Every melody note in a song has a rhythmic value.  The rhythmic value refers to the duration or length of time for a particular note, defined as the number of beats the note (or rest) should last.  See the About Rhythmic values section for the range of rhythmic values supported in FastChords.

This section describes how to enter the rhythmic value of melody notes.  The next section describes the process for rests.

Typically, entering rhythmic values is the last step undertaken when entering full songs.  See The Best Way to enter Full Songs.

The process consists of advancing though each chord/melody note in the chords table and using the buttons shown below to set the rhythmic values.

1) Use the left and right arrows to select the desired rhythm.

2) If the note is a tie, click the button.  See Special Case: Ties.

3) If the note is part of a triplet, click the button. See Special Case: Triplets.

There is no Enter button when setting rhythmic values, your actions immediately affect the current chord in the chord table.  This is brought to your attention by displaying the current chord as shown here.

Important: When entering rhythmic values for a group of chords in the chords  table (chords that may or may not contain melody notes), like when entering all rhythmic values for a song, clicking on the currently selected rhythmic value for notes sets the rhythmic value for the current chord to that value and advances to the next chord in the chords table.

examples of rhythmic values as they appear in the chords table

1/4

Quarter note

t  1/4

Tied quarter note

3  1/4

Triplet quarter note

t 3  1/4

Tied triplet quarter note

r  1/4

Quarter note rest

r 3  1/4

Rest with duration of triplet quarter note