Hi,
 
Is there away to have minus beats on the grid. At the moment it starts at 1,2,3,4 etc and i would like to start at -4, -3, -2, -1, 1, 2 3 etc
 
am i able to do this?
 
Kind Regards
Joe

No.

OK thanks Karyn :)

Sorry it was a short answer, but there isn't really any other way to say it...
 
 
BTW, welcome to the forum

Haha you don't need to say sorry I'd prefer a straight to the point answer anyway :)
 
and thankyou!

best you can do is setup a count-in in the metronome options.

Better still is to always leave a gap of a few measures before you start recording.
 
For audio it means even if you start playing/singing a fraction early you won't cut of the first few milliseconds
For Midi it will give Sonar a chance to get everything lined up and sync'ed properly

Bristol_Jonesey
Better still is to always leave a gap of a few measures before you start recording.  For audio it means even if you start playing/singing a fraction early you won't cut of the first few milliseconds For Midi it will give Sonar a chance to get everything lined up and sync'ed properly

Couple of points:
1) The idea of a minus value of starting measure is a great one, thanks for bringing it up Joe.   Let's hope CW is listening, it does seem it shouldn't be too hard to program.
 
2) Jonesey's advice is really important and is probably standard practice for most, if not all of us.
 
3) Leaving at least 2 measures allows you to have a 1 measure intro if that is your style.  Alternatively leaving 4 measures gives you a bit more room for longer intros.
 
3) My suggestion is this: if it fits with your musical style then try to leave the same number of measures at the start.  This way you get familiar with where the song sections occur.  For example, if you leave 4 measures at the start of songs that are grouped into 4 measures (eg 32 bar AABA and 12 bar blues) then counting up by 4 from 4 is fairly natural. 
It would be nice to hear what the "professionals" in the Forum use. 
 
Cheers,
R