Use MuseScore on a Mac

• Sep 30, 2021 - 21:12

MuseScore Help Handbook appears to address Windows users. Commands given in Help do not work on a Mac. Is there a Handbook specific for Mac users?


Comments

What parts of the Handbook are you having trouble with? All commands should be given for both Windows and Mac, i.e. listing both ctrl+S and cmd+S as shortcuts to Save.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Actually, it does. After your reply, I realized that my attempts to insert a note by selecting the note value and clicking the line or space where I wanted it is what wasn't working. Going by the handbook instruction by pressing Shift and entering the note name worked just fine. Thank you for helping me to rethink what I was doing.

For future reference:

You can enter chords with mouse or with keyboard. It's only with keyboard that you use Shift. With mouse, you position your cursor directly where you want the note to appear and click.

As for macOS generally, there is really one one specific adjustment you meed to keep in mind - not just for MsueScore, but pretty much every program that works on Windows as well: when a Windows user says a Ctrl, a macOS user should substitute Cmd. OK, also, Alt becomes Opt. Virtually everything else is the same.

One other thing to keep in mind that isn't specifically about macOS but macOS users seem to struggle with more because it's not as common of an operation on that system: if your mouse or other pointing device has only a single button, then "right-click" needs to get translated into something else, usually either Ctrl+click for a mouse, or two-finger tap for a touchpad.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Mostly that substitution of Command for CTRL works - except when it doesn't. There are a few macOS features which have clashes - and require considerable investigation and work arounds. Some MuseScore features are made easier to use with a mouse with a scroll wheel, such as one of the ergonomic mice which are quite cheaply available. In the UK it's even possible to get a regular - non ergonomic - mouse with a scroll wheel in Poundland (for around £1!). Just unwrapped mine, and yes - cheap and cheerful, but - it works!

In reply to by dave2020X

It's true a scroll wheel or equivalent touch gesture is an incredibly thing - that's true not just on macOS but all systems. And luckily, almost all systems have this built-in.

But there really shouldn't be any incompatibilities that require "considerable investigation and work arounds". Really it should be exactly as simple as I said. OK, macOS always "steals" some menus and moves them to the special application menu - so for instance, as I understand it the Quit command is there instead of under File. But that's true of pretty much every single macOS program, so it shouldn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.

If you're seeing some sort of problem you believe to be macOS-specific that you've found it seemed to be necessary to work around somehow, best to start a new thread and explain in more detail. Chances are it's a simple misunderstanding easily addressed.

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