- In Dorico, there is no penalty for changing your mind. If you decide that the first bar of your piece should be a pick-up bar, it is very easy to edit.
- Remove the unwanted time at the beginning of the first bar. You can do this either by using the System Track (hold down Alt/Option in order to be able to select beats rather than bars), or by using the Shift+B Bars and Barlines popover. The syntax for removing time is a minus sign followed buy a number and the unit (q = quarter note, e = eighth note and so on).
- Edit the time signature/meter to include a pick-up bar by double-clicking it, and adding the number of beats the pick-up should have after a comma.
- It doesn’t matter which order you perform these two actions.
How do I insert a pick-up that is LESS than a beat, say, an eighth note?
@Ville: You can type fractions of beats into the Shift+M popover, e.g. to start a 4/4 time signature with a single eighth note (quaver), type 4/4,0.5 into the popover.
How do I sort the last bar out to match the pick up?
If you have the system track shown (Opt/Alt-T if you don’t already) then hold down the Opt/Alt key and hover over the system track in your final bar. Then drag to select the beat(s) that you want to delete and click on the trash can/bin.
None of this works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Anastasios: Sorry to hear you’re having problems with this. If you need further assistance, please come to the forum where we can help you most effectively.
I’ve got Dorico Pro 3. I am not able to insert a pickup bar at the very beginning of the piece. I am not able to get rid of the rests. What am I doing wrong please? Joseph
@Joseph: Please come along to the Dorico forum where we can help you.
Thanks for the short video, that worked just fine!
I think that this are still too many steps to do something that basic (and I say this as a great Dorico fan). Why not something simple? let’s say: Select the notes or the part of the measure, right click contextual menu, create pick-up measure). The fact I have to see this video every time I have to create a pickup measure tells you how unintuitive this method is. It’s just difficult to remember.
I have been trying to create a pickup bar on and off for several months for various pieces of music. I have even just exported an xml from staffpad, but Dorico has over written this and decided to do its own thing. At this point I am so frustrated that such a basic task is unobtainable. Shall I finally just give up! Despite selecting the notes in the system track and pressing delete, it just moves everything else around, or does something else unfathomable. Please help!!!
I would like to add my voice here as well. There has to be an easier way devs. This is such a common need and the fact that I have to look it up literally every time is frustrating. I think someone just mentioned the possibility of right clicking and adding a pick up bar. Love the software otherwise, thanks ya’ll.
This tip is so helpful! I never thought about using the first bar as a pick-up bar in Dorico. It really changes the way I approach my compositions. Thanks for sharing!