Feature Request (Metronome Unit Design Flaw)
Hello MuseScore team and community,
I’d like to suggest a small but impactful improvement for the new score dialog: whenever a user picks a time signature, have the metronome unit pop-up default to the note value that actually defines the beat in that meter. For example, when you choose 3/8, the metronome unit remains a quarter note, when it should default to an eighth note instead.
Rationale:
This is best practice for music engraving (as described in Elaine Gould’s book, Behind Bars).
- In simple meters (2/4, 3/4, 4/2, etc.), the beat is the lower-denominator note.
- In compound meters (6/8, 9/8, 12/8, etc.), the beat is a dotted note equal to three of the denominator.
The current default in MuseScore leaves the tempo unit stuck on quarter-note. That forces users to remember to switch to eighth-note in 3/8, or to dotted-quarter in 6/8, each time they start a new score. It’s easy to overlook and leads to incorrect playback defaults and/or engraving.
Benefits:
- Aligns MuseScore with standard engraving rules (per Gould).
- Improves user experience and helps to avoid playback mismatch errors.
- Helps beginners learn correct beat-value associations.
Thank you for considering this suggestion!
— Harley
Comments
In reply to Please give step by step… by bobjp
Just use the new score wizard and you'll see the problem
"Metronome unit popup"??? Not sure what you mean by this.
I'm don't know where your default is coming from. When I add a metronome marking, I have to explicitly select the half note, quarter note, eighth note, or dotted one of the three.
OK. Now I get it. Yes, no mater what meter you select, the playback meter in the upper right remains a quarter note, Just as the OP says. Everything in the score will be correct, as far as engraving goes. But of course playback will be too fast. I wonder how long this has been going on? I can't remember the last time I used a compound meter, so I can't say for sure.
In reply to OK. Now I get it. Yes, no… by bobjp
" I wonder how long this has been going on?"
For ever I think. I remember writing a post or feature request about it, but so long ago I can't now find it.
In reply to " I wonder how long this has… by SteveBlower
OK, Just to confuse myself even more ( not hard to do ) I made this little example score just to see what the upper right speed setting would do. I also turned on the metronome. Listen to what the metronome does at different tempos. The last line is steady quarter notes. Playback is correct.
I believe this illustrates the OP. It isn't incorrect, as such. But I t might be misleading.
Thanks, now I have yet another headache. I thought music was supposed to be relaxing.
https://github.com/orgs/musescore/discussions/28066
I support this feature request and would also find it extremely helpful. There have been several times where I and friends have had this issue while composing and sharing scores, wondering why the playback tempo was so off. It's a small problem that would save a lot of time if addressed!
YES! As a result of overlooking this, I had a hard time getting an accompanist to play the right tempo because I had adjusted it rather than the metronome to get MuseScore to play the right tempo.