Moving notes from voice 1 to other voice

• Jul 7, 2020 - 14:44

My problem is with notes that I have wrongly assigned to one voice, typically voice 1, and want moved to another, typically voice 3 or 4. I do know how to have the notes be assigned to voice 3 or 4, but this will generate rests (if I'm in 4/4, 1 per each /4) which are then counted as voice 1. Problem is that a) I already have actual notes in voice 1, and b) there seems to be no way to delete the rests as if they were the "main notes" despite other notes already being assigned to voice 1. I have been having this issue every single time I've moved notes from 1 to 3. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks for helping with this!


Comments

In reply to by Shoichi

Thanks. As I mentioned above, I did read the handbook and I did manage to move the voices from 1 to 3, but I still get the problem with the rests being generated in lieu of the moved notes, such that I obtain voice 1 having its own notes from before plus these rests, which cannot be deleted.

You can move voice 1 notes to any other voice, but voice 1 still needs to stay complete, so a rest shows in cases where there is no voice 1 note left to cover the gap.

"Am I doing something wrong?"

I would guess that you are :-). However, without seeing what you are doing it is difficult to know what it is that you are doing wrong. It would help if you would attach the score you are having difficulty with.

I also suggest that you read this https://musescore.org/en/handbook/voices.

You mention using voices 3 and 4. It is rare that more than two voices are needed and very rare that more than three are needed. I think you may be confusing "voices" - meaning independent rythmic lines within a single staff with "voices" - as in soprano, alto, tenor bass. This is explained better than I can in that handbook reference.

Attaching a screenshot of one such instance. The rests overlapping with notes in the bass are the byproduct of those notes having been moved from 1 to 3. The actual 1 is the soprano line (A-rest-A) and correctly identified as such.

Attachment Size
notes.jpg 21.6 KB

In reply to by Shoichi

Thanks! So basically I need to have two 1s, one per staff, right? Does this only apply to this format? In other words, is there a different layout wherein the bass line, normally written in the second (or fourth!) staff, would be 3 or 4?

In reply to by uranius

Every staff has up to 4 voices available. They should be used in numerical order as they are needed. Every staff should use voice 1. If there is second rhythmically independent theme in a stave, it should go in voice 2. If in addition to that there is a third rhythmically independent theme it goes in voice 3. If there is a fourth then the music is horrendously complicated but you would put that theme in voice 4. If you are using two staves for a three part fugue, you are probably going to need 2 voices at most in each stave and those would be voice 1 and voice 2. No need for 3 or 4.

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