Questions & Answers

Rest Within Chord

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asked Jan 5, 2021 in Notion by johnweinshel (180 points)

BWV 846's bass clef starts with a half note, above which is a shorter rest tied to 2 other notes that, with the rest, complete a half-note duration. How to enter that rest? I can only find ways in the manual to enter multiple notes in the same time space, not a combination note/rest of different durations. I'm describing the half-note C and 16th rest below the word 'legato'.

Bach Prelude in C - BWV 846

1 Answer

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answered Jan 7, 2021 by roberttrede (3,150 points)

Hey John,

I am not sure if this solution will work, as I am new to Notion and am trying to figure out some basics of using the program. (I'm finding documentation/training for Notion to be rather dreadful... But I digress. )

In programs like Guitar Pro 7.5, when working with notes/rests of different durations (even within the same chord), I can use up to four voicings to enter maverick notes/rests within any given measure to assure that each voice meets the beat requirements for that measure. For example, playing chord-melody on a guitar, the player often plunks out a couple of bass notes with his/her thumb per measure. In the "middle" might be some arpeggiated chord notes, and "on top" might be the melody notes. So this comprises 3 separater voices, each of which must total to the correct number of beats in any given measure. (Sorry for the long explanation, but I just wanted to paint an accurate picture of my thought process.

So were I using a program like GP7.5 and was trying to find a place on the staff for that 1/16th note rest, for that particular measure, I would create a separate "voice" in that particular measure that contained the rest and the remainder of the notes to complete the measure. 

I'm trying to figure out how to do that in Notion, however. So far, it appears that Notion supports only two voices (a "low voice" and a "high voice") but I could be wrong. Anyway, even limited to two voices, it might be a viable solution for you to create a separate voice during the duration of that measure and use that voice for inserting the rest where you want it. The unknown "fly in the ointment" might be how Notion displays separate voices. If both (lower and upper) voices can be displayed on the same staff line, then it should work... If, however, Notion displays separate voices on separate staff line, that solution would be ugly.

It's just a thought. Good luck! 

asked Jan 7, 2021 in Notion by johnweinshel (180 points) Good Workaround
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