Tie direction for chords
Ties for chords (in a single-voice context) have a few simple rules:
* The highest tie in the chord should curve up
* The lowest tie in the chord should curve down
* The ties in the middle should curve up if they are above the middle line, or curve down if they are on/below the middle line
* For intervals of a second the ties should curve opposite directions if possible
In a multi-voice context MuseScore already behaves correctly:
* Ties should curve the same direction as the stems.
Attached is a full test suite with reference images of the expected behavior on the left side and actual MuseScore behavior on the right side.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| tie direction.mscz | 48.39 KB |
| tie direction (MuseScore 1.1).pdf | 98.56 KB |
Comments
Great that you are addressing this!
Very good that you've pointed this out -- and given all the examples so clearly.
But one positive (if unintentional) byproduct of MS's "incorrect" behaviour is that it's very helpful to those of us using the wonderful "explode" plugin. I've come to rely on this plugin when scoring for a three or four part section: perfect for drafting as chords on a single staff then extracting as individual lines across all parts in the section. And for this, having all the ties in the chord appear as they should when converted to single lines just happens to be very handy.
This is not an argument against bringing MS's behaviour into line with expected standards, but perhaps improved handling of ties could include an option to customise default behaviour in one's preferences.
I don't think fixing the default behavior of ties would break the explode plugin. As far as I know, ties are recorded with one of three states - up, down, and default. If the ties for a chord are all recorded as being default, they should automatically readjust upon explode, just as they should upon transposing. Same story with stem directions, etc - just because the stem is up on a given chord, that doesn't force the stem to be up for that note in all the exploded parts. Stems "just work", no reason ties could not as well.
Very good point! I'd tried it with manually adjusted tie directions, which are retained in the exploded parts, whether appropriate or not. But I hadn't realised that default is a separate state. So it's not an issue after all. Thanks!
This is an issue for those of us who write piano scores, for example.
fixed in r4913
Automatically closed -- issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.
How do you change a tie to go above the notes instead of below?
Select the tie or slur and hit the x key, similar like for stems.
slur
tie (just extended to mention the X)
But don't use issues to ask for support, please. Use the forum instead