Transpose Selected Notes Only
Is there a plugin that transposes a group of selected notes up or down (a half note)?
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Is there a plugin that transposes a group of selected notes up or down (a half note)?
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Comments
Yes,
your keyboard's Up and Down arrow keys.
In reply to Yes, your keyboard's Up and… by Ziya Mete Demircan
That's not "transpose", sir. Transposing not only changes notes, but also changes key signature, and chord symbols.
In reply to That's not "transpose", sir… by howievincy
Did you take a look at the handbook?
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/transposition
Can you attach here an example (*.mscz file) of what you want to get?
In reply to Did you take a look at the… by Shoichi
Yes, I did. Please see my response to frfancha. Thanks.
In reply to That's not "transpose", sir… by howievincy
In general, "Selected note group" which can be a "half-measure" or "one and half" measure.
And so, no one thinks you need key-signs here.
and yes this is note-transpose :) (changing note positions)
Did you ask "Chords" and "Key-signatures" in the first question?
Or will each answer produce another request?
In reply to In general, "Selected note… by Ziya Mete Demircan
Sorry about that. But the regular UP/DN keys change note positions only, and the regular TRANSPOSE action changes other related items also. They are distinct functions. Therefore I thought I needed no explanations for that. Please see my response to frfancha. Thanks.
In reply to Sorry about that. But the… by howievincy
No, I won't read another message.
That's enough for me.
Good luck.
In reply to That's not "transpose", sir… by howievincy
There are shortcuts that allow you to transpose up or down by half steps. You can define them in Edit->Preferences->Shortcuts. They are called "Transpose up" and "Transpose down"
In version 2.0.3 the shortcut for one of them was F2, but then half the time you pressed F2 while editing text the score would transpose...it drove me nuts until I figured out what was happening.
In reply to There are shortcuts that… by mike320
Please see my response to frfancha. Thanks.
In reply to There are shortcuts that… by mike320
Oh, BTW, the regular TRANSPOSE function transposes the whole score including the selected notes. You know, that's not what you want!
In reply to Oh, BTW, the regular… by howievincy
Define the short cut
Select a few notes
use the shortcut
Result will be that the selected notes will be transposed 1/2 step. Like most functions in MuseScore, if you use it with nothing selected it will affect the entire score. If you have a continuous selection it will affect only the selection. The same is true of the transpose Menu item as well.
A note on selections: They must be continuous for these to work. You cannot select only the notes, or the selection will be ignored. To make the selection, click the start then shift+click the end and use the function.
In reply to Define the short cut Select… by mike320
This is what I did: I assigned shortcuts "ALT-D" and "ALT-U" for "transposeDown" and "transposeUp", but they ignore the selections and transpose the whole thing!
In reply to This is what I did: I… by howievincy
You are doing something wrong, it worked perfectly for me.
In reply to You are doing something… by mike320
Can you tell me what is wrong in these steps?
1. Define Transpose Down as ALT+D and Transpose Up as ALT+U
2. Select the first note, press Shift+the second note
3. Press ALT+U
In reply to Can you tell me what is… by howievincy
I now see what you mean. After further testing and paying closer attention to everything happening I see the entire score is transposing. In my initial confirmation testing it seems the accidentals on my starting notes were making me believe the transposition was working properly.
If your desire is to transpose everything selected 1/2 step, you still have the option of pressing an arrow button. All selected notes will adjust 1/2 step, but you may not like the accidentals assigned. Moving and extra step in that direction then one step back in the other direction toggles the accidentals between sharps and flats for the most part. To keep the existing accidentals if they don't conflict with the key signature, you can press alt+shift+arrow to transpose 1/2 step at a time. The final option is to use Tools->transpose which does work properly on a selection. This also gives you the option of changing the key signature if you want.
In reply to I now see what you mean… by mike320
Mike320,
The reason I asked for help with PLUGINS is to avoid "too much" work (see the last response to frfancha). I didn't ask for how to do it. I appreciate your time trying to help me out. Again, Thanks.
The regular transpose action from MuseScore (in the menu) only operates on the notes you have selected.
If that is not what you are looking for, can you explain?
In reply to The regular transpose action… by frfancha
Please take a look at the attached picture. Imagine I how much work I have to do if I use the regular transpose action, or the combination of UP/DN keys + changing chord symbols. With a plugin, say "Tx_Group", I could just need 2 mouse clicks ("Plugins" and "Tx_group").
In reply to Please take a look at the… by howievincy
Ok I see and understand your picture, but it seems to me that it is exactly what transpose does if you select the zone containing the notes and chords you need to transpose?
In reply to Ok I see and understand your… by frfancha
Yes, you are right, in a way. But still, too much work to transpose the whole score, many scores.
In reply to Yes, you are right, in a way… by howievincy
I'm the first one to criticize MuseScore when it isn't user friendly or logical but there I don't follow you.
How can that be "too much" work to select the zone you want to transpose?
How can you expect that MuseScore will guess the zone you want to transpose if you don't indicate it?
In reply to I'm the first one to… by frfancha
Here is how "too much": I have MANY scores to transpose, each has about 80 measures, each measure has 1 to 2 chords. Let's say for the 1st score, I have to translate 40 of those chords to "C" (the rest are already C's) . For each of the chords, I must:
1. a) Select the 1st note; b) Hold SHIFT while select the 2nd note
2. Press "T" (for Transpose)
3. Select "Transpose Diatonically"
4. Select "Up" or "Down"
5. Hit "OK", or:
5a. Click the down arrow in the "Second" combo-box to select "Third", "Forth", .... or "Seventh"
5b. Hit "OK"
That is (40 X 6 = 240 clicks) to (40 X 7 = 280 clicks) for each score, not to mention the time it takes to look for the chords that are not "C".
Why can't I define shortcuts for Transpose Up and Transpose Down to skip step 3 thru 5, like this:
1. a) Select the 1st note; b) Hold SHIFT while select the 2nd note;
2. Press "ALT+U" (for Transpose Up) or Press "ALT+D" (for Transpose Down).
? -Because it ignores the selection and transpose the entire score!
Here is how a plugin can help me:
1. a) Select the 1st note; b) Hold SHIFT while select the 2nd note;
2. Click "Plugins"
3. Click "XU" (for Transpose Up) or click "XD" (for Transpose Down).
That is (40 X 4 = 160 clicks) for each score.
In fact, if I put a little more time into developing the plugins, it could take only 2 clicks for each score, yes, 2-clicks/score, like this:
1. Click "Plugins"
2. Click "XUD" (for Transpose Up/Down)
and all 80+ chords will be C's.
In reply to Here is how "too much": I… by howievincy
I am not understanding how you have scores where only some notes or chords need to be transposed. Normally you'd want to transpose an entire score. How did the score get into this state? Can you post an actual example (a real score, not just a picture of an excerpt) so we can understand and assist better?
In reply to I am not understanding how… by Marc Sabatella
Hi Marc! These are regular *.mscz Musescore files that I use to convert them to "style" files for keyboard workstations such as Yamaha Tyros 5 or Korg Pa4X. The "style" files requires everything played in the key of C. For example, a score has 4 bars in the key of E, goes E - A - B - E. After transposing the whole score to key of C, which is now C - F - G - C, I need to transpose the F and G bars to get C - C - C - C. Making this happen for 1 score takes a while and a lot of clicking and spanning. And I have hundreds of mscz files to do.
I think I can create a PLUGIN that can do all that in just 2 clicks for each score, yet I don't know the plugin codes to shift a note and a chord symbol, something like:
var notes = cursor.element.notes;
var chord = cursor.element;
for (var i = 0; i < notes.length; ++i) {
var note = notes[i];
if (note.selected) {
note.pitch = note.pitch - 1; //shifting down half note
}
Do you know?
In reply to Hi Marc! These are regular *… by howievincy
Sorry, a) I don't know much about plugins, and b) without seeing your actual score and a very clear description of precisely what you want to do and why, it's difficult to advise.
In reply to The regular transpose action… by frfancha
Oh, BTW, the regular TRANSPOSE function transposes the whole score including the selected notes. That is, if you assign shortcuts "ALT-D" and "ALT-U" for "transposeDown" and "transposeUp". You know, that's not what you want!
In reply to Oh, BTW, the regular… by howievincy
-if a transpose command acts on more than your selection, that's a bug to submit and it will be corrected eventually (when is depending on resources...)
-now from your description I wouldn't say you need a plugin. What you need is a macro facility.
As we all need in fact, that's a big missing feature of MuseScore.
Ability to register a set of actions as a macro, saved independently of the score!, and assign a shortcut.
How easier lot of things would then be! Imagine e.g. inserting a 3/4 followed by a 4/4 measure in one key stroke! Set a fingering text properties as bold italic circle paddind 10 all that in one key!
I don't now if a macro feature request already exists, but if that would be possible I would even give a donation to help its development.
To all,
In plugins, there are "Note Pitch" and "Tonal Pitch Class", but I don't know how to use them to shift notes up/down, and I don't know how to change Chord Symbols either.
I think this post title should have been:
"Look For a Plugin For Transposing Selected Notes Up/Down"
and the body should have been:
I use regular *.mscz Musescore files to convert them to "style" files for keyboard workstations such as Yamaha Tyros 5 or Korg Pa4X. The "style" files require everything to be played in the key of C. For example, a score has 4 bars in the key of E, goes E - A - B - E. After transposing the whole score to key of C, which is now C - F - G - C, I need to transpose the F and G bars to get C - C - C - C. Making this happen for 1 score takes a while and a lot of clicking and spanning. And I have hundreds of mscz files to do.
I think I can create a PLUGIN that can do all that in just 2 clicks for each score, yet I don't know the plugin codes to shift a note, something like:
var notes = cursor.element.notes;
for (var i = 0; i < notes.length; ++i) {
var note = notes[i];
if (note.selected) {
note.pitch = note.pitch - 1; //shifting down a half note
}
Or maybe:
var notes = cursor.element.notes;
for (var i = 0; i < notes.length; ++i) {
var note = notes[i];
if (note.selected) {
note.tpc = note.tpc - 1; //shifting down a half note
}
Can anybody help?
In reply to I think this post title… by howievincy
So the chunks to transpose are separated based on the chords. (E A B E in your example).
Are these chords always attached to the first note of the measure?
If not, should the plugin only use the ones attached to first note of measure or is any chord change a chunk limit?
In reply to So the chunks to transpose… by frfancha
The pseudo code your are showing just change all selected notes by the same amount. So how can be that any sort of solution allowing to apply what you need on a full score in two clicks like you say, as the transpose distance must change at every chord change ?
In reply to The pseudo code your are… by frfancha
You seem to know plugin coding more than I do. You are right, the codes didn't do anything. Musescore Pitch and TPC explanations don't help me at all. That's why I am here.
In reply to So the chunks to transpose… by frfancha
The chords are not always attached to the first note of the measure. The plugin should go thru the notes, apply the changes starting on the note with the attached chord to the next the note with another attached chord.