Tutorials

Tip: Create custom condensing groups

Enable condensing to group together similar instruments on as few staves as possible.
In Layout Options (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+L), you can define your own custom condensing groups.
Choose Players > Condensing and add a new group. Select multiple instruments by holding down Ctrl/Cmd.
You can even group together different instruments for common condensing pairings, such as trombone and tuba.

By default, the format of bar numbers is the same in both the full score and instrumental parts. When working with a large orchestral score, you may wish to format the bar numbers differently, so that they are more frequent, and easier to read at speed.
Start by modifying the bar numbers (score) paragraph style in Engrave > Paragraph Styles…
Then open the Layout Options for the Full score and select the Bar numbers page. Here you will find numerous options for setting the frequency and appearance of bar numbers in the layout, including where to place bar numbers (which can be at multiple positions down the system), and drawing bar numbers in a rectangular or circular enclosure.

Use the new Edit Lyrics dialog, added in Dorico 3, to review a whole line of lyrics at once.
Seeing the entire line of lyrics in one place can make it easier to spot and fix mistakes.
Open the dialog by selecting a lyric in the line that you would like to edit in Write mode, and choosing Edit > Lyrics > Edit Line of Lyrics….
Make the necessary changes to any incorrect lyrics, ensuring that you do not add or remove any words or syllables. The total number of lyrics must be the same as when you opened the dialog, or Dorico will not be able to resolve your changes. Refer to the label at the bottom of the dialog to check the current number of lyrics matches the target.
Press OK to apply your changes and close the dialog.

Sometimes you may wish to show chord symbols only in specific bars for a layout, such as slash regions.
In Setup mode, right click the relevant player and choose Chord Symbols > Show in Chord Symbol and Slash Regions.
Adding further slash regions will reveal existing chord symbols.
You can also define your own regions that will display chord symbols. Make a selection in the score and choose Write > Create Chord Symbol Region.
Chord Symbol Regions can be moved, lengthened and shortened.

Dorico can show music for fretted instruments both as standard notation and as tablature.
Use Layout Options to choose whether to show music using notation, tab, or both.
When editing the music for a fretted instrument, both the notation and the tablature is updated.
You can even choose to display notation in one layout and tab in another.

Dorico can automatically calculate the pedal positions required for a harp to play the written music.
Any notes that out not playable using the current pedal positions are displayed in red. This is controlled by the View > Notes And Rest Colours > Notes Out Of Range menu item.
Select a note where you would like to change the harp pedaling, and choose Write > Calculate Harp Pedal. Dorico looks ahead in the music and creates a pedal diagram that will work for as long as possible. When you come to a note coloured red, this indicates that a change in harp pedaling is required, and you can create a new pedal diagram at this point using the same menu item.
When creating subsequent pedal diagrams, Dorico can create a partial diagram displaying only the pedals that must be changed to a new position. This can be controlled for all diagrams in the project using Engraving Options, or for individual diagrams using the properties panel.
You can choose to display full harp pedal changes using note names or a diagram. This can be set on a per-layout basis, using Layout Options, or for individual pedal changes using the properties panel.

Enable chord diagrams by switching to Setup mode, right-clicking a player and choosing Chord Diagrams, selecting the tuning that you want to show.
Chord diagrams show beneath chord symbols, and now when you add a new chord symbol, the appropriate diagram is displayed automatically.
Chord diagrams—in different tunings—can be shown on multiple staves; simply enable them for different players.
Press Alt+Q to cycle between the different fingering variants for a chord diagram.
Press Shift+Alt+Q to open a dialog that lets you choose from all possible alternatives.

With note input enabled, press Shift along with the up/down arrow keys to extend the caret onto adjacent staves.
Now, when you enter notes, they will be created on all staves the caret crosses.
Input other notations, such as slurs and articulations, dynamics etc. and they will be created for all staves.
When using a MIDI keyboard, as you play chords Dorico will automatically explode them across the staves.

Easily edit the paragraph style used for all staff labels, using Engrave > Paragraph Styles.
To edit the text and/or style for an individual staff label, switch to Setup mode and expand the relevant player card.
Hover over the instrument label and click the arrow to open the menu, then choose Edit Names…
You can spread staff labels over multiple lines, and edit using Dorico’s standard text editor, even changing the font and colour used by the label.
You can change the staff label for both the full name and short name for an instrument, which are set to be shown on the Staves and Systems page of Layout Options.