So, it's been a couple of months since I was "in the weeds" with X3 everyday, and I seem to have drawn a complete blank on how to enter individual notes in Piano View using the Draw mode.  Funny thing is when I opened this project again it worked perfectly just as I had intuitively imagined.  Then, all of a sudden, it quits working.  The Sonar instructions are REALLY lame, and presumptuous, so I'd like for someone to 'splain it to me like a 2 yr old.  Please?
KC
 

You may find some YouTube videos on this. I strongly recommend the video tutorials on Groove3 to get maximum return on your investment.

Cheers..

In the piano roll view, click with the pencil tool where you want the note to start. The start will be quantized to the nearest note value as set in the PIANO ROLL VIEW quantize field, not the one in the Control Bar. If you don't see this option, click on the "tic-tac-toe" board in the upper right of the PRV.
 
The field to the right of the Sonar X3 logo in the upper left (and under the Draw tool in the Smart Tool palette) is where you set the note duration that appears when you click. This duration will "stick" until you change it, or click with the pencil tool on a note of a different duration; then the pencil tool will "adopt" that value.
 
You can also draw with the Smart tool; click and drag to the desired length. Again, this will start at a time quantized by the Quantize field in the PRV. When you draw a note length with the Smart Tool, its value will be remembered if you switch to the pencil tool, and it will adopt that value.
 
Note: If you don't want to quantize the note start, despite rumors to the contrary typing N will enable/disable quantize for both the PRV field and the Control Bar field. 

I use the Smart tool to enter individual notes because then I have the option of dragging the note to the pitch I want. If you use the pencil tool it enters a note where you click. With the Smart Tool you can drag the clicked note up or down to hear the pitch before it is entered. I find that very useful. Don't forget to click and DRAG with the Smart Tool. If you just click it where you want a note, nothing is entered. I also prefer the Smart Tool because then I can start and end the note exactly where I want, giving my notation, hopefully, a less mechanical feeling.
 
Don't forget that you can right click some of these tools to get different options. If you want to enter one note at a time with the Draw Tool use the Freehand mode. If you enter notes with the Line mode the results will be very different, though I can see how it might be useful for some purposes. The Line mode can also be useful in the Controller Pane and the Temp View.

Just to add to the above....  You can also add notes using the Smart Tool (with the current duration value) by double-clicking or Alt+clicking.  I personally use a five button mouse and have the thumb button mapped to double-click.  And as Craig mentioned the "N" key will disable Snap, but you can also hold down the "N" key to just temporarily disable snap (key up = Snap re-enabled). 
 
FWIW, single-clicking is by default used for selecting / editing notes.
 

Yep the smart tool is a great invention, It's actually smarter than my smart phone! 
 
It takes a bit of practice but it works brilliantly. 

sock monkey
Yep the smart tool is a great invention, It's actually smarter than my smart phone! 
 
It takes a bit of practice but it works brilliantly. 

^^^^
 

Agreed.
 
 
I never switch to dedicated tools, the Smart Tool does everything I need, and more

 I miss the older piano roll going back to like Sonar2.  BTW is it possible to change the color background of the piano roll? I have not messed with changing colors in Sonar.

kitekrazy1
 I miss the older piano roll going back to like Sonar2.  BTW is it possible to change the color background of the piano roll? I have not messed with changing colors in Sonar.

Yes, under the Piano Roll View category it's the Window Background option. (Edit > Preferences > Customization > Colors).