Numbering verses on all lines of the music
Is there a way that the verses can be numbered on each line without having to type in the number at the beginning of each line once the music is formatted? If I type a number in at the beginning of each line then if I reformat the music and the the first measure of each line is not longer the first measure of the line then I have to delete the verse numbers and retype them at the "new" first measure of a line.
Comments
No
In reply to No by Jojo-Schmitz
Odd that this does not come up more often, it seems like a kind of reasonable thing to want. Or is it not as common as I might imagine?
In reply to Odd that this does come up… by Marc Sabatella
I have a few scores that would use it (because the original does). But I can live without or with the manual editing
In reply to I have a few scores that… by Jojo-Schmitz
Verse numbering at the start of each system is uncommon, and seems to occur only on older scores (pre-1900). Personally I prefer to see the verse number only at the start of the verse, because that gives the singer a visual landmark to jump back to.
In reply to Verse numbering at the start… by DanielR
It'd be a useful option though. It is pretty easy to get lost in 5 verses on every system break without those
In reply to I have a few scores that… by Jojo-Schmitz
I haven't seen it too often either, but another disadvantage of adding the numbering manually in the main score is that parts may call for different system breaks - resulting in numbers in the middle of the system, and none at the start:
![verse_number_problem.png]()
(verse_number_problem.mscz - I'm aware the example is a bit forced regarding the part layout, but it was the next-best real-world score I had lying around...)
WA1: In the part, hide the syllables with unwanted numbering, and add "fake lyrics" as staff text. Adjust offset, line spacing, and leading space by eye. Make sure visibility settings are correct in the main score and every part score.
WA2: Other than at the start of verses, never enter the numbers into the lyrics. Instead, wherever needed, set the lyrics to left-aligned, then add the numbering as right-aligned staff text & eyeball its offset. As before, make sure visibility settings are correct in every part. (And if additional parts are created afterwards, reverse left-alignments inherited from the main score.)
I could get a good final result using something mostly like WA1 in the attached verse_number_wa.mscz.
(One trick to ensure a staff text added into a part doesn't show up in any other parts by default is to set it invisible, cut it, then paste it in the same place. Then just set it back to visible in the part.)
So obvious workarounds exist, but they can get hairy and mistake-prone (especially with many parts, or regarding small misalignments). They also complicate more procedural workflows (e.g. wanting to hand out decent-looking drafts at practice, but then going back to revise the song structure afterwards).
Thus, a dedicated style setting to add them automatically sure would be nice. ;)
(This feels similar to #311286 Lyrics: add option to automatically generate dash as appropriate before first syllable of system - although dashes are harder to "fake" with perfectly identical look, compared to the lyrics numbering here.)
It would be a great option to have, so far I am always doing it manually but when I change some line breaks, then I need to readjust all the numbers again. A checking option would be great it could simply use the number from the first syllable of the verse.
In reply to It would be a great option… by yheintz
" A checking option would be great it could simply use the number from the first syllable of the verse"
It's not quite that simple:
1. The verse number is sometimes on the first note of the "start repeat" measure: that would work for what you are suggesting.
2. But sometimes the verse number and first sung syllable for verse 1 is on the last (pickup) note of the measure before the "start repeat".
3. In this second case the verse numbers and first syllable for verses 2 onwards are usually on the last (pickup) note of the "end-repeat" measure.