Creating a lead sheet

QuickScore Elite How To

How to create a lead sheet

Getting Started Tutorials Manual MIDI and Audio

1. Set your display parameters.

Choose Score from the Display menu.

Set the display quantization you want to use. This must be equal to or finer than the smallest note you want to display. Set the Quantization field to the value you want. If all your music will be entered in step time or with the mouse a value of Triplet/32nds is recommended.

Set the number of staves per page you want to use. A number from 8 to 12 is comfortable for 8 1/2 x 11 paper in portrait mode.

Select your key and time signature.

Click on OK when you have set the display parameters.

2. Put in all the notes.

a. Select the pencil tool from the tools palette.

b. Set the duration to the smallest duration you will be using in your song.

c. Enter the notes. Position the mouse where you want each note to go and then enter the note by clicking the left mouse button. if you have a keyboard you can use step entry to enter the notes.

3. Edit your notes so they are all correct.

If you put a note in the wrong place, you can erase it by selecting the eraser tool and then clicking on the note, or move it to the right place using the NS, EW or the NSEW tool.

4. Set the duration for the notes.

Now you have all the notes in the right place. The durations will all be eighth notes. You can change the duration of each note by double clicking on the note, choosing Duration from the Edit menu and chanaging the duration, or which is faster and easier, selecting all the notes in a phrase and choosing Make Legato from the Edit menu. This will join up all the notes, so that each note ends at the start of the next note.

5. Enter the chord symbols.

a. Put the cursor where you want the chord symbol to appear. Select the Symbol object from the Object palette. Click again on the Symbol object to bring down the palette of tools. Click on the Misc. tool and choose the chord symbol from the palette of symbols (the one at the bottom left).

b. Repeat this procedure for each chord symbol.

c. If you need to put in any other symbols, select the symbol you want and then enter it where you need to on your track. For adjustable symbols, see adjustable symbols in the manual.

6. Put in the bar lines.

Most of the bar lines are regular, so you won't have to change these.

a. To put in a double bar line, at the end of bar eight, for example, put the cursor on bar nine and select the Display Bar dialog from the Display menu. Change the bar line from Normal to Double.

b. Do the above for all the bar lines that are not regular.

7. Enter titles

From the Display menu choose Titles and then Score. Enter the Title, Composer, Copyright, etc. and then click on OK when you're finished.

8. Transpose your piece for each instrument.

a. You can create a new track and then copy the single-line lead sheet to the new track. Do this by selecting New from the Track menu. Then select Copy from the Track menu and copy your first track to the new one.

b. Select the new track by putting the cursor on it. From the Display Track dialog available from the Display menu change the transposition to the number of semitones up or down you need. The notes will sound the same, but the notes will appear at the new pitch and the correct key signature will be entered.

9. Change the clef for a track.

Do this by changing the clef from the Display Track dialog available from the Display menu. If you want to display a track on two staves, the top with a treble clef and the bottom with a bass clef, set Split Track to Yes.

10. Enter Lyrics.

a. Select the Lyric object (L) in the objects palette.

b. Select the pencil tool.

c. Click where you want your first lyric to go. Type in the syllable. Press the TAB key to go to the next note. Enter the next syllable. Keep going until you put in all your lyrics. If you need to put in a hyphen between two syllables, hold down the CTRL key and press the - key instead of pressing TAB.

d. To enter a new verse, change the lyric number (from Lyric 1 to Lyric 4) from the lyric number drop-down menu to the far right of the Score Editor control area.

11. Enter Text.

a. Select the Text object from the Objects palette.

b. Select the pencil tool from the Toolbar.

c. Enter a piece of text. Click where you want to enter the text (e.g. at the beginning of bar 1 to enter C Instruments). Enter your text in the box that appears.

12. Space your music.

a. Use engraver spacing. Set Engraver Spacing to Yes in the Display Score dialog, available under the Display menu.

b. Have QuickScore Elite space your bar lines and bars per line. Choose Space Music from the Display menu. Click on OK without changing anything. Look at your music in Print Preview mode by clicking on the page icon at the far right in the control area of the Score Editor. If you think the music is too dense or too sparse, choose Space Music again and this time adjust the spacing by moving the density slider one way or the other.

13. Save your piece.

Select Save from the File menu and enter the name you'd like for your file. You should save your piece periodically as you build it, so you don't lose everything if something goes wrong.

14. Print your piece.

Select Print File from the File menu. To print all tracks of a multi-track piece, make sure that you are in Score mode (the track/score button to the right of the object type palette has a double staff). To print a single track, make sure you are in Track mode (the track/score button to the right of the object type palette has a single staff).