Tutorial: Using the Menu and Button Tips to Remember Shortcuts

In Composer there are usually two, and sometimes three different ways to issue a command:

1.      Use a menu command.

2.      Click a button on the main toolbar or the palette.

3.      Type a keyboard shortcut.

In general, using the menu is the least convenient way to issue a command. When buttons in the toolbar or palette are available, you might find these to be the most convenient way to issue a command if your style of using the computer is "mouse oriented". If your style is "keyboard oriented", then you will likely be pleased with Composer's keyboard shortcuts.

Most command shortcuts in Composer are a series of letters typed one after another. They are almost always a meaningful abbreviation for the command, which makes it easy to remember.

For example, if you want to change the duration of a selected note, type "4" to change it to a quarter note, "16" to change it to a sixteenth note, and "81d" to change it to a dotted eighth note (8th and 1 dot).

There are many commands that are not specific to a particular type of music symbol and corresponding palette, These commands are available only in menus. The shortcuts for these commands always start with the letter "q". The real reason that they begin with "q" is that this letter is rarely used and so does not conflict with potential use of command letters for palette commands. But, to help you think about it, we call these "Quick" commands. You have perhaps already used the shortcut "qsplh" for Quick Split Hands. No command is more than five letters long. We believe it is easier to remember, and also to type, "qsplh" for Quick Split Hand, than it is to remember, say, CTRL+ALT+S.

Composer does have a few shortcuts that require holding down one key while typing another. Usually this is a combination of an arrow key (, , , or ) and a letter. For example, this tutorial already described D+ and D+ as the shortcuts for increasing and decreasing the duration of a selected note.

How do you find the shortcut for a command? The answer in Composer is no different than in any well-designed Windows application.

To find the keyboard shortcut for a toolbar or palette button:

     Hold the mouse over the button for a brief moment.

Composer will display a button tip such as the following:

The shortcut for Zoom In is Z+. The button tip also offers the hint that you can type Z+ENTER to set the zoom level to normal 100%.

To find the keyboard shortcut for a menu command:

     Open the menu, and see the keyboard shortcut listed to the right of the command name.

For example, open the View menu and the Zoom submenu, and you will find Z+ listed as the shortcut for the Zoom In command.

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