Due to the complexities of music notation, music software has a tendency to have many modes. Notation software may have a separate mode (tool) for note entry, title text, lyric text, slurs, expressions, accents, etc. Compare this to handwritten notation which uses one tool for all these elements: a pencil. Understandably notation software can be daunting or frustrating for even the seasoned musician or composer. Due to the complexity of music notation and the limitations of the computer interface, it is not possible to achieve an entirely modeless design. Even when composing by hand most people will encounter at least two modes: writing (with pen or pencil) and playback (usually piano). However, the notation editor Canorus should strive to minimize unnecessary modalism by reducing the number of modes and reducing the barriers between these modes.