Normally below is the default for tab of a single voice. Either you already have multiple voices in that example, or you changed the default settings in your staff properties. Either way, we'd need the actual score, not a picture, to understand and advise further.
That's not going to work indeed, nor is it how bass notes should normally be notated. The bass notes belong in a separate voice, that's exactly what the downstems are supposed to be conveying to the reader.
Is there a reason you are going out of your way to avoid the correct method here? It's just going to cause confusion at some point, whether it's upon editing later, on sharing the score with someone else, on export to MusicXML, or a blind person reading the score who doesn't "see" the stem directions. etc. It also won't playback as I imagine you probably want, with the bass note sustaining longer. is there some advantage I am missing that outweighs these major disadvantages?
Yes, there is a reason. I am a testing a plugout which currently only works in a single voice. The plugout attempts to implement a better guitar "Let Ring" than the current built-in implementation. With the plugout applied the measure will ring exactly as intended, the bass note will ring for the full measure. I think that TAB users are used to a bit of flexibility with their scores and would not be confused at all by this layout but I am working on a multivoice solution. I just want to get some initial feedback on the single voice version and it aids clarity if I can switch the stems up/down.
If notating for drums (which is a 2 layer system) anything below the 3rd line must point down. Anything above obviously points up. It is a two layer system and though notes lay on the same best in a chordal style, the feet notes must point down. In Berklee, only the students using muse score lose credit for their work because the software cannot make this happen.
MuseScore does in fact do this by default, putting kick drum and pedal hat in voice 2 with the stems pointing downwards and everything else pointing up. And if the default drumkit setup is not to your liking, you can change it using the drumset settings. https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/drum-notation
This thread here is about tablature, not about drum notation. In drum notation MusaeScore does what you describe to need by default (and and what you call 'layer' is 'voice' in MuseScore)
As mentioned, MuseScore definitely does this. You can customize the stem directions however you like, but the defaults are pretty much just what you describe - stems down for feet, stems up for hands. There are a two notes below the third line that are played by hands and thus have stems up - low floor tom and low conga - but if you prefer notating these higher on the staff, you can customize that.
So if you're encountering students who are turning in incorrectly-notated work, it's certainly not because MuseScore doesn't suppose this style - must be that those students are doing something incorrectly. Hard to say exactly what, though. Maybe ask one of them to post a score they are having problems here on the forum, and we're happy to help!
Comments
Normally below is the default for tab of a single voice. Either you already have multiple voices in that example, or you changed the default settings in your staff properties. Either way, we'd need the actual score, not a picture, to understand and advise further.
In reply to Normally that's the default… by Marc Sabatella
I'm trying to have bass notes down and other notes up but only using a single voice.
NoStemsDown.mscz
In reply to [inline:NoStemsDown.mscz] by yonah_ag
That's not going to work indeed, nor is it how bass notes should normally be notated. The bass notes belong in a separate voice, that's exactly what the downstems are supposed to be conveying to the reader.
In reply to That's not going to work… by Marc Sabatella
I've found a way to do it in a single voice and still convey to the reader that it's actually 2 voices.
In reply to I've found a way to do it in… by yonah_ag
Is there a reason you are going out of your way to avoid the correct method here? It's just going to cause confusion at some point, whether it's upon editing later, on sharing the score with someone else, on export to MusicXML, or a blind person reading the score who doesn't "see" the stem directions. etc. It also won't playback as I imagine you probably want, with the bass note sustaining longer. is there some advantage I am missing that outweighs these major disadvantages?
In reply to Is there a reason you are… by Marc Sabatella
Yes, there is a reason. I am a testing a plugout which currently only works in a single voice. The plugout attempts to implement a better guitar "Let Ring" than the current built-in implementation. With the plugout applied the measure will ring exactly as intended, the bass note will ring for the full measure. I think that TAB users are used to a bit of flexibility with their scores and would not be confused at all by this layout but I am working on a multivoice solution. I just want to get some initial feedback on the single voice version and it aids clarity if I can switch the stems up/down.
https://musescore.org/en/node/319340#comment-1085062
In reply to Is there a reason you are… by Marc Sabatella
If notating for drums (which is a 2 layer system) anything below the 3rd line must point down. Anything above obviously points up. It is a two layer system and though notes lay on the same best in a chordal style, the feet notes must point down. In Berklee, only the students using muse score lose credit for their work because the software cannot make this happen.
In reply to If notating for drums (which… by Zack Munoz
MuseScore does in fact do this by default, putting kick drum and pedal hat in voice 2 with the stems pointing downwards and everything else pointing up. And if the default drumkit setup is not to your liking, you can change it using the drumset settings. https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/drum-notation
In reply to If notating for drums (which… by Zack Munoz
This thread here is about tablature, not about drum notation. In drum notation MusaeScore does what you describe to need by default (and and what you call 'layer' is 'voice' in MuseScore)
In reply to If notating for drums (which… by Zack Munoz
As mentioned, MuseScore definitely does this. You can customize the stem directions however you like, but the defaults are pretty much just what you describe - stems down for feet, stems up for hands. There are a two notes below the third line that are played by hands and thus have stems up - low floor tom and low conga - but if you prefer notating these higher on the staff, you can customize that.
So if you're encountering students who are turning in incorrectly-notated work, it's certainly not because MuseScore doesn't suppose this style - must be that those students are doing something incorrectly. Hard to say exactly what, though. Maybe ask one of them to post a score they are having problems here on the forum, and we're happy to help!
In reply to I've found a way to do it in… by yonah_ag
How did you do that, yonah?
In reply to How did you do that, yonah? by Pentatonus
Changed the Y offset in inspector to move the stem vertically downwards.