Quick Sibelius shortcuts

Click in an empty part of the bar to select the whole bar

For note entry, click on a rest

Option-click anything to copy it

R = repeat (either for notes or whole bars)

K = key signature

Q = clef

T = time signature

S = slur; use space or shift-space to make the slur longer or shorter

H = hairpin; use space or shift-space to make the hairpin longer or shorter

L = line; brings up a dialog with lots of different lines (trill, 8va, etc. etc.)

Command-B = add bars

Command-shift-N = reset note spacing (to make your layout look better)

Unofficial rules for handwritten notation

My unofficial rules for writing music by hand:

1. Always use a straight edge for stems and beams. Beams should be thicker than stems.
2. Stems should extend an octave above or below their notehead. For the middle line and higher, stems go down; below the middle line, stems go up (for ledger lines and beamed notes, these rules can be relaxed so the beaming looks good).
3. Accidentals extend above or below their notehead by a perfect fourth.
4. Plan how many measures you'll have on each staff system, so you don't run out of space.

Music notation links

Links on musical notation:

• Wikipedia, Musical notation
• Basic musical notation
• IMSLP - pdf's for thousands of public-domain works
• Blank staff paper (Google image search - when you're looking for staff paper, make sure the staves aren't too close together; 10 - 12 staves per page is usually good)
• Official "Get started fast" tutorials for Sibelius
• Sibeliusblog.com, an unofficial source for news about the big notation programs: Sibelius, Finale, and the upcoming Dorico.
• And I should link to MuseScore - I can't believe I didn't know about this free program!