<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Editing Staves and Formatting Parts > Laying out Pages of a Part > Specifying the Number of Bars Per Line

By default, Composer determines how many bars are displayed in each line of the score.  The number of bars per line can vary among the different lines of the score. Composer offers you control over how many bars are in any given line so that, for example, you can arrange for convenience page breaks in an instrument part.

 

In some types of music, such as Broadway musicals and jazz, it is common practice that each line of the score has a fixed number of bars, typically four.  With a single command, you can specify or change  the number of bars per line at any time, for the entire score (or part) or any range of measures in the score.

 

If you try out Composer's command for specifying a fixed number of bars per line, you will quickly gain insight into how you can also move the measure at the beginning of one line to the each of the previous line. Composer's Number of Bars Per Line command is actually a short-cut for adding Keep Measure With Previous locks on all of the measures of each line.

 

To specify a fixed number of bars per line for some range of measures in a score or page:

-- OR --

Type SHIFT+P. If this takes you to the Page Text Palette instead, type SHIFT+P a second time to go to the Page Layout Palette.

Composer will display the score in Page Layout View.

Composer will display the Number of Bars Per Line dialog box.