Entering and editing text

Overview

A Musescore Text object is an object that contains individual characters that can be entered and removed by using (typing on) a computer keyboard. Many score objects are text-based. For example

• Title, Subtitle, Composer, Lyricist
• Tempo marks
• Dynamics, such as p or mf
• Expressions such as Andante or Allegro
• Fingering numbers
• Lyrics
• Chord symbols

And so on …

Text, of whatever type, always has an object to which it is attached.

• Some types of text (Title, Subtitle etc.) are associated with frames;
• Staff and System text are attached to a music staff;
• Jumps and markers are attached to measures;
• Fingering is attached to a particular musical note;
• Header and Footer text appear at the head and foot of the score respectively.

And so on …

Different types of text-based objects are not interchangeable: They have distinct property fields that serves different purpose besides engraving or visual display. For example, a mp using Staff Text can never be configured to change playback loudness because it does not have the Velocity property, you must create a new Dynamics text which has the Velocity property if want the text to affect playback loudness.

To check the type: select a text, its type is displayed on the status bar.

Use the chart in "Types of text to decide which type you need, follow the link to handbook pages for more info.

Types of text

Adding text to your score

Decide which object type you need before adding a text, see [overview]#overview). For general engraving or visual display purpose, it is recommended to use a Staff text or System text.

Add text from a palette, the Add menu, or using a keyboard shortcut. Adding text to a frame is covered in the Text blocks chapter.

Add text from a palette

To add a text element to your score from a palette, either select one or more notes/rests and click on the desired palette item; or drag the text from the palette onto a note/rest. e.g.

Add text from a menu

If the text object is associated with a staff you can add it by selecting a note, then choosing a text option from Add→Text.

Add text using a shortcut

Many text types can be entered using keyboard shortcuts. You can view a list of shortcuts next to the items in Add→Text.

To create a text object, select a note, then enter the required shortcut.

Deleting text objects from your score

To delete one or more text objects, select the objects then press Delete.

Editing text

To enter text edit mode use one of the following methods:

• Double click on the text object.
• Select the text object and press Return.
• Select the text object and press F2 or Alt+Shift+E.
• Right-click on the text object and select "Edit element."

You can now add, edit and format the text within the text object.

To leave text edit mode either press Escape or click on a part of the score outside the edit area.

Keyboard shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts are available in text edit mode:

Special characters

Characters not available from the standard keyboard may be accessed using the Special Characters window.

To open Special Characters In text edit mode, press Shift+F2; or click on Insert special characters in the Text section of the Properties panel.

The dialog is divided into 3 tabs: Common symbols, musical symbols and unicode symbols. The musical and unicode tabs are further subdivided into alphabetically-arranged categories.

Clicking an item in the Special Characters dialog immediately adds it to the text where the cursor is positioned. Multiple items can be applied without closing the dialog box, and the user can even continue to type normally, delete characters, enter numerical character codes etc., with it open.

A few special characters can also be created using shortcuts—see below.

Special character shortcuts