MusicEd© Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I use this?

There is a video located at http://www.musicteachertools.com/useit which will show you how to get started with MusicEd. Essentially, within whatever program you are using, you will do the following:

1. Select MusicEd from the font menu (sometimes under the FORMAT menu in some programs). MusicEd may appear in the menu as just symbols and shapes and may not actually read “MusicEd.” Because MusicEd is a font which features symbolic characters mapped onto alphabet characters, this will happen and is normal.
2. After you’ve selected MusicEd for use, type away! Referring to the character map, you’ll notice that the following text:

   

   Looks like this with MusicEd:

   

3. You may find that selecting certain characters with the mouse after they’ve been entered is a bit problematic (especially with the top numbers of time signatures). This is because in order to stack characters and allow for accurate rhythmic spacing, some characters will seemingly not advance the curor – that is, after you type the character, the cursor seems to stay in place. Because of this, it is often necessary to highlight past the characters in order to ensure that all are selected.

Why aren’t my multi-line rhythms aligning properly?

Chances are you hit the spacebar upon entering rhythms. Each rhythmic character is set to space properly in multi-line format without the use of the spacebar. Rhythms should always be entered as a continuous string of characters with no spaces.

How do I incorporate ties and accents?

This is where the ingenuity of the MusicEd font lies. To apply an accent to a rhythmic character, make that character bold. To apply a tie to a rhythmic character, make the character italic. To apply an accent and a tie to a rhythmic character, make the character bold-italic.

Using an example similar to the one used earlier in the FAQ, we notice the following string of characters pre-MusicEd formatting:

Now, the MusicEd font is applied and…

Viola – ties and accents! A few notes:

• When tying over the barline, you must use the with SHIFT version of the character with italic. Likewise, this holds true for using a tie with an accent in which case you’d use the with SHIFT version of the character with bold-italic. In the example above notice how the bold-italic uppercase Q represents the accented quarter-note tied over the barline. Because of the nature of ties and rhythmic durations, it is simply impossible to have the cursor accurately place the barline as a separate character (normally the ‘\’ character).

On the character map, what do you mean by “without SHIFT” and “with SHIFT”?

Essentially, we mean lowercase and uppercase letters. MusicEd is formatted so that the following will happen with each character type:

• Rhythms
  • Without SHIFT (lowercase): Normal rhythms
  • With SHIFT (uppercase): Rests
• Time signatures
  • Without SHIFT: The top number (number of beats)
  • With SHIFT: The bottom number or note equivalent (beat value)
• Handsigns
  • Without SHIFT: Diatonic solfege
  • With SHIFT: Chromatic or other solfege (upper Do, Di, Me, Fi, Te)
• Keyboard
  • Without SHIFT: Regular keys
  • With SHIFT: Depressed keys (marked).

Microsoft Word keeps changing the first character of each line or is showing me those annoying spelling and grammar, red and green lines. How do I get rid of them?!

Remember that Microsoft Word, Power Point, and other programs do not know the difference between a music font like MusicEd and a text font like Times New Roman. As far as Word is concerned, you are simply typing letters (though you know you are getting symbols). It is possible to disable spell check and grammar check in Microsoft Word and other programs. The movie at http://www.musicteachertools.com/useit explains this procedure in detail for Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint. For other programs, refer to the user manual for the respective program.

How do I write triplets?

Well… admittedly this is the one downfall of this font. Wanting to make sure the font had a minimum amount of characters, could easily be used on both Mac and PC, and would rhythmically space out properly in multi-line contexts, we decided not to incorporate triples into MusicEd. It is simply too difficult to incorporate a flexible and consistent approach to triplets without compromising one of these concerns.

This font is great! Can I use it in my pedagogy book that I’m about to publish (or other publication)?

As laid out in the End User License Agreement (EULA), you are entitled to use MusicEd and MusicEd Rhythm Sticks for your own personal use with the standard license. In order to be used in commercial publication (print, internet, or otherwise), a special commercial license must be obtained from MusicTeacherTools. Rates are calculated on a per case basis. Contact us for more information.

I’ve got an idea for new characters to include. Do you take idea submissions?

We are always listening. Email us at admin@musicteachertools.com with any questions, concerns, or ideas.