Power tips for faster Sibelius use

Some miscellaneous tips to make using Sibelius faster in everyday composing/arranging.

Tip nr 1:

Use the Sibelius Arrange-feature (Notes->Arrange) to quickly spread out chords to a batch of instruments. You can also use the filters (Edit->Filter->Notes in Chords) to do same kind of thing, but the Arrange-feature has a special benefit: It doesn´t mess up Your tuplets.
Copy (or Cut) the chords You want to spread out, select the staves You want to arrange them to, and do the Arrange-thing, selecting either Reduction or Explode. Explore!

Tip nr 2:

Use the Re-Input Pitches to quickly change pitches in a harmonized line (if the rhythm stays exactly the same). Proceed as in inputting regular notes.
In Notes->Re-Input Pitches

Tip nr 3:

There is a keyboard shortcut for almost everything, and if not readily available, You can probably assign one yourself.
-For instance those noteheads with a slash, often used to notate rhythms in popular music: Input a note (maybe middle in the clef?), select it and press shift-alt-4 (main keyboard). And for the slashes without a stem, do shift-alt-3.
-Although Magnetic Layout is really best switched on almost all of the time, there are couple of occasions I will switch it off. If You really want to place some objects close to each other, or clashing on purpose. For this I´ve also assigned a shortcut that toggles magnetic layout on/off.
One such case is harp´s arpeggio lines, which really should be connected to each other.

The more You learn to use keyboard shortcuts, the faster You´ll work with Sibelius. If there is already a keyboard shortcut assigned to a function, You´ll find it in the menu listed on the right side. If not, make Your own (in Preferences->Menus and Shortcuts)


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