User manual

Table Of Contents

A 5/8 time signature input before an existing 4/4 time signature without Insert mode activated, leaving

only three eighth note beats in the second 5/8 bar.

RELATED LINKS

Time signature styles on page 848

Input methods for time signatures on page 211

Beam grouping according to meters on page 511

Time Signatures (Meter) panel on page 213

Creating custom beat groupings for meters on page 525

Bars on page 491

General conventions for time signatures

Over time, the placement and appearance of time signatures has developed conventions to

ensure that their notation is always understood.

Dorico SE follows these conventions

automatically.

Appearance conventions

Time signatures should ll the height of the staff. There is a risk they may not be noticed if they

are smaller. The size of time signatures on staves with fewer than ve lines should be the same

as that of a time signature on an equivalent

ve-line staff.

Time signature on a

ve-line staff Time signature on a single-line staff

Time signatures use a unique, heavy font that ensures they stand out against staff lines, and are

instantly recognizable.

For some types of music, particularly lm music, it is typical to use large time signatures that

span several staves.

Placement conventions

Time signatures should be shown at the start of a piece and at the start of subsequent

movements, if applicable, even if the music carries straight on. They should be placed after clefs

and key signatures.

If time signature changes occur during a piece or movement, it should be placed immediately

after a barline to avoid causing the duration of the previous bar to be different than the previous

time signature implies.