We demand that Avid Technology, Inc., the company behind Sibelius notation software, immediately add a feature that allows users to insert an acciaccatura after the main note (i.e. a post-note grace note). This is a basic and essential musical tool. The fact that it’s missing from Sibelius – despite its extensive and advanced notation capabilities – is irrational and unacceptable.

Note: What we are asking for is not an appoggiatura. We are referring specifically to a short, unaccented grace note that follows the main note – a type of ornamentation widely used in oral and traditional music cultures across the globe.

Why is our petition important?

• Sibelius is a leading software used by composers, arrangers, educators, and musicologists worldwide. It supports an impressive array of complex notational elements – from extended contemporary techniques to non-Western tunings. And yet, it cannot do something as simple as placing a grace note after the main note.
• To force this ornament into the score, users must manually drag a grace note from in front of the main note to behind it – a clumsy and unreliable workaround. This breaks basic layout behaviour: it severely interferes with legato notation, disrupts barline responsiveness, and generally causes instability in score formatting. In short, it’s not a viable solution.
• This is not a minor detail. In many traditional and non-Western music cultures, the post-note acciaccatura is a core expressive element. It is also frequently encountered in transcription work from sound recordings, where the nuance of such grace notes is essential for accuracy and cultural integrity.

Its absence makes Sibelius needlessly frustrating and limiting, especially for those working in ethnomusicology, transcription, or global music education. It forces workarounds that are inaccurate and visually misleading. The software is expensive. Users have every right to expect that something so basic – and so commonly used – should be available by default.

Sibelius should serve the needs of all musicians, not just those working within narrowly defined Western traditions. Fix this now.