Control the appearance of tied notes

Ties display the underlying rhythmic divisions of notes held over several beats, for easier readability. Notes connected with a tie represent a single MIDI note event.

Ties are displayed automatically according to the length of the MIDI note and the rhythmic divisions of the score (time signature). If you don’t like the way a tied note is displayed, you can change the display by inserting a user rest at the position you want to see a graphic note. You can’t add ties to notes manually.

Create tied notes

  1. Insert a note with a value shorter than the one you want it to have.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Change the note length in the Event inspector, the Event List, or the Event Float window.

    • Use the note’s duration bar to graphically edit the note length.

Tip: For information about using duration bars, see Display duration bars and Change the length of duration bars.

Change the display of tied notes with a user rest

  • Insert a short rest following the tied note.

The length of the rest is not important, but you should use a shorter one (an eighth note rest), if possible. Watch the help tag for exact positioning. After the rest is inserted, it’s no longer visible in the score display, but the note display changes accordingly.

Note: If you want to delete or change the position of an invisible user rest, use the Event List.

Change the direction of a tie

  • Choose a setting from the Score Editor’s Functions > Note Attributes > Ties submenu.