How to correct the number of beats in a bar

• Dec 19, 2023 - 10:56

After scanning in a pdf some bars have fewer beats than the time signature and I am unable to change this. For example in the clip the first 4 bars are all in 2/4 but bars 5 and 6 have 3 quavers and 2 quavers respectively. I know how to change the quavers to crotchets but that doesn't change the number of beats in a bar. Can anyone advise how to do this please. Thanks, Ian

Attachment Size
Musescore snip.jpg 9.93 KB

Comments

Right-click on the respective bar and open the bar properties. There you can change the actual value to the nominal value. You may then have to cut and paste the notes into the correct beat.
This is a common problem when using PDF import. And many different types of errors can occur.
For example, a triplet is often not recognized and the bar will get too long. Be careful when shortening the bar length, as the notes or rests furthest to the right will be deleted.
Sometimes it is advisable to insert an additional bar and rewrite the notes and then delete the incorrect bar.

In reply to by HildeK

Thanks again. I have done that but need to switch around the note and the rest. The handbook says this can be done by using 'shift' and one of the arrow keys but this doesn't work and just increases or decreases the selection box. So basically I just need to understand how to move notes and rests within a bar.

In reply to by imw49@live.com

Shift + arrow key only works in note entry mode. Select the note you want to move, press 'N' for note entry and then use Shift+arrow keys.

(At least this is how it works in MuS 3.)

EDIT: and it works only with notes / rests of the same duration. Any other move must be done with cut and paste.

In reply to by HildeK

Thanks HildeK that works nicely. And you've answered my other problem of how to go to note entry mode. The online manual isn't very helpful in this respect and I wasn't sure how to get into that mode or out of it. I now see that the little pencil icon top left is highlighted in that mode.

In reply to by HildeK

Sorry I think I may have mis-lead you - I meant that I hadn't found how to change in and out of note entry mode using the search function.
I think the problem lies with me - I haven't used MS to enter music yet simply to input a pdf and then I'm trying to edit it so I've bypassed the basic steps which I'm trying to understand as I go along. I'll keep learning as it's a great asset and my old music program is no longer supported so MS will be fantastic for me.

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