help on entering note with two flags, and quarter/half notes in same position
Hi, I'm new to musescore and looking for pointers on how to enter SATB closed score notes as shown in the image below:
- enter a note with two flags where S&A sing the same note.
-
enter the notes in the bass clef where B sings a half note, and T sings quarter notes.
Thanks!
Comments
If you are new to MuseScore then welcome and I suggest that reading the handbook at least once will give you a good idea of what MuseScore can do (hint, it can do a lot!). For the particular case you ask about, this is the place to look in the handbook https://musescore.org/en/handbook/voices.
In reply to If you are new to MuseScore… by SteveBlower
Thanks, that helped a lot -- great documentation! In this situation, I only needed a 2nd voice for part of the measure, so added some invisible rests for the rest of the measure. Also on the bass clef, I had to switch to voice 3 to get the stems to point up.
In reply to Thanks, that helped a lot --… by cbrake
Superfluous (invisible) rest in measure 3 to staff, voice 3 in bottom staff measure 3 and 6, use voice 1 there (and remove the superfluous rests)
In reply to Superfluos rest in measure 3… by Jojo-Schmitz
thanks for the tips -- does this look right now? On my first pass through, I did not realize I could change the direction of the note stems.
In reply to thanks for the tips -- does… by cbrake
To me it does, almost, there are some unneeded voice 2 notes with stems turned up (or voice 1 notes with stems turned down)
OTOH you could make all lower notes in both staves voice 2 (and with stem down), quite common in closed score SATB (or any time two 'instruments' share one staff)
Actually Soprano and Tenor voice 1, stem up, Alto and Bass voice 2, stem down
In reply to thanks for the tips -- does… by cbrake
Your score looks like what I would do. In mm3 & 6 I do what you did, put one voice's notes in voice 1 and the other in voice 2 and flip a stem to make them look like a chord when the measure is not selected. I personally prefer this over deleting voice 2 rests or making them invisible but it's not vital.
In reply to Your score looks like what I… by mike320
That flipping works for quarter notes, but not for anything shorter.
And it does look more like a Piano score, not like closed score SATB
Also doesn't allow using the separate mixer channels (when using the templates or the men and women 'instruments')
In reply to That flipping works for… by Jojo-Schmitz
Beams and flags do present problems you need to make a decision on. If you need different sounds in the mixer for each voice, then always using 2 voices per staff is necessary and you there are a lot of choices to be made about stem directions and visibility of flags and beams.
As far as it looking like a piano score, if your making it look like a piano score then the decisions have to be made, if you do separate stems as Jojo recommends, the decision is easy and all of the stem directions happen automatically in MuseScore, provided you use voice 1 for the top and voice 2 for the bottom.
In reply to Beams and flags do present… by mike320
I had never thought about it before, but it appears many of the hymns/choral arrangements use a style where stems go in same direction, unless it is the same note, or if there are mixed half/quarter notes in that position. It also seems practical to use two voices and then flip all the stems up by selecting a stem, then select similar to flip them all up, and then flip the few that need to go down.
However, this can get a little tricker if there are anything smaller than quarter notes (as Jojo mentioned). See below for an example -- the last note now likes like 1/16 notes instead of 1/8.
Part of this may go back to when scores were manually created and more like art ...
Anyway, good to understand the options.
In reply to I had never thought about it… by cbrake
Unless I am missing something, it's usually easier to just enter those as chords rather than separate voices, unless you need the separate voices for playback purposes. Or, if it is already entered as multiple voices, just use Tools / Implode to automatically convert to chords where possible.
In reply to Unless I am missing… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks Marc.
So it seems if the primary goal is to produce music score, entering chords for most notes is fine, and then add a 2nd voice in areas where needed.
In reply to Unless I am missing… by Marc Sabatella
Might be easier, but for closed score SATB not necessarily more correct?
In reply to Might be easier, but for… by Jojo-Schmitz
I have no special opinion on whether it's better to have the stems going the same direction where possible or not - I've seen both methods, and am fine with either personally. I'm just saying if you want them going the same direction, it's generally better to do that by making them chords rather than faking it with stem directions. The latter method will cause problems with flags as noted, and also beams.
In reply to I have no special opinion on… by Marc Sabatella
noted -- thanks all for the help.