How do I tell which stave a dynamic marking belongs to?

• Oct 2, 2020 - 21:00

In this score: https://musescore.com/anes/nocturne-n2---a-snowy-night

In bar 1 there is a "p" marking for both staves. In bar 7 there is a "p" marking close to the bass stave. Does this belong to the treble or bass stave. Maybe the bass because there's a clef change here? But this would seem to be inconsistent with bar 1, so maybe the treble stave.

On the other hand, why is there a dynamic marking here at all since there is no change in dynamics for either stave. (They are not part of any repeat.)

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Comments

To see which staff it belongs to, click it and look at the status bar. If the only instrument in the score is one piano it will be obvious. If there are other instruments you may need to click something on the staff above or below the dynamic to see which staff is the same number.

As to why is there a redundant p in measure 7, a better question would be why is there a p on measure 1 staff 1 when rests don't have a sound. The one on m7 tells the musician to not get louder because another line of music has been added.

In MuseScore, in the case of a grand staff (like a piano) there is also the option of assigning the dynamic to affect a single staff in the inspector. By default, it affects the entire part (both staves).

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