Tie or slur?
Hi everyone,
I am entering printed scores into Musescore to train my editing skills, when I ran into a problem, which seemed to be a bug. I wanted to create a tie for the c#, which Musescore refused to do. After several tries and with the help of support, I realized that the second c was not a c#. It is a pity that ties and slurs share the same symbol. What was intended here? An upper tie and a lower slur, two slurs? After I raised the second c to a c# the tie worked but unfortunately the # sign disappeared immediately. I think, this would have been a great place to put a grace accidental, right?
So, what do you think?
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Comments
Linking to #309653: MuseScore refuses to create a tie
As explained there ties connect only 2 notes of the same pitch and on playback contract them into one duration. Sslurs cover 2 or more notes or any pitch (and does not contract them)
2 entirely different things, so different functions, and (very) slightly different look too.
If you want a courtesy accidental to clear which is which, just put it there., but then again it could still be a slur between 2 identical pitches, not contracted into one duration, so you're not any step further
This is correct for ties - an accidental is always assumed to carry over across the barline when the note is tied. The only time one should ever put an extra accidental on the tied note is if it is on the next system - when there is a line break between the tied notes. In those cases, you can add an explicit accidental using the toolbar or palette. But it would be confusing and thus incorrect to do it otherwise.
I have seen courtesy accidentals on the second note of a tie on the same system but this is usually to make sure the musician knows this is a tie. For example, in 4/4 a 1/2 note B slurred to a Bb across the bar line followed by a 1/2 note Bb tied to another Bb might include the courtesy accidental to leave no question that the second is a tie and not a slur back to B. MuseScore allows for this clarification but the need to use it is the exception rather than the rule.
As for using the same symbol, this is historic. Ties and slurs have looked the same since at least the Baroque era. MuseScore actually uses different symbols that I can tell the difference by looking at them. They are different in MuseScore so play back is correct in each situation.
I take advantage of this difference at times while entering music. If I have two 1/2 note C's (starting on beat 3) tied across a bar line followed by 1/2 note C#'s tied across the next bar line I'll enter them like this
7 c r [Up arrow]
the 7 makes 2 tied 1/2 notes split by the bar line, r duplicates the two tied 1/2 notes and up arrow raises the entire second tied note group 1/2 step since they are tied and must remain at the same pitch. MuseScore only applies the required accidental to the first C#.
One final note related to what you said. In the case of chords with multiple ties and slurs it is necessary to examine the source closely to determine if you are seeing ties or slurs. This is determined by looking at the notes and seeing if they are the same or different pitches. A mix of the two in the chord is not unusual. If there is a mix of the two, it is most common for the tie(s) to be either at the top or bottom of the chord rather than some note in the middle of a chord.