Typing underscores to replace existing lyrics.

• Nov 3, 2022 - 17:23

Hi,
I have lyrics assigned to 4 crotchets:

Leave not the plume
1 2 3 4

I wish to change this to

Leave___ the plume
1 2 3 4

So I type in an underscore (using the shift key and keyboard "_") immediately following the "Leave" correctly puts it in, and the cursor moves to and highlights the "not".
However, typing another underscore does not rid me of the "not", it ends up with

Leave_ not_ the plume
1 2 3 4
Can anyone tell me if this is a deliberate feature of lyrics entry.
Of course I know that I have to delete the highlighted "not" but seems a step too much and slows the process down.
Thanks
Ali


Comments

In reply to by bobjp

I think you'll find that when the final syllable of a word is being extended, a melisma (or underscore) is essential. A hyphen is used when extending the middle syllable of a word.
In any case, the same result happens whether it's hyphen or underscore!
Thanks,
Ali

In reply to by Ali Wood

I assume you mean there are two notes that should be covered by that same note. In which case you'd need to hit the underscore twice - you should see the cursor moving as you do and the line extending automatically.

That's assuming you deleted any lyrics already on that note. If you didn't, you need to do that.

If that doesn't help, please attach your score so we can understand and assist better.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

You get it correctly Marc. The cursor moves and the line extends, but I don't want to have to delete the old text first. I would have thought that the program should assume that the entry of an underscore would always imply deletion and overwriting of such text. As it does, by the way, when you enter new text!
So the program is effectively behaving differently for text and underscore, and shouldn't do.

In reply to by Ali Wood

But what is consistent is this: You highlighted "leave" and added an underscore. Then the word "not" was highlighted, waiting for you to do something to it. Just like you did with "leave". Not what you expected, to be sure.
BTW, once that underscore has been entered after "leave", just try to get rid of it, or anything that is not a normal character, without deleting the whole word.
There are many things about lyrics that are not like normal text entry.

In reply to by bobjp

> There are many things about lyrics that are not like normal text entry.
Yes, it is like that.
But if you are familiar with MS-Word for example, you will notice that together with the CTRL button for hyphens, underscores and spaces entry, a new behavior is achieved. This also works in Musescore's lyrics.

In reply to by Ali Wood

If you want to write a space, underscore, or hyphen within a syllable or at its end, type CTRL+space, CTRL+underscore, or CTRL+hyphen. Musescore will then not jump to the next note, but will insert or append these characters normally. So if your word "not" is highlighted, you can replace it with underscores by pressing CTRL+underscore without the cursor jumping to the next syllable. Or, if your cursor is at the end of the word 'Leave' you can append one or more underscores.
In MS Word, for example, a CTRL+space does not mean a space where an automatic line break can occur, for example. It is treated like a normal letter - that's what I meant by special behavior.

In reply to by HildeK

I think we are still talking at cross purposes. I can see what CTRL+space does, it inserts a space ahead of the word I'm currently on, and CTRL+hyphen inserts a hyphen, CTRL + underscore on my keyboard is the same as CTRL hyphen as it is the same key on the keyboard. I'm talking about SHIFT + underscore, which in Word would insert with an underscore or overwrite anything that was there already with an underscore, but CTRL+underscore in MS highlights the text and effectively does nothing except move the focus on by one syllable, just as though you had pressed the right arrow. Unless my keyboard is configured differently.

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