How to mark adjacent notes as semitones (half steps) in Musescore
As a violin player it is useful to mark adjacent notes with an upside down V to mark them as semitones or half steps. I've looked online etc and can't seem to find either a predefined symbol or a free form drawing tool to draw one.
Thanks
Comments
At the bottom of the palettes is the word "Basic", click it and select Advanced. It will be under the articulations and ornaments palette.
In reply to At the bottom of the… by mike320
Thanks Mike320, I found this, but and ^'s are too small. I want one that has one end over the 1st note - extends to the 2nd note with the other end.
In reply to Thanks Mike320, I found this… by Sonial
Is this is a symbol actually used in published music, or one you invented yourself? If it's a standard symbol, you will probably find it in the Symbols palette (press Z to display). If you can't find it, then you can add it as an image (PNG or SVG format), which you could create in any drawing program.
In reply to Is this is a symbol actually… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks Marc, done it! It is a standard convention which string players write in when practising to help with intonation and fingering. It's not in the Symbols palette so I drew one and imported into my own palette. I attached the file below :)
In reply to Thanks Marc, done it! It is… by Sonial
Thanks for sharing Sonial, just what I was looking for!
In reply to Thanks Marc, done it! It is… by Sonial
I think the directions for adding it to a pallette are here: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/custom-palettes . Custom palette sounds like a great idea that I will use in the future. But it seemed a little complicated for the moment, so instead I just used the big right side up V which is included toward the end of View: Master Palette: Symbols. Good enough for my purposes.
In reply to Thanks Marc, done it! It is… by Sonial
Thanks so much Sonial! I managed to get it into my fingering palett, this will make my work much easier
In reply to Thanks so much Sonial! I… by lisaviolin
Musescore took all my palettes away. I had to reload all the custom ones and SADLY couldn't this wonderful, useful symbol to get into my palette like I did a year ago. I will keep trying, but there is some sort of change I cannot divine.
In reply to Thanks Marc, done it! It is… by Sonial
Oh, thank you, Sonial!!! I need that. Absolutely VITAL for string players!!!! And sometimes even used for a "half-step across strings" which is a cheater's term for "your fingers touch!" It needs to be possible to connect the end of this symbol to any two noteheads. (Finale had this, btw...sigh) Thank you!
In reply to Oh, thank you, Sonial!!! I… by lorraine_davi
Is there an also a recognised symbol for a whole tone in a sequence of semitones? My orchestra is rehearsing Night on a Bare Mountain which has long chromatic scales at breakneck speed with just one whole tone in them — at the moment my desk partner and I mark it with the same semitone symbol to show it’s the odd one out but I suspect this isn’t kosher!
In reply to Is there an also a… by Brer Fox
I don't think it matters, as long as you know what the marking means and you mark it in pencil so that someone else can unmark it or replace it with their own favourite marking.
In reply to I don't think it matters, as… by SteveBlower
Thanks - that’s what we’re assuming.
In reply to I don't think it matters, as… by SteveBlower
.
In reply to Is there an also a… by Brer Fox
In all the violin music I've seen a V symbol over a note indicates "up bow". And it is usually penciled in by the players so that they are either all bowing up and the same time (most common) or (much more unusual) so that they are changing bow directions at a particular different time than others.
The up bow V is available in the Articulations palette.
I've never seen this other.
In reply to In all the violin music I've… by TheHutch
They aren't talking about bowing.
There are 2 upside down V symbols in the master palette. They may not be wide enough. There is V thast is wide enough. Easy to put in a graphic program, flip and put in a palette.
In reply to They aren't talking about… by bobjp
Ahh! I had read it as simply a "V shape", but he was asking about an "upside down V shape" and I missed that.
In reply to Is this is a symbol actually… by Marc Sabatella
I just found this thread because I too was looking for the half-step symbol. It is indeed a standard convention done by professionals to mark in a small V between the two semitones. It is not printed in parts but rather penciled in by the players in the orchestra when needed. Because it has become the standard way to mark half-steps, different student method books have begun to include the marking in their music. It would be useful to me because I am writing finger-pattern sheets for my students. I have attached an example of what the marking looks like in an Essential Elements book,
I was able to fuss around with the various moveable points on a slur to make it into a pointy shape that more accurately connected the two note heads than a symbol or an imported image would be able to (especially as the distances between note heads may change depending upon rhythms/ measure lines etc.). You just have to pull the upper right and left dots of the slur's points to the opposite sides of one another (cross them over).
I would add to the string-player voices here, though, that it would be a useful feature, especially if it were possible to create a half step symbol with 4 moveable points that could be shifted in the same manner as the slur's 6 moveable points. This would allow the half step symbol to appear above or below notes as well. But in the meantime I think the slur is decent, though slightly time-consuming, workaround.
In reply to I was able to fuss around… by Stefni
Deleted - out of date!
In reply to I was able to fuss around… by Stefni
Thanks Stefni! I am able to accomplish this-- I really need this symbol!