partial linked staffs, systems, how to ??

• Feb 3, 2016 - 21:03

I think I've got linked vs unlinked staffs as applied to a whole score somewhat in my brain.

Now..

I really want to add/display a unlinked TAB staff for only,say, the last line(staff) of chorus or of a verse. Rest of score is a clef staff. These parts of a score usually have long notes/hold-outs and it is common for guitar to add fills or tags at these points.

And maybe at end of a score I want 3-4 staffs (lines) of TAB only for a bridge or instrumental break.

So at a high level how do I mix std pitch staff and TABs? I though maybe creating each line (staff) as a separate system would do it, but .... I can't find a decent definition of system in Handbook. And breaks didn't seem to do it either. But I gotta be close ......

Comments appreciated.


Comments

Additional information - in general, you add a staff for everything you might want - standard, tab, linked or not - then use Style / "General / Hide empty staves" some that the staves are only displayed when necessary.

Re "hiding" empty staffs, I just tried it and can not get it to work as I expect.

I opened MuseScore and used the default "my first score" page.
I entered 1 note in first meas line 1,
1 note in 2nd meas line 2,
nothing in line 3,
1 note in 3rd meas line 4.
There are about 20 subsequent blank lines/staffs as part of the default score.

I went to style>general and checked "hide empty staffs". Clicked apply, then OK.

I expected to see only lines 1, 2, and 4, and nothing else.

Actual result - NOTHING change on screen.

Why?

In reply to by dpenny

You are mixing up "staff" versus "system" (aka "line"). The default score has but one *staff*, but indeed, it extends for eight *systems* (lines) of music. In order for hiding empty staves to make sense, there needs to be multiple *staves*, so that each system (line) consists of more than one staff. This is the norm in music for ensemvles - each instrument gets its own staff. And normally, each system contains a staff for every instru,ent whether it is playng or not. The pont of "Hide empty staves" is so that each system only contains staves for the instruments that are actually playing.

So, you need to add a tab staff (and/or whatever others staves you require), then use "Hide empty staves" so only the staves actually in use at any given time are shown. If there is only one staff, then there would be no point in ever hiding it - there would be nothing left in those systems.

Given the recent comments, I think my understanding of vocabulary is wrong, and hence my attempts to read/understand the Handbook and/or do things do not work.

First my approximate thinking (it is changing as I type this):
score:: highest object, contains systems
system:: next lower object, contains lines
lines:: next lower object
staffs: types of lines
voice:: ~equivalent to staffs, types of lines
instrument:: ~equivalent to staffs and lines, specifies further type details

Am not seeking perfection in understanding, just enough so I can understand the Handbook and stop asking dumb questions.

What is it that I should be building so that each horizontal chunk of measures can have its own properties independent of other horizontal chunks OR have them carried over?

And THX for this opportunity to chat with those with greater experience than I.

In reply to by dpenny

Your description above is mostly correct, although "lines" is not actually a separate item. That is, there are systems and there are staves, but there is no separate concept of a "line. Also, a voice is not the same as a staff - a single staff may have up to four independent voices. See the handbook under Voices for more on that. An instrument is more or less equivalent to a staff in most cases except that some instruments (eg, piano) use two staves. But adding an instrument to a staff always adds at least one staff.

Anyhow, as to how you should proceed, it would be easier to say if you could provide a clearer description - perhaps a picture - of what you want to achieve. But if you have music in which you need both a standard staff and a tab staff in different parts of your score, then you need to have both staves in your score. So if you currently have only the standard staff, you need to add the tab staff, using Edit / Instruments to add a new instrument. You will now have two staves throughout your score. When you are done entering notes onto both staves, you can sue the "Hide empty staves" option so that a staff only shows if it is in use. This will allow you to have some some systems that contian the standard staff only, others that contain the tab staff only, others that contain both.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Am not sure which thread this should to into, this one seems close.

I have entered a new score using acoustic guitar template of treble clef staff. I wouldn't go into the pain, that is for another post, actually most of it went quite easily, but the pains were PAINFULL.

Now I want to have a TAB staff below which shows the same notes. So I went to the I panel and added a linked TAB staff. Well the staff shows up, but
1) no notes appeared - I was expecting everything in Treble staff to show up
2) if I enter anything new into TAB or Treble it does not propagate to the other. I expect it would.

What's wrong with this expectation? IMO it is the most obvious result.
What do I do now?

Thanks - I believe your several sentences over the past 2-3 posts cleared enough fog away. As a test:

I am going to propose (in the documentation part of forum) a brand new page similar to the "Getting Started" which shows on startup every time. It would illustrate the hierarchy of containers (each in a different color) that can hold notes.

In reply to by dpenny

sorry, but back to system vs. line vs. staff.

when I look at the "left arrow" in getting started score at right end of each ??????, and right click it says "layout break." (please fill in the ???? for me)
when I look at the same "left arrow" in pallets>breaks&spacers, it says "line break."

Q1: So which is it?
Q2: how do I create a system break?
Q3: if I open "my first score", I see eight clefs.
I believe I am seeing:
1 score
32 measures
1 staff
1 system.

Is that correct? If so, what is the name of the eight thingys going "left to right" that I see?

In reply to by dpenny

"Layout break" is the general name for all the breaks MuseScore provides - system breaks, page breaks, and section breaks.

"Line break" is indeed the name given to the system break in the palette. It's perhaps the one concession to colloquialism in this terminology. In this case, though, it's harmless, as the distinction betwene staff and system is irrelevant - *both* break at that point.

My first score has 8 systems. Each line of music in this score is a system. Each system contains a single staff.

You might wish to consult wikipedia or another general music reference if the concept of staff and system still seems confusing.

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.