On-screen Piano Keyboard not cleared when playing
I have the piano keyboard on the screen with my score. Let's say if I press the Rewind key to the beginning of the score. The first note/s on the score would be highlighted on the score and on the corresponding keys on-screen piano keyboard. If I now click on the Play button, the score starts to play but the highlighted key/s would stay highlighted even the playing passed the highlighted note/s. The same behavior if I start playing the score anywhere, let's say at any measure, on the score. Wherever the starting note is, the corresponding key on the on-screen piano stays highlighted for the entire score. If I click the mouse anywhere not on the score before start playing which will clear any highlighted notes and keys on the on-screen piano, the on-screen piano plays normally. If I have multiple notes in the position of the first note, there will be multiple-notes highlighted keys on the on-screen keyboard. This is annoying. Is this normal on-screen Piano Keyboard behavior? Shouldn't the On-screen Piano Keyboard be cleared before playing?
Comments
Select the note where you want to start, but then use the Esc key to clear the selection. Then press the spacebar to start playback from that point. It's not intuitive - it may be a bug, or a design feature so that you can keep returning to a particular place..
In reply to Select the note where you… by Brer Fox
Your suggestion works. It is definitely not intuitive. However, if this "feature" is designed so I can return to the particular place, there is no easy way to go back in a long score other than scrolling and hunting along. It is not as if there is a shortcut key to go back. I would not need this feature if I start from the first note of the first measure. Thanks. I believe this is a bug and not a feature.
In reply to Your suggestion works. It… by gooddealonly
I agree it doesn't seem to make sense to still show the selection during playback, so feel free to file this to the official issue tracker.
I'm not quite understanding your concern about returning. Do you mean, it if you playback for more than just a few measures, but then for whatever wish to go back to the same spot next time you play? This is what the loop feature is for (well, one of the things, anyhow). By setting a loop range, every time you start playback, it will begin at the start of the loop. But in any case, I don't see what the issue of how to go back has to do with the idea of selection. Whether you clear your selection or not before starting playback, you still have to solve that problem somehow. One way would be to add a rehearsal mark if it's a spot you expect to return to often.
In reply to I agree it doesn't seem to… by Marc Sabatella
What I meant by "return" was that if I was working on measure 25 and started to play from measure 25, It would be nice if there is a shortcut key for me to jump back to measure 25, if this annoying "feature" was indeed a "feature". This shortcut does not exist. I was not talking about "loop" or anything like that. I was simply trying to figure out how possible it was, as you suggested, a feature. This is so minor and you gave me the workaround or solution. It is tolerable. Thanks.
In reply to What I meant by "return" was… by gooddealonly
My point is, whether or not there is a way to jump back to measure 25 has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the onscreen keyboards shows the currently selected notes during playback or not. I agree having a way to return to the previous start of playback is a good thing to have and that's exactly one of the reasons why the loop feature exists. So if you're not currently using that feature, c consider doing so - it's the provided solution to that problem. By setting the loop range, you can start playback at measure 25 every time you press Space.
But again, none of this has anything to do with the behavior of the Piano Keyboard window. It was intended mostly as a way of inputting notes, not as a practice aid or whatever, so it's optimized more for the note input use case. But that's not to say improvements based on playback couldn't be useful. Feel free to submit an official Suggestion to the issue tracker for this.
In reply to My point is, whether or not… by Marc Sabatella
I agree with everything you said. I only use the on-screen piano as an on-screen reference and not for input. I have a MIDI keyboard for note input which is much faster and seldom involves the mouse. I will put in the "clear on-screen piano keys" and "jump to measure" feature request. Thanks.
In reply to I agree with everything you… by gooddealonly
There actually kind of is such a command already. Try Shift+L (for "location"). It returns the view to the most recently-selected note or rest,m and even re-selects for you if you've previously cleared it.
Also, if you just want to go to measure 25 independently of what's selected or what happened during playback, there already is a "go to measure" command, shortcut Ctrl+F (then type the measure number).
But a "go to last playback start position" command could be nice too. There is a "go to recent playback position" command you can define a shortcut for in Edit / Preferences / Shortcut, but that goes to where the playback left off, not to where it last started. Seems a bit pointless to me since starting playback will do the same, but I guess this allows you to look at what's about to be played before commencing.