Sibelius G7 User Guide
G7
User guide
supplement
Edition 3.3
July 2004
User Guide Supplement written and typeset by Daniel Spreadbury.
See the
About G7 dialog for full G7 credits.
Please email any suggestions for improvements to this User Guide to
userguide@sibelius.com
(but please do not use this address for suggestions or queries about the G7 program itself – see
the separate
Latest information and technical help sheet for the correct address for your
country).
G7 copyright © Sibelius Software Ltd and its licensors 1987–2004
G7 User Guide Supplement copyright © Sibelius Software Ltd 2004
Published by Sibelius Software Ltd, The Old Toy Factory, 20–22 City North, Fonthill Road, London
N4 3HF, UK
All rights reserved. This User Guide may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic,
recording, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise – in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Although every care has
been taken in the preparation of this User Guide, neither the publisher nor the authors can take responsibility for any loss or damage arising from
any errors or omissions it may contain.
G7, Sibelius, Scorch, Flexi-time, Espressivo, Rubato, Rhythmic feel, Opus, Inkpen2, magnetic, the G7, Sibelius and double helix logos, G7music.net,
‘The fastest, easiest way to create, play and post tab’ and ‘Play, write and publish songs’ are all trademarks or registered trademarks of Sibelius Soft-
ware Ltd in the USA, UK and other countries. All other trademarks are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Updating G7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Registering G7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Reference 11
Chord diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Flexi-time™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Kontakt Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
MIDI devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Opening Finale, Allegro and PrintMusic files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Saving audio tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Saving graphics files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Index 47
License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
3
Start here
Introduction
This supplement includes details of improvements and new features added to G7 since the publication of the original User Guide.
About this User Guide supplement
This supplement is intended to complement, not replace, your existing G7 User Guide. This
means:
* Whether or not you are installing G7 for the first time, you should follow the installation instruc-
tions in this supplement, not the instructions in the main G7 User Guide.
* The Reference section of this supplement contains:
% three completely new topics (e.g. Kontakt Player, Saving audio tracks, Opening Finale,
Allegro and PrintMusic files
% two revised topics that supersede existing topics in your main G7 User Guide (Chord dia-
grams
and MIDI devices); and
% a number of minor additions to existing topics in your main G7 User Guide (Files, Flexi-
time™
, Mixer, Saving graphics files).
What’s new?
If you’re an existing G7 user who has received this supplement together with a new CD-ROM containing the latest version of the software, you may be interested to know about the most important
improvements, which are:
) that are not included in your main G7 User Guide;
* New integrated Kontakt Player sample player, with 20 high-quality instrumental samples – refer
to
Kontakt Player on page 22 of this supplement
* New Save As Audio Track feature, to allow easy creation of tracks for burning onto audio CDs –
refer to
* New features to improve Flexi-time input from MIDI guitars – refer to Using a MIDI guitar on
page 33 in the
* Chord diagrams can now have fingering text above or below them, and more chord shapes are
supported– refer to
* G7 can now export TIFF graphics – refer to TIFF files on page 46 in the Saving graphics files
Saving audio tracks on page 42 of this supplement
MIDI devices topic in this supplement
Fingering on page 15 in the Chord diagrams topic in this supplement
topic in this supplement
* G7 can now import files from Finale, Finale Guitar and other MakeMusic! Inc. products – refer
to
Opening Finale, Allegro and PrintMusic files on page 40 of this supplement
* The Guitar Guide has been revised and updated with new, high-quality photographic illustra-
tions
* Fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.
All of these improvements are detailed in this supplement.
License agreement
The license agreement at the end of this supplement supersedes the license agreement in your
main G7 User Guide.
4
Updating G7
Updating G7
You don’t need to uninstall your existing copy of G7 before installing the new one – just follow the
instructions below to upgrade G7 to the latest version.
Updating G7 for Windows
* Quit G7, if it is running.
* If you haven’t already downloaded the G7 updater from http://www.g7info.com/helpcenter,
do so now.
* Double-click the downloaded G7Update.exe file to launch the updater.
* The updater will tell you to quit all running programs, which you should already have done.
Click
Next.
* You are given the opportunity to read the updated license agreement. This license agreement
supersedes any previous G7 license agreement. Read it, and click
* You will be told that any modified manuscript papers, house style files and other user-editable
components will be copied to a folder called
the update process. Click
* Things will flash and whizz on the screen as G7 is updated. This takes a few seconds.
* You will be told that some files have been copied to the UpdateBackup folder. Click OK.
* You will be told that G7 has been successfully updated. Click Finish.
* You will be asked if you want to run your copy of G7 now. Click Yes (or No, if you wish!).
* G7 will run; you may be prompted that your MIDI device have changed, in which case check the
settings in the
* To verify that your copy of G7 has been successfully updated, choose Help > About G7. At the
Devices dialog that appears, then click OK.
Next.
bottom of the window that appears it should read
UpdateBackup so that they are not overwritten by
Version 3.3.0 build 38. Congratulations!
Next.
If you encounter any problems updating G7, don’t hesitate to contact technical help for assistance.
See the
Latest information and technical help sheet that came in your G7 box for the appro-
priate contact information.
Updating G7 for Mac
* Quit G7, if it is running.
* If you haven’t already downloaded the G7 updater from http://www.g7info.com/helpcenter,
do so now.
* Double-click the downloaded G7 Updater file to launch the updater.
* You are given the opportunity to read the updated license agreement. This license agreement
supersedes any previous G7 license agreement. Read it, and click
* You will be told that no other applications can be running while G7 is updated. Click Continue.
* Things will appear and disappear for a few moments; don’t be alarmed! After a few seconds, a
Accept.
window will appear showing you where the update will be installed. If you have multiple copies
of G7 installed on your computer, you will be able to choose which one to update. Normally,
though, you should just click
Update.
5
Start here
* Things flash and whizz as G7 is updated. This can a minute or two, so be patient.
* You will be told that installation was successful. Click Quit.
* Navigate to the G7 folder on your Mac’s hard disk (normally in Applications), and double-click
the
G7 icon to launch the program.
* G7 will run; you may be prompted that your MIDI device have changed, in which case check the
settings in the
* To verify that your copy of G7 has been successfully updated, choose Help > About G7 (in the
G7 menu on Mac OS X). At the bottom of the window that appears it should read Version 3.3.0
build 38
Devices dialog that appears, then click OK.
. Congratulations!
If you encounter any problems updating G7, don’t hesitate to contact technical help for assistance.
See the
Latest information and technical help sheet that came in your G7 box for the appro-
priate contact information.
Obtaining Kontakt Player and the updated Guitar Guide
The downloadable update for G7 does not include the updated Guitar Guide or Kontakt Player. To
obtain these items, you will need to order the G7 upgrade on CD-ROM from the G7 web site, at
http://www.g7info.com/helpcenter.
6
Registering G7
Registering G7
You should register your copy of G7 in the first few days of using it. This is quick and easy to do,
and once you have registered, you will be eligible for technical help, future upgrades, and access to
the Help Center on the G7 web site (
If you’re an existing G7 user, you will not need to re-register your copy of G7 after installing this
upgrade.
To protect us against piracy, and to protect you against having your software stolen, unregistered
copies of G7 will not save. But so you can use G7 before you get around to registering it, you will be
able to save for the first five days without registering.
You don’t have to register in the first five days, but if you don’t, saving will be temporarily disabled;
when you subsequently get round to registering, it will be re-enabled. (Please don’t try altering
your computer’s date or reinstalling G7 in order to extend the five days; this will not work and will
instead cause saving to be disabled until you register.)
How to register
You are given the opportunity to register G7 each time you run it, but if you don’t want to register
immediately, just click
time by choosing
Register Later to leave it unregistered. You can get this dialog again at any
Help > Register G7.
www.g7info.com).
When you do want to register, you can do so over the Internet (the quickest and easiest of all), or
alternatively by fax or phone – there’s no registration card to return.
You are guided through the registration process by a simple dialog:
* First, you can choose whether to register On the Internet, or By fax or phone. You are strongly
recommended to register on the Internet, as it’s quick, easy and can be done at any time of the
day or night, 365 days a year.
(If you can’t register on the Internet, see
* Just click Next.
* If your computer isn’t already connected to the Internet, G7 will now prompt you to connect;
click
Connect.
* Once it has established a connection, G7 will check the registration status of your copy; if it has
been registered before it will give you a further message. Click
* You will next be prompted to enter your contact details. We need your name and address details
Registering by phone below.)
Yes to proceed.
to enable you to get technical help, future upgrades, etc. We are committed to your privacy – see
Privacy policy below.
Fill in your details, making sure to fill in all required fields and click
* Next you’re asked to fill in some details about your musical interests, how you heard about G7,
Next.
and so on. You are also shown some basic information about your computer setup that you can
choose to send to us so that we can more easily assist you if you require technical help; you are
not obliged to send this information, but it may save you time later if you send it now.
Fill out all the fields, and click
Finish.
7
Start here
* G7 contacts our server, and a few seconds later you will be told that G7 has been successfully
registered.
Registering by phone
We recommend you to register on the Internet instead if possible. But to register by phone:
* Choose Help > Register G7
*
Choose By fax or phone, and click Next.
* Call the appropriate number below, and make sure you can see your computer screen while you
are on the phone
* You will be given a Registration Number (beginning with the letter R) to type into the box on the
screen. When you have typed in the Registration Number, your program will be registered (and
will continue to be able to save).
There’s no need to keep a record of the Computer Number or Registration Number after you have
registered.
Users who purchased in North, Central & South America:
Monday to Friday 7am–4pm PST, except holidays. Call
1-888-280-9995 toll-free (outside the
USA, call 1-925-280-0600). See below for eligibility requirements for educational copies.
Users who purchased in the UK or any other country:
Monday–Friday (except public holidays) 9am–5pm: call
5pm–6pm: call
020 7561 7997 (+44 20 7561 7997)
020 7561 7995 (+44 20 7561 7995);
Running G7 on more than one computer
You can install and register G7 on two computers for your own personal and exclusive use. Both
copies of G7 must be used only by you, and they may not be used simultaneously.
Reinstalling and re-registering G7
If, for any reason, you need to reinstall G7, you can re-register it automatically over the Internet
provided you are reinstalling on the same computer on which you previously had G7 installed.
To re-register, simply use the
Help > Register G7 dialog, in exactly the same way as registering for
the first time. G7 will know that this copy has been registered before.
If you are reinstalling G7 on a different computer, then it will be assumed that you are in fact
installing a second copy of G7 (see
Running G7 on more than one computer above).
Moving G7 to another computer
If you need to move a registered copy of G7 from one computer to another, you can use
Unregister G7
, provided both computers can connect to the Internet.
Help >
When you choose this option, your copy of G7 contacts our server and informs it that the copy
running on that machine is no longer registered, and disables the saving feature on that copy of
G7. You can then install G7 on another computer and use
Help > Register G7 to register G7 over
the Internet in the normal way.
8
Registering G7
This method requires that both computers (the one on which you are unregistering G7, and the
one on which you are subsequently registering G7) be able to connect to the Internet. If either or
both of the computers are unable to connect to the Internet, you should contact G7 technical help
for assistance in moving a registered copy of G7 from one computer to another.
Problems registering G7?
If you have problems registering G7, contact technical help; it doesn’t matter if your free entitlement to technical help by telephone has expired.
Privacy policy
When you register G7 with us, we ask for your software’s serial number, your name, address, email,
phone number, and other details such as your musical activities. Some of this information is optional.
We are commited to protecting your privacy. Your registration information is used for things such
as:
* Providing you with technical help and upgrades
* Finding out what kinds of people use our software
* Informing you by post or email about upgrades, etc. (If you don’t want to receive this informa-
tion, just let us know or use the unsubscribe link in our emails).
For full details of the privacy policy, see
http://www.sibelius.com/privacy
9
Start here
10
Reference
11
Reference
12
Chord diagrams
Chord diagrams
Chord diagrams (sometimes known as chord boxes, fretboard grids, guitar frames, and so on)
illustrate how to play a particular chord on a guitar or other fretted instrument, by showing which
fingers need to be on which fret on each string. They are usually accompanied by text chord symbols, which G7 can include for you.
Adding chord diagrams
To create a chord diagram above the selected note, choose
Shift-K) to get this dialog:
Create > Chord Diagram (shortcut
* The Choose a Chord Diagram options at the left-hand side of the dialog allow you to set the
basic parameters as follows:
% Chord is the key of the chord you want to use
% The middle list determines the kind of chord, e.g. major, minor, augmented, diminished, etc.
% Bass is the bass note of the chord. By default, it’s set to the same pitch as Chord, but you can
change it if you are writing, say, a G chord with a B as the bottom note.
% The large white rectangle shows you the available chords based on the settings chosen in the
dialog
% Show chord symbol adds a text chord symbol above the chord diagram. Switching this on
also shows the chord symbols in the large white rectangle.
% Clicking Edit or New allows you to edit the selected chord diagram or create a new one which
isn’t listed. See
* The Chords Listed options at the right-hand side of the dialog allow you to specify which chord
Editing and saving chord diagrams below for more details.
diagrams appear in the left-hand side of the dialog:
% Tuning: set this option to the tuning of the guitar you are writing chord diagrams for.
% Chords used in this score displays any chord diagrams already used in the score that match
the options currently chosen in the dialog
% Common chords (standard tuning) shows chord diagrams from a built-in selection for
standard 6-string guitar tuning, chosen for their ease of playing; generally, three different fin-
13
Reference
gerings are provided for each chord type: one at (or close to) the nut, one at around the fifth
fret, and one at around the ninth fret.
% All chords tells Sibelius to automatically calculate all the possible fingerings for a given
chord. Note that the shapes generated will be governed by the
Max. stretch setting (see
below). If you are using a special guitar tuning, switching on this option will provide you with
a wide selection of playable shapes for a particular chord, which you can then add to a library.
% Max. stretch n frets determines the maximum distance between the lowest and highest frets
that can be fingered for automatically generated chord diagrams. See
Maximum stretch
below for more details.
% The Chords in library options determine whether Sibelius should display chords from a cus-
tom chord diagram library. See
Chord diagram libraries below for more details.
You can switch on several of the checkboxes at once to list all of their chords together at the lefthand side of the dialog.
When you select one of the chord diagrams at the left-hand side and click
OK, the diagram will be
created above the selected note. If you didn’t have a note selected before you opened the dialog, the
mouse pointer will change color to denote that it’s “loaded” with a chord diagram – just click on
the page where you want it to go.
Maximum stretch
For the automatically generated chord shapes, you can specify the maximum distance that your
fingers can stretch by setting the
Max. stretch option to the desired number of frets.
Editing and saving chord diagrams
If you want to edit a chord diagram shown in the
gram
dialog, select it with the mouse and click the Edit button.
Chord Dia-
If you want to create a new chord diagram from scratch, click
the
New button. In both cases, you’ll see the dialog shown on
the left.
* To place a dot on a string, simply click where you want the
dot to appear
* To specify that the string should be open or unplayed, click
above the top line of the frame to toggle between the O and X
symbols
* To draw a barré, click and drag across the strings you want to
be barréd
* To set the fret number at the top right of the diagram, click
the arrows to the right of the window.
*To set a different chord symbol than the provided default,
switch on
Use custom chord symbol and type the desired chord symbol; see Chord symbols
below for more details.
When you are happy with the chord diagram, click
14
OK to return to the Chord Diagram dialog.
Chord diagrams
If you want to use your edited or new diagram in other scores in future, you should save it into a
chord diagram library, which happens automatically when you click
able library chosen in the drop-down next to the
Add to library checkbox).
OK (as long as you have a suit-
Chord diagram libraries
Libraries make working with chord diagrams very simple. For example, if you always use a specific
set of fingerings for your chords (e.g. jazz voicings, or very simple fingerings for your guitar students), you can set up a library containing just those chords. This makes it much quicker to find
the diagrams you want, and once you’ve set up a library, you can use it in every score you write.
You can even send your library to a friend, or add libraries that others have created.
To cre a t e a li b r ar y, cho ose
Create > Chord Diagram dialog or the Edit Chord Diagram dialog. You will be prompted to type
in a name – make it something memorable like
New Chord Diagram Library... from the drop-down menu in the main
Jazz chords or Easy voicings – then click OK.
To add a chord to your library, simply select it in the white rectangle at the left of the dialog, and
click
Add to Library. (If no library is chosen next to the Chords in library option on the right of
the dialog, you’ll be prompted to choose or create one.)
To use a chord from a library, switch on
Chords in library, choose the appropriate library from the
drop-down, and the chords will be listed at the left-hand side of the dialog.
To remove a chord from your library, make sure
Chords in library is switched on (it’s probably a
good idea to switch off the other three options so only the chords in your library are shown), then
choose the chord you want to remove and click
Delete from library.
If you want to share your chord diagram library with somebody, or want to install a library sent to
you by another user, libraries are stored in the
in your main
Sibelius 3 program folder. Chord library files have the extension .scl.
Chord Shapes folder inside the Resources folder
Fingering
For some guitar scores and educational materials it is conventional to show the fingerings required
to play a particular chord, either above or below (but typically below) each string in a chord diagram. This fingering is represented as a number (1, 2, 3, 4) or in some cases text (e.g. T may be
used to represent the thumb).
G7 allows you to add fingering text to any chord diagram, and you can save fingering in the chord
diagram library for re-use in other scores.
Adding fingering text
To add fingering text to a chord diagram, use the
* Choose Create > Chord Diagram and click New to create a new chord diagram; or
* Double-click an existing chord diagram in your score to open the Chord Diagram dialog, and
click
Edit.
To add fingering text, simply type the desired text in the
* Each string may show a single character as its fingering text.
* You can type any alphanumeric character (i.e. numbers 0-9 and letters A-Z, either upper or
Edit Chord Diagram dialog. Either:
Fingering text box, as follows:
lower case).
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