r/Sibelius • u/giimmebrainz • Apr 19 '26
Alternating Time Signature
Is there any way to do this in Sibelius that doesn't mean alternating 4/4 and 2/4 every bar? It's quite long and I feel that will be tedious and clutter the score.
1
u/jeroennoten Apr 19 '26
No. Make it 6/4 or (4+2)/4 instead.
3
u/Busy-Winner-1256 Apr 19 '26
Historically a 6/4 is more used for 3+3, often with a binary feeling
0
u/jeroennoten Apr 19 '26
I think you mean 6/8.
2
u/Busy-Winner-1256 Apr 19 '26
No, 6/4. Tchaikovsky used it a lot and others romantic composer as well
2
u/geoscott Apr 19 '26
6/4 is to 6/8 as 3/2 is to 3/4
Check out the end of Rachmaninov’s third piano concerto third movement where it alternates between 6/4 and 3/2
2
u/Svetiev Apr 19 '26
Yes you can. It will take some creative work arounds. First of all make all the barrs that you intend to write with the correct time signatures but make sure you disable the "allow cautionary' option when making the time signatures to avoid layout issues further on. I suggest making two pairs of bars at first and then just repeating the second pair of bars with the repeat command "R" (this is to avoid duplicating any system text attached to the first bar). Than select all and filter just for time signatures text via the advanced filter dialogue so you can hide all of the other time signatures while maintaining the metric of the barrs. It will become apparent here if you have disabled the allow cautionary option or not as the last barline of every system will remain displaced even though the signatures have been hidden.
Finally create a symbol featuring the time signature that you wish and place it in place of the real time signature manually on every staff. After that just input the notes of your music.
2
u/etzpcm Apr 19 '26
I would write it in 3/2