What am I missing? Why is there an input mode [with N] and an edit mode?
I finished copying a score. It took about an hour for each bar.
It felt right to enter all the notes from keyboard then to fix them all but MS kept adding rests when I shortened note duration.
Would it work to enter all notes at the shortest duration THEN make them longer [working left to right]? Changing pitch is easy and feels natural.
Comments
This is very confusing. The body of your question has nothing to do with the title.
What is it you are trying to achieve that you cannot?
MS will always express a complete bar, so when you reduce the duration of a note, a rest(s) will appear to keep the bar complete.
In reply to This is very confusing. The… by xavierjazz
Or parts of the next note/chord/rest will get 'eaten'
There is note entry mode (and several sub-modes). And there is edit mode, activated via double click, used to move elements or edit texts
Indeed, note input and edit modes are different and unrelated. Note input is just what it says. Edit is for fine tuning the position of elemwnts - moving a fwrmatw a millimeter to the left or whatever.
To learn how to use note input mode, see the Handbook and/or watch the tutorial videos - they explain the process well. Basically, when you enter a note, MuseScore assumes you want it on that beat. If you change yourond and want it earlier, don't try trick MuseScore into moving it for you by fiddling with other notes earlier in the measure - simply move it directly via cut and paste. In general, best to enter notes with the duration you intend right from the beginning, rather than entering things incorrectly then trying to fix them later.
I think you ought to read the handbook section about mote entry carefully. You can enter notes from keyboard in such a way as to have the pitch AND the duration correct at once: Enter the duration as a number--5 = crotchet, 4 = quaver etc.) followed by the letterman of the note. Depending on the melody you'll have to adjust some notes an octave up or down but otherwise this is easy and fast).
BTW if you type a duration followed by a zero you get a rest of the proper value.