Typing in musical sharps, flats, etc.

[RChalmers2]

Newbie question:  How can I type in musical symbols for sharps, flats, etc.?  I do notice that some fonts have some musical symbols. Aerial, for example, has quarter notes, eigth notes and a sharp sign. It does not (or I can't find) a symbol for a flat.  I can't seem to use unicode because it doesn't work, or maybe I don't know how to insert unicode fonts correctly in InDesign.  Is there a font that would have sharps, flats, major and minor symbols, etc.?  

I'd like to be able to use my choice of font if that is possible.

thanks!

[Jumpenjax]

I would reccommend you download a music font if you use them often. There are tons out on the web for free. Here is one link:

https://www.fontspace.com/category/music,notes

[RChalmers2]

Here's what I don't understand:  Say I put a musical symbol in the body of some text, say F flat ( where I use the musical flat symbal which is kind of like the lower case b).  I have to size it to go with the font in the copy and then if I need to change the size of the font in the copy, then the size of the flat gets changed also and then I have to go back and readjust all the flat symbols.  It would be ideal to have musical symbols as part of the font.

[Test Screen Name]

This is why music typesetting apps are popular. It needs special handling that isn't part of standard DTP. There may be music typesetting apps that can export graphics for use in InDesign; there might even be InDesign plug-ins. Otherwise, this is going to be slow tedious work.

HOWEVER, your comment " then I have to go back and readjust all the flat symbols." suggests you are missing one of the most important features of InDesign: styles. If you use consistent styles for all your musical characters, you only have to change it once. I have a simple rule: if you are DIRECTLY changing anything about the font for some text in InDesign, you're doing it wrong! Imagine those options don't exist, and use styles, every time, for every document, every character.

[RChalmers2]

SUPER HELPFUL!  Thank you!  I watched a five minute video on character styles and it TOTALLY helped!  Great advice.  Thanks a bunch!

[Jumpenjax]

I have also created symbols and just paste them into my copy field and it can be adjusted to any size and does not affect the type. You may have to adjust the leading sometimes.