Leading dash/hyphen when connected syllable is at the start of a line?
I'm transcribing some existing sheet music into MuseScore. This is vocal music with lyrics. In the printed copy, when connected syllables span lines or pages, the syllable on the next line always has a dash before its lyrics:
I think this improves overall legibility. MuseScore doesn't do this automatically:
Is there an option to force it?
Comments
No idea yet. However I notice that if I delete the first syllable in the next line (el, in your case) the hyphen shows up. I can't delete it or move it. If I try to enter "-el" things just move to the next word. I notice that the hyphen in the previous measure (at the end of the line) is now under the barline. This looks to be by design. As a vocalist, I don't think I would have a problem either way. But that's just me.
https://musescore.org/en/node/236736
In reply to https://musescore.org/en… by Ziya Mete Demircan
Thanks for the reply. Manually adding hyphens is not a great solution. If the layout changes and the syllables are no longer split across lines, you have extra characters you don't need. I suppose technically they would be valid notation, but would incorrect if you e.g. exported the lyrics into a plain-text format.
In reply to Manually adding hyphens is… by sensibleish
The purpose of the previous solution (linked to the page) is to provide an option, especially for those who want to copy a historical work exactly (including the layout).
This is not standard and that's why MuseScore doesn't do it. Anything not standard generally just confused people reading it, so I wouldn't be in a hurry to reproduce such decisions made by another editor. But it's not out of the question that an option to produce this sort of notation might be added in the future.
In reply to This is not standard and… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks for the reply. My experience with sheet music is entirely as an instrument player, so I'm not familiar with conventions for lyrics. If this behavior would be unexpected by or confusing to many singers, the existing implementation certainly makes sense.
In reply to Thanks for the reply. My… by sensibleish
Actually. some publishers do and others don't - I overstated in suggesting that no publishers do this. But no, people don't "expect" it, because probably at least half the music they read doesn't do it. So unless you are working for a publisher that does require this notation, it's definitely not worth trying to override the default - there's really no benefit.
In reply to Actually. some publishers do… by Marc Sabatella
Is it? Most of the scores I've ever encountered (or at least the ones I remember) use hyphens between lines, so I thought the opposite was true. Of course, it could be that my transcription works that require me to type lyrics are mostly limited to opera, but even so, they don't seem to be a minority. My works are more of a personal hobby, so such notation options aren't highly important to me, but it might be a feature worth considering implementing.
In reply to Is it? Most of the scores I… by komsi
Indeed, an option could be useful someday. But also, memory can be a tricky thing. You might want to go back and review a dozen or more scores. I'd be very surprised if you found half of them using the non-standard behavior.
In reply to Indeed, an option could be… by Marc Sabatella
This is what I found after looking at about 20 scores.
In reply to This is what I found after… by komsi
Interesting, that's a lot more hyphens than I expected! So indeed, definitely wortth supporting both options. I encourage you to open an usse on GitHub requesting this: https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/new/choose
In reply to Interesting, that's a lot… by Marc Sabatella
Alright, I just submitted a request.
https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/21045