Shortcut key for "tie from previous"?

• Jun 6, 2021 - 10:12

I know + for adding a tie to the next note, but using step entry "tie from previous" is arguably more useful, otherwise adding a tie to the last note creates a new note of the same duration, and it's probably more common than not that the duration of the tied-to note is different to the one you're tying from. Yes you can then change it by exiting step entry mode, changing the note length then re-entering it, but it would seem simpler and more obvious if we could just add the note at the right duration first then choose to have it tied from the previous one without exiting step entry mode.


Comments

Maybe I'm missing something, but the normal way to tie is to first select the desired duration then press "+", no need to leave note input mode, no need to enter the new pitch first then apply the tie retroactively, etc. Just those two clicks only - "4 +" to tie to an eighth regardless of the first note's duration.

In reply to by Dylan Nicholson1

"so + means add tied note with current duration..."
Not just the current duration, but whatever duration you wish. Just as in adding new notes, you select the duration, and instead of entering the new pitch name, you press + and a note of that duration is added and automatically tied to the note you have just entered. This is a very useful and time saving feature of MuseScore.

In reply to by mirabilos

I'm not sure which command you mean, but to be clear: the regular tie command ("+" in MU3, "T" in MU4) always creates a new note in note input mode, even if there is a note of the same pitch later. That holds even if it's the very next note and is thus occupying the same space as the note that will be added by the tie command - the existing note is removed and replaced with a new note of the selected duration. Only in normal mode does the tie command connect to an existing note instead of creating a new one.

In reply to by mirabilos

The same was true of MuseScore 2, except for the case where there was already a note on the very next beat - in the location where the tied-to note would have been added. In that case only, the tie command would keep the note with its current duration and tie to it. I vaguely recall this being changed somewhere around 3.3 or so.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Short answer: not necessarily faster but more convenient.

Long answer:
I have two arguments in support of that function

  1. Users continue to look for that functionality, the way users describe the issue they expect that it exists, so it looks like an expected behavior to have an option to tie backwards, and adding notes is less expected.

  2. What I mean by saying it might be more convenient: if you input with midi-keyboard + pc-keyboard you develop a pattern, select length; input chord or note; with tie backward you would enter all the notes with appropriate lengths not breaking the input habit and then add ties without moving input position after you input all the notes for a stretch.

But if you or other maintainers or big contributors feel strongly against it, I'd hold up with implementation.
Here is a gh issue link https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/19815

In reply to by Дмитрий Киселев

I'm not against it all all. I am just trying to understand the rationale - what MIDI has to do with anything. It's fewer steps the way it is now. Why would you want a new command whose only purpose is to make a simple job twice as hard? Right now it takes only a single keystroke to enter the ties, MIDI or not. I don't understand how using a MIDI keyboard suddenly makes you want to have to take the unnecessary step of entering the chord twice - it just doesn't make sense to me.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Another argument: In rhythm-only input mode it is impossible to change the length of following tied note.
(You can only tie to a note of the same value.) An additional command to "tie backwards", which would be an intuitive alternative anyway and easy to achieve, would make this possible.

In reply to by oMrSmith

Actually, in rhythm mode, Id argue the regular tie command is all but useless. It should simply be changed to do the tie backwards in always in rhythm mode.

Again, I am not suggesting another command for tie backwards I. Other modes would be a bad idea. But understanding the use case is important in trying to prioritize. Right now other than rhythm mode, it seems a command that would make entering ties harder than it currently is. Which would make it lower priority. On the other hand, rhythm mode being kind of broken is more serious - but also better handled by simply changing g the behavior of the standard tie command rather than forcing people to learn a new one.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

> what MIDI has to do with anything

How that works for me: you keep your left hand on pc-keyboard and right on midi-keyboard, and you develop a pattern: select length first with left hand, enter chords with right hand, entering tie forward just breaks that muscle memory, and though adding tie backwards is one more keystroke it feels less disruptive.

So it's about maintaining mental connection between what you see and what you enter, so let's say you have:

1) dotted quarter; eighth; half; quarter
without ties, and
2) dotted quarter; eighth; half tied to quarter

For me it's more convenient to use the same entry pattern for both lines and add ties at the end of the piece because mentally both lines are the same with an extra thing - a tie.

I guess others might find it useful for other reasons.

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