Banjo Al - Posted - 03/24/2011:  17:54:34

How do I make a measure "short". In the piece I am trying to put in, the 1st measure should only be 1 beat. then the last measure before the repeat should only be 3 beats.

Thanks in advance,

alan

WesBrown - Posted - 03/24/2011:  18:12:36

Well, technically the measure is not "short". In 4/4 time, each measure has 4 beats . In your case, the first three notes are silent, so you put one note in the 4th beat. Usually on an ending measure, the 1 note is the first one and the rest of the measure is silent. You don't need to put any notes in if they are silent, just put the note you want in the correct position.

Banjo Al - Posted - 03/24/2011:  18:24:54

It isn't silent. The measure itself truly only contains 1 beat in the first measure, and 3 beats. So when you play it, there is a full measure at the repeat. (3 beats at the end, and 1 at the beginning.

WesBrown - Posted - 03/24/2011:  18:43:41

Al, in 4/4 time EVERY measure has 4 beats, sounded or silent. in 2/4 time, there are two beats per measure. You can have 1 note held for the duration of 4 beats, but in a banjo that is mostly implied since a note does not ring that long. But you can allow enough time in the measure for any one else in the band to play notes, and you write it in such a way that you play first, or you play last, or you play somewhere in the middle. There is also 3/4 time, or waltz time. But as far as I am aware there is no such thing as 1/4 time since that is just a sound and not a rhythm pattern.

Banjo Al - Posted - 03/24/2011:  19:28:39

I don't think I am communicating very clear. The full measure has four beats. The lead-in to the song has 1 beat in its "partial" measure, and the "partial" measure before the repeat has 3 beats. Clearly it is all in 4/4 time but for convenience in phrasing the sheet music makes it look like there are two "short" measures.

Does this make any sense? If not, I can try to scan in an example from existing tab.

banjotom2 - Posted - 03/24/2011:  20:02:30

Wes and Banjo Al,

It is common to have 'incomplete', lead-in measures at the beginning of songs.

Where you start counting AFTER the first beat.

For a shorter, lead-in measure:

1. Score (drop-down menu)

2. Time Signature

3. Reset the time signature number here (It will be highlighted and waiting for you to put whatever number of beat units, such as quarter notes, etc.).

4. If you DON'T want this shortened time signature to appear in the printed tab, you have the option of "Don't Print", a little square box (of three choices) that can be checked for NO signature to print or 'checked' for a signature to print. This can also be done for ANY measure in any song, i.e., if the time signature changes once or more than once in a more complicated piece of music.

5. Hit "APPLY" and your shortened lead-in measure will be there and separated by a double bar.

If you decide, down the road or further into the music piece to copy the measures that include the double bar... it will indeed copy and get pasted wherever you put it. Sometimes folks, such as myself, want what's in a measure touched by a double bar, but they don't want to copy the double bar... In this instance, I just select and copy the measures I want... paste them where needed and do the same for any underlying accompaniment.

Hope this helps...


Tom

banjotom2.com

Edited by - banjotom2 on 03/24/2011 20:09:38

WesBrown - Posted - 03/24/2011:  20:03:45

I think I understand what you are saying. You can, in Tabledit go under the SCORE menu heading, and select TIME SIGNATURE and change for the measure you are wanting. For the next measure, you will need to change the Time Signature back to 4/4 time in order to continue. But that is really incorrect. You really should show a 4 beat measure, with only the last note being played. You put this note in the position of the 4th beat of the meaure, and your next note then comes in measure two. In your last measure, you put only the first 3 notes in the first 3 beat positions, and leave the 4th beat position blank. When in fact you play a repeat, your single lead-in note will fall in that last position. You could, in the last measure, change the time signature to 3/4 time to have only 3 beats in the last measure, but that is really not a correct depiction of the rhythm of the song. The measures are intended to visually portray the rhythm of the song, otherwise there would be no need to bother with measure separators, just stick a bunch of notes one after the other. You can play it any way you like, but if you want others to follow what you are writing, you should show that the song repeats on the 4th beat of the ending measure and thus has no pauses.

MDHayden - Posted - 03/24/2011:  20:59:58

As usual, there is not just one answer here. It's probably true that most songs carry one time signature from start to finish. But there are also some that change during the song. Hot Corn, Cold Corn is one that comes to mind. It's Earl's arrangement, so it has to be right - Right? Just kidding!
I think Clinch Mountain Backstep also has a change in it.

Happy Picking,
-Mark

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 03/25/2011:  20:43:45

A lot of people have trouble with pick up measures. I simply change the time sig for the first measure to (usually) 1/4 and then change the last measure to 3/4. I check the "do not print" box and don't call them "pick-up measures" because, even though that is exactly what they are, it screws things up (I no longer remember in exactly what way since it was several years ago that I learned the program). Anyway , changing just those measures gives me what looks like standard Notation for the final product and it still plays perfectly with the MIDI.

If you download my free ebook
rsb.pricklypearmusic.net
you can look over the 40 or so tune tefs and see how all this works. Assuming you already have Tabledit, you can also take the tabs apart and check out everything about my methods. From what you say, my method would probably be yours too. I can answer some questions on general use of Tabledit too, but I'm no real expert.

Edited by - oldwoodchuckb on 03/25/2011 20:45:45