Syllable becomes left justified after pressing hyphen twice
Two hyphens after a syllable aligns that syllable to the left causing alignment issues when there are multiple verses.
To Reproduce
1. Make a new score and add three quarter notes one after the other to the first measure.
2. Add a lyric syllable to the first note and press the hyphen key twice (like you’re going to finish the word on the third note).
3. See error: alignment of syllable before dash is set to “align left”.
The attached screenshots illustrate the issue in real world situations—Christmas hymns. Notice how the hyphenated syllables negatively affect alignment.
Can anyone explain for what purpose this occurs, or if it is just a bug. Should the syllables not be centered, like every other syllable is?
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| The First Noel.png | 121.04 KB |
| It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.JPG | 86.48 KB |
Comments
That's by design, this is for melismatic syllables, sung over more than one note
In reply to That's by design, this is… by Jojo-Schmitz
That works well for one verse, but not so well for multiple verses, as illustrated in the attached screenshots.
In reply to That works well for one… by Riley Sullivan
It does, just use an underscore (or 2) at the end of the single (or last) syllable words that span more than one note
In reply to It does, just use an… by Jojo-Schmitz
The examples I posted are directly from a hymnal, and they did not have underscores between the syllables that spanned more than one note.
In reply to The examples I posted are… by Riley Sullivan
These are melismatic syllables though, and a double dash resp. underscore is the way to tell MuseScore about this.
You can, however, also manually align the texts, via their properties
In reply to These are melismatic… by Jojo-Schmitz
"These are melismatic sylables though, and a double dash or underscore is the way to tell MuseScore about this."
![Melismas_and_hyphens.png]( "Melismas_and_hyphens.png")
Yes:
"You can, however, also manually align the texts, via their properties"
As shown in the second example of the attached score.
In reply to These are melismatic… by Jojo-Schmitz
Yup. Manually aligned.
In reply to Yup. Manually aligned. … by bobjp
Looks as if those notes are not to be sung
In reply to Looks as if those notes are… by Jojo-Schmitz
Maybe, but that is how it looks in a hymnal that I have, also. Official Presbyterian edition printed in 1958. That might not make it correct. Yet I think it is very easy to read.
In reply to Maybe, but that is how it… by bobjp
Same here. That's how all my hymnals look, and I have quite a few.
Does anyone else have an opinion on this?
In reply to Does anyone else have an… by Riley Sullivan
Elaine Gould's notation handbook Behind Bars has an entire chapter about Vocal Music (ch.15).
Of particular interest is the section "Syllable underlay" on p.439:
![Vehind_Bars_p.439_Syllable_underlay.png]( "Vehind_Bars_p.439_Syllable_underlay.png")
In reply to Elaine Gould's notation… by DanielR
She obviously did not grow up in the same country I did. Nor attend the same music school.
In reply to She obviously did not grow… by bobjp
She's British... (hence the name of the book, "Behind Bars", a US 'translation' should probably be named "Beyond Measures", the German one is named "Hals über Kopf", another play on words)
In reply to She's British... (hence the… by Jojo-Schmitz
I already knew she is British. Her book comes up often. But there are others books.
In reply to Elaine Gould's notation… by DanielR
I wonder if Ted Ross's book has anything about this. Unfortunately I don't have a copy.
In reply to I wonder if Ted Ross's book… by Riley Sullivan
Here's the thing: "rules" of notation change. From decade to decade and country to country. No one can fault you for writing what you think is the easiest to read.
In reply to Here's the thing: "rules" of… by bobjp
My thought exactly.