Formatting lines and spaces between clefs and between grand staff lines of music

• Aug 1, 2021 - 20:53

Please see both attachments for illustrations. Thank you!

Attachment Size
Formatting lines and between staves.mscz 10.19 KB
Page settings.pdf 244.42 KB

Comments

• Aug 2, 2021 - 17:03

If I understand your first question correctly, the answer is, to increase the size of all staves, use Format / Page Settings / Staff space.

For the second question, I think maybe you're saying you want to change the distance between the staves of a grand staff? That is called, not surprisingly, Grand Staff distance, but note is isn't normally fixed throughout a score nor should it be - MuseScore automatically adds space as needed to avoid collisions, and then also to fill pages evenly. So normally you shouldn't need to mess with the defaults, it's will just get in the way of the normal operation. Certainly you shouldn't be messing with anything until your score is completed and you can judge for yourself is some systems need more space. And then, it might be more appropriate to add a spacer to increase space just for that system then to change default settings, although in some cases, that could make sense. It will all depend on your actual score and how you want the defaults changed.

If you continue to need assistance, please attach the actual completed score for which you are wanting to consider spacing changes, and then we can advise better.

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• Aug 3, 2021 - 04:55

Many thanks, Marc.! You are always so patient and helpful with my many questions (I just love MuseScore and thank you for it).

FYI: I asked the second question because sometimes, after I add the chord symbols above a treble clef and also add finger numbers below a bass clef, it sometimes gets too cluttered between a bass clef of one line of music and the chord symbols above the treble clef on a next line of music. For this reason, I often do use spacers if MuseScore has not automatically added enough Grand Staff distance (thank you also for labeling that function for me).

I asked the first question because finger numbers do not always fit on the staff spaces unless I am willing to increase the Staff Spacing within the Scaling section of Page Settings, e.g., using something larger than 1.750mm. Adding finger numbers above or below clefs (rather than on staff lines and spaces) allows me to focus on reading the notes and only looking above or below the clefs if I have forgotten the fingering for certain measures.

I am looking forward to the day when I can play piano well enough that I do not have to use as much fingering.

Thank you again for your patience and helpfulness. With best wishes.

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• Aug 3, 2021 - 16:34

You're welcome! But I think perhaps you are taking the long and difficult way to do some things that should actually be much more simple. If you attach your score we cant understand and assist better.

If you just want generally more space between systems so chord symbols are not so close to the staff above, the easiest thing is to increase the minimum system distance in Format / Style / Page. Or, simply add page breaks so you have fewer systems per page.

Changing the scaling to make your staves larger is fine if you want bigger notes, but of course that also scales the fingering, so it won't affect whether the fingering fits neatly between staff lines or not. normally it's not supposed - it's correct for finger numbers to be slightly taller than a staff space. But you can change fingering size independently of staff size. Although fingering is normally outside the staff anyhow, unless multiple voices are involved, so it's still not totally clear what you mean here. Which is again why seeing an actual example would allow us to assist better.

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• Aug 4, 2021 - 17:17

It would again be easier to assist if you attach one of your actual scores so we can understand the specific nature of what is going on. In the score of mine score attached, pretty much everything is just using the default setitngs - no overrides were necessary. And it looks right to me without any further adjustments. Certainly you didn't need that spacer you apparently added (it wasn't there in the original that I can recall), and it looks much better if you remove it. With the spacer gone, spacing is pretty much perfect as is. But even so, if you subjectively decide you want even more space between systems, don't use spacers, just increase the iminimum system distance setting as I mentioned.

So again, if you have a specific score of yours that you are feeling the need to change the spacing of, just attach it and we can help you out! Most likely it will just be that one setting, though.

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• Aug 4, 2021 - 20:43

@Megan R... I agree with Marc.
You wrote:
I have attached one of your demo scores as it serves as a good illustration of what I was trying to accomplish but could not after trying various options within the Format/Style/Page settings page.

And then, in your attached score (actually Marc's score ;-) you wrote:
I was asking how I could increase the distance between where I have inserted a spacer if I wanted to increase this distance throughout a score (rather than using spacers throughout a score).

OK... so using that score attachment -- first thing, delete that spacer you added.
Then use Format -> Style... -> Page and move the dialog window that appears by dragging it off the score somewhat so you can observe the staves as you do the following:
In the 'Max. system distance' box there is a number 15.0sp. Click on the little up arrowhead (and keep clicking) to watch all the staves move, (it's like what your added spacer did).
Pressing the button with the encircled X will move the staves back to where they were.

Max_sys.png

However, this advice is for Marc's score and you have already said that you had tried "various options within the Format/Style/Page".
So, if this does not work in your particular case, you should attach your specific score that shows the issue.

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