Crossbeam guitar query

• Mar 22, 2017 - 15:07

Hello,
I am trying to copy into MuseScore a guitar piece involving extended techniques. One such technique involves striking the fret-board (a percussive effect) alternately with the left and right hands. I have decided to notate this on two separate staves - the bottom for the left, the top for the right.
Naively, I entered the music in these separate staves first hoping that later I would find an easy way to cross-beam between them (as in select the notes you want beamed together and hit "beam together"). The method described in the handbook of entering everything first on a single staff, then selecting the notes you want on the other staff and hitting control arrow only works if both staves are seen by MuseScore as the same instrument. (This I remember being true of Finale also, so I assume there must be a good reason for the cross-beam-hang-up, something easy enough to accomplish with pencil and paper. I'll take advantage of this parenthesis also to point out that many 20th and 21st Century scores involve cross-beaming between different instruments, especially common in percussion music.) So I assume the two staves have to be seen by MuseScore as the same instrument - while the only staff-types available for guitar appear to be single staves. And in any case, I want to be able to hide the empty staff when my left-hand-right-hand technique is not being used - which I don't think is possible with a "grand staff."
I've attached an image file of the two staves I would like to be beamed together. The beaming is important to me not only because I think it looks better, but to suggest certain rhythmic/metrical displacements against the meter that occur.
What am I missing? Is there a solution I haven't found? Is what I seek not achievable?
Many thanks in advance,
Lewis

Attachment Size
LKguitar-crossbeam-query.jpg 30.53 KB

Comments

You can make MS believe that 2 staves are one instrument if you open the instrument dialog (press i), click the staff on a guitar and add staff (not liked staff). You can then copy the music line from the other instrument to this line. Everything that is cross beamed needs to be on the same staff. You can then use ctrl-shift-up (or down) to move the cross staff notes to the other staff.

Once you add the guitar instrument, click on"Stave 1" and then on the "Add Stave" button. (If you have already added the guitar or are using an existing score with a guitar then Edit ->Instruments or press 'i' to get to the instrument selection dialogue box).

OOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh.
I was unaware of how to add a staff to a single instrument- couldn't find that information anywhere.
Many thanks for the responses.

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