Sibelius Introduction

In the main desktop click on the Sibelius icon. It will be positioned in the
dock along the bottom of the Mac desktop. It looks like this:

This will appear when you first open Sibelius. You have not saved
anything previously so you will have to start a new score. We are going to
make it a blank score.
 So far you have a blank page
You will need to add instruments to your score

Choose the ‘type’ of instrument you want then choose the specific
instrument you want. Click on it and press ‘Add to Score’ and it will
appear on the right hand side.

You can now see that an instrument and some music bars have been
added to your blank page.
You now need to add the time signature. In the task bar click ‘Notations’
and ‘Time Signature’

Choose whatever time signature your piece is. Look at the start of your
music. Common time signatures are
and

Your arrow will turn blue. Click at the

place you want the time signature to
go to place it.

Now choose your key signature. ‘Notations’

then ‘Key Signature.

You can find out what key you are in by looking to see if there are any
sharps (#) or flats (b) at the start of the music you are putting into
Sibelius.
You now need to make sure you have the correct amount of bars to
create your music. For example, if you are creating a 16 bar melody, you
will need to add more bars as you only have 5 above.

Go to ‘Add’
Select ‘multiple or Irregular bars’

Enter the number of bars that you need. We already have 5. Say we need
16. You will need to add another 11. Your arrow will go blue. Click on the
staves to add the bars you have chosen.
On the page you have 3 different icons that are there for you to use when
creating your music.

‘Navigator’ - This helps you to

move through your music. If you
grab it with your mouse you can
look at different pages of the
music.

‘Playback’ - This allows you to

listen back to any music you
have input. The icons are the
same as the ones you would find
on a CD or DVD player.

‘Note Keypad’ - This is where you would

find all the notes to put on your music. You
would select one with your cursor and put
it on to the correct lines and spaces. If you
hover over each note, it will tell you in
brackets what the note is called if you are
unsure. E.g.. Crotchet or quaver.
 You now need to start inputting notes into your music.

1. Select the note value you want to use from the keypad icon (the
arrow cursor will turn blue when you do this)

2. Now position the cursor on the line or space that you want the note
to go and click (a shadow will appear on the lines and spaces where
the note will appear before you click)

(Above is the example of the shadow note before you click the mouse)

Continue to input your notes onto the lines and spaces. If you make a
mistake press ‘Command and Z’ on your computer keyboard to undo.

If at any point you want to hear your piece then you can use the different
buttons on the playback icon. This will let you hear what you have input.
This is a good way of hearing whether you like what you have input or
whether you would like to change anything.
 Possible problems that might happen:

1. You need to position the note correctly in the bar. E.g. If you position
a minim at the start of the bar and want to put another one in after it,
make sure you don’t go too near the first note or Sibelius will change
the note value. See below:

You want to replace the minim rest so place the cursor over start of the
rest and place the note there.

If you go to near the first note this will happen:

OR

While your cursor is still blue, any time you click somewhere a note will
appear and can sometimes edit the notes you have already selected. To
get the blue arrow to go back to white press the escape button on your
keyboard.
Icons have disappeared?

Click on ‘View’ along the top of the page

Click on ‘Panels’ and make sure that there is a tick beside ‘Keypad’
‘Transport Bar’ and ‘Navigator’.
 Extra Information to add to your music

Dynamics:

• Press and hold ‘Command’ on the keyboard and press the E key.
• The cursor should turn blue again.
• Click below the line of music where you want the dynamic marking to
appear.
• The cursor should flash for you to input you dynamic.
• Right click the mouse and a variety of dynamics should appear.
• Select the dynamic marking you want to appear there.
• Do the same for any other points in the piece you would like to add
dynamics.

Once the dynamic is in place, you can also move it if you have placed it at
the wrong point of the bar. Simply click and drag the dynamic. Do not
drag it to a different bar in the music as this will not play back correctly
when you listen to it. If it is in the wrong bar then simply delete it and start
again.
Articulation

This passage helps you to add:

• Staccato markings
• Legato markings
• Pause
• Crescendo markings
• Repeat barlines

Staccato Markings

Enter your music as normal and add the staccato marks after. If it is a
whole bar you want to make staccato you click on the centre of the bar so
that it turns blue.

Then on your keypad press the little dot in the top right corner

Your notes will now have

staccato marks underneath
them like this

Legato Markings

Enter your music as normal and add the legato marks after.
Select the note you want the legato to start on. It will turn blue. Then go to
‘Notations’ along the top and click on ‘Slur’.
A small curved line will appear. Grab the end of the curve and stretch it to
the note you want the legato to end on.

Pause

Select the note that you want to add the pause to then select the pause
symbol from the note keypad.

This will take you into different types of markings. You

want to choose the curved symbol. This will then appear
above your selected note.

Crescendo

Select the bar you want the crescendo to appear in by clicking on it so

that it turns blue. Then go to ‘Notations’ and click ‘Crescendo. The
crescendo will now appear in your music.
Repeat Barlines

Select the barline you want to change. This will usually be at the end of a
section. The barline will turn blue. Go to ‘Notations along the top and click
on ‘Barline’. Select the barline you want. In this example I have selected
an ‘End Repeat’ for you to see.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Using keyboard shortcuts can save time and make creating a score very
simple.
Here are a few basic shortcuts to remember.

ACTION DIRECTIONS
Create New ⌘N
Close File ⌘W
Open File ⌘O
Cut ⌘X
Copy ⌘C
Paste ⌘V
Undo ⌘Z
Redo ⌘Y
Save File ⌘S
Input Notes N
Instruments I
Key Signature K
Line L
Symbol Z
Time Signature T
Cut Bar Click bar then ⌘