Most fonts contain a standard collection of characters: letters, numbers, punctuation marks, mathematical symbols, bullets and more. Because the majority of these characters exist on standard keyboards, finding and using them is simple. Tracking down special symbols, such as musical notes, requires the use of a standard but somewhat obscure Windows program.
Step 1
Click the Windows Start button. Select "Programs" > "Accessories" > "System Tools" > "Character Map."
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Step 2
Click the drop-down menu labeled "Font" near the top of the Character Map screen. Scroll to find a font that includes the musical symbols you want to view. Arial, Courier New, Lucida Sans, MS Reference Sans Serif and Times New Roman are common fonts that include musical symbols. Some fonts have alternate versions, called variants; take care in selecting the proper variant.
Step 3
Find the music symbols. Scroll from the bottom up on the list of symbols shown in the Character Map. Less frequently used characters such as musical symbols are farther down the list, often at the very end.
Step 4
Use the music symbols. Once you find the symbol you want to use, click inside its field. Click the button near the lower right-hand corner of the screen labeled "Select." Copy the symbol to the Windows clipboard by clicking the "Copy" button. Insert the symbol into programs like Microsoft Word by using the Paste command. Select the same font in your destination program that you selected in the Character Map utility or else your symbol may not appear.
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