Don’t worry, these are all questions we’ll be answering.<\/p>\n
Using the input palette to write notes<\/h2>\n
The input palette is FORTE’s best and most practical asset. Every possible element you might need to create your score is found here.<\/p>\n
As you probably already know, the input palette has 10 different tabs. Let’s look at each of them in detail…<\/p>\n
Tab 1: Notes<\/h2>\n
The first and most important tab is called Notes<\/em>. This is the feature that allows you to write notes on the staff.<\/p>\n When you open FORTE, this is how the input palette will be displayed:<\/p>\n In the upper half, you can see the notes, note heads, accidentals, ties and slurs, as well as the tool for triplets and tuplets.<\/p>\n We won’t go into detail about notes here. (You probably already know all about quarters, 8th notes and dotted half notes like the back of your hand!)<\/p>\n But did you know that the symbol to the far left \u2013 \u201cQuarter over 8th note rest\u201d \u2013 allows you to switch between notes and rests? This will be useful on the rare occasion you need to edit a rest manually.<\/p>\n Another interesting button is next to the 128th note: this one allows you to change the shape of the note heads. This feature is helpful if you’re writing shape notes for your choir or notation for drums and percussion.<\/p>\n Next to the accidentals (bb<\/em>, b<\/em>, natural, # and x<\/em>), you’ll find an empty bracket. If you want to remember a particular accidental, use this bracket to write reminders or \u201ccourtesy accidentals.\u201d You can do this by clicking first on the accidental, and then on the brackets. The cursor turns into a cross-shape and you can place it on the desired note.<\/p>\n See the video below (in the “More keys!” section), for a step-by-step demonstration of how to write notes on the staff.<\/p>\n The symbol on the far right is the tool for tuplets. If you want to enter triplets or other tuplets, like a quintuplet, you’ll need this button. For more information, please read our short article\u00a0How do I enter tuplets?<\/a><\/p>\n If you look in the lower half of the virtual keyboard, you’ll see small black arrows to the left and right of the keys. You can use these to reach other octaves.<\/p>\n To enter chords, click on the chord symbol found to the lower right of the virtual keyboard. (To deactivate the chord input, simply click on the symbol again.)<\/p>\n Please note: if you’re regularly writing chords, perhaps for a choir or for the piano, it’s important to use the correct voices. Check out this video tutorial<\/a> about how to work with several voices.<\/p>\n You can now dock the Input Palette to the lower screen. Simply move the palette towards the lower screen and drag it to one of the two icons.<\/p>\n You now have access to a lot more keys on your virtual keyboard to write your notes and music.<\/p>\n But that\u2018s not all…<\/p>\n If you\u2019re in Select Mode and don’t have any note value selected, you can improvise melodies freely on the keyboard without having to notate them.<\/p>\n This is helpful if you just want to try out a melody, or if you\u2019re in the middle of a creative process.<\/p>\n Matt demonstrates how to do this, as well as how to write notes on the score and much more in the following video:<\/p>\n![\"Using](\"http:\/\/www.fortenotation.com\/en\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/notes-1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTriplets<\/h2>\n
Octaves and chords<\/h2>\n
More keys!<\/h2>\n