sharp for the entire measure?

• Sep 22, 2016 - 14:55

When I have multiple G's in my measure and I think: "Oh wait, they need to be #G's!", I select a G and make it sharp but musescore automaticall places a natural mark in front of the next G in the measure. Usually a sharp or flat sign signifies that all G's in that measure are sharp. Is this a setting that I missed? My transcript is getting very crowded with sharp and flat signs this way.

Thanks in advance!


Comments

This only happens when you are changing the pitch in a series of already-written notes. When you are entering music, change the pitch of that first G to G#, then when you hit 'G' again, it will print without the accidental as long as it's in the same measure.

If you do need to modify the pitch of a series of existing notes in the same measure, modify the first one, and then DELETE the unwanted accidental sign that appears on the next one. That will straighten out the rest of the measure.

In reply to by Recorder485

Or else select all Gs in the measure and use the up arrow to convert them all to G#.
Another way is to start with the last G, add the sharp and work your way towards the beginning of the measure (if you add sharps beginning from the first G in the measure you will end up with sharps on all of them).

Welcome aboard...
You are correct when you say sharps (more generally, accidentals) hold 'for the entire measure'.

However... assuming you enter a bunch of G's in a measure - all natural - and then later decide some/all should be changed to sharp, you must decide which of them you want sharp. MuseScore can not know if each and every G should be changed to sharp - only you do.
So... if you add a sharp to only one G, MuseScore will keep the other G's in the measure sounding just the way you originally entered them - as G natural - hence the natural sign.

Regards.

Edit:
To avoid this:
My transcript is getting very crowded with sharp and flat signs this way.

Follow azumbrunn's advice above: Up arrow for sharp (down arrow for flat).

In normal use, though, you would simply enter the notes correctly left to right in the first place, and there would be need for this. Don't think of sharps as optional markings to be added later (the way, for example, staccato markings or fingerings might be) - sharps and flats are integral parts of the notes you are entering. Get them right while entering the notes and you won't have to fix it later.

Think of it this way:   the computer has an absolute value ... e.g. "G3" or "G#3," for each and every note.   It then undertakes to notate that stream of notes correctly, based on every prevailing attribute of the surrounding measure and staff.

If, in the same measure, you have two "G3" notes and you sharpen only the first, that is precisely what MuseScore sees:   a "G#3" note, followed by a "G3."   Therefore, it inserts a natural-sign in front of the second one.

Simply sharpen both notes, so that, in the memory of the digital computer, both of them now have the value "G#3."   MuseScore will render the score accordingly.

Whereas, to a human player, “the score is the horse, and the outcome is the cart,” MuseScore, as a score-editing program, has a digital record of the desired “series of [absolute ...] notes, spaced in time, which exist on a staff and in a measure having certain attributes.”  From this, and in real time, it renders the appropriate cart ... err, score.

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