Measure question
Hi everyone!
I'm new to the forum and software. Hat's off to the developers, and the fine folks willing to share ideas and solutions. I have been looking for software with which I can write chord charts. This is the first one I have found that actually works! My demands on the software are very basic.
I wish to duplicate the attached chart. It was hand written, but I would like to "clean it up." The transpose feature is extremely handy as well. My question is, how do I set up MuseScore 2.0 to display the four bar intro as seen. (Note I don't need to add the repeat symbol). I have set up the song as three rows of eight bars (other attachment). I will add more bars as needed.
As you can see, the intro is only fours bars. Therefore, I would like the first row to be four bars and subsequent rows to be eight bars, but have all bars the same width. There would be blank space after the four intro bars because they are the same width as the eight bars on the next line. I've spent three hours trying to figure that one out.
Just as some further background:
- I am using the slash marks to depict which beat the chords must land on. Works great!
- I have made the staff lines invisible.
- I require very little note data, if any at all. (Like I said, I only need the basics from this wonderful program.)
- My chords will reside above the measures so I can still see the slash marks.
- I know the attached PDF contains seven rows of four bars. I'm changing it to the format described earlier.
Many thanks, all!
- Lee
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| A Sailboat In the Moonlight.pdf | 14.22 KB |
| A Sailboat In The Moonlight MUSESCORE.pdf | 15.65 KB |
Comments
You're very close! Just remove the line break after bar 4, then click bar 5, Add / Frames / Insert Horizontal Frame, add the break the frame, then double click and resize the frame as needed.
Welcome aboard...
Ha! That handwritten version reminds me of the time(s) when I played from a score hastily written on a cocktail napkin between sets...lol.
Anyway, to create the blank space after the four intro bars, you need a horizontal frame inserted before measure 5. Then drag a line break to the frame and adjust the frame width by moving the frame's 'handle' .
See:
https://musescore.org/en/node/36071#create-a-frame
Also, have a look at the attached file in MuseScore and go to the menu item: View - where you can click on the 'Show Frames' box to view/adjust the frame.
Regards.
P.S. MuseScore has so much more to offer. I would suggest keeping the time signatures, staff lines, etc. This way, you can still use slash notation, with the added advantage of notating the occasional bass run(s), specific chord inversion(s), cue notes, etc.
In reply to Welcome aboard... Ha! That by Jm6stringer
You guys are geniuses! Many thanks for the help.
JM—you’re right about the original chart looking like something written on a restaurant napkin! Hence, my desire to clean up the 200 plus charts I have. By the way, thanks for completing this one! I now have something from which to work for the remaining charts. Care to tackle them :)?
I've tried doing charts in Word and Excel, but they are not designed for this kind of graphics. The Word program is such a piece of junk. I must use it in my profession.
A few more questions, if I may:
- How did you position the Intro, Verse, and Bridge staff headings? I notice yours reside at -4sp and -1sp respectively. I can insert staff text but must set them to -5sp and -11.5sp. obviously, you must have inserted your staff text in a different way. To insert mine, I selected the first slash mark in bar 1, and then pressed Ctrl+T. The text was inserted where lyrics would normally go.
- I notice your slash marks have downward stems and mine don’t. Where is that controlled from?
Again, many thanks guys!!
- Lee
In reply to You guys are geniuses! Many by Lee Batchelor
You can set the default horizotnal and vertical offset for staff text using Text Style (right click a text, choose that from the context menu). I assume you crerated your score using the "Jazz Lead Sheet" template, which has staff text set to be below the staff by default so as not to clash with chord symbols, but you can change that. But that same template set *syste,* text (Ctrl+Shift+T) to be above the staff. You might also consider using rehearsal marks (Ctrl+M) for this purpose. In all cases, you can customzie the defaults via Text Style.
For slash notation, you don't say how you are creating it, but see https://musescore.org/en/node/42631#fill-with-slashes and https://musescore.org/en/node/42631#toggle-rhythmic-slash-notation.
Once you have set up a score how you like it, you can save to the Templates folder then it will be available as a template for future scores.
In reply to You guys are geniuses! Many by Lee Batchelor
Hi Lee,
A little off-topic, but you mentioned Microsoft Word being a piece of junk, and mentioned that neither it nor Excel is designed for graphics, but that you have to use them (or at least Word) in your profession. May I suggest you try out LibreOffice ? Fairly similar to but slightly different from the Microsoft Office suite, it includes a drawing program, it's compatible with Word and Excel files, and of course it's free. I use it exclusively myself. You might find you like it.
In reply to Hi Lee, A little off-topic, by Isaac Weiss
Hi Zack,
Thanks for chiming in. I've heard LibreOffice is far better than MS Office. I instruct technical writing at the college level and unfortunately, all my students use various Word versions. Therefore, I am compelled to use Word when marking their assignments. They also use that hideous program in their work places. Sad...
Some day the entire world will wake up and tell MS what to go do with itself. They either produce great products (few and far between) or the worst products on the market. Instead of hiring more engineers, they only need to hire one more person--an exterminator to get rid of all their system bugs!
End of rant, or for those versed in HTML, .
Thanks :).
- Lee
In reply to Hi Zack, Thanks for chiming by Lee Batchelor
LibreOffice can open Word files and save in Word format. I can't really speak to it being "better" than Word, though. They are remarkably similar; the differences are mostly cosmetic. Really, virtually every word processor I have used over the last 40 or so I've been using them (!) works pretty much the same; I can't say any are particular better or worse than any others. What specifically do you think is "hedeous" about Word, and what are you comparing it to?
In reply to LibreOffice can open Word by Marc Sabatella
Hi Marc,
For general use, Word is fine, however, when you need to format a 175 page document using graphics, their "new and improved" graphics engine leaves a lot to be desired. You must put all drawings in a drawing canvas, otherwise you can't control them (I use Word 2010. It was much better in Word 2007.)
Numbered and bulleted list styles have a mind of their own. Try to control indents! After years, I finally figured out why. When I exchange documents with an SME or engineer, his or her template data gets imported into mine! The entire styles architecture is over-complicated and outdated. MS needs to simplify it.
I could go on for hours, but the moderator is probably starting to wonder what the heck we're talking about :).
- Lee
In reply to You guys are geniuses! Many by Lee Batchelor
1. I used system text (Ctrl+Shift+T) for Intro, Verse, etc.
As you have seen, the default position of staff text (what you used) is below the staff.
See:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/text-style-0#text-types
However, both staff text and system text placement can be set globally in Style / Text / then choose System or Staff, so they can be tweaked to whatever placement you want.
Be aware that negative horizontal offset is to the left.
Negative vertical offset is up; and for this direction, contrary to 'Cartesian' coordinates.
2. Regarding stems. You can select either note(s) or stem(s), then use 'X' to flip the stem(s). You get stems if you use rhythmic slash notation.
See:
https://musescore.org/en/node/42631#fill-with-slashes
https://musescore.org/en/node/42631#toggle-rhythmic-slash-notation
Regards.
In reply to 1. I used system text by Jm6stringer
Hi JM, and thanks for the quick reply!
I tried tweaking the System spacing to match the spacing in the "Sailboat" project you sent. My spacing changes are not sticking. Here's what I do after tweaking the System spacing:
1. Select the first slash mark in measure 1.
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+T.
3. Type my text. For example, "Intro".
4. Select Intro.
The spacing changes are not displayed in the Inspector in my project. They are in yours. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
- Lee
In reply to Hi JM, and thanks for the by Lee Batchelor
Which spacing changes do you mean? You lsited four steps above, none of which say anything about changing any spacing?
Not that changing the *text style* would not show in the Inspector. The settings in the text style form the default from which the offsets in the Inspector are applied.
In reply to Which spacing changes do you by Marc Sabatella
Sorry 'bout that Mark.
I'm referring to the horizontal and vertical spacing. In the finished file JM sent, when I click Intro, the Inspector's horizontal and vertical spacing is reflected according to the changes he made to the System horizontal and vertical spacing. Not so in mine. It's as though my horizontal and vertical spacing changes to the System style aren't "sticking." Thanks.
- Lee
In reply to Sorry 'bout that Mark. I'm by Lee Batchelor
No, as I said above, changes to text style do *not* show in the Inspector. The Inspector settings are applied *in addition to* text style settings.
So if you are still having problems, please post the complete / precise steps.
In reply to No, as I said above, changes by Marc Sabatella
I see that now, Marc. Very helpful...thanks.
- Lee
In reply to Hi JM, and thanks for the by Lee Batchelor
@Lee
OK...when I first saw your attachment - A Sailboat In The Moonlight MUSESCORE.pdf - it looked to me like you used the 'Jazz Lead Sheet' template in the Create New Score wizard. That's because the title font is the MuseJazz font - it looks handwritten. So, I used that template in my attachment - 'A Sailboat.mscz'
Now, here's the important thing:
If you open menu item: Style / Text you will see a list of text items with 'Title' at the top. (There you will note that MuseJazz is indeed the default text font at size 28.)
So now, scroll down to 'System' and you will see where I set the text offset to Horizontal: -1.00sp and Vertical: -4.00sp.
The default setting, even though above the staff, would have clashed with the chord names, so I moved it up and to the left. (Remember 'up' is 'negative')
If you scroll to 'Staff', you will see that the default offset is Vertical: 5.50sp which is why it renders below the staff - as you said: 'The text was inserted where lyrics would normally go.'
I could have used Staff text, with the kind of offset adjustment you used.
Regards.
P.S. Another thing - if you look into menu item: Style / General / Page you will see I reduced the Max. system distance to bring the staves closer together.
Feel free to experiment with the various settings. If you mess up, come back here to obtain another copy.
In reply to @Lee OK...when I first saw by Jm6stringer
You clarified a lot of things, JM! Thanks for the help. I have another important question, but I should probably start another thread because it's a different concept. Again, thanks.
- Lee