Unable to add Voice 2

• Dec 14, 2013 - 14:06

I have started a new score with a single line [horn]. I have written a single note melody. I have returned to the start of the piece and selected voice 2 from the four small numbered boxes at the end of the notation toolbar. As I write voice 2 [including all appropriate rests] it amends what I have written for voice 1. For example if voice 1 is all crochets and I add quavers for voice 2 it changes the voice 1 line to quavers. What am I doing wrong?

Also If my voice 1 is all chords can I add a voice two line of any sort?

Comments

• Dec 14, 2013 - 14:56

The most common mistake that would lead to what you describe is selecting the voice *before* entering note input mode rather than *after*. You have to already be in note input mode when you select the voice.

And yes, you should be able to add voices even if your first voice contains chords.

Reply

• Jan 17, 2014 - 15:54

I have got the same problem: trying to add a voice it fails. I have pressed the "voice 2" button after 'N' for "Note input".
Looking at the instruction video suggest that the colour (beam) should change to 'Green' - this is not happening either (trying voice 3 or 4 doesn't change it - they all overwrite my voice 1).
Note that I have successfully been able to add voices initially but now editing fails...

Reply

• Mar 9, 2014 - 14:38

I do have the same problem.
I tried to add a second voice according to the manual and the video tutorial, but nothig works. every time i try to a the second voice it never changes the color of the curso and overwrites the first voice.
i tried to put in the notes for the first voice then go back to the startingpoint of the staff, hit the note entry button an voice 2, but as soon as i enter the note, it switches back to voice 1.
What do i do wrong?

Reply

• Mar 9, 2014 - 14:40

I do have the same problem.
I tried to add a second voice according to the manual and the video tutorial, but nothig works. every time i try to a the second voice it never changes the color of the curso and overwrites the first voice.
i tried to put in the notes for the first voice then go back to the startingpoint of the staff, hit the note entry button an voice 2, but as soon as i enter the note, it switches back to voice 1.
What do i do wrong?

Reply

• Mar 9, 2014 - 15:21

1. In "select" mode, select the first note of the bar you wish to start in.
2. Press "n".
3. Once the cursor appears, THEN select the 2nd voice.
4.THEN select the duration of the note/rest you wish to place and place it.

Doing these IN ORDER is the key.

Hope this helps.
Regards,

Reply

• Mar 9, 2014 - 15:47

well i don´t know why it works now. Maybe the software needet to restart.
All the steps i tried befor realy never worked. but after the restart of the software it works ;)
Thanks for the Help!

Reply

• Mar 14, 2014 - 19:44

So this just happened to me a few minutes ago, using a development build! First time that I can recall in the three years since I've been using MuseScore regularly. So much for the idea that it only happens when newcomers trying pushing a bunch of random buttons :-). No idea what triggered it, but a restart fixed it.

Reply

• Mar 17, 2014 - 13:53

I have not had any trouble entering multiple voices, however I do see where changing a voice doesn't always immediately change the cursor color. But as soon as I enter a note, the note head changes color and I am in the correct voice. It doesn't always happen though, as sometimes the cursor does change color as soon as I select a different voice, so there seems to be some inconsistency. I will try to take note of anything that I am doing differently. I use only the latest release of Musescore, and not any of the nightly builds.

Reply

• Dec 28, 2018 - 14:10

To write in voice 2 where voice 1 already present? I have got around the problem by adding them in Voice 1 and then converting them to Voice 2, as follows:
Click a note in voice 1, press N (to enter "add note" mode), then add the new note below it as desired; the stem line will be combined with the note above.
Do this for as many bars as you wish.
Then press N again to exit "add note" mode.
Then go back and highlight the first note you wish to have in voice 2, and click the "2" in the voices box at the top right of the screen. The stem line will then turn downwards and be in voice 2.

Tedious, but it works for me!
You may need to write in extra notes if the notes are not the same length as in voice 1 ( e.g. two quarter notes for one half note). One can simply combine notes afterwards within the voice.

Reply

• Dec 29, 2018 - 00:45

Are you using a midi keyboard to enter the notes? I remember reading someone else having the problem of adding a second voice in version 3 using midi and/or the virtual piano. I can't find the bug report right now. If this is not true for you then you are not understanding how to enter voice 2 notes.

To enter voice 2 notes, select the measure where they will start enter note input mode by pressing N and either press ctrl+alt+2 or click the 2 in the note input palette to tell MuseScore you want a voice 2 note. Enter your notes. Keep in mind that if you tab to the next measure, it will default to voice 1, if the cursor moves to the next measure because you entered a note or rest, you will remain in voice 2. All of this also applies to voices 3 & 4 as well.

Nothing that is standard notation, which includes voices, is tedious in MuseScore version 2 or 3. If you find anything tedious, start a new thread and explain what you are doing. Someone will tell you and easier way to do it.

Reply

• Mar 17, 2014 - 21:36

My expierienc was like this.
I wrote the hole melody and after that i tried to enter the second voice. but it was not working. i did it as it is written in the manual and the info video.
after i restartet musecore it worked just fine.

Reply

• Jan 20, 2015 - 12:09

I have been also bitten by this bug, adding a second voice wouldn't work, I went into note-adding mode by pressing 'n' and then would select a different voice, but the cursor wouldn't change color and notes would be overwritten.

I then saved my score, restarted MuseScore and THEN it worked as described.

So the solution to this problem is : "restart MuseScore".

Please add this to the FAQ. A "List of Known Bugs" section would be helpful.

I will submit a How-To on voices and document the bug there also.

Reply

• Jan 20, 2015 - 12:33

I'm using the latest stable version 1.3 on Windows XP and this has NOT been fixed. :-)

I tried to add this info to the manual but unfortunately I cannot save the changes. I am therefore posting the changed section with my added explanations below so it can be easily added to the manual page http://musescore.org/en/handbook/voices:

Instructions


  1. Start by entering the top voice (all the up-stem notes). Do this by going to the first note or pause and enter note-adding mode by pressing or clicking 'n'. Then enter the notes via keyboard or mouse.
    2. 

  2. When you enter the notes, some may have down-stems. You do not need to worry about the stem direction at this point, because they will flip automatically when you add the second voice.
    
inline:voices0.png=Voice 1 notes
    3. 

  3. If you are using a computer or MIDI keyboard to enter notes (instead of the mouse), use the ← key to move your cursor back to the beginning of the staff (or measure)
    4. 

  4. Go back to the beginning with the cursor or - if you switched off note-adding mode - select the first note again and press or click 'n'
    5. 

  5. Click on the "Voice 2" button inline:voice-2-button.png=Voice 2 button. The cursor should now turn green.
    6. 

  6. Enter all the bottom voice notes (all the down-stem notes). When you are finished, it should look like this:
    
inline:voices2.png=Voices 1 and 2
    7. 

  7. Note: if the cursor doesn't change color and your entered notes replace the previous notes, save your score and restart MuseScore. This is a known bug.
    8.

Reply

• Jan 20, 2015 - 13:02

For the next 2.0: Absolutely, this issue has been fixed as said here: #44541: Note input cursor does not immediately change color to reflect voice selection And it works wonderfully. For someone like me who is almost always in multi-voice context (and in a single staff), it is of an incredible comfort :)
And it is still a case where I really wonder why I have not reported this issue much sooner! :(
The answer is probably, once again: you get used to one type of behavior that we no longer see the defects or deficiencies ... It is part of the landscape in a way ...!
So: thanks so much to Marc to have fixed this issue. This is one of the improvements that has made me very happy since a while.

Reply

• Jan 20, 2015 - 15:41

Oh yes, I fear it! -;)

And that is why it is useful to listen carefully to new users who have "new eyes" and notice a small detail (but is not perhaps finally a detail ...)

This got me thinking these last days and hours about this other way (but if off topic, sorry): http://musescore.org/en/node/43361
Is there a "simple" way to "lock" the score (via an option or temporarily?) to avoid the inconvenience reported?
It happens quite often the same in Page view ... and this is part of the landscape...!

Reply

• Jan 20, 2015 - 16:10

I'm sure it's possible, but it would require adding a new button / option somewhere, and I don't personally see the value here. Surely the sort of dragging motions you might make in ordinary editing are small, so I'm not seeing what the inconvenience is if you accidentally drag the canvas instead? And since you'd have to move your mouse back to click the thing you intended to drag in the first place, why not just do that while still dragging?

More interesting to me would be an option to lock the score to prevent inadvertent *edits*. There is some code already in place for this, but it doesn't work - some things that should be possible are disabled, although I forget the details.

Anyhow, at this point, I'm not really thinking about adding more buttons or options for 2.0 if it can be avoided. Just cleaning things up so they work as expected.

Reply

• Jan 20, 2015 - 20:58

Yes, it's a minor thing (for me). In fact, I forced myself to find a flaw in a program that I love ....;-)
But I had established a correspondence with the fact to accidentally separate the staves with the mouse (an issue that was resolved with Shift + mouse), and the idea that the score could remain stable in one way or another.

At see for future releases what will be possible to do or not according to the opinion convergent or not of other users.

Reply

• Feb 27, 2017 - 18:54

I am using the current MS (2.0) on Ubuntu 16.04. The issue does not appear to be fixed in my version. Obviously, I cannot select Voice 2 UNTIL I am in Notation mode. But the 2nd Voice is hidden. I notice this on a single unpitched percussion line. I've never had trouble adding voices in earlier versions. But then, I've never notated percussion.

Reply

• Feb 27, 2017 - 19:24

Unpitched percussion works differently from pitched instruments, so do be sure to read the Handbook to understand how drum notation works. The issue described here is about regular pitched instruments, and the issue originally described was indeed fixed years ago. What you are describing seems unrelated. I assume it's the same think you posted about in another older thread, so i responded there instead. In the future, btw, it's best to start new threads; both of the threads you were responding to were years old and referring to obsolete versions of MuseScore.

Reply

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.