Keyboard command for moving a note an augmented unison

• Jan 20, 2018 - 15:28

When you want to transpose a note an augmented unison. For instance, changing a B to a B#: is there an easier way to do it than to go through the Notes menu (Notes/Transpose/By Interval/Augmented Second), or adding an accidental with the Accidentals pallette? Of course it is easy if the note is, an A or a G, you can just use the arrow keys. But for notes like B and E are hard to sharp (sharpen?), and notes like C and F are hard to flat (flatten?). Then there is the double sharp/double flat issue. Ideally, I'm looking for a keyboard command.

Screen Shot 2018-01-20 at 10.21.33 AM.png

Related question: In the "Notes" menu, one of the links is called "Respell Pitches." I can't figure out what it does (a search of the handbook brings nothing up).

Screen Shot 2018-01-20 at 10.06.59 AM.png


Comments

FYI, the algorithm for the "Up" and "Down" keys is key-aware: it adds a sharp or flat unless the resulting pitch is enharmonically diatonic, in which case it switches to the diatonic spelling. So for instance, while "B Up" gives you a C if the key signature is C major, it gives you a B# is the key signature is D major.

But sure, that means B# needs to be entered differently in keys that have a C. The accidental on the toolbar would be the usual way to do this. If you do this enough to want a keyboard command, you can go to Edit / Preferences / Shortcuts to define "Note input: sharp" et al.

The "Respell pitches" command is kind of an oddball. It seems to use some sort of context-sensitive algorithm to optimize spelling of pitches from a horizontal perspective. For instance, it is sees E-Eb-E, it will respell to E-D#-E, all else being equal. But I wouldn't say it is especially smart about this, so I take its suggestions with a grain of salt.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Thanks, Marc. I feel kind of stupid—I have been using MuseScore for how long? I do almost everything by keyboard command and the result is that I guess I have just stopped seeing the tools at the top. I had completely missed the fact that there were accidentals up there!

I didn't know what the name for adding an accidental was, so your hint about "Note input: sharp," etc., is extremely helpful. I didn't know what the command was called so I wasn't finding it.

I've been transcribing a bunch of flute excercises and there are a LOT of accidentals, so this is really helpful.

The easiest way to make a B or E into a sharp, if C and F respectively do not have sharps in the key signature, is to apply a sharp. I have shortcuts defined for flats and sharps for this case. I also have double sharp and flat as well as natural assigned to shortcuts. These prevent me from needing to grab my mouse for this, but there are also the toolbars at the top of the screen and palettes that let you do this. By the way, if I hover my mouse over the toolbar it reminds me of the shortcut I assigned. This is a useful reminder until you get used to the shortcut. All of these methods are easier than using the menu.

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