Possible to beam notes across voices?
Hi! I have a piano score that beams notes across staves, i.e., two notes in the bass clef staff, two in the treble, all four beamed together. I read and successfully used the cross-staff notation technique of putting the two different staved portions in different voices, but this split the beaming: is it possible to join the beams in cross-staff notation? Thanks!
DLG
Comments
try View > Workspaces > Advanced then at the bottom of the palettes open Beam Properties and select "beam middle"
You wrote:
I read and successfully used the cross-staff notation technique of putting the two different staved portions in different voices...
Are you sure you need different voices?
If you have a sequence of 4 eighth notes - 2 in the bass clef staff, 2 in the treble - keeping them all in the same voice will allow for beaming.
Posting the score (or an example) is always the best course in cases like this.
In reply to You wrote: I read and… by Jm6stringer
According to this:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/cross-staff-notation
yes, the parts need to be in different voices. However, I "punted" and decided to just use 8va notation in the left-hand (base clef) staff instead.
In reply to You wrote: I read and… by Jm6stringer
Here's the score I'm transcribing:
![CrossStaff64ths.jpg]()
In reply to Here's the score I'm… by OlyDLG
This doesn't require separate voices at all. Put all the 64th notes in voice 1 of the bottom staff, then use Ctrl+Shift+Up to move the ones you wish to the top staff. Or, equivalently, put them all in voice 2 of the top staff and move them down. Depends on how you want to represent the other notes of the measure. But it's perfectly possible either way,
In reply to This doesn't require… by Marc Sabatella
Then obviously I'm misunderstanding what https://musescore.org/en/handbook/cross-staff-notation is talking about, or I'm misunderstanding what it's describing as the procedure: which is it, please? Or is this a bug in the documentation? Thanks!
In reply to Then obviously I'm… by OlyDLG
As far as I can tell the documentation is fine, is there a particular step in the documented procedure you are finding troublesome, or is it just that you didn't like the default beam position? It's true that will sometimes require editing.
In reply to As far as I can tell the… by Marc Sabatella
The doc the very adamant about the separate voices issue, but as you've indicated, that isn't necessary: I don't understand the inconsistency.
In reply to The doc the very adamant… by OlyDLG
I don't see anything incorrect there. The only two uses of the word "voice" on that page are:
1) "This moves all the notes in that voice down/up to the other staff" - an absolutely true statement, but it says nothing about needing "separate" voices. Assuming you want everything in voice 1 for that chord to move, this does the job perfectly, no need for additional voices.
2) "If you only want to move certain notes in a chord you need to ensure that they are in a separate voice" - again, an absolutely true statement, but only relevant if in fact you are trying to split a single chord between staves, which is not what you are doing here. You are moving the whole chord - the whole one-note chord.
In reply to I don't see anything… by Marc Sabatella
Oh, I think I totally blanked out the word "chord" (I maybe losing my mind); perhaps more examples on that page would be helpful (I don't really see an example of the simpler case I was trying to do, but then, as I said, I may be losing my mind.)
In reply to Oh, I think I totally… by OlyDLG
As far as I can tell, the example shown is the simpler case. Simpler still, in fact, because only one note is moved, not a whole series of them as in your example.
In reply to As far as I can tell, the… by Marc Sabatella
Right, and then the discussion procedes to discuss the case requiring separate voices, without presenting an example to emphasize the difference: it's confusing (at least, I found it so, obviously).
In reply to Oh, I think I totally… by OlyDLG
You wrote:
Oh, I think I totally blanked out the word "chord"
Marc wrote:
You are moving the whole chord - the whole one-note chord.
Huh? ...One note chord?
"Chord", in MuseScore speak, can also mean more than "multiple notes on the same stem".
"Chord" can mean: notehead + stem + flag.
For example, in MuseScore:
Click on a single eighth note (one with a single flag, no beam). In the Inspector, check the 'Small' box in the Note section. The stem and flag stay the same size.
Next, do the same with 'Small' box in the Chord section. The entire note gets small.
Where the handbook states...
Note: If you only want to move certain notes in a chord you need to ensure that they are in a separate voice.
It means a chord of multiple notes played at the same time.
In reply to Here's the score I'm… by OlyDLG
For measure 11...
![M.11c.png]( "M.11c.png")
Enter notes into bass clef staff.
![M.11a.png]( "M.11a.png")
Shift click on the 2 red notes to select the range:
Press Ctrl+Shift+up arrow:
![M.11b.png]( "M.11b.png")
Add slur, adjust accordingly.
In reply to For measure 11.. Enter notes… by Jm6stringer
A) I'm on a Mac, so I had to use "Command-Shift Click" (no biggy, standard Mac difference).
B) On the Mac, (OS: macOS 10.15, Arch.: x86_64, MuseScore version (64-bit): 3.4.2.25137, revision: 148e43f) I get the result pictured in bar 9 of the attached score, not the "prettier" result you posted (I tried using 'x' to flip the directions of the stems of the first two 64th notes, but all that did was shift the placement of the bars and lengthen stems accordingly); is there something else I should try, or is this a bug? It just dawned on me that if it is a mac-only bug, then you all opening the score in Windows may not see what I see, so I'm attaching a screenshot as well.
In reply to A) I'm on a Mac, so I had to… by OlyDLG
The default is fine, but if you prefer the beams in a different position, just edit them normally - double-click and move the handles.
In reply to The default is fine, but if… by Marc Sabatella
I don't want the beams in a different position, I want the stems in a different direction; I tried the 'x' shortcut and that didn't do it.
In reply to I don't want the beams in a… by OlyDLG
Did you try moving doing as I suggested? Move the beam, the stems will follow.
In reply to Did you try moving doing as… by Marc Sabatella
Oh, that wasn't clear. What about the two voices necessary for cross-staff notation issue in the doc?
In reply to I don't want the beams in a… by OlyDLG
In reply to For measure 11.. Enter notes… by Jm6stringer
Thank you for this baby explanation I could do it right away