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Notating Pentuplets
User Tip #: 93 Offered By: Warren Porter Last Modified: 2003-10-28 17:45:59

Whenever it is necessary to play five sixteenth notes on one beat:

1. Temporarily increase the tempo by a factor of 1.25 (5/4) by inserting a new metronome marking before and after the pentuplet where the second one is the original tempo. Select each tempo marking and Cntl/E to not display them.
   
2. The pentuplet is entered as ordinary 16th notes. Select the five notes and click on the Beam icon. A "5" can be inserted as a text comment over the middle note.
   
3. Notes played concurrently with the pentuplet need to be tied to an equal note with 1/4 the value of the original.
   
4. To properly display these concurrent notes, it will be necessary to create a displayed but muted staff while hiding the original staff. Click on the + icon to create a new staff then return to the staff you need to copy. Press Home, then Shift/End to select everything on the staff, copy it to the clipboard, select the new staff, and paste it.
   
5. Where you have extended the length of a note by a quarter, remove the tie on the original note and hide the new note which now follows it. Hidden notes can still be beamed (if necessary).
   
6. Hide the original, played, non-pentuplet staff by selecting "Page Setup" from the File menu or the "open book" icon. Under the "Contents" tab, uncheck that staff listed in "Visible Parts.
   
7. Steps 3-6 need to be repeated for each staff with notes played concurrently with pentuplets. Where another part contains a rest on that beat, a hidden 16th rest will need to be added at the end of that beat or measure. If another part has a measure rest, a one measure hidden time signature with an extra 16th would work: e.g., if in 3/4 time, create and hide time signatures of 13/16 and 3/4 before and after the pentuplet measure.
   

 93.nwc [2 KB]