuts i, /, = as well as
the dot or comma, as in the first method. The moving modes of the
cursor are also the same as well as the effect of the erase key. Notice that if the Midi cursor is activated and visible on the
screen, it determines the first measure that will be played when
you use the space bar to listen to the score.
tool. It is the Midi
cursor tool. As soon as it is selected, a cursor blinks in the
first measure at the beginning of the score:
), the Midi cursor tool
is automatically disabled.