size of measure

• Feb 5, 2022 - 13:41

Goodday,

I want to know if the size of the measure can be changed. There is not enough space above the measure for the chords, and now they overlap. Is there a way to move the bar line to the right for the chords at the top to fit better?


Comments

MuseScore should be adding space automatically as you add the chord symbols; they shouldn't overlap. If that's happening, there must be some particular reason why, but we'd need you to attach your score in order to understand and assist.

In reply to by ronellouw74

In this score, the prloblem isn't the width of the measure - you can measure measures 5 & 6 wider all day long and not solve the problem. The problem is that the chord at the end of one measure extends over the barline to the beginning of the next. There is no one good way to solve this problem, but there are a number of approaches you can choose between. Note this isn't due to some limitation in MueScore - it's simple math, no matter how wide those measures, chord symbol crossing barlines present problems. So think about which of these approaches you'd choose if this were paper and pencil, then do the same in MuseScore:

Any of these, or a combination, will work, and you can probably find examples in published music of all of them

1) call this good as is - given there isn't a great solution, allowing the Db to be placed above than the Absus isn't completely out of the question (I wouldn't recommend this, but I have seen this in published music)

2) place a system break after bar 5 so the Absus extends into the margin instead of into the next measure (a not terrible choice in this specific case, but not viable in general because of course this might happen in places where a break doesn't make sense

3) move the Absus to the left a little, and the Db to the right a little (works well in less crowded situations than this one, but if you add a break after measure 6 for instance, it's not bad at all)

4) add extra leading space between the last note of bar 5 and the barline, by using leading space on the barline (2 sp does the job here)

5) add extra leading space between the barline and the first note of bar 6

If it were me, I'd use a combination of 3, 4, and 5 - like 1 sp leading space before the barline, 0.5 sp leading space before the first note of 6, and move the Absus to the left 0.5sp. Realistically, I'd also be considering where to add more system breaks so you fill up two pages rather than a crowded score with a bunch of unused space on the second page.

To set leading space of the barline or any note, use the Inspector (see View menu if you previously closed it).

Try this (easy) alternative...
1. Open your original file attachment: Oil_of_Joy.mscz
2. Click on any chord symbol
3. In the 'Text' area of the Inspector, click the 'Center text..' icon
4. Then click the S ('Set as style') icon.

This image shows the 'Text' area of the Inspector:
fit_chords.png

The chord symbols get "centered" so the longer chord spellings - like your use of 'min' (instead of 'm') - and the 'sus' chords, and the A♭7/G♭ chords, don't encroach as much into the following space.

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