Noterow Assistant Quick Start

Noterow Assistant operates in 2 modes

  1. In Chord mode, selected with the File|Chords command, you can look up chord names and chord grids and automatically insert them in such target applications as Noteworthy Composer and Microsoft Word for Windows.
  2. In Symbol mode, selected with the File|Symbols command, you can view the symbols contained in various fonts and automatically insert them in selected applications.

Chord Mode

Noterow Assistant fonts: Noterow Assistant uses two special fonts to display chord names and grids. The chord-name font, NRModern, can be used to produce names like

Am7 Ebm^7

The grid font, NRGrid5, can be used to create guitar grids like

It can also be used to create ukulele and mandolin grids.

Beta-version font quality: The beta versions of these fonts are "unhinted" -- they lack the extra information needed to produce truly high quality screen images. They do look great on a printer, however. The fonts will look better if you use StartMenu|Settings|ControlPanel|Display|Effects|SmoothEdgesOfScreenFonts to turn on font smoothing.

The File Menu: Opening chord libraries and library management. Noterow Assistant comes with several chord libraries, including a standard guitar library that contains more than 20,000 chords and a basic guitar library that contains easy versions of most commonly encountered chord grids. Use the File|OpenChordLibrary command to open these libraries. Other useful library management tools are also listed on the File menu. The File|LibraryProperties command is particularly helpful as it lets you control the displayed set of chord roots, chord types, and bass notes. The File|CreateChordChart command prints the contents of the open library to an HTML document that can be opened in a web browser. You can then cut and paste from the HTML document to a word processor or other application.

Other libraries, say for special guitar tunings, are easily constructed. To build a new library, first create it using the File|NewLibrary command. You can then find and add grids by using the Search command on the Add/Search menu. You can also build grids by clicking on numbers and letters on the fretboard. Choose the Add command from the Add/Search menu to add the grids you have constructed to the library. The Add and Search commands will also add grids to existing libraries. The Edit|RemoveGridFromLibrary command will delete a grid from a library.

NRAssistant's fretboard doesn't exploit all of the grid-making capabilities of the NRGrid5 font. For example, the Am7 chord Am7 can also be written Am7 Such grids are not hard to create, but they must be entered by hand. It you use the File|Symbols command to switch NRAssistant to Symbol mode and then view the NRGrid5 font, you'll see the full set of available characters and some examples.

The Options menu. Most items on the options menu are self explanatory, but a few need added explanation.

Grid fingering. The Options|ShowFingering command turns grid fingering on and off. By clicking on the hyphens at the bottom of the fretboard you can also set your own fingering. You can save custom-fingered chords to a library if you want to override the fingering contained in the library.

Playing Chords. The Options|Sound command controls the sound settings. You can make Noterow Assistant play grids as you left click on them or you can set it to play grids only when asked. Noterow Assistant can also be set to play as you click on the fretboard strings and strum while holding the mouse button down.

There are 3 ways to get Noterow Assistant to play the notes corresponding to a grid.
    1. Right click on a grid and select Play from the context menu.
    2. Choose play from the Edit menu
    3. Click on the grid displayed above the Chord Name box.

Pasting chord names and grids into a target application
  1. Open a document in the target application.
    1. If your target is Noteworthy Composer, you may want to base your new score on one of the templates that Noterow Assistant has placed in NWC's template folder. These templates are automatically available when you create a new NWC score. In these templates, the NRGrid5 font has been assigned to the "User 5" font (found on NWC's File->PageSetUp->Fonts tab) while the NRModern font has been assigned to "User 6." Sample Noteworthy Composer songs can be accessed from Noterow Assistant's Help menu.
    2. If your target is Microsoft Word, you may want to place a table at the top of the target Word document. You can then paste chord names and grids into the table while placing song words and the associated chord names below.
  2. Return to Noterow Assistant and use the Edit|ChooseCopy/PasteTarget command to choose a target. If your target is Noteworthy composer, you should also specify the the fonts to which NRGrid and NRModern have been assigned in NWC.
  3. Select a chord root, a chord type, and a bass note. Then choose a grid or construct one by clicking on the fretboard. The Options menu contains a number of commands that influence the choice of grids and the manner in which grids are presented.
  4. Click on the Name box and select a format for the chord name. The Options|ChordNameFormattingGuidelines command influences the manner in which these names are formatted.
  5. Click on the Paste/Name or the Paste/Grid button to automatically insert the chord name or the grid in your target application. These buttons also maintain a cache of recently inserted chords. If you use these lists they can substantially speed the chord name/chord grid insertion process. In addition, you can load the cache with commonly used chords for a given key, such as E major.

Grid storage in Noterow Assistant libraries. If you decide to build your own library or add to an existing library, it helps to understand how Noterow Assistant stores grids. Grids are stored in two ways in Noterow Assistant's libraries.
    1. As fixed grids such as A, which contain open strings. Such chords produce only one grid for the library.
    2. As movable grids such as Movable, which contain no open strings and can be played in a variety of fretboard positions. Each movable grid will be displayed in at least 12 positions, corresponding to 12 different roots. Each of these movable grids will also be checked to see if one or more of its muted strings can be unmuted and played as an open string, thus producing another grid.

Noterow Assistant is aware of most chord equivalencies. It knows, for example, that a C6 is also an Am7. Thus, when displaying C6 chords, Noterow Assistant will also display Am7 chords from the library.

If you want to create your own library, you should begin by adding movable grids. Then fill in the gaps in the library by adding fixed grids.

Symbol Mode

  1. Open a document in your target application. If the target is Noteworthy composer, make an appropriate font assignment.
  2. Use Noterow Assistant's File|Symbols command to switch to symbol mode. Then use the Font|ChangeFontsListedOnThisMenu command to specify a selection of available fonts and choose a paste target.
  3. Select the desired font from Noterow Assistant's Font menu.
  4. To paste a symbol to a target application, select the symbol and click on the Paste button. You can also right click on a symbol and select paste from the context menu.

Hotkey Access

While Noterow Assistant is running you can instantly access it from any application by pressing Alt+A. .