This handbook is for MuseScore version 2.0 and above. It is maintained by the MuseScore community. Find out how you can help.
This chapter helps you to install and run MuseScore for the first time. The chapter will also show you how to create a new score.
MuseScore exists for various different operating systems, including Windows and macOS, as well as many Linux distributions and several BSD variants.
If you're on Windows 10, MuseScore can be installed from the Windows Store. Clicking here will open Musescore's page in the Store app. There you will only have to click Get the app > and MuseScore will be downloaded and installed.
Otherwise you can get the Windows installer from the download page of the MuseScore website. Click on the link to start the download. Your Internet browser will ask you to confirm that you want to download this file. Click Save File.
When the download finishes, double-click on the file to start the installation. Windows may prompt you with a security window to confirm this before running the software. Click Run to continue, you'll then briefly see
followed by
In case you don't see this installer window but something else, it's possible that the .msi extension is not associated with msiexec.exe. Either you can fix the association, or download and use the portable version of MuseScore instead.
Continuing you'll see
If you click Cancel, here or later, you'll see:
If instead you click Next to continue, the setup wizard displays the terms of the free software license.
Read the terms of the license, make sure the box next to "I accept the terms in the License Agreement" is checked, and click Next to continue. Next the installer will ask you to confirm the location in which to install MuseScore.
If you are installing a newer version of MuseScore but still want to keep the old version on your computer, then you should change the folder (note that MuseScore 2 can coexist with MuseScore 1 with no changes needed). Otherwise click Next to continue.
Click Install to continue.
Give the setup wizard a few minutes to install the necessary files and configurations. You'll see
and finally
Click Finish to exit the installer. You may delete the installer file you downloaded.
To start MuseScore, from the menu, select Start→All Programs→MuseScore 2→MuseScore 2.
You can uninstall MuseScore from the menu by selecting Start→All Programs→MuseScore 2→Uninstall MuseScore; or via Windows' Control Panel. Note that this will not remove your scores nor your MuseScore settings.
On Windows XP and Vista, the installer might be blocked by the system. If you don't manage to install MuseScore, right click the downloaded file and click Properties. If there is a message "This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer", click on "Unblock", "OK" and double click on the downloaded file again.
You will find the DMG (disk image) file on the download page of the MuseScore website. Click on the macOS link to start the download. When the download is complete, double-click the DMG file to mount the disk image.
Drag and drop the MuseScore icon to the Applications folder icon.
If you are not logged in as administrator, macOS may ask for a password: click Authenticate and enter your password to proceed.
When the application has finished copying, eject the disk image. You can now launch MuseScore from the Applications folder, Spotlight, or Launchpad.
Simply delete MuseScore from Applications folder.
You can deploy MuseScore to multiple computers with the "Copy" feature of ARD. Since MuseScore is a self-contained application you can simply copy the application to the '/Application' folder on the target machines. It is also possible to install multiple versions of the application as long as their names differ.
As of MuseScore 2.0.3 you can, for the first time, get hold of a copy for Linux straight from the download page, just like Windows and Mac users. This is possible thanks to the AppImage packaging format, which runs on pretty much all Linux distributions. If you prefer, there is still the option to get it the traditional way via your distribution's package manager (but you may have to wait for it to get packaged by the relevant maintainer). Of course, you can always build from source.
The AppImage format is a new way of packaging Linux applications. AppImages are portable - they don't have to be installed - and they run on pretty much any Linux distribution. Dependencies are included in the one AppImage file.
Before you download an AppImage, you need to know your processor's architecture. These terminal commands will show it:
arch
or
uname -m
The output will be something like "i686
", "x86_64
" or "armv7
":
i686
(or similar) - 32-bit Intel/AMD processor (found on older machines).x86_64
(or similar) - 64-bit Intel/AMD processor (modern laptop and desktop computers, most Chromebooks).armv7
(or later) - ARM processor (phones & tablets, Raspberry Pi 2/3 running Ubuntu Mate, some Chromebooks, usually 32-bit at present).Now you can head over to the download page and find the AppImage that best matches your architecture. Once downloaded, the file will be named "MuseScore-X.Y.Z-$(arch).AppImage
".
Before you can use the AppImage you need to give permission for it to be run as a program.
From the Terminal:
This command gives the user (u) permission to execute (x) the AppImage. It works on all Linux systems.
cd ~/Downloads chmod u+x MuseScore*.AppImage
Note: Use the "cd
" command to change directory to wherever you saved the AppImage.
From a File Manager:
If you prefer to avoid the command line, there is usually a way give execute permission from inside a File Manager.
In GNOME Files (Nautilus), simply:
The process may be slightly different in other file managers.
Now you should be able to run the program simply by double-clicking on it!
When you downloaded the AppImage it was probably saved in your Downloads folder, but you can move somewhere else it at any time (e.g. you could put it on your desktop for easy access). If you ever want to remove it then simply delete it.
You can run the AppImage without installing it, but you must install it if you want it to be completely integrated with your desktop environment. This has the following benefits:
To install it, run the AppImage from the Terminal with the "install" option (see immediately below). This copies a desktop file and various icons to your computer. If you want to remove them you will need to run the "remove" option before you delete the AppImage. This does not affect any scores created with any version of MuseScore.
Running the AppImage from the Terminal allows you to use various command line options. The AppImage has some special options in addition to MuseScore's normal command line options.
You will need to change directory (cd) to wherever the AppImage is saved your system, for example:
cd ~/Desktop ./MuseScore*.AppImage [option...]
Or give the path to the AppImage:
~/desktop/MuseScore*.AppImage [option...]
Use the "--help" and "man" options to get more information about the available command line options:
./MuseScore*.AppImage --help # displays a complete list of command line options ./MuseScore*.AppImage man # displays the manual page (explains what the options do)
Import the GPG key:
su rpm --import http://prereleases.musescore.org/linux/Fedora/RPM-GPG-KEY-Seve
Go to the download page of the MuseScore website. Click on the link for the stable Fedora download and choose the correct rpm package for your architecture.
Depending on your architecture, use one of the two sets of commands to install MuseScore
for arch i386
su yum localinstall musescore-X.Y-1.fc10.i386.rpm
for arch x86_64
su yum localinstall musescore-X.Y-1.fc10.x86_64.rpm
If you have difficulty with sound, see Fedora 11 and sound.
See also the hints for the various distributions on the download page.
MuseScore's desktop program will not work natively on Chrome OS, but there are some workaround solutions:
Since Chrome OS 69, certain chromebook models are able to run Linux apps and so you can install MuseScore for Linux as provided on our Download page. Feedback about the installation process and supported hardware is welcome on the forum
Via software-on-demand service such as rollApp: By just visiting this website, you can run MuseScore in the browser. You can access your scores via cloud services such as Google Drive or save them to your online MuseScore account through the menu File→Save Online.... Note that currently, sound and playback does not work on rollApp.
Via Crouton: Involves installing a Linux based operating system which runs in parallel with Chrome OS, and then installing MuseScore on Linux.
Alternatively, it is possible to install MuseScore's Android app on recent Chromebooks. You will need to update to the latest version of Chrome OS first. See the Chromebook support documentation for help installing Android apps on Chromebooks, and a list of supported devices. The app only supports playback of existing scores, not score editing or creation, but you can sign-in to your MuseScore account for easy access to all your scores on MuseScore.com.
To create a new score, open the New Score Wizard (see Create new score, below): this can also be accessed via the Start Center.
This is the window that displays when you open MuseScore for the very first time:
To open the Start Center (if not already visible), use any of the following options:
From the Start Center you can:
To open the New Score Wizard when the Start Center is not open, use one of the following options:
Note: The following subheadings may differ slightly in versions prior to MuseScore 2.2.
Step 1: Enter score information.
Enter the title, composer, or any other information as shown above, then click on Next >. This step is optional: you can also add this information after the score is created (see Vertical frame).
Step 2: Choose template file.
Here, you can choose from a range of solo, ensemble and orchestral templates. Any custom templates stored in your user templates folder will be displayed under the heading, "Custom Templates". From version 2.2, you can use the Search bar (top right) to find specific templates.
The Choose Instruments window is divided into two columns:
The left column contains a list of instruments, or voice parts to choose from. This list is categorized into instrument families, and clicking a category shows the full list of instruments in each family.
The default entry is "Common instruments" but you can choose from others, including "Jazz instruments" and "Early music". There is a search box at the bottom of the instrument window: typing the name of an instrument there will search for it in "All instruments".
The right column starts off empty, but will eventually contain a list of instruments for your new score in the order that they will appear.
To add instruments to the score, use any of the following options:
The instrument names, and their associated staff lines, now appear in the list of instruments in the right column. You can add more instruments or voice parts, as needed. Each instrument added in this way is allocated its own Mixer channel.
Note: If you want staves to share the same instrument, use the Add staff or Add linked staff commands instead (see below).
To add a staff to an existing instrument in the score:
Summary of commands:
Command | Staff added | Edit staves independently? | Share mixer channel? | Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|
Add Staff | Unlinked | Yes | Yes | Guitar staff/tab, Piano grand staff |
Add Linked Staff | Linked | No. Edit in one staff updates others | Yes | Guitar staff/tab |
See also, Combine pitched staff with tablature.
To change the order of instruments (or staves) in the score:
To delete an instrument, or staff line, from the score
Step 3: Choose key signature and tempo.
The wizard asks for two things: The initial key signature and tempo of the score. Select any of the former and click Next > to continue. An initial tempo can be set here too.
Step 4: Choose time signature etc.
You can set your initial time signature here. If the score starts with a pickup measure (also known as an anacrusis or upbeat measure), then mark the Pickup measure checkbox and adjust the "Duration" accordingly.
Measures is set to 32 by default: you can change the number here, or add/remove measures later from the score.
Click Finish to create your new score.
Any settings you make in the New Score Wizard can always be changed when you start work on the score itself:
To add/delete measures or create a pickup measure, see Measure operations.
To add text, see Add text (Text basics). To change existing text, see Text editing.
To add, delete, or change the order of instruments: from the menu, select Edit→Instruments...; or use the keyboard shortcut, I. This opens the Instruments dialog which is virtually identical to the Choose Instruments dialog in the New Score Wizard (see above).
See also Change instrument (Staff properties).
To adjust the distance between staves and systems, set page margins etc., see Layout and formatting.
A Template is simply a standard MuseScore file that has been stored in one of two "templates" folders: any files in these folders are automatically displayed on the "Chose template file" page of the New Score Wizard. Two templates folders are created by default:
This folder contains the templates installed with MuseScore and should not be modified. It can be found in the following locations:
Windows: Usually at C:\Program Files\MuseScore 2\templates
; or in the 64-bit versions at C:\Program Files (x86)\MuseScore 2\templates
.
Linux: Under /usr/share/mscore-xxx
if you installed from the package manager. If you compiled MuseScore on Linux yourself, then look under /usr/local/share/mscore-xxx
(with xxx
being the version you are using).
MacOS: Under /Applications/MuseScore 2.app/Contents/Resources/templates
.
Any templates that you create for future use should be stored here. Once in the user "templates" folder, they will automatically appear on the "Chose template file" page of the New Score Wizard—under the heading "Custom Templates". Note: prior to version 2.3, you need to restart MuseScore in order to see a newly-added template.
The default location of the user templates folder is as follows:
Windows: %HOMEPATH%\Documents\MuseScore2\Templates
.
MacOS and Linux: ~/Documents/MuseScore2/Templates
.
To configure the location of your private templates folder:
MuseScore will be installed and work with your "System" language (the one used for most programs, and generally depending on your country and the language settings of the PC, or account).
In the General tab, select the desired language from the drop-down list in the Language section:
To update translations, click on the Update translations button. Then click on the Update buttons for the languages you want to update (for an alternative method, see below).
As then indicated, you will have to exit and reopen MuseScore for changes and updates to take effect.
You can update the translation as explained above, via the preferences settings, but there is another method:
Click on the Update buttons for the languages you want to update.
Here too you will have to exit and reopen MuseScore for the update to take effect.
There are two ways to check for updates.
Now MuseScore will check for updates on every start and notify you, if need be.
Note: These options are only available in the Mac and Windows versions of MuseScore (except the version from the Windows Store), as only those can be updated directly from MuseScore.org. Linux distributions (and the Windows Store) have different mechanisms to make updates available.
The previous "Getting started" chapter guides you through the installation and process for creating a new score. The "Basics" chapter gives an overview of MuseScore and describes the general methods for interacting with the score.
Edit mode allows you to perform a wide range of editing operations on individual score elements, such as:
To enter Edit mode use any of the following methods:
To exit Edit mode use any of the following:
For text edit mode, see Text editing.
Lines—such as slurs, ties, hairpins, voltas etc.— display square adjustment handles in Edit mode: these turn blue when selected. A slur, for example, looks like this:
The end handles are used to adjust the length of the line. The middle handle is used to adjust its vertical position. In the case of slurs and ties, there are also three more handles to adjust the shape of the curve (see image above).
To reposition a handle, click on it and use a keyboard shortcut (see below). Alternatively you can drag the handle with a mouse.
Each end handle is connected by a dotted line to an anchor on the staff. The start and end anchors mark the boundaries of the region of the score under the control of the line. By default, an end handle is positioned vertically above its anchor.
Sometimes it is necessary to shift a note to the right or left—to avoid a collision with another element or to override automatic notehead sharing for example:
Alternatively, you can select the notehead and change the "Horizontal offset" (under "Chord") in the Inspector.
Note: To reposition a note stem, you should select it and adjust the "Horizontal offset" in the Inspector.
In Edit mode the following keyboard commands can be used to change the position of either (1) a score element (e.g. ornament, accidental etc.) or (2) an adjustment handle (e.g. slur, line etc.):
The following commands only apply to adjustment handles:
To the left of the document window is the Workspace. This can be toggled on and off using the menu command, View → Palettes, or the shortcut, F9.
A workspace, in turn, consists of a number of palettes. Each palette is a folder containing a group of musical symbols.
MuseScore provides two preset workspaces: Basic (the default option) and Advanced (a version with more palettes and symbols). These contain symbols drawn from the various sections of the Master palette. In addition, you can create your own custom workspaces (below).
The names of palettes within a workspace are listed under the title "Palettes."
If you only want to allow one palette to open at a time, right click at the top of the workspace and check the "Single palette" box. This will cause a palette to automatically close when you open a different one.
To dock or undock a workspace, see Side panels.
A custom workspace allows you to select which palettes are listed, and to customize the contents of those palettes.
To create a customizable workspace:
Alternatively you can use the menu option:
Right-clicking over the workspace will display a menu: this has options allowing you to insert, delete, rename and reorder the palettes within it. The contents of individual palettes can be edited in a similar fashion once you've checked "Enable Editing" for a palette. For more details, see Custom palettes and Palette menu (below).
A palette symbol may be applied to the score using one of the following methods:
Tip: To prevent accidental rearrangement of contents during use, right-click over a palette name and untick "Enable Editing."
For example, to add tenuto marks (—) to a selection of notes:
Once added to the score, objects can be copied, pasted, and duplicated—see Copy and paste.
The more fully-featured Advanced workspace contains the following palettes:
Once you have created a custom workspace (see above), and enabled editing (see Palette menu below), you can customize the palettes within it to your own requirements.
To add an existing score element (such as a line, text, dynamic, fretboard diagram etc.) to a custom palette:
To add a symbol to a custom workspace from the Master palette:
To re-arrange a symbol in a custom palette:
Right-clicking on the name of a palette in a custom workspace brings up this menu:
Palette Properties...: Adjust the appearance of the open palette:
Right-clicking on an element within a palette (if editing of the palette is enabled) brings up this menu:
Note: Changing values in "Palette Cell Properties" only affects the appearance of elements in the palette. It does not change their sizes or offsets on the score page.
If the symbol you are adding to the score from a palette contains a text element (e.g. staff text, dynamic, fingering, volta etc.), then properties such as font-type, font-size, text color, and alignment will adapt according to the following rules:
Text properties which have not been altered by the user will adopt the relevant, prevailing text styles.
Custom text-properties—i.e. those changed by the user before saving the symbol to a custom palette—remain as customized.
By contrast, the line properties of lines applied from a palette always remain unchanged (i.e. as set by the user before saving to a custom workspace, or as predefined in the Basic/Advanced workspaces).
Most score elements have properties that can be edited in one of two ways:
Click on any element, and many of its properties can be viewed and changed from the Inspector panel on the right-hand side of your screen.
Right-click on an element and select an option with the word Properties in it. This option opens a dialog with advanced properties, only available for certain types of elements.
The Inspector is shown by default on the right of your screen. It can be displayed or hidden from the menu: select View and check/uncheck Inspector, or use the shortcut F8 (Mac: fn+F8).
In the Inspector, the properties of any selected object are displayed and can be edited. This applies to virtually every single element in the score window—notes, text, barlines, articulations etc. Multiple elements can also be selected and edited simultaneously, as long as they are of the same type. However, if the selected objects are of different types, then the Inspector restricts you to editing color and visibility only.
The Inspector panel can be un-docked to become a floating panel by clicking the double-chevron symbol or double-clicking the top bar of the panel.
To re-attach the panel double-click on the top bar again. See also: Side panels.
When you select one or more elements of a specific type, the properties which can be edited are conveniently divided into categories in the Inspector. Categories can be identified by their bold, centered lettering. For example, if you select a barline, you will see the following displayed at the top of the Inspector:
For details about how to adjust the properties of various score elements, refer to the relevant sections in the handbook. However, a few general points will be covered here:
All score elements, except frames, breaks and spacers, display this category in the Inspector when selected. The various options are as follows:
Visible: Uncheck this box to make selected elements invisible: alternatively, use the shortcut V (toggle). Invisible elements do not appear in the music when printed out or exported as a PDF or image. If you still want them to remain on display in the document window, make sure that the "Show Invisible" option is selected in View → Show Invisible. Invisible elements will then be colored light gray.
Color: Click on the rectangle to open a "Color Select" dialog. Adjust the color and opacity of selected elements.
Horizontal offset / Vertical offset: Allows you to position selected elements exactly (in terms of space units). A positive number moves the elements right or down; a negative number moves the elements left or up. Snap to grid buttons are also provided.
This category is displayed only when you have selected a mixture of different types of elements, and allows editing of color and visibility only.
This category is used to increase or decrease the space before/after an element in a music staff. Adjusting leading/trailing space here also affects any associated lyric syllables.
This category is displayed only if notes are selected. Any change to a notehead property under Chord affects the whole chord (i.e. all the notes in one voice) at that location—and not just the selected note. If you want to make changes to the position of just one note in a chord, then use the Element category (above).
This category allows you to make changes to selected notes (but for note position—see Element). It contains the following properties:
This category appears differently according to the selection you have made:
This section is displayed in the Inspector when you select one or more note beams, and allows you to make fine adjustments to beam position and angle, and also change the spacing of beamed notes. See Adjust beam with the inspector.
This section appears when you select a clef: the tick box allows you to turn on/off the display of a preceding courtesy clef.
Properties of some objects are accessed by right-clicking on the object and choosing a "Properties" option from the context menu: these are in addition to the object's properties displayed in the Inspector.
(Note: Properties should not be confused with Styles. Changes to properties only affect the single element selected; all style controls apply to the entire score.)
Right-click on an articulation and select Articulation Properties... See Articulations and ornaments.
Right-click on a fretboard diagram and select Fretboard Diagram Properties... Allows you to create custom fretboard diagrams. See Edit fretboard diagram.
Right-click on a line and select Line Properties... There are settings for the beginning, end, or continuation of the line. You can add or remove text, adjust the text's placement, and set the length and angle of optional hooks. Click the ... button to access text properties for text included in the line. See Custom lines and line properties.
Right-click on an empty part of the measure and select Measure Properties... Adjust visibility, bar duration, repeats, stretch and numbering. See Measure properties.
Right-click either an empty part of a measure or the name of an instrument and select Staff Properties... This dialog allows you to adjust attributes of both the single staff and the instrument it is a part of. See Staff properties.
Right click on a text-based element and select Text Properties... See Text styles and properties. If the element is a line with text in it, see → above.
Right-click on a time signature and select Time Signature Properties... Used to adjust appearance of time sig. and beam properties of notes. See Time signatures.
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Note: To ensure that inserted or appended measures display correctly, multimeasure rests should be set to off (toggle M).
Use one of the following options:
Use one of the following options:
Use one of the following options:
Use one of the following options:
Notes: (1) In multi-staff scores, measure deletion also removes all corresponding measures in the other staves of the system; (2) If you wish to delete only the measure contents (and not the measure itself), use the Del command instead at step "2."
To edit the properties of a measure, right-click an empty part of the measure and select Measure Properties...:
You can use the buttons, at the bottom left of the dialog, to navigate to the previous or next measure.
This feature allows you to adjust the time signature of a single measure regardless of the time signature indicated in the score. You can use it to create a pickup measure (also known as anacrusis or upbeat), cadenza, ad lib section etc.
Example: In the image below, the quarter note pickup measure has a nominal time signature of 4/4, but an actual time sig. of 1/4. The measures in the middle are in normal 4/4 time. The complementary measure at the end of the staff, with a dotted half note, has an actual time sig. of 3/4.
Use "Exclude from measure count" for "irregular" measures, i.e. ones that should not get counted in the measure numbering. Normally, a pickup measure is marked as "Exclude from measure count".
You can also use the "Add to measure number" option to influence the measure numbering. You can enter positive or negative numbers here. Please note that this affects all subsequent measures. A value of "-1" has the same effect as marking a measure to be excluded from measure count.
You can increase or decrease horizontal space between score elements (notes, rests, etc.) with this option. This provides a more precise control over the exact same measure spacing property as the menu commands or keyboard shortcuts for Increase/Decrease Stretch ({ and }), which are accessed outside of the Measure Properties dialog while a measure is selected.
If the measure contains an end repeat barline, you can define how often it is played.
This property will separate a multi-measure rest at the start of the selected measure. This option should be checked before you turn on the "Create multi-measure rests" option in Style→General..., in the "Score" tab.
Multi-measure rests are automatically broken at important breaks, such as rehearsal marks, time signature changes, double barlines, irregular measures, etc. The default for scores is off, for parts is on.
MuseScore automatically numbers the first measure of each System (except for the first system, actually except for a measure with the number 1), but more numbering options are possible. From the main menu, choose Style→General..., in the left pane, choose the "Header, Footer, Numbers" tab. At the bottom of the right pane is the "Measure Numbers" ("Bar Numbers") section.
Mark the checkbox next to the "Measure Numbers" ("Bar Numbers") to turn on automatic measure numbers.
Mark "Show first" if you want the first measure numbered.
Mark "All staves" if you want numbers on all staves. Otherwise, only the top staff of each system shows measure numbers.
Choose to show numbers on "Every system" which numbers the first measure of each line, or show numbers by "Interval" and specify the size of the interval. For example, an interval of 1 numbers every measure; an interval of 5 numbers every fifth measure.
You may want have to have a longer or shorter measure without changing the time signature. You can change a measure's duration in Measure Properties, but there is now a new option to split or join measures. (Beams may be automatically modified.)
Note: If you select measures on only one staff in a score with multiple staves, the same measures will be joined in each staff of the system.
For example, the image below shows the result of applying the Join command to four measures in the top staff:
Note: If you select only one note from one staff, each staff of the system will be split at the same place.
A voice is a musical line or part which can have its own rhythm independently of other voices on the same staff. Voices are sometimes called "layers" in other notation software.
You can have up to 4 voices on each staff line. In a polyphonic measure, voice 1 usually takes the up-stem notes and voice 2 takes the down-stem notes.
N.B. Be careful not to confuse the concept of MuseScore voices (1, 2, 3, 4) with the order of voices found in vocal scores (SATB etc.). In particular, when creating a closed SATB score, use only (MuseScore) voices 1 and 2 for both upper and lower staves. There is no need to use (MuseScore) voices 3 and 4 unless there are more than two parts in the same staff.
The following instructions show you how to notate a passage of music in two voices:
Enter voice 1 notes first: Make sure you are in note input mode : the Voice 1 button becomes highlighted in blue in the toolbar. Enter the notes in the top voice first. When inputting, some notes may have down-stems, but these will flip automatically when the second voice is added.
The following excerpt shows a treble staff with just the voice 1 notes entered:
Move cursor back to start of section: When you have finished entering a section of voice 1 notes, press the ← key repeatedly to move the cursor, note-by-note, back to the first note of the section; or alternatively use Ctrl+← (Mac:Cmd+←) to move the cursor back one measure at a time. Or else you can simply exit note input mode (press Esc) and click directly on the first note.
Enter voice 2 notes: Make sure you are in note-input mode and that the voice 1 note at the beginning of the section is selected. Click on the "Voice 2" button (on the right of the toolbar), or use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+2 (Mac: Cmd+Option+2). Enter all the lower voice notes (down-stem).
The following image shows the above example after the addition of voice 2 notes:
All rests can be made invisible if required (select the rest and press V, or uncheck the "Visible" checkbox in the Inspector). Rests in voices 2, 3 or 4 can also be deleted but it is not usually recommended: make them invisible instead. Rests in voice 1 cannot be deleted.
If a rest has been deleted in voices 2-4, you will need to restore it before you can enter a note on that beat in that voice (the problem may arise, for example, in imported XML or MIDI files). The easiest way to fix such a measure is to exchange that voice with voice 1 twice. For the exact method, see Exchange voices of notes (below).
To swap the notes between any two voices:
Notes: (a) The selection can encompass content of any voice, but only two will be processed at once. (b) If you select a partial measure the operation will still apply to the whole measure.
You can also move notes from one voice to another (without note-swapping):
Note: For a successful move, the following conditions need to be met:
MuseScore supports standard copy, cut, paste and (from version 2.1) swap with clipboard operations. These commands can be applied to a range of:
Note: Lines cannot be copied but they can be duplicated (see below).
Copy/cut/paste/swap commands are accessed in three ways:
Command | Kbd Shortcut (Win) | Kbd Shortcut (Mac) | Right-click menu | Main menu |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cut | Ctrl+X | Cmd+X | Cut | Edit → Cut |
Copy | Ctrl+C | Cmd+C | Copy | Edit → Copy |
Paste | Ctrl+V | Cmd+V | Paste | Edit → Paste |
Swap with clipboard | Ctrl+Shift+X | Cmd+Shift+X | Swap with Clipboard | Edit → Swap with clipboard |
Note: Before carrying out a copy, cut, paste or swap procedure, you should be in normal mode. Press the Esc key to exit into normal mode.
You can cut, copy, paste or swap notes as follows:
To copy/cut a single chord
To copy/cut a range of chords
Available from version 2.1 onwards, the swap with clipboard operation combines two commands into one: (1) First it overwrites a selected part of the score with the contents of the clipboard, just like the paste command; (2) Secondly, it transfers the overwritten part of the score back to the clipboard, just like the copy command.
It can be used, for example, to swap two equal-length sections of a score, A and B:
It is possible to copy the pitch of a note only (and no other properties), by clicking on the notehead and applying the standard copy and paste, or copy and swap procedure. The pitch of the destination note changes to match that of the copied note but the duration remains the same.
Score elements such as staff text, dynamics, fingering, etc. can be cut, copied and pasted one at a time (but from version 2.2 multiple-selection cut/copy/paste is possible for fretboard diagrams).
Multiple-selection cut/copy/paste is available for articulations such as sforzato, staccato etc.
Note: The Swap with clipboard command is only intended for use with sections of music and not other score elements.
In the case of articulations, they are pasted to the destination notes in exactly the same order (continuous or intermittent) as they were in the initial selection.
To quickly copy and paste a note, measure, or passage:
MuseScore copies and pastes the selected notation to a point immediately after the last note in the selection. Any existing music in the destination range is replaced.
To instantaneously copy and paste a text element, line, or other object:
The Selection Filter allows you to chose exactly which voices and elements you want to include in your selection.
The Selection Filter appears by default below the Palettes. To change the viewing location, see Viewing and Navigation: Side panels.
Example: Suppose you want to copy measures 1 and 2 in the following passage (see image), to give measures 3 and 4:
Note: The Selection Filter works with the swap with clipboard command as well.
If you want to change notes without altering the rhythm, you may combine transposition or re-pitch mode with copy and paste.
Objects in the score—such as notes, measures, articulations etc.—can be selected in several ways: (1) one at a time, (2) as a continuous range, or (3) as a list.
Most score objects can be selected by simply clicking on them in "normal" (i.e. not note-input) mode.
Note: Selecting a single note then copying and pasting it, will only copy and paste the pitch—not duration or other properties (such as stemless). To copy the entire note, including all properties, you need to hold down Shift—as for chord selection (below).
Note: To select a range of consecutive measures, see Shift selection and Shift + click selection (below).
There are several ways to select a continuous range of notes, chords or measures:
To select a range of notes or rests:
Note: The final selected element can be in the same staff or in staffs above or below the initial note/rest. All selected elements will be enclosed in a blue rectangle, including associated lines and articulations (but not voltas). You can repeat the operation to extend the selected range as required.
Note: As with selecting notes, the range can be extended vertically as well as horizontally.
This method can be used to select notes or rests, or, independently, to select non-note symbols such as staccato dots, lyrics etc.:
This method selects the whole musical score including notes, rests and associated elements. Use one of the following options:
This method is used to select a section—a region of the score starting and/or ending with a section break:
Note: See Copy and paste: Selection filter to disable certain types of elements from being selected in a range selection.
To select a list (or discontinuous range) of score elements:
Note: This method cannot be used to select measures. Use single or range selection instead.
To select all elements of a specific type (e.g., all barlines, all text elements, all staccato markings):
Several options are available:
Select
Action
This chapter describes the options available in the View Menu, and in the Zoom and Page View/Continuous View menus (located in the toolbar above the score). It also details the various navigation commands and functions.
There are several ways to zoom the score in or out:
Keyboard shortcut:
View menu:
Mouse
Drop-down menu: To set a specific zoom, use the dropdown menu in the standard toolbar to set the view magnification of the score (25–1600 %) or display it using the options "Page Width", "Whole Page", or "Two Pages".
To return to 100% zoom: Use the shortcut Ctrl+0 (Mac: Cmd+0).
As of MuseScore 2.1, this menu option allows you to hide or display the toolbars above the document window: File Operations, Playback Controls, Concert Pitch, Image Capture, Note Input (see Toolbars below).
The Status bar, at the bottom of the screen, gives information about selected score elements. Tick/untick this option to display or hide.
It is possible to split the document display so as to view two documents at once, or to view two different parts of the same document. Tabs allow you to choose which document to display in each view. You can drag the barrier separating the two scores to adjust the amount of space in the window devoted to each:
This section allows you to display or hide various non-printing elements:
Full Screen mode expands MuseScore to fill your screen so more content is visible.
You can switch between two different views of the score using the drop-down list in the toolbar area:
To scroll the score:
In Page View, the score is formatted as it will appear when printed or exported as a PDF or image file: that is, page by page, with margins. MuseScore applies system (line) and page breaks automatically, according to the settings made in Page settings and Style: General. In addition, you can apply your own system (line), page or section breaks.
To choose between horizontal or vertical page scrolling, see Preferences: Canvas (Scroll pages).
In Continuous View, the score is shown as one unbroken system. Even if the starting point is not in view, measure numbers, instrument names, clefs, time and key signatures will always be displayed on the left of the window.
Note: Because the layout is simpler, MuseScore may perform faster in Continuous View than Page View.
The Toolbar area is located between the Menu bar and document window. It contains symbols which allow you to perform certain operations. It can be divided into the following toolbars:
To choose which toolbars to display, right-click on an empty space in the toolbar area (or on the title bar of the Inspector) and, from the menu, check or uncheck the required options. This menu also allows you to view or hide the Piano keyboard, Selection sidebar, Palettes, the Inspector, and (if already displayed) the "Drum Tools" (i.e. Drum input palette).
These display options can also be accessed in the View menu, and, as of 2.1, in View→Toolbars.
The workspaces, Inspector and Selection filter are conveniently displayed as side panels to the left and right of the score window. To undock a side panel use one of the following methods:
To dock a panel use one of the following procedures:
Alternatively, double-clicking the title bar of the panel will restore it to its previously docked position.
There are various commands available to help you navigate through the score. These are listed under Keyboard shortcuts: Navigation.
The Navigator is an optional panel which allows you to navigate a long score more easily, or go to specific pages. To view/hide, go to the View→Navigator, or use the shortcut F12 (Mac: fn+F12). It appears at the bottom of the document window if scrolling pages horizontally, or on the right-hand side of the document window if scrolling pages vertically (see Preferences: Canvas).
The blue box represents the area of the score that is currently visible in the main window. You can drag either the blue box or the scroll bar, or click on an area to immediately go to it.
The Find function allows you to speedily navigate to a specific measure, rehearsal mark or page number in the score:
Use one of the following options:
N.B.: It is best to avoid naming rehearsal marks with the single letters "R," "r," "P", "p," or one of these letters with an integer (e.g. "R1" or "p3"), as this can confuse the search algorithm.
In the File menu you can find the following options:
Apart from native format files (*.mscz and *.mscx), MuseScore can also open MusicXML, compressed MusicXML and MIDI files, as well as a variety of files in other formats.
To open any supported file:
Open recent… allows you to chose from a list of recently-opened scores.
Save…, Save As…, Save a Copy… and Save Selection… allow you to save native MuseScore files (.mscz and .mscx).
Export... and Export Parts... allow you to create non-MuseScore files, such as PDF, MusicXML, MIDI, and various audio and image formats. In the Export dialog, you can choose which format to export to:
MuseScore remembers which format you picked the last time and makes that the default for the next time. Note: There is a known issue with Windows XP and Vista, where you have to manually (un)set the filename's extension when choosing a different format than the one selected the previous time.
Print... allows to print your MuseScore file directly to a printer from MuseScore. Depending on your printer you will have different options, but generally you can define the page range, number of copies and collation.
If you have a PDF printer installed, you could also "export" to PDF using Print, but it's usually better to use the native PDF option under Export for more accurate rendition. Note: For this to work properly with Adobe PDF, make sure to uncheck "Rely on system fonts only, do not use document fonts" in Printer properties.
MuseScore remembers an unlimited number of undo/redo actions.
The standard shortcuts are:
Or use the toolbar buttons:
Go to musescore.com/sheetmusic to view other scores from MuseScore.
You can save and share your scores online at MuseScore.com. You can choose to save a score privately for personal access from any computer, or share it publicly. MuseScore.com enables the viewing and playback of scores in your web browser - an additional feature entitled VideoScores
allows synchronization between the score and a YouTube video. For use outside of a web browser, you can download the score in a variety of formats (including PDF, MIDI, MP3, MusicXML, and the original MuseScore file).
To save a score online:
From the menu, select File→Save Online.... The "Log in to MuseScore" dialog will appear:
Enter your email address or MuseScore username, and password, then click OK. Note: If you don't have a MuseScore account yet, create one first by clicking on the "Create an account" link. That will open your browser app and bring you to musescore.com/user/register.
Upon successfully logging in, you'll be able to enter your score information.
In case you already saved the score online earlier, it will automatically update the existing one, and, as of version 2.1, you can enter some additional information in a changlog section of the dialog, which you can then retrieve on MuseScore.com under "Revision history" for that score. Uncheck Update the existing score to save online as a new score.
(As of version 2.1) If you are using a different SoundFont than the default one and if you are able to export MP3 files, a checkbox Upload score audio will be visible:
If the checkbox is checked, MuseScore will render the audio of the score using the current synthesizer settings and upload the audio to MuseScore.com.
You can also upload a score directly on MuseScore.com.
Note: Should you reach the five score upload limit, you can still upload scores directly from MuseScore, but only the last five are visible. If you wish more than this amount, upgrade to a Pro Account first.
If you want to make changes to one of your scores on MuseScore.com, edit the MuseScore file on your own computer, save it, and then do the following:
It is much more convenient to update online scores from directly within MuseScore than by updating the score manually from the score page. Follow these steps if you originally uploaded the score via the Upload page and now want to switch to the direct method:
Now whenever you want to update the online score simply go to File→Save Online....
You can chose to display the score in either written or concert (sounding) pitch. Written pitch displays the score as it should look when printed for musicians to read. However, during preparation you may prefer the convenience of seeing the transposing instruments notated as they sound, without transposition. In this case you should select the "Concert pitch" option.
To toggle the score display between written or concert pitch use one of the following options:
Before printing the score, exporting it to PDF or saving it online, you should ensure that the Concert Pitch button is off, and that the individual parts are correctly transposed.
In the previous "Basics" chapter you learn how to enter notes and interact with the palettes. The "Notation" chapter describes the different types of notation in more detail, including more advanced music notation.
See also "Advanced topics".
Barline symbols are available in the Barlines palette:
To change an existing barline, use one of the following:
To change a non-single to a single barline:
To hide a barline:
To insert a new barline between existing ones, either:
It is possible to create custom barlines by selecting one or more barlines, and adjusting the properties in the "Barlines" section of the Inspector:
See also, Mensurstrich.
Changes to color and horizontal/vertical offset can also be made in the Inspector.
Barlines may extend over multiple staves, as in the grand staff of a piano, or in an orchestral score to join instruments in the same section. To join barlines:
Double-click on a barline to enter Edit mode.
Click on the lower blue handle and drag it down to the staff you wish to connect to. The handle snaps into position so there is no need to position it exactly.
Press Esc to exit edit mode. This will update all other relevant barlines as well.
Commonly used Clefs (Treble, Bass, Alto, Tenor) can be found in the Clefs palette in the Basic workspace. For a more complete range, see the Clefs palette in the Advanced workspace (see image below).
Note: You can tailor the display of clefs to your specific requirements using a custom palette.
Method 1—add clef to beginning of a measure, whether or not it is the first measure in a system
Method 2—only for changing the clef at the start of a system
To create a mid-measure clef:
Note: If the clef is not the first in the system, it will be drawn smaller.
In this image, the top staff starts with a treble clef and switches immediately to bass clef, then after a note and a rest, changes back to treble clef.
Note: Changing a clef does not change the pitch of any note. Instead, the notes move to preserve pitch. If you want, you can use Transposition in conjunction with a clef change.
When a clef change occurs at the beginning of a system, a courtesy clef will be generated at the end of the previous system.
To show or hide all courtesy clefs:
It is also possible to show/hide courtesy clefs on a case-by-case basis:
Note: This option may be useful to TAB users who do not want the clef to repeat on every subsequent line.
Standard key signatures are available in the Key Signatures palette in the Basic or Advanced workspaces. It is also possible to create custom key signatures (below).
Use any of the following methods:
If you wish to change the key signature of only one staff line, leaving others unchanged:
Use any of the following methods:
If you wish to replace the key signature of only one staff, leaving others unchanged:
Use any of the following methods:
By default, MuseScore only shows cancelling naturals when the key signature changes to that of C Major/A minor (no sharps or flats). In all other cases, it simply shows the new key signature without cancellations:
However, you can opt to display cancelling naturals for all key signature changes:
From the menu, select Style → General... → Accidentals. You'll see the options:
Select one of the three options.
For example, selecting the option "Before key signature if changing to fewer ♯ or ♭" gives:
And the option "After key signature if changing to fewer ♯ or ♭. Before if changing between ♯ and ♭" gives:
Multi-measure rests are interrupted if there is change of key signature:
To turn off the display of a particular courtesy key signature:
To turn off the display of all courtesy key signatures:
Note: Courtesy key signatures are not displayed at section breaks.
To create a custom key signature:
Press Shift+K to display the Key signatures section of the Master palette.
In the Create Key signature panel, drag accidentals from the palette onto the "staff" above to create the desired key signature. Use the Clear button, if required, to remove all accidentals from the "staff."
Note: Playback of custom key signatures is not currently supported.
To move a key signature from the Master palette to a custom palette:
To apply a key signatures to the score directly from the Master palette, use one of the following methods:
Time signatures can be found in a Palette of the same name in both the Basic and Advanced workspaces.
To add a time signature, use any of the following methods:
The time signature will appear at the beginning of the measure in question.
To replace a time signature, use any of the following methods:
To delete a time signature in the score, select it and press Del.
If the time signature you require is not available in any of the existing palettes, it can be created as follows:
To move a time signature from the Master Palette to a custom palette:
To display the Time Signature Properties dialog:
To adjust note-beaming for a particular time signature:
To break a note beam in the Note Groups panel, click on the note following it. To reset the beam, click in the same place. Alternatively, you can change beaming by dragging a beam icon onto a note, as follows:
The Reset button cancels any changes made in that session.
Note: As of version 2.1, checking the box for "Also change shorter notes," means that any beam changes at one level are applied automatically to shorter durations as well. In versions before 2.1 you must adjust beams for the different note durations independently.
Additive (or composite) time signatures are sometimes used to clarify the division of beats within a measure. To create an additive time signature:
Note: The Time Signatures section of the Master palette also allows you to create additive time signatures (see above).
In certain cases a score may show staves with different time signatures running at the same time. For example, in Bach's 26. Goldberg Variation:
In the above example, the global time signature is 3/4, but the time signature of the upper staff has been set independently to 18/16.
To set a local time signature for just one staff:
Occasionally you will need to decrease or increase the duration of a measure without changing the time signature—for example, in a pickup measure (anacrusis) or in a cadenza etc. See Measure operations: Measure duration.
Multi-measure rests are interrupted when a time signature change occurs. Also, a section break will prevent a courtesy time signature being shown at the end of the previous measure.
The most common types of accidentals are provided in the Accidentals toolbar above the score and in the Accidentals palette in the basic workspace. A more comprehensive range can be found in the Accidentals palette in the advanced workspace.
Accidentals are automatically added to a note, as appropriate, when you increase or decrease its pitch:
To add either (i) a double flat or double sharp, (ii) a courtesy (also known as cautionary or reminder) accidental, or (iii) a non-standard accidental, use one of the following options:
If you wish to add parentheses to a cautionary accidental, use one of the following:
If you later change the pitch of a note with cursor keys, manual settings to the accidental are removed.
If required, accidentals can be deleted by clicking on them and pressing Del.
To change the enharmonic spelling of a note, or notes, in both written and concert pitch views:
To change the enharmonic spelling in the written pitch view, without affecting the concert pitch view, or vice versa:
Note: If the pitches of selected notes are not all the same, the effect may be unpredictable.
Arpeggio and Glissando symbols can be found in the "Arpeggios & Glissandi" palette in the advanced workspace. This palette also includes strum arrows, an arpeggio bracket, wind instrument articulations, and slide in/slide out symbols.
To add a symbol to the score, use one of the following methods:
Any symbol can be customized by adjusting its properties in the Inspector. Edit handles are also provided in most cases to allow adjustment of length/curvature in Edit mode. If needed for future use, you can save the result in a custom palette.
When an arpeggio or strum arrow is added to the score, it initially spans only one voice. However, you can easily adjust its height by double-clicking the symbol and dragging the handles up or down (for finer adjustment use the keyboard arrows). Playback of the symbol can be turned on or off in the Inspector.
A Glissando or, more informally, a slide, spans two consecutive notes, normally in the same voice.
Chord glissandi are also possible.
This method also allows you to move handles between notes in different voices or even from one staff to another—for cross-staff glissandi, for example. You can also use the keyboard arrow buttons or Ctrl + arrow to make final adjustments to the positions of the handles.
To customize the glissando to your requirements, select it and adjust the Inspector properties as follows :
Fall, Doit, Plop and Scoop symbols are provided. To change the length and curvature, select the symbol, enter edit mode and adjust the handles as described in Edit mode: Lines.
Slide in and Slide out lines can also be found in the "Arpeggios & Glissandi" palette. To edit the length and angle of a line, double-click on it and drag the handle (or use keyboard arrows for finer adjustment).
A comprehensive set of symbols can be found in the Articulations and Ornaments palette in the Advanced workspace:
There is also an abbreviated version in the Basic workspace.
Articulations are the symbols added to the score to show how a note or chord is to be played. The principal symbols in this group are:
Specialist articulations are also included for bowed and plucked strings, wind instruments etc.
Ornaments include:
Note: Appoggiaturas and acciaccaturas can be found in the Grace Notes palette.
Use either of the following methods:
To apply an accidental to an existing ornament, such as a trill:
A fermata can be applied directly to a barline by selecting the barline and double-clicking the fermata from a palette. This does not affect playback though.
Keyboard shortcuts can be customized in MuseScore's Preferences.
Immediately after adding an articulation or ornament from a palette, the symbol is automatically selected: It can then be moved up or down from the keyboard as follows:
To enable adjustments in all directions from the keyboard:
You can also change the horizontal and vertical offset values in the Inspector. To position more than one symbol at a time, select the desired symbols and adjust the offset values in the Inspector.
Note: The symbol can also be repositioned by clicking and dragging, but for more precise control, use the methods above.
Most properties of articulations/ornaments can be edited from the Inspector. Other properties (i.e. direction and anchor position) can also be accessed by right-clicking on the symbol and selecting Articulation Properties….
You can also make global adjustments to all existing and subsequently-applied articulations by selecting Style… → General… → Articulations, Ornaments.
A variety of simple and complex (multi-stage) bends can be created with the Bend Tool , located in the Articulations and Ornaments palette of the Advanced workspace.
To apply one or more bends to the score, use one of the following options:
To edit a bend, use one of the following:
Select a bend symbol in the score and press "Properties" in the "Bend" section of the Inspector.
Preset options are available, if needed, on the left hand side of the Bend properties window. The current bend is represented by a graph consisting of gray lines connected by square, blue nodes (see image above). The slope of the line indicates the type of bend:
The vertical axis of the graph represents the amount by which the pitch is bent up or down: one unit equals a quarter-tone: 2 units a semitone, 4 units a whole-tone, and so on. The horizontal axis of the graph indicates the length of the bend: each gray line segment extends for 1 space (sp) in the score.
A bend is modified by adding or deleting nodes in the graph:
Adding a node lengthens the bend by 1 sp; deleting a node shortens the bend by 1 sp. The Start and End points of the bend can be moved up and down only.
The height of the bend symbol is automatically adjusted so that it appears just above the staff. This height can be reduced, if necessary, with a workaround:
To adjust position use one of the following:
After a bend has been created in the score it can be saved for future use by dragging and dropping the symbol to a palette while holding down Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift). See Custom Workspace
Note beams are set automatically, based on the time signature. To adjust the default beaming, right-click on a time signature and select "Time Signature Properties." See Change default beaming for details.
However, if you want to adjust note beaming manually, on a case-by-case basis, use the beam symbols found in the Beam Properties palette in the "Basic" or "Advanced" workspaces:
The following is a list of beam symbols and their effects:
To change one or more note beams (except feathered beams, below), use either of the following methods:
Drag and drop a beam symbol from a workspace onto a note in the score.
Select one or more notes in the score and double click the desired workspace beam symbol.
To apply feathered note beams, use either of the following methods:
Drag and drop a feathered-beam symbol from a workspace onto a note beam in the score.
Select one or more note beams in the score, then double click on a feathered-beam symbol in the workspace.
Notes: (1) Feathered beams may use 2 or 3 lines depending on the tempo and the desired rate of the change; (2) To create a 2-line feathered beam, you need to start with a continuous run of beamed sixteenth notes; (3) To create a 3-line feathered beam, you need to start with continuous run of beamed thirty-second notes; (4) Playback of feathered beams is not supported.
Alternatively, you can use the Inspector for all of these operations:
If you want all note beams in the score to be horizontal there is a "Flatten all beams" option in Style→General→Beams.
To adjust feathered beams:
MuseScore (following accepted music engraving practice) spaces notes according to their time values, allowing for accidentals, lyrics etc. In systems where there is more than one staff, this may result in irregular note spacing, as in the following example:
Local relayout is a tickbox option in the Inspector allowing you to specify those passages in the score where you want the note spacing to be independent of other staves in the system. Applying "Local relayout" to the note beams in the top staff of the previous example results in a more even distribution of notes:
To do a local relayout:
To flip a beam from above to below the notes, or vice-versa:
To restore beams to the mode defined in the local time signatures:
MuseScore provides standard brackets and a curly brace within the Brackets palette in the advanced workspace.
To add a bracket or brace to systems, use one of two methods:
When you first apply a bracket it only spans one staff. To extend to other staves:
The default thickness and distance from the system of brackets and braces can be adjusted in Style → General... → System.
Breath and pause markings are available in the Breaths & Pauses palette in the advanced workspace.
To add a breath or pause (the latter also called a caesura, or informally "tram lines" or "railroad tracks") to the score, use one of the following options:
The symbol is placed after the note.
To adjust the position of the breath or pause, use any of the following options:
From version 2.1 onwards, you can adjust the pause length (in seconds) of the added symbol using the "Breath" or "Caesura" category in the Inspector.
A grace note is a type of musical ornament, usually printed smaller than regular notes. The Short grace note, or Acciaccatura, appears as a small note with a stroke through the stem. The Long grace note, or Appoggiatura, has no stroke.
Grace notes can be found in the "Grace notes" palette in the Basic or Advanced workspace.
Add a grace note
Use one of the following methods:
This will add a grace note of the same pitch as the regular note. To add a sequence of grace notes to a regular note, simply repeat the above actions as many times as required. See also, Change pitch (below).
Note: When a grace note is added to the score, a slur is not automatically created with it, so the latter needs to be added separately. See Slurs.
Add a chord of grace notes
Grace note chords are built up just like regular chords:
You can also create a grace note chord by using the add interval shortcut in step 2: Alt+1...9 for intervals from a unison to a ninth above.
The pitch of a grace note can be adjusted just like a regular one:
If you want to change the duration of a previously created grace note, select it and choose a duration from the toolbar or enter with one of the keys 1...9 (see Note input).
The position of a grace note after a note (such as a trill termination) may have to be adjusted by selecting the note, going into edit mode and using the left/right keyboard arrows; or change the chord offset values in the Inspector.
Hairpins are line objects. To create a hairpin:
Alternatively, use one of the following options:
Double-click on the hairpin to enter edit mode. Then click on the end handle that you want to move:
Use one of the following shortcuts:
This method of extending or shortening the hairpin maintains playback integrity and allows it to cross line breaks:
To change the position of an end handle without changing the position of its anchor, use the following shortcuts:
Note: The commands listed in step 3 are only used to tweak the final appearance of the hairpin (e.g. see image below): they do not change its playback extent nor do they allow it to cross line breaks. If you want the latter, use the Shift+→ or Shift+← commands instead (step 2).
Note: The "Reset" command (Ctrl+R (Mac: Cmd+R)) will undo these small adjustments, but will not undo anchor changes.
In addition to hairpins, there are cresc. _ _ _ and dim. _ _ _ lines with the same function in the Lines palette. To change the text (e.g. to cresc. poco a poco, or decresc. instead of dim), right-click on the line and choose Line Properties....
To turn a hairpin into its equivalent text line:
Crescendo and diminuendo lines only affect playback from one note to the next: they have no affect (currently) on the playback of a single note or a series of tied notes.
By default, hairpins will affect playback only if dynamics are used before and after the hairpin. For example, a crescendo spanning notes between p and f dynamics will cause a dynamic change on playback. However, between any two successive dynamics only the first appropriate hairpin will have effect: a diminuendo between p and f will be ignored; of two or more crescendos between p and f, all but the first will be ignored.
A hairpin may be used without dynamic marks, by adjusting "Velocity change" in the Inspector (values in the range 0 to 127).
The Lines palette of the Advanced workspace includes the following types of lines:
Most lines (except Slurs, Volta brackets and the Ambitus) can be applied from a palette in the following ways:
Use any of the following methods:
To adjust the vertical position of one or more lines:
Note: You can also adjust the vertical position in Edit mode.
Ensure you are not in note input mode (press Esc to exit);
Double click the line that you want to change to enter edit mode;
Click on an end handle and use one of the following shortcuts:
To change the position of an end handle without changing the position of its anchor, use the following:
Note: You can also drag the endpoint handles with a mouse.
A text line is a line that has text embedded within it—such as a volta, ottava, guitar barre line etc.
When you apply a text line to the score from a palette, the line properties (see below) always remain unchanged, but the properties of embedded text may vary depending on circumstances. See Behavior of applied text and lines for details.
Lines may contain features such as embedded text or hooks at the ends (e.g. ottavas and voltas). They can be customized once they have been added to the score, and the results saved to a workspace for future use:
Right-click on a line and select Line Properties…;
Add any text you want to appear in the line;
Click on the ... buttons to adjust the Text properties at each position as required.
If a hook is required, tick the appropriate "Hook" box, and adjust the hook length and angle;
Select an option from "Place": "Above or "Below" positions the text so that it overlaps the line; "Left" places the text to the left of the line;
Note: Additional placement options are available in the "Text properties" dialog (see step 2, above).
Click OK to exit Line Properties;
Make adjustments to Color, Thickness and Line type (solid, dashed etc.) in the "Line" section of the Inspector. Ticking "Diagonal" here allows you to create a diagonal line by dragging the end handles;
If you wish to save the resulting line for future use, see Custom palettes.
Once applied to the score, lines cannot be copied using the usual copy and paste procedures. However, you can duplicate lines within a score: press and hold Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift), click on the line and drag it to the desired location.
To add an accidental to an extended ornament, such as a trill line, select the line and double-click a symbol from the Accidentals palette.
A whole rest, centred within a measure (shown below), is used to indicate that an entire measure (or a voice within a measure) is silent, regardless of time signature.
Use the following method if all selected measures are "standard"—i.e. with no custom durations:
1 Select a measure, or range of measures.
2. Press Del.
If one or more of the measures contains a custom duration, use the following method instead:
A Multimeasure rest indicates a period of silence for an instrument: the number of measures is shown by the number above the staff.
Multimeasure rests are automatically interrupted at important points, such as double barlines, rehearsal marks, key- or time signature changes, section breaks etc.
To turn multimeasure rests on or off:
Alternatively:
Note: It is recommended that you enter all notes in the score first before enabling multi-measure rests.
You may want to have a multi-measure rest divided into two multi-measure rests:
See also: Measure operations: Break multimeasure rest.
Octave (Ottava) lines are used to indicate that a section of music is to be played one or more octaves above or below written pitch: The line may be dotted or solid. Ottavas are available in the Lines palette of the Basic and Advanced workspaces.
8─────┐or 8va─────┐: Play one octave above written pitch
8─────┘or 8vb─────┘: Play one octave below written pitch
8va/8vb lines are particularly common in piano scores, though they are sometimes used in other instrumental music.1 15ma (2 octaves above) and 15mb (2 octaves below) are also occasionally used.
Use one of the following:
See also, Lines: Adjust vertical position.
See Lines: Change length.
Octaves can be customized just like any other line. See Lines: Custom lines and line properties.
Gerou/Lusk. Essential Dictionary of Music Notation (Internet Archive). ↩︎
A slur is a curved line between two or more notes indicating that they are to be played legato—smoothly and without separation. Not to be confused with Ties, which join two notes of the same pitch.
There are a number of ways to add a slur to a score, and all may be useful depending on the context (adding a slur from the lines palette is also possible but not recommended).
Make sure you are not in note input mode and select the first note that you want the slur to cover:
Press S to add a slur extending to the next note:
(Optional) Hold Shift and press → (right arrow key) to extend the slur to the next note. Repeat as required:
(Optional) Press X to flip the slur direction:
Press Esc to exit edit mode:
If you only want to adjust the position of a slur:
To adjust all the properties of a slur (length, shape and position):
Note: The two outer handles adjust the start and end of the slur, whilst the three handles on the curve adjust the contour. The middle handle on the straight line is used to move the whole slur up/down/left/right.
A slur can span several systems and pages. The start and end of a slur is anchored to a note/chord or rest. If the notes are repositioned due to changes in the layout, stretch or style, the slur also moves and adjusts in size.
This example shows a slur spanning from the bass to the treble clef. Using the mouse, select the first note of the slur, hold down Ctrl (Mac: ⌘) and select the last note for the slur, and press S to add the slur.
X flips the direction of a selected slur.
Dotted slurs are sometimes used in songs where the presence of a slur varies between stanzas. Dotted slurs are also used to indicate an editor's suggestion (as opposed to the composer's original markings). To change an existing slur into a dotted or dashed slur, select it and then in Inspector (F8) change Line type
from Continuous
to Dotted
or Dashed
.
A tie is a curved line between two notes of the same pitch, indicating that they are to be played as one note with a combined duration (see external links below). Ties are normally created between adjacent notes in the same voice, but MuseScore also supports ties between non-adjacent notes and between notes in different voices.
In note-input mode, if you specify a tie immediately after entering a note or chord, the program automatically generates the correct destination notes to go with the ties. Or, you can simply create ties "after the fact," between existing notes.
Note: Ties, which join notes of the same pitch, should not be confused with slurs, which join notes of different pitches and indicate legato articulation.
Press Esc to make sure you are not in note input mode.
Click on a note, or use Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) + click to select more than one note.
Press + or the tie button, .
.
Ties will be created between the selected note(s) and the following note(s) of the same pitch.
To tie all the notes in a chord at once, either:
Then press + or the tie button . Ties will be created between all the notes in the selected chord and the following notes of the same pitches.
To create a single note tie during note input:
Note: This shortcut works, as described above, only if there is no chord following the selected note. If there is, then the duration is ignored and the tied note is added instead to the following chord.
Note: This shortcut works, as described above, only if there is no chord following the selected note. If there is, then the duration is ignored and the tied notes are added instead to the following chord.
If the chords to be tied contain unison notes the best way to ensure correct notation is:
X flips the direction of a selected tie, from above the note to below the note, or vice-versa.
Tremolo is the rapid repetition of one note, or a rapid alternation between two notes or chords. It is indicated by strokes through the stems of the notes or chords. If the tremolo is between two, the bars are drawn between them. Tremolo symbols are also used to notate drum rolls.
The tremolo palette in the advanced workspace contains separate symbols for one note tremolos (shown with stems below) and for two note tremolos (shown with no stem below).
To add tremolo to a single note, select the note head and double-click the desired symbol in the tremolo palette.
In a two note tremolo, every note has the value of the whole tremolo duration. To enter a tremolo with the duration of a half note (minim), enter two normal quarter notes (crotchets), and after applying a tremolo symbol to the first note, the note values automatically double to half notes.
Tuplets are used to write rhythms beyond the beat divisions usually permitted by the time signature. For example, a sixteenth note triplet divides an eighth note beat into three sixteenth notes instead of two:
In 6/8 time, an eighth note duplet divides a dotted quarter note into two eighth notes instead of three:
The exact method of tuplet entry depends on whether you are starting off in Note input mode or Normal mode. We'll start off with a simple example: the creation of an eighth note triplet.
Select a note or rest that specifies the full duration of the desired triplet group. In the case of an eighth note triplet, you will need to select a quarter note or rest—as in the example below:
From the main menu, choose Notes→Tuplets→Triplet, or press Ctrl+3 (Mac: ⌘+3). This will give the following result:
The program automatically changes to note-input mode and selects the most appropriate duration—in this example an eighth note. Now enter the desired series of notes/rests. For example:
To create other tuplets (Duplet (2) to Nonuplet (9)), substitute one of the following commands at the relevant step above:
For more complex cases, see below.
To create other tuplets than the default options (e.g. 13 sixteenth notes in the space of one quarter note):
Select the desired number ratio (e.g. 13/4 for thirteen sixteenth notes in the space of a quarter note) under "Relation" in the "Type" section. Specify "Number" and "Bracket" using the radio buttons in the "Format" section;
Click OK to close the dialog:
Enter the desired series of notes/rests.
To delete any tuplet, select the number/bracket and press Del.
To change the display properties of tuplets in the score, select the tuplet numbers/brackets, and adjust the desired properties in the "Tuplet" section of the Inspector:
If neither the number nor the bracket of the tuplet is shown in the score, select a note from the tuplet, then use the Tuplet button in the Inspector to display the "Tuplet" section:
Direction
Number type
"Nothing" turns off number display.
Bracket type
To make fine adjustments to the way that all tuplets in the score are displayed, from the menu, select Style → General... and select Tuplets.
Two adjustments are possible: Vertical and Horizontal
You can create a simple repeat by placing a start and an end repeat barline at the beginning and end of a passage. These barlines are applied from the Barlines palette, and, as of version 2.1, also from the Repeats & Jumps palette.
Note: If the start of a repeat coincides with the beginning of a piece or section, the start repeat barline can be omitted if desired. Similarly, an end repeat barline can be omitted at the end of a score or section.
First create a simple repeat (as shown above), then apply the first and second time endings—see Voltas.
To hear repeats during playback, make sure the "Play Repeats" button on the toolbar is selected. Likewise, you can turn off repeats during playback by deselecting the button.
To set the number of times that a repeat section plays back:
Text and symbols related to repeats are located in the "Repeats & Jumps" palette (in the Basic and Advanced workspaces). This palette contains:
To add a repeat symbol to the score use either of the following:
Jumps are symbols in the score which tell the musician, and playback, to skip to a named marker (see below). Jumps include the various kinds of D.C. (Da Capo) and D.S. (Dal Segno) text.
If you click on a jump, some text boxes and a checkbox are displayed in the Jump section of the Inspector. These have the following effects on playback:
Note: The tags start and end, referring to the beginning and end of a score or section, are implicit and don't need to be added by the user.
Markers are the places referred to by the jumps. A list of markers (in addition to the implicit "start" and "end") follows:
If you click on a marker, the following properties appears in the Marker section of the Inspector:
Note: The properties (i.e. the tag names) of jumps and markers can be set via the Inspector. You need to modify them if using multiple jumps and markers.
Volta brackets, or first and second ending brackets, are used to mark different endings for a repeat.
Use one of the following methods:
Note: Only the Shift commands will alter the playback start and end points of the volta. To make fine adjustments to the visual start or end points you can use other keyboard arrow commands, or drag the handles with a mouse, but these do not affect the playback properties.
When you select a start or end handle, a dashed line appears connecting it to an anchor point on the staff. This anchor shows the position of the playback start or end point of the Volta.
You can change the text and many other properties of a volta bracket using the line properties dialog. Right-click on a volta bracket and choose Line Properties.... The figure below shows the volta text as "1.-5."
You can also right-click on the volta and bring up the volta properties dialog. From here, you can change both the displayed Volta text (the same from the line properties above) and the repeat list. If you want one volta to be played only on certain repeats and another volta on other repeats, enter the repeat times in a comma separated list. In the example below, this volta will be played during repeat 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7. Another volta will have the other ending, like 3, 6 and possibly other higher numbers like 8, 9, etc.
Sometimes a repeat plays more than two times. In the figure above, the volta text indicates that it should play five times before it continues. If you want to change the number of times MuseScore plays a repeat, go to the measure containing the end repeat barline and change its Play count
(Repeat Count
prior to version 2.1). See Measure operations: Other properties for details.
Transposition is the act of raising or lowering the pitch of a selection of notes by the same interval. You can chose to transpose notes either manually or by using the Transpose dialog.
Note: In versions prior to 2.1, F2 (Mac: fn+F2) transposes the whole score and key signature UP one semitone. Shift+F2 (Mac: Shift+fn +F2) transposes the score and key signature DOWN one semitone.
MuseScore's Transpose dialog gives you more options for transposing notes.
Note: By default this dialog opens from the Notes menu, but you can also chose to open it using a keyboard shortcut (see Preferences).
To transpose notes up or down to the nearest key:
To transpose selected notes up or down in semitone increments:
To transpose selected notes up or down by a diatonic interval:
Transposing instruments, such as the B-flat trumpet or E-flat alto sax, sound lower, or higher than their written pitch. MuseScore has a number of features to facilitate the scoring of these instruments.
MuseScore's default viewing mode shows the musical notation in written pitch, but you can chose to display the score in concert pitch instead. In the latter mode, the musical notation of all instruments matches the actual pitches that you hear on playback.
To switch to concert pitch, use one of the following options:
You should ensure that the Concert pitch button is OFF before printing the main score or any parts.
Instrument transpositions are already set up in MuseScore. However, if you want a rare instrument or transposition that is not available in MuseScore, you may need to edit the instrument transposition manually.
You can also use the Change Instrument… button in the Staff Properties window to automatically change the transposition to that of a different standard instrument.
Entering percussion notation is somewhat different to entering notation for pitched instruments (such as the piano or violin). However, it is recommended that you first read the chapter on Note input for pitched instruments before proceeding.
When you create a percussion staff using the New Score Wizard or the Instruments dialog, MuseScore automatically choses the most appropriate staff type (1-, 3-, or 5-line) for the instrument: this can be changed, if required, using the "Staff type" column on the Chose instruments / Instruments page. Any additional changes (e.g. to a 2-line staff) can be made from the score itself (see Advanced Style Properties).
On a 5-line percussion staff, each instrument is assigned a vertical staff position (line or space) and a notehead shape. For a drumset, one or two voices can be used. If the latter, voice 1 (the upper voice) usually contains (up-stem) notes played by the hands while voice 2 (the lower voice) usually contains (down-stem) notes played by the feet (see image below).
You can add notes to a percussion staff from any of the following:
These methods can be used in any desired combination:
To add notes to a percussion staff from a MIDI keyboard:
Ensure that the MIDI keyboard is connected and functioning correctly.
Note: If you click on the percussion staff without entering note input mode, you can demo the percussion instruments from the MIDI keyboard.
Click on the note or rest where you want to start.
Note: Refer to a GM2 drum map for details about which MIDI keyboard key corresponds to which percussion instrument. Some keyboards (e.g., Casio) display percussion symbols next to the keys as an aid to the user.
To add notes to a percussion staff from the virtual Piano Keyboard:
Ensure that the Piano keyboard is displayed. Press P (or select it from the menu, View → Piano Keyboard).
Note: If you click on the percussion staff without entering note input mode, you can demo the percussion instruments from the Piano keyboard.
Click on the note or rest where you want to start.
Note: Refer to a GM2 drum map for details about which piano key corresponds to which percussion instrument.
By default, the piano keyboard is docked at the bottom of the screen—to the left of the Drum input palette. However you can undock it by dragging, then dock the panel in several ways:
To enter notes on a percussion staff using your computer keyboard:
Note: Voice allocation is determined by the color of the note in the drum input palette: blue for voice 1, green for voice 2.
To add a note to a percussion staff
Use the following method to add a new note or to replace an existing chord.
To add a note to an existing chord in the percussion staff
Note: Voice allocation is determined by the color of the note in the drum input palette: blue for voice 1, green for voice 2.
When a percussion staff is selected and note input mode is ON, a window opens at the bottom of the screen called the Drum input palette. This window is essential for mouse input, and displays shortcuts for computer keyboard input, but can be ignored if using a MIDI keyboard or the virtual Piano Keyboard.
Each note in the palette represents a percussion instrument: hovering the mouse pointer over the note displays the instrument name.
The letters A–G (shown above certain notes in the palette) are designated as shortcuts for entering particular instruments (bass drum, snare, closed hi-hat etc.), rather than referring to note pitches. They can be changed or reallocated as desired in the Edit Drumset window.
When the Drum input palette is open, double-clicking a note in the palette or entering a shortcut letter will add that instrument note to the percussion staff. The color of the note in the palette shows the voice allocated for that note—blue for voice 1, green for voice 2. This can be changed in the Edit Drumset dialog if required.
This voice allocation applies only to keyboard and mouse entry of notes: entry via a MIDI keyboard or the virtual Piano keyboard allows any voice to be used.
To open the Edit Drumset window, use one of the following options:
The Edit Drumset dialog displays the percussion instruments available and the MIDI notes/numbers to which they are allocated. It also determines how each instrument is displayed on the staff— its name, position, notehead type and note-stem direction. Any changes made here are automatically saved in the parent MuseScore file.
Clicking on a row in the left-hand column allows you to edit the display properties for that note as follows:
Name: The name you want displayed in the Drum input palette when you mouse over the note.
Notehead: Chose a notehead for that instrument from a drop-down list of options (if set to "Invalid," the instrument will not display in the Drum input palette).
Staff line: This number indicates the staff line/space on which the note is displayed. "0" means that the note is displayed on the top line of the 5-line staff. Negative numbers move the note upwards step by step, while positive numbers move it downwards in the same way.
Stem Direction: Auto, Up or down.
Default voice: Assign to one of four voices. This does not affect input from a MIDI keyboard or the virtual Piano keyboard.
Shortcut: Assign a keyboard shortcut to enter that note.
The customized drumset can be saved as a .drm file by pressing Save. You can also import a customized drumset using the Load button.
Note: In MuseScore 2.1, some of the pitches in the Tenor Drums instrument do not play back; there is a DRM file designed to fix this, which you can download here, via right-click→ Save target as.
To create a drum roll, use Tremolo.
Music for fretted, stringed instruments is commonly notated using tablature, also known as tab, which provides a visual representation of the strings and fret numbers:
Tablature can also be combined with traditional staff notation:
If you wish to create tablature as part of a new score, use the New Score Wizard. If you want to add tablature to an existing score, use the Instruments dialog. Or, alternatively, you can convert an existing standard staff. See below for details.
To create tablature in a new score (for combined staff/tablature systems see → below):
On the Instruments page, select one (or more) tablature options under "Plucked strings" in the left-hand column (see image below). Then click Add.
Note: You can use the dropdown list above the Instrument list to change the category displayed. Alternately you can search for the instrument using the "Search" field below the Instrument list.
Complete the rest of the New Score Wizard.
If the desired tablature is not available in the Choose Instrument list:
This allows you to create tablature for any chromatically-fretted instrument.
To add a single tablature staff to an existing score (for combined staff/tab system see → below):
To convert an existing standard staff to tablature, or tablature to a standard staff:
Note: If you subsequently need to make further adjustments to the staff (e.g. tuning, number of lines/strings etc.), right click on the staff and select Staff Properties….
Alternative method (using just the "Staff Properties" dialog):
Note: Other adjustments to the staff (e.g. tuning, number of lines/strings etc.), can also be made in the Staff Properties… dialog.
Note: If you only want to view (rather than change) the instrument tuning, follow steps 1 and 2 only.
Right-click on the staff and select Staff Properties….
Press the Edit String Data… button at the bottom of the dialog box. The String Data dialog opens:
Click on a string pitch and select Edit String…. Or, alternatively, just double-click the string pitch.
Notes: (1) If tuning is changed when the tablature for that instrument already contains some notes, fret marks will be adjusted automatically (if possible); (2) Any change of tuning to a particular instrument applies only to the score at hand, and does not change any program default settings.
Note: After adding a tablature string you will need to adjust the number of lines in the Staff properties dialog.
Note: After deleting a tablature string you will need to adjust the number of lines in the Staff properties dialog.
This feature is used to mark a (bass) course as unstopped (i.e. outside of the fingerboard and always sounding open): as on a Baroque lute or Theorbo etc. This means that only "0" (zero) or "a" is accepted as a fret mark: any other fret mark will be converted to 0/a.
This property defines the maximum fret number which can be entered on a tablature staff.
You can customize both the appearance of a tablature staff and the way that it displays the fret marks. To access these options:
Plucked-string instruments—such as the guitar—are commonly notated using both a music staff and tablature (TAB) together. MuseScore gives you the option of having the two staves either unlinked or linked:
Unlinked Staves: You can enter, delete or edit notation in one staff without affecting the other. To transfer music notation from one staff to the other, select the desired range and copy and paste it into the other staff.
Linked Staves: Any changes you make in one staff are automatically applied to the other staff as well ("mutual translation").
A note on fret mark conflicts: When the same note is entered in two different voices, MuseScore tries to ensure that the fret marks do not overlap on the same string. Any overlaps which do occur are marked with red squares: these appear only in the document window and not on any printed copy. In almost all cases (e.g. frets 0 to 4 on the 6th string), overlapping is the desired result and no further adjustment is required. As of version 2.2, you can hide the red marks by selecting "View" and unticking "Show Unprintable."
Note: To create unlinked staves with separate mixer channels, instead of step "5" (above), select a Tablature staff in the left-hand column and click Add. Then continue with steps 6 and 7.
Note: To create unlinked staves with separate mixer channels, instead of step "3" (above), select a Tablature staff in the left-hand column and click Add. Then continue with steps 4–6.
To add tablature to a plucked-string staff in the score (or vice versa):
Notes: To create unlinked staves with separate mixer channels, instead of step "3" (above), select an appropriate staff in the left-hand column and click Add. Then continue with steps 4–6.
Press 0 to 9 to enter a fret mark from 0 to 9 on the current string; to enter numbers with several digits press each digit in sequence. Keys A to K (skipping I) can also be used: convenient when working in French tablature. For L , M, N, use the alphanumeric keyboard and type respectively 10, 11, 12...
Note: You cannot enter a number higher than the "Number of frets" value set in the Edit String Data dialog.
Press ; (semicolon) to enter a rest of the selected duration.
See also, Edit notes (below).
As of version 2.1, period notation for bass strings (lutes and sim.) is supported:
French tablature: letters with prefixed slash-like strokes right under the tab body: i.e. 7th string: "a", 8th string: "/a", 9th string: "//a" and so on, all in the first position below the tab body.
Italian tablature: numbers with 'ledger line'- like segment of string above the tab body: i.e. 7th string: "0" one position above the tab body with one 'ledger line'; 8th string: "0" two positions above the tab body with two 'ledger lines' and so on.
Input of is via computer keyboard only: by moving the note entry cursor below (French) or above (Italian) the tab body, 'shadow' slashes or ledger lines will indicate the target string to which the fret mark will be applied; pressing one of the fret keys, will enter (and lay out) the note on that string.
To enter notes into tablature with a mouse:
See also, Edit notes (below).
In note input mode, you can use any of the following methods to set note duration in tablature:
To edit an existing fret mark in note-input mode:
To edit an existing fret mark outside note-input mode:
Note: The fret mark cannot be higher than the "Number of frets" value set in the Edit String Data dialog.
To change a fret mark to a crosshead note:
Type: | to get: |
---|---|
↑ | Select above string as current. |
↓ | Select below string as current. |
Shift+1 to Shift+9 | Select a duration (128th note to a longa) |
NumPad 1 to NumPad 9 | Select a duration (128th note to a longa) |
Q | Decrease current input duration. |
W | Increase current input duration. |
0 to 9 | Enter a fret digit / letter. |
A to K | Enter a fret digit / letter (I excluded). |
Alt+Shift+↑ | Increase current fret mark. |
Alt+Shift+↓ | Decrease current fret mark. |
; (semicolon) | Enter a rest |
Type: | to get: |
---|---|
0 to 9 | Change duration of selected note or rest (128th note to longa) |
Alt+Shift+↑ | Increase the pitch of the selected note (MuseScore chooses the string). |
↑ | Increase the pitch without changing string. |
Alt+Shift+↓ | Decrease the pitch of the selected note (MuseScore chooses the string). |
↓ | Decrease the pitch without changing string. |
Ctrl+↑ (Mac: Cmd+↑) | Move note to above string, keeping the pitch. |
Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↓) | Move note to below string, keeping the pitch. |
Shift+X | Toggle the ghost notehead on/off. |
MuseScore has "Sound and playback" capabilities built-in. This chapter covers the playback controls and ways to extend the instrument sounds.
When a musician is required to double on a different instrument for a section of a piece, the instruction to switch instruments is generally placed above the staff at the beginning of that section. A return to the primary instrument is handled in the same manner.
MuseScore enables users to insert a special class of text called Change Instrument text for this purpose. This class of text is different from either Staff or System text in that it links the text to the playback and changes the sound to the new instrument.
Version 2.1 introduces a greatly improved mid-staff instrument change over previous versions. There are still some limitations that need to be considered prior to using it.
Mid-staff instrument changes are limited to the same type of staff. For example, you cannot change between a percussion staff and a pitched instrument staff or vice versa.
The instrument name is not changed in the mixer. It will still be listed under the instrument in the original definition of the staff.
The key signature is not automatically updated at the instrument change. You must manually change the Key signature if needed.
You can now enter the notes a musician would play once the instrument is changed and the correct key signature is entered if necessary.
Unless you are changing the type of staff, you will always use the Change Instrument text.
There are several limitations to this in version 2.0 which should be understood before attempting to use it.
Automatic transposition from concert pitch to the appropriate key for the transposing brass and woodwind instruments is not currently supported. For changes to instruments notated in a different key (C flute to E♭ flute; Oboe to English Horn, etc.), the use of ordinary Staff Text to indicate the change is preferable, and the transposition must be done after the music is entered (using Notes→Transpose from the main menu). To avoid discord on playback, the instrument assigned to that staff should be muted in the F10 Mixer.
If it is necessary to hear the new instrument sound on playback, the Change Instrument text function must be used. However, after a mid-staff instrument change where the two instruments on the staff are not notated in the same key, no attempt should be made to enter new music directly from the keyboard. Instead, the music must be (a) pasted in, or (b) entered before the instrument change is affected. New input into measures following an instrument change is subject to two known program bugs, which cannot be resolved in the current 2.0.x versions without adversely affecting backwards compatibility. (This has been fixed in version 2.1) In addition, the score must remain notated in concert pitch, or discord will result from the transposition. As a convenience to the players, a copy of the part may be saved as a separate file and the required sections transposed to the appropriate key before the part is printed. (Note that transposing a linked part will affect the score as well.)
When changing from one concert-pitch instrument to another, or from one transposing instrument to another in the same key (Bb trumpet to Bb cornet or Flugelhorn, etc.), the Change Instrument Text may be used to ensure that the playback sound is altered to the new instrument. Input may be done in the usual manner, and is not affected by the bugs mentioned above.
There are some incompatibilities between the two versions.
Instrument changes created with version 2.0 and opened in version 2.1 or above will continue to either display the notes wrong or play the notes wrongs as in version 2.0. Deleting and reentering the instrument change will fix most incompatibility issues with only minor changes being needed.
Instrument changes created with version 2.1 or above and opened in version 2.0 will generally playback correctly but continue to display the wrong notes.
Right-click the text and choose "Change Instrument…"
Choose the instrument, then click OK
The Mixer allows you to change instrument sounds and adjust the volume and panning for each staff.
To display/hide the mixer, use one of the following:
Note: Separate reverb and chorus effects for each channel are not yet implemented; use the synthesizer effects unit instead.
The name of each mixer channel is the same as the Part name in the Staff properties dialog.
To turn a dial clockwise, click and drag upwards. To turn a dial counter-clockwise, click and drag downwards. You can also hover the mouse pointer over the dial and then move the mouse wheel. Double-clicking on any dial restores it to its default position.
The "Sound" drop-down menu lists every instrument supported by your current SoundFont. If you have multiple SoundFonts loaded in the Synthesizer, all the patches from all the SoundFonts (and/or SFZ files) will appear in a single long list—in the order previously set in the Synthesizer.
Tip: To find an instrument, click on the "Sound" list and type the first letter of the instrument name. Repeat as required.
Some instruments come with multiple channels in the Mixer that can be used to change sounds midway through a score. For example, a staff for a stringed instrument (violin, viola, cello etc.) is allocated three channels: one for "arco" (or "normal"), another for "pizzicato" and another for "tremolo." A trumpet staff will have one channel for "normal" and another reserved for "mute," and so on.
The following instructions use pizzicato strings as an example, but the same principle can be applied to any other instrument staff that allows sound changes.
From the dropdown menu, select pizzicato;
Click OK to return to the score.
Every note after the staff text you added now sounds pizzicato. To return to a normal strings sound later in the piece, follow the same guidelines as above except type "arco" in step 3 and select normal in step 6.
Basic playback functions are accessed from the Play toolbar located above the document window:
From left to right, the icons are:
To start playback:
During playback you can jump to a specific note or rest in the score by simply clicking on it.
To stop playback:
Once playback has started, the following commands are available:
During playback you can still use keyboard shortcuts to open and close panels, such as Play, Synthesizer, Mixer etc.
To open the Play Panel use one of the following options:
The Play Panel offers temporary controls over playback, including playback speed (labelled 'tempo'), loop playback (with specified starting and ending positions), and general volume.
Note: Changes to the parameters in the Play Panel are not saved with the score: they only affect playback in the current session. Permanent changes to tempo should be made using tempo text. To change the default playback volume of the score, see Synthesizer.
You can switch on and off a count-in to be played each time the playback starts. The count-in plays beats for a full measure (according to nominal time signature at playback starting point); if the starting point is mid-measure or at a 'short' measure (anacrusis), it also plays enough beats to fill that measure. The conductor icon in the play panel enables, or disables count-in.
You can also switch on/off the accompanying metronome as the score is played (see the metronome icon on the play panel).
You can loop playback of a selected passage in the score using either the Play toolbar (see image above) or the play panel.
To loop from the Play toolbar:
Playback will now cycle within the region marked by the blue flags.
To loop from the Play Panel:
Playback will now cycle within the region marked by the blue flags.
Audio playback is provided by MuseScore's onboard synthesizer, which houses a large selection of virtual (or software) instruments—including percussion and sound effects.
MuseScore supports virtual instruments in two formats:
A Soundfont (.sf2/.sf3) is a single file containing one or more virtual instruments. As of version 2.2, MuseScore is installed with a SoundFont called MuseScore_General.sf3. This is a GM (General MIDI) set containing over 128 instruments, sound effects and various drum/percussion kits.
Note: Older versions of MuseScore are installed with a different Soundfont: MuseScore 2.0–2.1 with FluidR3Mono_GM.sf3; MuseScore 1 with TimGM6mb.sf2.
GM (General MIDI) is a universal format, so once your score is set up for correct playback using MuseScore's native Soundfont, you should be able to export it in a format of your choice and have it play back on any other user's computer.
Many different Soundfonts are available on the Internet: some free, some commercial. For a list of free soundfonts, see below.
After finding and decompressing a SoundFont (see →below), double-click to open it. In most cases, the SoundFont file type will already be associated with MuseScore, and MuseScore will start and a dialog will appear asking if you want to install the SoundFont. Occasionally an application other than MuseScore will be associated with the SoundFont file type; if this is the case, you will need to right-click or control-click on the file, so as to display a menu from which you can choose to open the file in MuseScore. In either case, when the dialog appears asking if you want to install the SoundFont, click "Yes" to place a copy of the SoundFont file in MuseScore's SoundFonts directory. This directory can be viewed or changed in MuseScore's Preferences, but the default location is:
Windows: %HOMEPATH%\Documents\MuseScore2\Soundfonts
macOS and Linux: ~/Documents/MuseScore2/Soundfonts
In contrast to user-added SoundFonts, the initial default SoundFont installed with MuseScore is located in a system directory, meant only for that purpose, which should not be modified. This directory and its default SoundFont file is:
%ProgramFiles%\MuseScore 2\sound\MuseScore_General.sf3
Windows (64-bit): %ProgramFiles(x86)%\MuseScore 2\sound\MuseScore_General.sf3
macOS: /Applications/MuseScore 2.app/Contents/Resources/sound/MuseScore_General.sf3
Linux (Ubuntu): /usr/share/mscore-xxx/sounds/MuseScore_General.sf3
(with xxx
being the MuseScore version)
To uninstall a SoundFont, simply open the folder where its file is installed and delete it.
An SFZ consists of a bunch of files and directories, an SFZ file and a bunch of actual sound files in WAV or FLAC format, with the SFZ file being a text file that basically describes what sound file is located where and to be used for what instrument and pitch range.
Note: For full support of SFZ, MuseScore 2.1 or later is need, prior versions had only limited support, namely for Salamander Grand Piano
After downloading an SFZ (see →below), you need to manually extract all the files that belong to the SFZ (the SFZ file itself and all the subdirectories) into the directory listed above. Leave the subdirectories and their contents as they are.
To uninstall an SFZ, simply open the folder where its files are installed (see above) and delete them all.
The Synthesizer is MuseScore's central control panel for sound output. Once a SoundFont has been installed, it needs to be loaded into the Synthesizer in order for MuseScore to use it for playback. To make a different SoundFont the default, load it in the Synthesizer and click Set as Default.
To display the Synthesizer, go to View → Synthesizer. For more details, see Synthesizer.
The following sound libraries conform to the General MIDI (GM2) standard. This specification gives you a sound set of 128 virtual instruments, plus percussion kits.
FluidR3Mono_GM.sf3
(13.8 MB).MuseScore_General.sf3
(35.9 MB) (SF2 version (208 MB)).Since soundfiles are large, they are often zipped (compressed) into a variety of formats, including .zip, .sfArk, and .tar.gz. You need to unzip (decompress) these files before they can be used.
ZIP is standard compression format supported by most operating systems.
sfArk is a compression format designed especially for compressing SoundFont files. To decompress it, use Polyphone (cross-platform software); or this online service: https://cloudconvert.com/sfark-to-sf2
.tar.gz is a popular compression format for Linux. Windows users can use 7-Zip; Mac users can use The Unarchiver, or macOS' built-in Archive Utility. Note that if using 7-Zip, you will need to apply decompression twice—once for GZip and once for TAR.
If the toolbar play panel is greyed out, or not visible, follow the instructions below to get your sound working again:
If you are setting up a SoundFont for the first time, please use one of the recommended SoundFonts listed above.
If playback stutters, then your computer may not not able to handle the SoundFont being used. The following advice may help:
MuseScore's swing feature allows you to change the playback of your score from a straight to a swing rhythm. Swing can be applied globally or only to a section of the score, and is fully variable.
Double-click Swing in the Text palette (shown below);
Edit the Swing text as required;
Swing text can be edited just like any other text element: you can change it, style it, make it invisible etc.
Often this notation is used to indicate swing:
MuseScore does not have a way to include a triplet in text as a tempo marking, but there is an easy workaround:
If you want playback to return to straight time after a swing section:
If you wish to apply swing to the whole score, you can do so from the menu:
To display the Synthesizer: from the menu, select View→Synthesizer.
The Synthesizer controls MuseScore's sound output and allows you to:
The Synthesizer window is divided into four sections/tabs:
The buttons at the bottom of the Synthesizer window have the following functions:
Button | Function |
---|---|
Set as Default | Saves all current synthesizer settings as the default settings. These are automatically applied to the Synthesizer when you open MuseScore. |
Load Default | Loads the last saved default settings to the Synthesizer. |
Save to Score | Saves all current synthesizer settings to the current score only. |
Load from Score | Loads the settings from the current score to the synthesizer. |
Notes: (1) "Synthesizer settings" include the order of Soundfonts and SFX files, the effects configuration, master tuning and volume. (2) Only one set of Synthesizer settings can be in effect at a time—i.e. if multiple scores are open at once, it is not possible to make changes to the Synthesizer in one score and leave other scores' settings untouched. (3) Changes to synthesizer settings will not be heard in exported audio files unless saved to the score first (see table, above). See also Tuning (below).
Click on the Fluid tab to access the control panel for SF2/SF3 SoundFont sample libraries. By default, the SoundFont FluidR3Mono_GM.sf3
should already be loaded.
You can load, rearrange and delete soundfonts as required. Playback can be shared between any combination of different soundfonts (and/or SFZ files). The order of soundfonts in Fluid is reflected in the default order of instruments in the mixer.
To be able to load the soundfont, it first needs to be installed in your Soundfonts folder. This will ensure that it appears in the list in step 2 (above).
If you have not changed any sounds in the Mixer, then the SoundFont at the top of the list is the one that will be used for playback. However, if you are using the Mixer to play different instruments with sounds from different SoundFonts, playback will only work correctly if you have the same SoundFonts loaded in the same order in the Synthesizer. Therefore, if you are using multiple SoundFonts, it is advised to click the Save to Score button in the Synthesizer, so that the next time you open that score you can recall the list of SoundFonts loaded (and other Synthesizer settings) with the Load from Score button.
This removes the soundfont from the synthesizer but does not uninstall it from the Soundfonts folder: it will still be available if you wish to reload it later.
Click on the Zerberus tab to access the control panel for SFZ sound sample libraries. You can add or delete files in a similar way to the Fluid tab. Note that, as with Fluid, the the SFZ files must first be installed in your soundfonts folder before they can be loaded into the synthesizer.
At the right in the Synthesizer are two sliders. One controls the playback volume, the other controls the volume of the optional built-in metronome. You can turn the metronome on or off by clicking the button underneath its volume slider. As with all the rest of the Synthesizer controls, any changes made here are temporary unless saved to the score or set as the new default.
The Master Effects tab of the Synthesizer allows you to adjust the degree of reverb and, as of version 2.0.3, compression applied to your score.
To turn an effect on or off:
To store and load effects configurations, use the buttons at the bottom of the Synthesizer window. See Synthesizer settings (above) for details.
The Zita 1 stereo reverb module allows you to simulate the ambience of anything from a small room to a large hall. The pre-delay, reverb time and tone of the reverb can be finely tuned using the controls provided:
Note: EQ1 and EQ2 affect the tone of the reverb only, not the dry (unprocessed) signal.
To quickly set up an effects patch, set "Output" to "Mix" and adjust the "Mid RT60" control to the desired reverb time. Then fine tune the effect as explained above.
The SC4 stereo compressor (available as of version 2.0.3) gives you fine control over the playback's dynamic range, reducing the volume variation between loud and soft sounds. It offers the following controls:
To quickly set-up, try setting RMS = 1, Threshold = -20 db, Ratio = 6. Increase Gain to restore the lost volume. Then fine-tune as explained above.
The Tuning tab is where you can adjust the program's master tuning. For Concert Pitch instruments, A4 = 440 Hz by default.
To change the Master tuning:
Notes: (1) This tuning applies to all scores in the current session only. To make this the program default or to store it to a particular score, see Save/Load Synthesizer settings. (2) To apply the new tuning to exported audio files (WAV, MP3, OGG), press Save to Score before exporting.
Tempo markings can be found in the Tempo palette of the Basic and Advanced workspaces. They are supplied as metronome marks, but can be subsequently edited to display any tempo or expression you want. Playback tempo can be varied throughout the score by using multiple tempo markings, visible or invisible.
Use any of the following methods:
Note: If a tempo marking is applied from the menu or using a keyboard shortcut, the beat note automatically follows the time signature. The advantage of applying from a palette is that you can chose which beat note to use.
To change the tempo of an existing metronome mark in the score:
You can also override the tempo of an existing metronome mark from the Inspector:
Untick "Follow text" in the "Tempo Marking" section of the Inspector;
Set the desired playback tempo in the "Tempo" field underneath.
Note: Playback may be faster or slower if the tempo setting in the play panel is at a percentage other than 100%.
Tempo marks can be edited and formatted just like any other text object. To set text properties or text style, see Text styles and properties.
The tempo indicated by a metronome mark usually persists even if overwritten by an expression—such as Andante, Moderato etc. You can also add further text to a plain metronome mark. e.g.
You can temporarily override the indicated tempo, and play the score back at any tempo you like using the play panel:
Display the play panel: View→Play Panel or F11 (Mac: fn+F11):
Move the tempo slider up or down as required. The tempo is shown both as an absolute value and as a percentage of the currently indicated tempo mark. Double-click the tempo slider to reset it.
Note: BPM is always measured and displayed in quarter note beats per minute, regardless of the (denominator of the) time signature in effect.
You can simulate ritardando ("rit.") and accelerando ("accel.") playback by adding hidden tempo markings to the score. The printed indication to the musician should be added as staff/system text in addition.
In the example illustrated below, the tempo was originally 110 BPM (beats per minute). At the ritardando, the tempo decreases by 10 BPM on the first note of each measure. Each tempo change is made invisible by unchecking the Visible checkbox in the Inspector, so that only the ritardando shows on the printed score:
A plugin has been developed to automate this process: TempoChanges
Fermatas, available in the Articulations and Ornaments palette, have a Time stretch property that can be set via the Inspector. By default, this property is set to 1.00. To have MuseScore play back a fermata for twice its normal duration, click on the fermata and set "Time stretch" to 2.00. This of course does not work for fermatas applied to barlines, as barlines don't have a duration to stretch.
Dynamics are symbols indicating the loudness of a note or phrase of music. Symbols can be found in the Dynamics palette in either the Basic or Advanced workspace:
Note: Overall playback volume of the score can be changed using the volume slider in the Play Panel or Synthesizer.
To apply a dynamic to the score, use one of the following methods:
For additional dynamics use the Master Palette (Shift+F9). You can also create a custom palette for future use.
To create a crescendo or decrescendo sign, see Hairpin.
Click on the dynamic to select it, and adjust its Velocity in the Inspector—higher for louder, lower for softer.
Via the Inspector you can set the staves affected by a dynamic. The "Dynamic range" is by default set to "part," which means all staves for an instrument will be affected. Changing this to "staff" will limit the dynamic to the staff it is entered on only. Changing this to "System" will cause all instruments to play this dynamic.
In the Basic workspace, there are 8 options in the Dynamics palette: ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff.
In the Advanced workspace, there are all of the above plus 15 additional options in the Dynamics palette: fp, sf, sfz, sff, sffz, sfp, sfpp, rfz, rf, fz, m, r, s, z, n.
In the Dynamics section of the Master Palette, there are all of the above plus 6 additional options: pppppp, ppppp, pppp, ffff, fffff, ffffff.
Any dynamic can be edited after being added to the score, just like standard text. See Text editing.
There are many different kinds of text objects in MuseScore (see tables below); text may also be found incorporated into lines. This chapter shows you how to create, format and edit text objects, and also includes information about the following types of text:
Text type | Uses | |
---|---|---|
Staff text | General purpose text attached to a single staff: appearing only in that instrument part. | |
System text | General purpose text attached to a single staff: appearing in all instrument parts. | |
Chord symbols | Display the chords associated with a melody: usually above the staff. | |
Fingering | Numbers or letters attached to notes showing which fingers to use. | |
Lyrics | Create lyrics attached to a melody. | |
Rehearsal marks | Facilitate rehearsals, divide score into sections, bookmark passages etc. |
For other types of text available in MuseScore, follow the links below:
Text type | Uses | |
---|---|---|
Tempo marks | Apply metronome and/or expression marks. | |
Dynamics | Indicate the loudness of a note or phrase. | |
Swing text | Change from straight to swing time, and vice versa. | |
Instrument text | Apply mid-staff instrument changes. | |
Repeats and jumps | Da Capo, Dal segno, Fine etc. | |
Figured bass | Period notation for keyboardists. | |
Frame text | Title/composer/lyricist details at the start of a score; songsheet lyrics etc. | |
Headers/Footers | Page numbers, copyright info etc. at the top/bottom of a page. | |
Text-lines | Voltas, ottavas, pedal lines, guitar barre lines etc. |
To add a text-based element to the score, use one of the following general methods:
Notes: (1) The exact method depends on the type of text you are adding (see Text). (2) For general-purpose text boxes attached to staves, see Staff and system text.
Every text-based element in the score has three levels of formatting:
To position a text object, use any of the following methods:
When you apply a text element to the score, its anchor position will depend on the type:
To enter Text edit mode use one of the following methods:
In this mode you can apply formatting to individual characters, including options such as bold, italic, underline, subscript, superscript, font family and font size. These are accessed from the Text toolbar below the document window:
To exit Text edit mode use one of the following:
In Text edit mode, the following keyboard shortcuts are available:
You can use the Special Characters window to insert quarter notes, fractions, and many other kinds of special symbols or characters into your text. A few symbols can also be accessed by shortcut (see below).
To open Special Characters, use any of the following methods:
Note: (1) This only works in Text edit mode; (2) The Special Characters dialog should not be confused with the menu item of the same name in the macOS version of MuseScore.
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.
Double-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.
In Text edit mode the following keyboard shortcuts can be used to access certain special characters:
Ctrl+Shift+B: Flat.
Ctrl+Shift+F: Forte.
Ctrl+Shift+H: Natural.
Ctrl+Shift+M: Mezzo.
Ctrl+Shift+N: Niente.
Ctrl+Shift+P: Piano (dynamic mark).
Ctrl+Shift+R: Rinforzando.
Ctrl+Shift+S: Sforzando.
Ctrl+Shift+Z: Z.
Ctrl+Shift+#: Sharp.
This is the highest level of text formatting and applies to all text elements in the score of a particular type. Staff text objects, for example, have a unique style, as do all tempo markings, all lyrics, all chord symbols and so on. Editing a text style allows you to change the appearance of all objects which share that style in one go.
To edit a text style, use any of the following methods:
This will display the Edit Text Styles dialog:
The options available are divided into categories:
Note: Opacity is set by the parameter "Alpha channel" in the colors dialogs: a value between 0, transparent, and 255, opaque.
This text style will be saved along with the score. It will not be available in other scores, unless you explicitly save the style sheet and load it with another score.
You can apply any changes made to either the score or the part you are seeing, by pressing Apply and then OK.
If you are in one of the parts of your score, you also have the option to use the Apply to all parts button before OK, so you don't have to manipulate all parts individually.
If you have made changes to an individual piece of text and you want to return it to the defined text style for the score, or if you changed the style with an old version of MuseScore and you want the style to correspond to the default text style in MuseScore 2, you can use the Reset Text to Style option.
Select the text you want to reset to style and click on Reset Text to Style in the Inspector. If you need all text from a given style to be "reset", right-click on one, then from the context menu choose Select → All Similar Elements first.
Text styles (together with all other styles in a document) can be saved as a style file and loaded into other MuseScore files. See Save and load style.
This is the next level down in the formatting hierarchy and affects the style of the text in one specific text object only.
To edit the text properties of a particular object—and no other:
This displays the following dialog:
Most of the properties on display will be familiar from the Edit Text Styles dialog. You also have a Reset to Style button allowing you to apply a style to the object from a drop-down list.
For general-purpose text, use Staff Text or System Text. The difference between these two types of text is whether you want it to apply to a single staff, or the whole system. This matters when extracting parts: staff text will only appear in a part that contains the specific instrument the text is attached to, while system text will appear in all parts. Additionally, if you choose to hide empty staves, any staff text belonging to an empty staff will also be hidden. System text is never hidden by the "hide empty staves" feature.
Staff text is general purpose text associated with a particular staff at a particular location in the score. To create staff text, choose a location by selecting a note or rest and then use the menu option Add → Text → Staff Text, or use the shortcut Ctrl+T (Mac: ⌘+T). A small text box appears and you can immediately start typing. You can exit the text box at any time (even without typing anything) by pressing Esc.
Staff text can, for example, be used to apply indications such as "Solo" or "Pizzicato" to one staff in a score. Depending on what the instructions of the staff text are, MIDI playback of that staff at the text location can be altered to match the instructions by right-clicking on the staff text and selecting Staff Text Properties…
. See Mid-staff sound change.
System text is used when you wish to apply text indications to a whole system rather than just to one staff line. This makes a difference when extracting parts, or if you choose to hide empty staves. To create system text, chose a location by selecting a note or rest and then use the menu option Add → Text → System Text, or use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+T (Mac: ⌘+Shift+T). A small text box appears and you can immediately start typing. You can exit the text box at any time (even without typing anything) by pressing Esc.
Chord symbols are an abbreviated way of representing musical chords (see Chord names and symbols (Wikipedia) for further details). For example:
The cursor is now positioned above the score ready for input. Enter the chord symbol just like normal text, as follows:
When you exit the chord symbol, the characters you have typed will automatically assume the correct format: by default a root note typed in lower case will turn into upper case (for alternative options, see Automatic Capitalization); a "#" or "b" will turn into a proper sharp (♯) or flat (♭) and so on. Do not try to use actual flat and sharp signs as MuseScore will not understand those properly.
After you have finished entering a chord symbol you can either:
Note: To fill measures with slashes, see Fill with slashes or Toggle rhythmic slash notation.
The following commands are available during chord symbol entry:
MuseScore understands most of the abbreviations used in chord symbols:
An existing chord symbol can be edited in a similar way to ordinary text: See Text editing.
Chord symbols are automatically transposed by default if you apply the menu Transpose command to the containing measures. If this is not required, you can untick the "Transpose chord symbols" option in the same dialog.
To adjust the appearance of all chord symbol text, use any of the following options:
This displays the Edit Text Styles dialog, allowing you to make changes to any text property.
Formatting options for chord symbols are available in Style→General...→Chord Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams. Adjustable properties are listed under the following headings:
Three options are possible: Standard and Jazz and Custom. You can select between these using the radio buttons.
In the Standard style, chords are rendered simply, with the font determined by your chord symbol text style.
In the Jazz style, the MuseJazz font is used for a handwritten look, with distinctive superscript and other formatting characteristics. The Jazz style is selected by default if you use any of the Jazz templates.
The Custom style option allows you to customise the look of chord symbols (and also ensures compatibility with older scores). Select a customised Chord symbols style file in the field below: this can be created by copying and modifying one of the pre-existing files in the "styles" folder. Documentation can be found in the same folder. Note, however, that this is for advanced users only, and there is no guarantee these files will be supported in the future.
By default, MuseScore uses letter names for chord symbols. For users in regions where other note naming schemes are used, MuseScore provides the following controls:
By default, MuseScore automatically capitalizes all note names on exit, regardless of whether you entered them in upper or lower case. However, you can also choose other automatic capitalization options:
You can also turn off the automatic capitalization completely, in which case note names are simply rendered the way you type them.
Note: In addition to the settings described here, the default position of applied chord symbols is also determined by settings in the Text Styles dialog. The effect is cumulative.
Enter the number of the capo position at which you want to display substitute chords, in brackets, after all chord symbols in the score.
Fingering symbols for various instruments are found in the Fingering palette in the Advanced workspace.
Keyboard music employs the numbers 1–5 to represent fingers of the left or right hand. There is also a fingering positioner plugin to help you optimize the layout of piano or keyboard fingerings.
Guitar music uses the numbers 0–4 to represent left-hand fingering (T is occasionally used for the thumb). Right-hand fingering is indicated by the letters p, i, m, a, c. Circled numbers represent instrument strings.
The last five symbols in the palette are used for lute fingering in historical music. Note: To enable display of fingering in tablature, right-click on the TAB, select Staff Properties...→Advanced style properties, and tick "Show Fingerings".
Use any of the following methods:
When fingering is added to a note, the focus immediately shifts to the symbol, so you can adjust it right away.
To change the position of one symbol, use any of the following methods:
To change the position of multiple symbols:
Note: You can also use the fingering positioner plugin mentioned above to optimize the layout of piano fingerings.
To restore a symbol to its default position, select it and press Ctrl+R.
Fingering is a form of text symbol and can be edited and styled like any other. Right-clicking on the symbol gives you a range of options.
If you want to add another lyrics line to an existing one (e.g. a 2nd or 3rd verse etc.):
Example:
In most cases, lyrics can be edited just like normal text. However, special keyboard shortcuts are required to enter the following characters:
Character space: Ctrl+Space (Mac: ⌥+Space).
- (hyphen): Ctrl+- (Mac: ⌥+-) or AltGr+-.
Line feed: Ctrl+↵ (Mac: ⌥+Return) or Enter (from the numeric keypad).
A melisma is a syllable or word that extends over two or more notes. It is indicated by an underline extending from the base of a syllable to the last note of the melisma. The underline is created by positioning the cursor at the end of a syllable and pressing Shift+_: once for each note in the melisma. See the image below:
The above lyric was created in the following manner:
For non-last syllables to extend, just use additional dashes -, usually only one of them will show (more when the distance between the syllables is large enough), and the syllable will right-align to the first note, similar to last syllables that got notated with a melisma, see above.
Two syllables under a note can be joined with an elision slur, also known as a "lyric slur" or "synalepha". For example:
To create the example lyric text, starting with the syllable text "te":
Use one of the following options:
Type A.
The top and bottom margins and the line height of all lyric lines can be set globally:
To adjust the position of a particular lyrics line:
To copy all lyrics to the clipboard (as of version 2.0.3):
To copy and paste lyrics from a text file (say) into a score:
Rehearsal marks can be used in a number of ways:
Typically, rehearsal marks consist of one or more letters and/or numbers, and appear in sequence in the score—e.g. A, B, C…, or 1, 2, 3… etc. Alternatively, they may display measure numbers (usually larger than standard measure numbers, boldface and/or enclosed in boxes). Multi-measure rests are automatically broken before and after rehearsal marks.
Rehearsal marks can be added to the score (i) automatically—which ensures that they are named in sequence—or (ii) manually, allowing you to name them as you wish.
To create a rehearsal mark manually:
Use either of the following options:
Notes: (1) By default, marks are added in the sequence, A, B, C etc. (2) To change the format of subsequently-added marks (to lower case letters, or numbers), edit the previous rehearsal mark accordingly. (3) Marks added between existing rehearsal marks append a number or letter to the previous mark: it is a good idea to apply the Resequence command afterwards (see below).
MuseScore allows the user to automatically re-order a series of rehearsal marks if they have got out of sequence for any reason. Use the following method:
MuseScore automatically detects the sequence based on the first rehearsal mark in the selection—all rehearsal marks in the selection are then altered accordingly. The following sequences are possible:
Rehearsal marks are a variety of system text, appearing both on the score and on every part. By default, they are in a large bold font, and enclosed in frames with rounded corners. All aspects of their appearance can be changed globally via the rehearsal mark Text style.
See Find (Viewing and navigation).
Layout and formatting options for the score can be accessed mainly from the Layout and Style menus.
This section lists the main commands and dialogs affecting score layout. Other formatting options are covered in either Layout menu or Style menu below (for text, see Text styles and properties).
From the Layout menu:
Page Settings: Adjust the overall dimensions of your score such as page size, page margins, and scaling.
Increase Stretch/Decrease Stretch: Adjust the score spacing by stretching or squashing selected measures.
From the Style menu:
Score Style: Set overall score details, such as music font, display of multi-measure rests, and whether to hide empty staves.
Page Style: Adjust staff and system spacing, score and lyric margins etc.
Measure Style: Set the measure spacing, which affects the number of measures per line.
Sizes: Set the default size of "small" and grace notes, small staves and small clefs.
Other commands:
Add/Remove line breaks: Set the number of measures per system.
Breaks and spacers: Apply line, page or section breaks. You can also add extra space between particular systems or staves where needed.
See Page settings.
The Reset command restores all selected score elements to their default position. It also restores the default directions of note stems and beams. To apply:
Increase or decrease the horizontal spacing of notes within selected measures. To apply:
See also Measure Properties: Layout stretch. This allows you to set the stretch more precisely.
To reset stretch to the default spacing of 1:
To restore beams to the mode defined in the local time signatures:
See also Beams.
As of version 2.1, this option corrects note ties, durations and beaming so that they are grouped according to standard music notation practice. For example:
Before:
After:
Any notes that are tied and are the same length as a dotted note will be changed to the dotted note with two limitations. (i) Only the last note of a group of tied notes will have a single dot. Notes with more than one dot are not produced using this option. (ii) Dotted notes will not span from one group of beamed notes to another unless their duration is the same as all of the beam groups it covers. Any notes with more than one dot will be regrouped according to the above rules.
To apply:
Note: This is an experimental feature and there are known bugs. Articulations and ornaments are deleted and some pitches respelt. Ties across barlines may be lost on UNDO.
To open the Score dialog: from the menu, select Style→General...→Score.
This dialog allows you to set global properties, such as the music font, display of multimeasure rests, whether or not to hide empty staves, "swing" playback etc.
Musical text font: Choice of display in Emmentaler, Bravura, Gonville or MuseJazz fonts.
Display in concert pitch: Tick this option to display the score at concert pitch. If unticked the score is displayed at written pitch.
Create multimeasure rests: Tick to display multimeasure rests.
Hide empty staves: This option saves space by hiding those staves in a system which consist of only empty measures. Used for condensed scores.
Don't hide empty staves in first system: Always display staves in first system even if they consist of empty measures.
Display note values across measure bar: A feature useful for notating early music. See Unbarred notation.
Hide instrument name if there is only one instrument: You don't usually need to display the instrument name in this case.
Swing setting: The default is off. Choice of swung eighth or sixteenth notes.
See also, Swing
To open the Page dialog: from the menu, select Style→General...→Page.
This dialog allows you to adjust the space above and below systems, staves, lyrics, and vertical frames; and between the score and the top/bottom page margins. You can also control the display of key signatures, time signatures and clefs.
Note: To alter the space above one particular staff see Extra distance above staff (Staff properties).
Ticking the following boxes, allows the display of courtesy elements at the end of systems:
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Header, Footer, Numbers.
You can show the content of a score's meta tags (see Score information) or show page numbers in a header or footer for your score. To create a header or footer for a score with linked parts, make sure the main score is in the active tab. To create a header or footer for an individual part, that part needs to be the active tab.
If you hover with your mouse over the Header or Footer text region, a list of macros will appear, showing their meaning, as well as the existing meta tags and their content.
You can create different Headers and Footers for even and odd pages, such as putting page numbers on the right for odd-numbered pages and on the left for even-numbered pages.
You can also edit whether and how often measure numbers appear.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→ System.
This dialog allows you to:
See also Brackets.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Barlines.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Notes.
This page can also be accessed direct from the score by right-clicking on any note and selecting "Style…" Here you can adjust the distance and thickness of note-related objects (stems, ledger lines, dots, accidentals). Changing these would be unusual.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Clefs.
You can choose between Serif and Standard clef for your tablature sheet.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Arpeggios.
Here you can change the thickness, spacing and hook height of the following arpeggio and strum symbols:
Changes to these properties would be unusual.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Beams.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Slurs/Ties.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Sizes.
Sets the proportional size of "small" and grace notes, as well as small staves and clefs. Changing this would be unusual.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Hairpins, Volta, Ottava.
The button returns the setting to the original value.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Pedal, Trill.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Chord Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams.
This section allows you to adjust the format and positioning of chord symbols and Fretboard diagrams.
Appearance: Chose a default chord symbol style—Standard, Jazz or Custom.
Note Spelling: Chose the spelling convention for chord symbols and whether to use capital or small letters.
Positioning:
Capo: Enter the number of the capo position at which you want to display substitute chords, in brackets, for all chord symbols in the score.
Fretboard diagrams:
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Figured Bass.
Options about figured bass font, style and alignment.
See also Figured bass
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Articulations, Ornaments.
Position of articulation with respect to the notes and staves
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Accidentals.
Options about naturals at key signature changes
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Tuplets.
By pressing the Apply button you can see how the changes you have made in the dialogs affect the score without closing the window. Press OK to save your changes to the score and close the window.
When in a part tab while changing layout and formatting, you can use the Apply to all Parts button to apply all changes (either in Layout→Page Settings.... or Style→General...) to apply the new settings to all parts in just one click.
It is easy to transfer a complete set of styles (all General Style settings, all text styles, and page settings) from one score to the other using the Save/Load Style functions.
To save a customized style:
*.mss
files.Note: You can also define a preferred style for scores and parts in the Score section of MuseScore's Preferences.
To load a customized style:
All existing styles in the score should update automatically.
Style → General → Measure allows you to adjust the distance between various items within measures.
If you change a measure style property (see image above), MuseScore automatically adjusts the score to maintain the correct spacing between notes and rests according to best music engraving practice. It will also correctly reposition any elements attached to notes or rests, such as fingerings, dynamics, lines etc.
All settings related to measure width and note spacing are minimum values. Measures are automatically stretched, if necessary, to maintain existing page margins.
All the properties listed below use the staff space (abbreviated to "sp") as the basic unit of measurement. See Page settings: Scaling for more details.
Minimum measure width
Sets the minimum horizontal length of measures. In measures containing very little content (e.g., a single whole note or whole measure rest), the measure will only shrink as far as this minimum.
Spacing (1=tight)
Condenses or expands the space after notes or rests. This setting thus affects not only space between notes but also between the last note and the ending barline. For the space between the beginning of the measure and the first note or rest, see Barline to note distance (below).
Note: Changes to an individual measure's Stretch (under Layout → Increase Stretch, Decrease Stretch) are calculated after, and proportional to, the global Spacing setting.
Barline to note distance
Sets the distance between the barline which begins a measure and the first note or rest in that measure. For the initial measures of systems, which start with clefs instead of barlines, use Clef/key right margin (below).
Barline to grace note distance
Sets the distance between a barline and a grace note that occurs before the first actual note in a measure (independently of the "Barline to note distance" setting).
Barline to accidental distance
Sets the distance between a barline and an accidental placed before the first note in a measure (independently of the "Barline to note distance" setting).
Note to barline distance
(To be added).
Minimum note distance
Specifies the smallest amount of space MuseScore will allow after each note (depending on other factors, more space may be allowed).
Clef left margin
Sets the distance between the very beginning of each line and the clef. (This option is rarely needed.)
Key signature left margin
Sets the distance between the key signature and the clef preceding it.
Time signature left margin
Sets the distance between the time signature and the key signature or clef preceding it.
Clef/key right margin
Sets the distance between the material at the beginning of each line (such as the clef and key signature) and the first note or rest of the first measure on the line. (Note that, although not named in the option, if a time signature is present, it is the element from which the spacing begins.)
Clef to barline distance
Sets the distance between a barline and a clef change preceding it.
Multi-measure rest margin
Sets the distance between a multi-measure rest and the barlines on either side.
Staff line thickness
Sets the thickness of the lines of the staff, which allows you to make the staff thicker and darker, if you need greater visibility on your printouts.
Page settings allows you to adjust the overall dimensions of your score such as page size, page margins, and scaling. It is one of the main layout tools in MuseScore—along with the options available from Style→General...
To open the Page settings dialog: from the menu, select Layout → Page Settings....
Here you can select the paper format, either by standard name (e.g., Letter or A4), or by specifying the height and width in either mm or inches (use the radio buttons to choose which unit of measurement to use). The initial default page size depends on your localization—in the United States, Letter size paper is standard.
You can also choose to format your music in Landscape or Portrait orientation using the radio buttons. Prior to version 2.1 unchecking Landscape enabled Portrait format. You can optionally use Two sided layout (i.e., book format, with mirror left and right margins for even and odd pages—see below).
The Even Page Margins and Odd Page Margins settings allow you to define the printable area of your pages. Aside from changing the margins around the music on the page, other settings, such as the positions of headers and footers, are calculated relative to the margins defined here.
If the "Two sided" checkbox under "Page Size" is selected, you can set margins differently for mirroring odd and even pages. Otherwise, only one set of margins can be modified, but will apply to all pages.
To display page margins in your score on screen (though not in print), go to View→Show Page Margins.
The Scaling property allows you to increase or decrease the size of your score.
In MuseScore, the sizes of score elements, such as note heads, note stems, accidentals, clefs etc., are defined in terms of a unit of measurement called a staff space (abbreviated to "sp"). One staff space is equal to the space between two lines of a music staff (or one-quarter the size of the full five-line staff).
As you change the "Staff space" setting (under Scaling), all score elements follow suit and thus correct proportions are maintained. The exception is Text in which you can set an absolute value, independent of "Scaling."
Note: Changing the "Scaling" does not always change the number of systems per page, because system distance can vary between limits set under "Min system distance" and "Max system distance" (see Style→General...→Page).
Sets the number of the first page of the particular score. Page numbers below 1 won't get printed—e.g., setting the first page number to -1 would result in the first and second page showing no page number, and page number 1 appearing on the third page.
The Apply to all Parts button is available when modifying a part, rather than the main score (see Part extraction). If you change the page settings of one part and want the rest of the parts to have the same settings, this button will apply the change to all parts in one go.
The Breaks & Spacers palette in the Advanced workspace contains the following non-printing symbols:
The first three symbols are called breaks; the blue up and down arrows are known as spacers.
A break can be applied to either a measure or a frame. There are three types:
Notes: (1) Blue break symbols are visible on the screen, but do not appear on printouts. (2) To add (or remove) system breaks over all or part of the score, see Add/Remove system breaks. (3) To split a measure, see Measure operations: Split and join.
Breaks can be added using either (1) a keyboard shortcut; or (2) a break symbol from a palette.
To add a System (Line) break or a Page break only:
Note: If you select a measure range, the break will be applied before and after the selection.
Any break can be added from a workspace palette:
Note: If you select a measure range, the break will be applied before and after the selection.
To add a break to a frame, use one of the following options:
To reposition a break:
Use one of the following options:
See also: Add / Remove system breaks.
A Section break, as the name suggests, is used to create separate sections within a score. Like a system break, it forces the next measure or frame to begin a new system, and can also be used in association with a page break if required. A section break could be used, for example, to divide a piece into separate movements.
Each section can have its own measure numbering independent of the rest of the score. By default, the first measure of a section is numbered "1" (see image below), though like the first measure of the score itelf, the number is not displayed unless configured in the measure properties dialog. The same dialog can be used to change the numbering according to your preference.
If you change Time signature or Key signature at the beginning of the new section, there will be no courtesy signature at the end of the previous section. See example below:
When you play back the score, the program adds a short pause between each section. In addition, the first end repeat barline in a section always sends the playback cursor to the beginning of the section, so a start repeat barline is optional.
Right click a Section break and select Section Break Properties... to specify:
A Spacer looks like a blue UP or DOWN arrow and is used to add extra space above or below a system (it cannot be applied to a frame).
Use either of the following options:
Blue spacer symbols are visible on the screen, but do not appear on printouts.
Note: Spacers are designed for local adjustments only. If you wish to adjust the space between staves across the whole score, use the settings in Style → General... → Page instead.
To adjust the height of a spacer, chose one of these options:
A Frame is a rectangular container for empty space, text or pictures in the score. It can be one of three types:
A horizontal frame is used to create a break in a system. For example, you can:
See Create a Frame (below).
Use one of the following methods:
Notes: (1) "Left Gap" and "Right Gap" are currently unused (version 2.x); (2) It is possible to create a 'Negative-width' horizontal frame, by dragging the edit-handle back over the left border of the frame. However, this is not a standard feature and once editing is finished you cannot reselect the frame.
To add text:
To add an image:
A vertical frame can be inserted above a system or appended to the last system. It can contain one or more text objects and/or images. The height is adjustable and the width equals the system width.
It can be used, for example, to:
See Create a Frame (below).
Use one of the following methods:
Selecting the frame allows you to adjust various parameters in the Inspector:
Top Gap: Adjusts distance between frame and element above (negative values not currently supported).
Bottom Gap: Adjusts distance between frame and element below (Negative values can be entered).
Height: Adjusts height of the frame.
Left Margin: Moves left-aligned text objects to the right.
Right Margin: Moves right-aligned text objects to the left.
Top margin: Moves top-aligned text objects downwards (see also Style → General... → Page).
Bottom Margin: Moves bottom-aligned text objects upwards (see also Style → General... → Page).
To add text:
To add an image:
You can create as many objects as you like within a frame. Their positions can be adjusted independently by dragging or, more accurately, by altering the offset values in the Inspector. To format text objects, see Text editing and Text styles and properties.
The horizontal frame is automatically left-aligned and fills the entire vertical frame. To right-align it:
A vertical frame is automatically created at the beginning of a score, showing the title, subtitle, composer, lyricist etc., when you fill in the information fields provided on page 1 of the New Score Wizard.
If the score does not have a vertical frame at the beginning, you can create one as follows:
A Text frame looks like a vertical frame, but is specialised for text input: one text object is allowed per frame. The height automatically expands to fit the content and there is no height adjustment handle.
A text frame can be used, for example, to:
See Create a Frame (below).
Selecting the frame allows you to adjust various parameters in the Inspector:
Top Gap: Adjusts distance between frame and element above (negative values not currently supported).
Bottom Gap: Adjusts distance between frame and element below (negative values can be entered).
Height: Not applicable to text frames.
Left Margin: Moves left-aligned text objects to the right.
Right Margin: Moves right-aligned text objects to the left.
Top margin: Moves top-aligned text objects downwards.
Bottom Margin: Moves bottom-aligned text upwards.
Chose one of the following options:
Select the frame and press Del.
Line, page or section breaks can be applied to frames as well as measures. Use one of two methods:
You can use Images to illustrate scores, or to add symbols that are not included in the standard palettes. MuseScore supports the following formats:
Use one of the following options:
To modify the width/height of an image, double-click it and drag any of the handles. If you want to adjust width or height separately, untick "Lock aspect ratio" first in the Inspector.
You can adjust the position of an image by simply dragging it.
MuseScore's image capture feature allows you to save a snapshot of any part of the score window. PNG, PDF and SVG formats are supported.
Right-click on the selection rectangle to open the Image Capture menu. Select the desired option:
You can save the image in either PNG (default), SVG or PDF format.
Right-clicking on the selection rectangle opens the Image Capture menu:
While dragging an element:
Snap to grid is a feature which allows you to drag an element in precise steps—useful for exact positioning.
To enable snap to grid, select an element and click one or both of the snap to grid buttons, located to the right of the horizontal and vertical offset fields in the Inspector. You can then drag the element in steps equal to the grid spacing. The default value is 0.5 sp.
To change the grid spacing:
This document is written for blind and visually impaired users of MuseScore 2.x. It is not intended to provide a full description of all of the features of MuseScore; you should read this in conjunction with the regular MuseScore documentation.
MuseScore comes with support for the free and open source NVDA screen reader for Windows. The features in this document have been tested on Windows with NVDA. There is no support at the moment for other screen readers such as Jaws for Windows, or VoiceOver for macOS, which may work differently, or not at all.
At this point in time, MuseScore 2.x is mostly accessible as a score reader, not so much as a score editor. This document will focus on the score reading features, with only a brief description of score editing.
When you run MuseScore for the first time, you may want to permanently disable the Start Center window. To do so, go close the Start Center window first, then the Edit menu (Alt+E), choose Preferences, and in there, uncheck Show Start Center. Save and close the preferences window.
The user interface in MuseScore works much like other notation programs, or other document-oriented programs in general. It has a single main document window in which you can work with a score. MuseScore supports multiple document tabs within this window. It also supports a split-screen view to let you work with two documents at once, and you can have multiple tabs in each window.
In addition to the score window, MuseScore has a menu bar that you can access via the shortcuts for the individual menus:
Of these, only the File menu is of much interest when using MuseScore as a score reader. Once opening a menu, it may take several presses of the Up or Down keys before everything is read properly.
There are also a number of toolbars, palettes, and subwindows within MuseScore, and you can cycle through the controls in these using Tab (or Shift+Tab to move backwards through this same cycle). When you first start MuseScore, or load a score, focus should be in the main score window. Pressing Tab takes you to a toolbar containing a series of buttons for operations like New, Open, Play, and so forth. Tab will skip any buttons that aren't currently active. The names and shortcuts (where applicable) for these buttons should be read by your screen reader.
Once you have cycled through the buttons on the toolbar, the next window Tab will visit is the Palette. This would be used to add various elements to a score, but it is not currently accessible except for two buttons that are visited by Tab: a drop down to select between different workspaces (a saved arrangement of palettes), and a button to create a new workspace.
If you have opened one of the optional windows, such as the Inspector, or the Selection Filter, the Tab key will also visit these. You can close windows you do not need by going to the View menu and making sure none of the first set of checkboxes are selected (the windows that appear before the Zoom settings). By default, only the Start Center, Palettes and Inspector should be selected. See Initial Setup for instructions for disabling the Start Center. F9 can be used to toggle the Palettes while F8 will toggle the Inspector.
To return focus to the score window after visiting the toolbar, or a subwindow, press Esc. This also clears any selection you may have made in the score window.
When you first start MuseScore 2.x, an empty example score entitled “My First Score” is loaded by default. If you wish to experiment with editing features, this would be a good place to begin. Otherwise, you will probably want to start by loading a score. MuseScore uses the standard shortcuts to access system commands like Ctrl+O (Mac: Cmd+O) to open a file, Ctrl+S (Mac: Cmd+S) to save, Ctrl+W (Mac: Cmd+W) to close, etc.
If you press Ctrl+O (Mac: Cmd+O) to load a score, you are presented with a fairly standard file dialog. MuseScore can open scores in its own format (MSCZ or MSCX) as well as import scores in the standard MusicXML format, in MIDI format, or from a few other programs such as Guitar Pro, Capella, and Band-in-a-Box. Once you have loaded a score, it is displayed in a new tab within the score window. You can move between the tabs in the score window using Ctrl+Tab (does not apply for Mac).
There are a few interesting things you can do with a loaded score besides reading it note by note. You can press Space to have MuseScore play the score for you. You can use File / Export to convert to another format, including PDF, PNG, WAV, MP3, MIDI, MusicXML, etc. And of course, you can print it via File / Print or Ctrl+P (Mac: Cmd+P).
If a score contains multiple instruments, it may already have linked parts generated. Linked parts are presented as part tabs within score tabs, but currently, there is no way to navigate these part tabs using the keyboard. The parts would not normally contain information different from the score; they would just be displayed differently (each part on its own page). If a score does not already have parts generated, you can do so through File / Parts, and that dialog is accessible. If you wish to print the parts, you can work around the inability of accessing part tabs individually by using the File / Export Parts dialog, which automatically exports PDF’s (or other formats) for all parts in one step.
When you first load a score, the score window has the keyboard focus, but there will be nothing selected. The first step to reading a score is to select something, and the most natural place to begin is with the first element of the score. Ctrl+Home (Mac: Cmd+Home) will do this. You will probably also want to use this, should you ever clear your selection by pressing Esc.
As you navigate between elements, your screen reader should give the name of the selected element (most likely the clef at the beginning of the top staff of your score). You will hear it read the name of the element (for example, “Treble clef”) and also give position information (for example, “Measure 1; Beat 1; Staff 1”). The amount of information read is not currently customizable, but we tried to place the most important first so you can quickly move on to the next element before it has finished reading, or just ignore the rest of what is read. Pressing Shift currently interrupts the reading, which might also be useful.
Most navigation in MuseScore is centered around notes and rests only – it will skip clefs, key signatures, time signatures, barlines, and other elements. So if you just use the standard Right and Left keys to move through your score, you will only hear about notes and rests (and the elements attached to them). However, there are two special navigation commands that you will find useful to gain a more complete summarization of the score:
These commands include clefs and other elements that the other navigation commands skip, and also navigate through all voices within the current staff, whereas other navigation commands such as Right and Left only navigate through the currently selected voice until you explicitly change voices. For instance, if you are on a quarter note on beat 1 of measure 1, and there are two voices in that measure, then pressing Right will move on to the next note of voice 1—which will be on beat 2—whereas pressing Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right (Mac: Cmd+Option+Shift+Right) will stay on beat 1 but move to the note on voice 2. Only once you have moved through all notes on the current beat on the current staff will the shortcut move you on to the next beat. The intent is that this shortcut should be useful for navigating through a score if you don’t already know what the contents are.
When you navigate to an element, your screen reader should read information about it. For notes and rests, it will also read information about elements attached to them, such as lyrics, articulations, chord symbols, etc. For the time being, there is no way to navigate directly to these elements.
One important note: Up and Down by themselves, with Shift, or with Ctrl / Cmd are not useful shortcuts for navigation! Instead, they change the pitch of the currently selected note or notes. Be careful not to inadvertently edit a score you are trying to read. Up and Down should only be used with Alt/Option if your intent is navigation only. See the list of navigation shortcuts below.
The following shortcuts are useful for moving “horizontally” through a score:
The following shortcuts are useful for moving “vertically” through a score:
Next element: Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right
The Alt+Up and Alt+Down commands are similar to the Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left commands in that they are designed to help you discover the content of a score. You do not need to know how many notes are in a chord, how many voices are in a staff, or how many staves are in a score in order to move vertically through the score using these commands.
Excluding certain elements like lyrics, or chord names while reading the score is possible by using the Selection filter (F6). Uncheck those elements you don't want to read.
The Space bar serves both to start and stop playback. Playback will start with the currently selected note if one is selected; where playback was last stopped if no note is selected; or at the beginning of the score on first playback.
MuseScore supports looped playback so you can repeat a section of a piece for practice purposes. To set the “in” and “out” points for the loop playback via the Play Panel (F11):
You can also control the loop playback and control other playback parameters, such as overriding the basic tempo of a score, using the View / Play Panel (F11).
Score editing is currently not very accessible – too many score elements require intervention of the mouse in order to place objects onto a score. Additionally, visual reference and manual adjustment of the position of various elements is sometimes necessary due to MuseScore's limited support for conflict avoidance of elements.
In contrast, MuseScore does often provide ample default, and a platform to experiment with the basics of note input.
To enter note input mode, first navigate to the measure in which you would like to enter notes, then press “N”. Almost everything about note input is designed to be keyboard accessible, and the standard documentation should be good to help you through the process. Bear in mind that MuseScore can either be in note input or normal mode, and it won’t always be clear which mode of these you are in. When in doubt, press Esc. If you were in note input mode, this will take you out. If you were in normal mode, you will stay there, although you will also lose your selection.
You can customize the keyboard shortcuts using Edit / Preferences / Shortcuts. At some point, we may provide a set of special accessibility-optimized shortcuts and/or a way of saving and loading sets of shortcut definitions.
The Album Manager allows you to prepare a list of multiple scores and save the list as an album file ("*.album"), print all the scores as one long print job with consistent page numbers, or even join the scores into a single new MSCZ score. This is ideal for preparing an exercise book or combining multiple movements of an orchestration.
To open the Album Manager, go to File → Album...
If you have previously created an album, you can open it through the Album Manager by clicking the Load button. A file selection dialog will appear to let you load the .album file from your file system.
To print an album as if it were a single document, click Print Album. The scores loaded into the Album Manager are printed in the order they are listed in with the correct page numbers, ignoring the page number offset values in Layout → Page Settings... → First page number for all but the first score. As the album is printed in one print job, double-sided printing (duplex printing) also works as expected.
To combine multiple scores into a single .mscz file, click Join Scores. The scores are combined in the selected order into one single score. If not already present, line- and section breaks are added to the last measure or frame of each score in the combined file.
All style settings are taken from the first score, different style settings from subsequent score are ignored.
All the scores should have the same number of parts and staves for this to work correctly, ideally with the same instruments in the same order. If the scores have the same total number of instruments but not the same ones, or not in the same order, then the instrument names from the first score will overwrite ones from subsequent scores. If some of the scores have fewer instruments than the first score, then empty staves will be created for those sections. Any part or staff that is not present in the first score will be lost in the joined score.
Upon clicking the Close button, you will be prompted to save your album as a .album file. This file is not the same as a joined score; it simply consists of the list of scores. Album files can be loaded into the Album Manager as described above.
In piano scores, it is common to write a musical phrase extending across both staves—bass and treble. This can be entered in MuseScore as follows:
Enter all notes in one staff:
Ctrl+Shift+↓ moves the selected note, or chord to the next staff (Mac: ⌘+Shift+↓):
Note : this moves the whole chord, not just a single note from a multi note chord. If you need notes in the old staff at the same place, use voices.
To adjust the beam, double-click it to show the handles. Use the keyboard arrows or drag the handles to change the beam angle and position:
MuseScore 2 offers several specialized functions to create engravings of early music (particularly medieval and renaissance) akin to commercial editions from the 20th century onwards.
In MuseScore, notes lasting longer than the duration of a measure are normally tied across barlines. However MuseScore has a special feature which allows it to display the note values intact, without splitting and tying them in this way. This enables you to notate music which is unbarred (i.e. not divided into measures), such as that of the renaissance:
Note: The feature is still in development and may contain bugs. The longest supported note value is the longa (a dotted longa is still broken up and tied over).
Since a complete lack of barlines could make performing the music more difficult for current musicians, many modern engravers settled on a compromise called Mensurstrich, where barlines are drawn between, but not across, staves.
To place barlines between staves:
Alternatively, you can use the Inspector:
Note: To reset barlines, select the relevant barlines and make the following settings: "Spanned staves" = 1; "Spanned from" = 0; "Spanned to = "8."
Before there was the concept of an absolute pitch, performers were required to transpose vocal music to a singable range for their ensemble "on the fly." To aid them, an ambitus was sometimes included, marking the entire range of a voice at the beginning of the piece.
To apply an ambitus, use one of the following methods:
When applied, the ambitus automatically displays the note range of the score: if there is a section break then only the note range of the section is displayed. Beyond the section break a new ambitus may be applied.
The note range of the ambitus can be adjusted manually by selecting it and changing the "Top note" and "Bottom note" values in the Inspector. For automatic adjustment click the Update Range button in the inspector.
In the mensural notation system, time signatures did not define the length of a measure, but the length of breves and semibreves. MuseScore supports mensural time symbols as a display method in the Time signature properties dialog rather than as symbols, but they are just for show, as the proportion of e.g. half notes per whole notes cannot be modified.
One way to make use of these symbols is to replicate when composers of the renaissance had multiple voices in different time signatures simultaneously without using tuplets. Edit the time signature on a per-staff basis, as long as the beginning and end of a measure in all staves match up. If they do not, then consider increasing the size of the measures to the lowest common denominator.
De Profundis Clamavi for 5 voices by Josquin Des Prez
With Space, the editor advances to the next note, or rest of the staff to which figured bass is being added. To move to a point in between, or to extend a figured bass group for a longer duration, see below Group Duration.
Tab advances the editing box to the beginning of the next measure.
Shift+Space moves the editing box to the previous staff note or rest.
Shift+Tab moves the editing box to the beginning of the previous measure.
Digits are entered directly. Groups of several digits stacked one above the other are also entered directly in a single text, stacking them with Enter:
Accidentals can be entered using regular keys:
To enter: | type: |
---|---|
double flat | bb |
flat | b |
natural | h |
sharp | # |
double sharp | ## |
These characters will automatically turn into the proper signs when you leave the editor. Accidentals can be entered before, or after a digit (and of course, in place of a digit, for altered thirds), according to the required style; both styles are properly aligned, with the accidental 'hanging' at the left, or the right.
Slashed digits or digits with a cross can be entered by adding \, / or + after the digit (combining suffixes); the proper combined shape will be substituted when leaving the editor:
The built-in font can manage combination equivalence, favoring the more common substitution:
1+, 2+, 3+, 4+ result in (or
)
and 5\, 6\, 7\, 8\, 9\ result in (or
)
Please remember that / can only by combined with 5; any other 'slashed' figure is rendered with a question mark.
+ can also be used before a digit; in this case it is not combined, but it is properly aligned ('+' hanging at the left side).
Open and closed parentheses, both round: '(', ')' and square: '[', ']', can be inserted before and after accidentals, before and after a digit, before and after a continuation line; added parentheses will not disturb the proper alignment of the main character.
Notes:
Continuation lines are input by adding an '_' (underscore) at the end of the line. Each digit of a group can have its own continuation line:
Continuation lines are drawn for the whole duration of the figured bass group.
'Extended' continuation lines
Occasionally, a continuation line has to connect with the continuation line of a following group, when a chord degree has to be kept across two groups. Examples (both from J. Boismortier, Pièces de viole, op. 31, Paris 1730):
In the first case, each group has its own continuation line; in the second, the continuation line of the first group is carried 'into' the second.
This can be obtained by entering several (two or more) underscores "__" at the end of the text line of the first group.
Each figured bass group has a duration, which is indicated by a light gray line above it (of course, this line is for information only and it is not printed or exported to PDF).
Initially, a group has the same duration of the note to which it is attached. A different duration may be required to fit several groups under a single note or to extend a group to span several notes.
To achieve this, each key combination of the list below can be used:
Pressing several of them in sequence without entering any figured bass text repeatedly extends the previous group.
Type: | to get: |
---|---|
Ctrl+1 | 1/64 |
Ctrl+2 | 1/32 |
Ctrl+3 | 1/16 |
Ctrl+4 | 1/8 (quaver) |
Ctrl+5 | 1/4 (crochet) |
Ctrl+6 | half note (minim) |
Ctrl+7 | whole note (semibreve) |
Ctrl+8 | 2 whole notes (breve) |
(The digits are the same as are used to set the note durations)
Setting the exact figured bass group duration is only mandatory in two cases:
However, it is a good practice to always set the duration to the intended value for the purposes of plugins and MusicXML.
To edit a figured bass indication already entered:
The usual text editor box will open with the text converted back to plain characters ('b', '#' and 'h' for accidentals, separate combining suffixes, underscores, etc.) for simpler editing.
Once done, press Space to move to a next note, or click outside the editor box to exit it, as for newly created figured basses.
To configure how figured bass is rendered: from the menu, select Style → General.… → Figured Bass.
Line Height: The distance between the base line of each figured bass line, as a percentage of font size.
The following picture visualizes each numeric parameter:
Alignment: Select the vertical alignment: with Top, the top line of each group is aligned with the main vertical position and the group 'hangs' from it (this is normally used with figured bass notation and is the default); with Bottom, the bottom line is aligned with the main vertical position and the group 'sits' on it (this is sometimes used in some kinds of harmonic analysis notations):
Style: Chose between "Modern" or "Historic." The difference between the two styles is shown below:
For the relevant substitutions and shape combinations to take effect and for proper alignment, the figured bass mechanism expects input texts to follow some rules (which are in any case, the rules for a syntactical figured bass indication):
If a text entered does not follow these rules, it will not be processed: it will be stored and displayed as it is, without any layout.
Type: | to get: |
---|---|
Ctrl+G | Adds a new figured bass group to the selected note. |
Space | Advances the editing box to the next note. |
Shift+Space | Moves the editing box to the previous note. |
Tab | Advances the editing box to the next measure. |
Shift+Tab | Moves the editing box to the previous measure. |
Ctrl+1 | Advances the editing box by 1/64, setting the duration of the previous group. |
Ctrl+2 | Advances the editing box by 1/32, setting the duration of the previous group. |
Ctrl+3 | Advances the editing box by 1/16, setting the duration of the previous group. |
Ctrl+4 | Advances the editing box by 1/8 (quaver), setting the duration of the previous group. |
Ctrl+5 | Advances the editing box by 1/4 (crochet), setting the duration of the previous group. |
Ctrl+6 | Advances the editing box by a half note (minim), setting the duration of the previous group. |
Ctrl+7 | Advances the editing box by a whole note (semibreve), setting the duration of the previous group. |
Ctrl+8 | Advances the editing box by two whole notes (breve), setting the duration of the previous group. |
Ctrl+Space | Enters an actual space; useful when figure appears "on the second line" (e.g., 5 4 -> 3). |
BB | Enters a double flat. |
B | Enters a flat. |
H | Enters a natural. |
# | Enters a sharp. |
## | Enters a double sharp. |
_ | Enters a continuation line. |
__ | Enters an extended continuation line. |
MuseScore can import and export a wide variety of file formats, allowing you to share and publish scores in the format that best meets your needs.
MuseScore saves files in the following native formats:
A note about fonts: MuseScore does not embed text fonts in saved or exported native format files. If you want your MuseScore file to be viewed by other MuseScore users, make sure you are using the built-in FreeSerif or FreeSans font families for your text, or a font that the other parties have installed too. If a system does not have the fonts specified in your original file, MuseScore will use a fallback option, which may cause your score to appear differently.
*.mscz
)MSCZ is the standard MuseScore file format and recommended for most uses. A score saved in this format takes up very little disk space, but preserves all the necessary information. The format is a ZIP-compressed version of .mscx
files and includes any images.
*.mscx
)MSCX is the uncompressed version of the MuseScore file format. A score saved in this format will retain all information, except images. It can be opened with a text editor, allowing the user access to the file's source code.
.*.mscz,
) or (.*.mscx,
)Backup files are created automatically and saved in the same folder as your normal MuseScore file. The backup copy contains the previously saved version of the MuseScore file and can be important if your normal copy becomes corrupted, or for looking at an older version of the score.
The backup file adds a period to the beginning of the file name (.
) and a comma (,
) to the end (e.g. if your normal file is called "untitled.mscz
", the backup copy will be ".untitled.mscz,
"), and the period and comma need to be removed from the name in order to open the backup file in MuseScore. As it is stored in the same folder as your normal MuseScore file, you may also need to give it a unique name (e.g. changing ".untitled.mscz,
" to "untitled-backup1.mscz
").
Note: In order to see the MuseScore backup files, you may need to change your system settings to "Show hidden files". See also How to recover a backup copy of a score (MuseScore 2.x).
MuseScore can export a score as a graphic file in either PDF, PNG or SVG format.
*.pdf
)PDF (Portable Document Format) files are ideal for sharing your sheet music with others who do not need to edit the content. This is a very widely-used format and most users will have a PDF viewer of some kind on their computers.
To set the resolution of exported PDFs:
*.png
)PNG (Portable Network Graphics) files are based on a bitmap image format, widely supported by software on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, and very popular on the web. MuseScore creates PNG images as they would appear if printed, one image per page.
To set the resolution of exported PNG images:
Note: If you want to create images that show only parts of the score (with or without screen-only items such as frame boxes, invisible notes, and out-of-range note colors), use Image capture instead.
*.svg
)SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) files can be opened by most web browsers (except Internet Explorer before version 9) and most vector graphics software. However, most SVG software does not support embedded fonts, so the appropriate MuseScore fonts must be installed to view these files correctly. SVG is the format used on MuseScore.com for all scores saved online since May 2017 (coinciding with the release of MuseScore 2.1: before this the format was PNG).
To set resolution and transparency of exported SVG files, see the instructions under PNG (above). Note that MuseScore does not (yet) support gradients on export (although it does for images in a score).
MuseScore can create normalised, stereo audio of the score in any of the following formats: WAV, MP3, OGG VORBIS, FLAC. To export an audio file:
You can adjust the sample rate of all audio formats as follows:
*.wav
)WAV (Waveform Audio Format) is an uncompressed sound format. This was developed by Microsoft and IBM, and is widely supported by software for Windows, OS X, and Linux. It is an ideal format for use when creating CDs, as full sound quality is preserved. For sharing via email or the internet, use a compressed alternative such as MP3.
*.mp3
)MP3 is a very widely-used compressed audio format. MP3 files are ideal for sharing and downloading over the internet due to their relatively small size.
For Windows and Mac users with an older version of MuseScore (Windows: prior to 2.2, Mac prior to 2.3.2), an additional library, lame_enc.dll (Windows) or libmp3lame.dylib (Mac), must be installed to create MP3 files (for Linux, it is up to the distribution maintainer whether or not to include this). MuseScore will prompt you for its location on the first attempt of an MP3 export. You can get it at http://lame.buanzo.org/.
Some Mac users may find MuseScore encounters an error loading the MP3 library, possibly due to that library being a 32-bit library. A 64-bit build that will work with MuseScore is available from http://thalictrum.com/en/products/lame (note that it is necessary to rename the file to libmp3lame.dylib for MuseScore to recognize it). Homebrew users just need to run brew install lame
.
As of version 2.1 you can set the MP3 bitrate:
*.flac
)Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is compressed audio format. FLAC files are approximately half the size of uncompressed audio and just as good quality. Windows and OS X do not have built-in support for FLAC, but software such as the free and open source VLC media player can play FLAC files on any operating system.
*.ogg
)Ogg Vorbis is intended as a patent-free replacement for the popular MP3 audio format (which MuseScore also supports—see above). Like MP3, Ogg Vorbis files are relatively small (often a tenth of uncompressed audio), but some sound quality is lost. Windows and OS X do not have built-in support for Ogg Vorbis. However, software such as VLC media player and Firefox can play Ogg files on any operating system.
MuseScore can import and export MusicXML and MIDI files; it is also able to import a variety of native format files from other music notation programs.
*.xml
, *.musicxml
)MusicXML is the universal standard for sheet music. It is the recommended format for sharing sheet music between different scorewriters, including MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, and more than 100 others. As of version 2.2, MuseScore exports as .musicxml
, and imports both, *.xml
and *.musicxml
.
*.mxl
)Compressed MusicXML creates smaller files than regular MusicXML. This is a newer standard and isn't as widely supported by older scorewriters, but MuseScore has full import and export support.
*.mid
, *.midi
, *.kar
)MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a format widely supported by sequencers and music notation software. For details of the protocol see the MIDI Association website.
MIDI files are very useful for playback purposes but contain little in the way of score layout information (formatting, pitch spelling, voicing, ornaments, articulations, repeats, key signatures etc.). To share files between different music notation software, MusicXML is recommended instead.
For details about how to import MIDI files see MIDI import.
*.md
) (import only)MuseData is a format developed by Walter B. Hewlett beginning in 1983 as an early means of sharing music notation between software. It has since been eclipsed by MusicXML, but several thousand scores in this format are still available online.
*.cap
, *.capx
) (import only)CAP and CAPX files are created by the score writer, Capella. MuseScore imports version 2000 (3.0) or later fairly accurately (2.x doesn't work, while the *.all
format from 1.x versions is not supported at all).
*.bww
) (import only)BWW files are created by the niche score writer, Bagpipe Music Writer.
*.mgu
, *.sgu
) (import only)BB files are created by the music arranging software, Band-in-a-Box. MuseScore's support is currently experimental.
*.ove
) (import only)OVE files are created by the score writer Overture. This format is mainly popular in Chinese-language environments, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. MuseScore's support is currently experimental.
*.gtp
, *.gp3
, *.gp4
, *.gp5
, *.gpx
) (import only)GP files are created by Guitar Pro.
A range of fretboard (or chord) diagrams for the guitar are pre-provided in the Fretboard Diagrams palette in the Advanced Workspace (versions prior to 2.0.3 feature only one diagram).
You can create a chord diagram for any fretted, stringed instrument by editing an existing one. It can be saved to a custom palette for future use if required.
To add a fretboard diagram to the score, use one of the following methods:
For example, to create a full-barre F# chord, from a C chord:
Set "Frets" to "4" and fret number (right-hand scroll bar) to "2." The diagram should now look like this:
Create the barre by holding Shift and clicking on the second fret of the 6th string. Click "OK" to exit and you should get this:
The same principle applies if you want a partial barré. For example, the partial barré in an A7 chord is created by pressing Shift, then clicking on the 4th string, second fret:
The size ("Scale"), color and position of a fretboard diagram can be changed by clicking on it and altering the relevant values in the Inspector.
The position of the fretboard diagram can also be adjusted in Edit mode:
Some default properties of fretboard diagrams (barre thickness, vertical position, size etc.) can be adjusted from the menu: select Style → General… → Chord Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams. Any changes made here affect all existing diagrams, as well as those applied subsequently.
MuseScore can import MIDI files (.mid/.midi/.kar) and convert them into music notation. To import, use the standard Open command.
Initially, the program renders the MIDI to notation using certain default settings. A MIDI Import Panel appears at the bottom of the screen, showing a list of tracks (only tracks with note events are shown) and the operations available for each track. You can change these settings on a track-by-track basis and then reimport the data: The “Apply” button (at the top) submits any changes with immediate effect. The "Cancel" button immediately cancels any unsaved changes. The final result should be a better quality score reproduction of the file.
Use Shift+Wheel or Ctrl+Wheel to scroll track options horizontally; scroll tracks vertically without those modifiers.
If there are multiple tracks, then one more track is added at the top of the list to select all tracks at once.
In the MIDI Import Panel, you can choose which tracks to import and reorder them. Some information about each track is displayed: sound, staff name, and lyrics, if any. The presence of the lyric column is an indication that the file contains a lyric track—assignable to different tracks through the drop-down menu.
The MIDI import panel updates the relevant information of whatever file is in view, if the user has several open. If the MIDI import panel is no longer required, it can be closed by clicking the close button in the top-left corner. The panel will re-appear after clicking on the button "Show MIDI import panel" which appears right after the panel is closed.
After saving the score, the MIDI Import Panel will not be available, because MuseScore is no longer importing a MIDI file.
Quantize MIDI notes by some regular grid. The grid MAX resolution can be set via the drop-down menu:
However, the actual quantization grid size is adaptive and reduces when the note length is small, so for each note the quantization value is different. But there is an upper limit for the quantization value, and that value can be set by the user as "max. quantization".
For example, if some note is long - say, half note, and the max. quantization is set to 8th, then the note will be quantized with the 8th-note grid, not the half- or quarter-note grid as it supposed to be by the algorithm.
Such quantization scheme allows to quantize all notes in the score (with different lengths!) adequately.
importmidi_clef.cpp
). This option is available for non-drum tracks only.The Master Palette is a repository of symbols used to populate the workspaces (Basic, Advanced, and Custom). It is also used to create new Time Signatures and Key Signatures.
To open, use either of the following options:
The Master palette is divided into sections based on symbol type. Hovering the mouse over an item shows a tool tip (a short definition in black on yellow background).
To transfer a Master palette item to a custom palette:
Note: Except for the Symbols section (below), it is not usual to add items directly to the score from the Master palette: use the workspace palettes instead. However, if desired, items can be added directly using either (i) drag-and-drop or (ii) by selecting one or more notes/rests and double-clicking the item.
The Symbols section of the Master Palette is a large repository of hundreds of musical symbols in addition to those found in the preset workspaces. You can open it from the Master Palette, or directly from the score by using the shortcut Z.
The symbols are listed under their respective musical font types: use the font menu on the bottom right of the box to specify Emmentaler, Gonville or Bravura. You can search for a particular symbol by entering a keyword in the search box.
To add an item to the score from the Symbols section, use any of the following options:
The position of the symbol can be adjusted by dragging or by changing the horizontal / vertical offsets in the Inspector. Color and visibility can also be adjusted in the Inspector.
Note: Elements from the Symbols section do not follow any positioning rules (in many cases unlike identical elements from other sections of the Master Palette), nor do they affect score playback.
Elements from the Symbols section can be connected to each other on the score page, so that they can be moved as one unit:
Drag the first element and the attached element will follow.
From version 2.1, you can enter notation using one of several new note input modes—in addition to the pre-existing Step-time and Re-pitch modes. These are accessed by clicking a small dropdown arrow next to the note entry button on the note input toolbar.
This is the method of note entry that MuseScore has had from the beginning. You enter notes in Step-time mode by choosing a duration using the mouse or keyboard, and then choosing a pitch using the mouse, keyboard, MIDI keyboard or virtual piano.
For details see Basic note entry.
Re-pitch mode allows you to correct the pitches of a sequence of notes while leaving their durations unchanged (not to be confused with Accidental: Respell pitches).
You can also use the Re-pitch function to create a new passage from an existing one of the same sequence of durations—by copying and pasting the latter, then applying Re-pitch.
Rhythm mode allows you to enter durations with a single keypress. Combining Rhythm and Re-pitch modes makes for a very efficient method of note entry.
The Real-time modes basically allow you to perform the piece on a MIDI keyboard (or MuseScore's virtual piano keyboard) and have the notation added for you. However, you should be aware of the following limitations which currently apply:
However, these restrictions mean that MuseScore has very little guessing to do when working out how your input should be notated, which helps to keep the Real-time modes accurate.
In the automatic version of Real-time input, you play at a fixed tempo indicated by a metronome click. You can adjust the tempo by changing the delay between clicks from the menu: Edit → Preferences... → Note Input (Mac: MuseScore → Preferences... → Note Input).
The score stops advancing as soon as you release the key. If you want the score to continue advancing (e.g. to allow you to enter rests) then you can use the Real-time Advance shortcut to start the metronome.
In the manual version of Real-time input, you have to indicate your input tempo by tapping on a key or pedal, but you can play at any speed you like and it doesn't have to be constant. The default key for setting the tempo (called "Real-time Advance") is Enter on the numeric keypad (Mac: fn+Return), but it is highly recommended that you change this to a MIDI key or MIDI pedal (see below).
The Real-time Advance shortcut is used to tap beats in manual Real-time mode, or to start the metronome clicks in automatic Real-time mode. It is called "Real-time Advance" because it causes the input position to more forward, or "advance", through the score.
The default key for Real-time Advance is Enter on the numeric keypad (Mac: fn+Return), but it is highly recommended that you assign this to a MIDI key or MIDI pedal via MuseScore's MIDI remote control. The MIDI remote control is available from the menu: Edit → Preferences... → Note Input (Mac: MuseScore → Preferences... → Note Input).
Alternatively, if you have a USB footswitch or computer pedal which can simulate keyboard keys, you could set it to simulate Enter on the numeric keypad.
A range of alternative noteheads – in addition to the "normal" – can be found in the Note Heads palette of the Advanced workspace and via the Inspector (see Change notehead group, below).
Note: The design of the notehead may vary depending on the music font selected (Emmentaler, Gonville or Bravura). Those in the palette are displayed as half notes in Bravura font.
MuseScore supports a number of notehead styles:
To change the shape of one or more noteheads in the score, use one of the following:
Occasionally you may need to change the apparent duration of a notehead—i.e. notehead type—without altering its actual, underlying duration:
When two notes in different voices, but of the same written pitch, fall on the same beat, one of two things may happen:
MuseScore follows standard music notation practice as follows:
Note: If two unison notes occur in the same voice they are always offset.
Offset noteheads can be turned into shared noteheads in one of two ways:
In the first example below, the notes of voices 1 and 2 share noteheads by default, because they are all black, undotted notes:
By contrast, in the next example, white notes cannot share noteheads with black notes, so are offset to the right:
To create a shared notehead, make the black eighth note invisible or change its head type to match that of the white note (as explained above):
In certain cases, a shared notehead, when pasted to a tablature staff, may result in two separate fret marks on adjacent strings. To correct this, make any extraneous tablature notes invisible by selecting them and using the keyboard shortcut V (or by unchecking the "visible" option in the Inspector).
MuseScore not only allows you to create and print the full score but also the individual instrument parts.
Note: In the current version of MuseScore, only one part can be generated per single staff (or grand staff or staff/TAB system). If you want to create a part for a particular voice, you need to ensure that it has its own staff as well.
This is the most straightforward method. Parts are generated on a one-to-one basis from the corresponding Instruments in the score:
The parts can now be accessed by clicking on tabs above the document window.
This method allows you to generate specific parts (rather than all-at-once), or to alter a previous parts set-up. It also allows you to specify multi-instrument parts, and define part names differently from the corresponding instruments, if needed.
The following instructions use a string quartet as an example, but the same principles apply for any other ensemble:
You have now finished setting up the parts. You do not need to do this again, unless you add or remove an instrument from your full score.
This will generate files with the names "<title>" + "-" + "<part name>.<extension>". In addition, when exporting as PDF, this will also generate "<title>" + "-Score_And_Parts.pdf".
Parts and score are "linked", which means that any change to the content in one will affect the other, but changes to the layout will not. When you have the parts created, they are saved along with the score (if you open the score you have tabs for the score and every part you created).
However, if you wish to save a part individually:
Plugins are small pieces of code that add a particular feature to MuseScore. By enabling a plugin, a new menu option will be appended to the Plugins menu in MuseScore to accomplish a given action on the score or a part of it.
Some plugins come pre-installed with MuseScore—see →below. You can find many more plugins in the plugin repository. Some plugins there work with MuseScore 2; others will only work with older versions of MuseScore, some work with either.
To tell one from the other: for MuseScore 2.x the plugin code files have an extension of .qml
, for older versions, it is .js
.
Note that some plugins may require the installation of other components (fonts, e.g.) to work. Check the plugin's documentation for more information.
Most plugins are provided as ZIP archives, so download the plugin's .zip file and uncompress it to one of the directories mentioned below. If a plugin is provided directly as an (unzipped) .qml file, simply download and place into one of these directories.
Once a plugin is installed, it needs to be enabled in the Plugin Manager in order to use it—see →below.
MuseScore looks for pre-installed plugins in %ProgramFiles%\MuseScore 2\Plugins
(or %ProgramFiles(x86)%\MuseScore 2\Plugins
for the 64-bit versions) and in %LOCALAPPDATA%\MuseScore\MuseScore 2\plugins
on Vista, Seven and 10 or C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\MuseScore\MuseScore 2\plugins
(adjusted to your language version) on XP.
To install new plugins, the above folders should not be used or modified. Instead you can add other plugins to %HOMEPATH%\Documents\MuseScore2\Plugins
, or specify a different folder to look for plugins in MuseScore's Preferences.
On macOS, MuseScore looks for pre-installed plugins in the MuseScore bundle in /Applications/MuseScore 2.app/Contents/Resources/plugins
(to reveal files in the app bundle, right click on MuseScore 2.app and choose "Show package contents") and in ~/Library/Application Support/MuseScore/MuseScore 2/plugins
.
To install new plugins, the above folders should not be used or modified. Instead you can add other plugins to ~/Documents/MuseScore2/Plugins
, or specify a different folder to look for plugins in MuseScore's Preferences.
In Linux, MuseScore looks for plugins in /usr/share/mscore-2.0/plugins
and in ~/.local/share/data/MuseScore/MuseScore 2/plugins
.
To install new plugins, the above folders should not be used or modified. Instead you can add other plugins to ~/Documents/MuseScore2/Plugins
, or specify a different folder to look for plugins in MuseScore's Preferences.
To be able to access the installed plugins from the Plugins menu, they need to be enabled in the Plugin Manager:
It is possible to create new or edit existing plugins and run them via the Plugin Creator:
Here also the documentation of all available elements can be found
Some plugins come pre-installed with MuseScore, but they are not enabled by default. See →above to enable plugins.
This plugin imports ABC text from a file or the clipboard. Internet connection is required, because it uses an external web-service for the conversion, which uses abc2xml and gets send the ABC data, returns MusicXML and imports that into MuseScore.
This plugin enters line breaks in the interval you select on the selected measures or, if no measures are selected, the entire score. It is no longer being distributed and has been replaced by Edit → Tools → Add/Remove Line Breaks. If you ever used an early beta version of MuseScore 2, though, you may still see the plugin left over.
This demo plugin colors notes in the selected range (or the entire score), depending on their pitch. It colors the note head of all notes in all staves and voices according to the Boomwhackers convention. Each pitch has a different color. C and C♯ have a different color. C♯ and D♭ have the same color.
To color all the notes in black, just run that plugin again (on the same selection). You could also use the 'Remove Notes Color' plugin for this.
This demo plugin creates a new score. It creates a new piano score with 4 quarters C D E F. It's a good start to learn how to make a new score and add notes from a plugin.
This demo plugin shows some basic tasks.
This plugin names notes in the selected range or the entire score. It displays the names of the notes (as a staff text) as per MuseScore's language settings, for voices 1 and 3 above the staff, for voices 2 and 4 below the staff, and for chords in a comma separated list, starting with the top note.
This demo plugin creates a GUI panel.
Creates a random score.
Creates a random score too
This demo plugin runs an external command. Probably this will only work on Linux.
This test plugin iterates through the score list.
Demo plugin to demonstrate the use of a ScoreView
This test plugin walks through all elements in a score
You can customize many of MuseScore's default behaviors via the menu: Edit→Preferences... (Mac: MuseScore→Preferences...).
The Preferences dialog has multiple tabs:
Reset All Preferences to Default will reset all preferences to the ones MuseScore had when you installed it.
Cancel will close the dialog without applying changes.
Here you can define:
Use Canvas to set your preferred color and wallpaper for the score background and paper. The default "Background" is grey (RGB 221, 221, 221; Alpha 221) and the default "Paper," white.
On this tab there are note input and MIDI remote control preferences. Here the following can be set:
Midi Remote Control allows you to use certain keys on your MIDI keyboard to enter notes and rests and to select note durations, without involving the computer mouse or (computer) keyboard. The default setting is off.
To assign a command to a MIDI key:
Once you have defined your key settings you can use the MIDI keyboard to control note input operations. You can verify your key settings by observing the MuseScore Note Input toolbar while pressing the MIDI keys.
To temporarily deactivate Midi Remote Control: uncheck "Midi Remote Control": all MIDI input key action buttons are now greyed out. Note: Your key assignments are always saved between MuseScore sessions and are not affected by deactivation.
Notes: (1) The "Clear" option turns off all the green buttons for the current MuseScore session but all the user-recorded MIDI key settings are retained and will be reloaded on the next session. (2) A MIDI key setting that is activated cannot afterwards be turned off, and the green button will always remain lit: however it can be overwritten with a different MIDI key by using the red button again. (3) If the same MIDI key is accidentally assigned to more than one option, then all the associated green buttons remain lit although only one will work. To fix, see "(2)".
Score preferences include
This enables you to set the audio interface (API) and specify the device to be used for audio playback: e.g. built-in speakers/headphones, USB headset, wireless, etc.
When an external MIDI input device is connected, its identifier appears in MIDI Input. As of MuseScore 2.2, when the device is connected for the first time, you also need to select the correct MIDI Output option in order to enable note input and correct audio playback (e.g. in Windows, this might be "MMS<device name>"): then close and reopen the program to confirm the changes.
Versions of MuseScore prior to 2.2 only have the "MIDI Input" option. The correct MIDI output is automatically specified as long as the MIDI input device is connected correctly.
Check these options as required if using the JACK Audio Connection Kit.
These settings determine how files from other sources are imported:
These settings determine how MuseScore files are exported:
Every action possible with MuseScore is listed, with the associated shortcut if it exists. To define a new shortcut, select an existing entry in the list and click Define... (or just double click the entry), then enter the new shortcut using up to four keys. You can also reset any shortcut in the list to its default value, or clear a shortcut you select. Shortcuts listed in preferences appear next to their associated commands in the menus.
Note: Some shortcuts, including default ones, may not work with some keyboards.
The list of shortcuts can be printed out or exported to other media (pdf etc.) using the Print button in the bottom right of the window.
This sets whether MuseScore will check for updates at startup.
Updates may be checked manually in Help→Check for updates.
If MuseScore or your computer should crash, or if power is lost, a pop-up message upon restarting MuseScore will ask if you wish to restore the previous session.
If you click No, any work from your previous session will be lost. If you click Yes, MuseScore will attempt to recover the files that were open.
When MuseScore recovers files after a crash, it renames them with the full path name added in front of the original file name. This very long name will appear in the tab(s) above the active score window. On some operating systems, when a user saves any of these recovered files, it will be saved in the folder in which the program itself is running. This is not necessarily the same directory in which the scores were saved when they were created. You may not be able to locate the revised file in the usual folder.
To avoid this, do not use "Save" the first time you save a recovered file. Use the "Save As..." menu item before making any revisions to the score, to save each recovered file under either its original name or a new name. This will open a window to allow you to navigate to the correct folder and directory. This is important in order to ensure that the file is saved to the folder in which you expect to find it later.
In the event that "Save" is used instead of "Save As..." with a recovered file, you will have to find the files in your computer. The actual location of those files will vary, depending on your operating system, and in which directory MuseScore is installed.
For Windows 7, with a default installation of MuseScore to the x86 program files directory, recovered files are auto-saved to C:\Program Files (x86)\MuseScore 2\bin
(actually %ProgramFiles(x86)%\MuseScore 2\bin
).
For Windows 10, look in C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\MuseScore 2\bin
(actually%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\%ProgramFiles(x86):~3%\MuseScore 2\bin
).
You may need to run a system-wide search in order to find files saved directly after a session recovery. Use keywords from the original file name as well as wildcards, and specify the date modified.
The Score Properties dialog contains the document meta tags such as "workTitle," "Composer," "Copyright" etc. To view the dialog:
Several meta tags are generated automatically when you create a score using the New Score Wizard, and others may be added later. Meta tags can also be incorporated into a header or footer if required—see below.
Every score has the following fields available in Score Properties. Some are automatically filled in on score creation, while others will be empty unless specifically changed. The first four items in the following list are not user-modifiable, and cannot be used in the header or footer (they are not really meta tags).
When working on multiple scores that belong to one larger work, the nomenclature is like this: workNumber and workTitle are the number and title of the larger work (e.g. opus 8, “Le quattro stagioni” (The four seasons) by Antonio Vivaldi), movementNumber is the number of the movement you’re working on (e.g. 3 for Autumn) and movementTitle is its title (“L’autunno”). It is customary, when using the New Score Wizard, to create a work with the movementTitle as title (even though it ends up in workTitle then) and, directly after creating the score, fixing up this information in the Score Properties dialogue. This ensures that the title frame of the printed score contains the information you expect but the metadata is also correct.
Every part additionally has the following meta tag, generated and filled on part creation:
To show the content of one or more meta tags in a header or footer for your score/part:
From the menu, select Style → General... → Header, Footer, Numbers;
If you hover with your mouse over the Header or Footer text region, a list of macros will appear, showing their meaning, as well as the existing meta tags and their content.
Add tags (e.g. $:workTitle:) and macros (e.g. $M) to the appropriate boxes, as required;
The Staff Properties dialog allows you to make changes to the display of a staff, adjust its tuning and transposition, change instrument etc. To open:
Staff Properties dialog, as of version 2.1.
For practical purposes, there are four different types of staff:
1a. Standard staff I. A pitched staff used for most instruments except fretted, plucked-string ones.
1b. Standard staff II. A pitched staff containing a fretted, plucked-string instrument, with options to set the number of instrument strings and tuning.
2. Tablature staff. A staff containing a fretted, plucked-string instrument, which displays music as a series of fret-marks on strings. Also contains options to set the number of instrument strings and tuning.
3. Percussion staff. A pitched staff for percussion instruments.
It is possible to change one type of staff into another using the Instruments dialog, as long as the original staff is loaded with the right instrument. For example, in order to change a standard staff to tablature, it must contain a plucked-string instrument. Similarly, to change a standard staff to a percussion staff you need to ensure that it has an appropriate percussion instrument loaded and so on.
Most options in the Staff properties dialog are common to all staves, but each type also has one or two specific options of its own.
The following Staff Properties options are common to all staves:
Lines
The number of lines making up the staff.
Line Distance
The distance between two staff lines, measured in spaces (abbr.: sp). If you set this to a higher value, the lines are spaced more widely apart; a lower value and they are closer together. It is not recommended to change this value for the standard group, for which the default distance is 1.0 (instead, change the actual size of the sp unit in Page settings); other groups may have different default values (for instance, tablature usually has a line distance of 1.5 sp).
Extra distance above staff
Increases or decreases the distance between the selected staff and the one above in all systems. However, it does not apply to the top staff of a system, which is controlled by the minimum/maximum system distance (see Layout and formatting: Style → General... → Page).
Alternatively, you can alter the "Extra distance above staff" directly from the score page:
1. Press and hold the Shift key.
2. Click on an empty space in a staff and drag it up or down with the mouse.
Note: To alter the spacing above just one staff line in a particular system, see Breaks and spacers.
Scale
Changes the size of the selected staff and all associated elements, as a percentage (to adjust the overall score size, use Scaling from the Layout→Page Settings… menu).
Never Hide
Never hide this staff. This overrules any "Hide empty staves" setting in Layout and Formatting: Style → General... → Score.
Show clef
Whether the staff clef will be shown.
Show time signature
Whether the staff time signature(s) will be shown or not.
Show barlines
Whether the staff barlines will be shown.
Hide system barline
Show/hide barline at left-hand edge of the staff.
Do not hide if system is empty
Never hide this staff, even if the entire system is empty. This overrules any "Hide empty staves" setting in Layout and Formatting: Style → General... → Score.
Small staff
Create a reduced-size staff. You can set the default from the menu in Layout and Formatting: Style → General... → Sizes
Invisible staff lines
Make staff lines invisible.
Staff line color
Use a color picker to change the color of the staff lines.
Part name
The name of the part. This is also displayed in the Mixer and the Instruments dialog (I).
Instrument
The instrument loaded in the Instruments (I) or Select Instrument dialog. The sound associated with this instrument can be changed, if desired, in the Mixer.
Long instrument name
Name displayed to the left of the staff in the first system of the score. The long instrument name may also be edited directly as a text object (as of version 2.1): see Text editing.
Short instrument name
Name displayed to the left of the staff in subsequent systems of the score. The short instrument name may also be edited directly as a text object (as of version 2.1): see Text editing. Editing affects all occurrences in the score.
Usable pitch range
To disable out-of-range coloration of notes: From the menu, select Edit→Preferences... (Mac: MuseScore→Preferences...), click on the "Note Input" tab, and uncheck "Color notes outside of usable pitch range."
See also, Coloring of notes outside an instrument's range.
Transpose written pitches (as of version 2.1) / Play transposition
This option ensures that the staves of transposing instruments display music at the correct written pitch. Set the transpose in term of a musical interval (plus octave if required) up or down. For plucked-string instruments such as the guitar, this property can be used to create the effect of applying a capo.
Navigation arrows (as of version 2.1)
Use the ↑ and ↓ buttons, at the bottom left of the Staff Properties window, to navigate to the previous or next staff.
Staves of fretted, plucked-string instruments have a few extra options in addition to those listed above,
Number of strings
Displays the number of instrument strings.
Edit String Data…
This button opens a dialog box which allows you to set the number and tuning of strings. See Change string tuning.
Clicking the Advanced Style Properties... button opens a window giving access to advanced display options for the staff. These will vary depending on the staff type chosen: see the relevant sections below for details.
At the bottom of the Advanced Style Properties dialog there are a number of buttons which allow you to easily change the following:
Show key signature
Whether the staff key signature will be shown.
Show ledger lines
Whether the staff ledger lines will be shown.
Stemless
If checked, staff notes will have no stem, hook or beam.
Upside down
If not checked, the top tablature line will refer to the highest string and the bottom tablature line will refer to the lowest string (most common case). If checked, the top tablature line will refer to the lowest string and the bottom tablature line will refer to the highest line (used in Italian style lute tablatures).
Fret marks are the numbers or letters used to indicate the location of notes on the fingerboard. The following group of properties define the appearance of fret marks:
Font
The font used to draw fret marks. As of version 2.1, 8 fonts are provided supporting all the necessary symbols in 8 different styles (modern Serif, modern Sans, Renaissance, Phalèse, Bonneuil-de Visée, Bonneuil-Gaultier, Dowland, Lute Didactic).
Size
Font size of fret marks in typographic points. Built-in fonts usually look good at a size of 9-10pt.
Vertical offset
MuseScore tries to place symbols in a sensible way and you do not usually need to alter this value (set to 0) for built-in fonts. If the font has symbols not aligned on the base line (or in some other way MuseScore does not expect), this property allows you to move fret-marks up (negative offsets) or down (positive offsets) for better vertical positioning. Values are in sp.
Numbers / Letters
Whether to use numbers (‘1’, ‘2’...) or letters (‘a’, ‘b’...) as fret marks. When letters are used, ‘j’ is skipped and ‘k’ is used for the 9th fret.
On lines / Above lines
Whether marks should be placed on the string lines or above them.
Continuous / Broken
Whether string lines should pass ‘through’ fret marks or should stop at them.
Example of numbers on broken lines:
Example of letters above continuous lines:
Example of 'upside down' tablature (same contents as number example above):
Show back-tied fret marks
If unticked, only the first note in a series of tied notes is displayed. If ticked, all notes in the tied series are displayed.
Show fingerings
From version 2.1, tick to allow the display of fingering symbols applied from a palette.
This group of properties defines the appearance of the symbols indicating note values.
Font
The font used to draw the value symbols. Currently 5 fonts are provided supporting all the necessary symbols in 5 different styles (modern, Italian tablature, French tablature, French baroque (headless), French baroque). Used only with the Note symbols option.
Size
Font size, in typographic points. Built-in fonts usually look good at a size of 15pt. Used only with the Note symbols option.
Vertical offset
Applies only when Note symbols is selected (see below). Use negative offset values to raise the note value symbols, positive values to lower them.
Shown as:
Repeat:
If several notes in sequence have the same duration, you can specify if and where to repeat the same note symbol. i.e.
Note: This option is only available if "Shown as: Note symbols" is selected (see above).
Stem style:
Note: This option is only available when "Shown as: Stems and Beams" is selected (see above).
Stem position:
Note: This option is only available when "Shown as: Stems and Beams" and "Stem style: Beside staff" is selected (see above).
Half notes:
Note: This option is only available when "Shown as: Stems and Beams and "Stem style: Beside staff" is selected (see above).
Show rests
Whether note symbols should be used to indicate also the rests; when used for rests, note symbols are drawn at a slightly lower position. Used only with the Note symbols option.
Displays a short score in tablature format with all the current parameters applied.
You can change any instrument in a score to a different instrument at any time. The following method updates instrument sound, staff name, and staff transposition all at once.
Not to be confused with Mid-staff instrument change.
A number of useful commands can be found in the Edit → Tools submenu.
This tool adds or removes system breaks (Line breaks prior to version 2.2) over all or part of the score:
Chose Edit→Tools→Add/Remove System (Line) Breaks…. The following dialog appears.
Chose one of the following options:
The explode command allows you to select a passage of music in a single staff and split (explode) the chords into their constituent notes. The top note of each chord is retained on this "source staff" while lower notes are moved to subsequent staves. Explode only affects notes in voice 1.
Note: If the desired passage also contains notes in other voices apart from voice 1, you should, instead, cut and paste each voice to a separate staff with the help of the selection filter.
To explode a section of the score:
Notes: (1) MuseScore will discard the lowest note(s) of any chord that contains more notes than the number of staves in the selection. (2) If a given chord has fewer notes than the number of destination staves, then notes will be duplicated as needed so that every staff receives a note. (3) Any existing music in the destination staves is overwritten. (4) If you select a partial measure, the explode command will automatically expand it to a full measure.
The Implode command works in the opposite way to "explode":
Note: Implode works best if the rhythms of selected underlying staves are similar to that of the top staff—the latter providing the rhythmic template for the operation.
The voice 1 notes of underlying staves are copied to the top staff in the selection.
All selected notes in the staff are now displayed in voice 1.
This command fills the selection with slashes, one per beat:
If a measure is empty the slashes are added to voice 1, full-sized and centered on the middle line of the staff:
Notes: (1) If there are already notes in a measure in the selection, the command will put the slashes into the first available empty voice. (2) Voice 2 slashes are full-sized and centered on the middle line of the staff; voices 3 slashes appear small and above the staff; voice 4 slashes are small and below the staff. (3) If a measure contains notes in all 4 voices, voice 1 will be overwritten. (4) All slashes are set to not transpose or playback.
This command toggles selected notes between normal notes and rhythmic slash notation:
The selected noteheads are changed to slash noteheads which do not transpose or playback.
Slash-notehead notes in voices one or two are fixed to the middle staff line; those in voices three or four are small ("accent" notation) and fixed above or below the staff:
In percussion staves, notes in voices 3 and 4 are not converted to small slashes but to small notes above or below the staff.
The Resequence Rehearsal Marks command allows you to re-order the numbering/lettering of rehearsal marks if, for any reason, they have got out of sequence. For details see Automatically resequence rehearsal marks.
This command, available in MuseScore 2.0.3 and above, copies all the lyrics of the score to the clipboard:
For an overview about the new features, see What's New in MuseScore 2, Release notes for MuseScore 2.0, Release notes for MuseScore 2.0.1, Release notes for MuseScore 2.0.2, MuseScore 2.0.2 is released, Release notes for MuseScore 2.0.3, MuseScore 2.0.3 is released, Release notes for MuseScore 2.1, MuseScore 2.1 is released, Release notes for MuseScore 2.2, MuseScore 2.2(.1) is released, Release notes for MuseScore 2.2.1, Release notes for MuseScore 2.3, MuseScore 2.3(.1) is released, Release notes for MuseScore 2.3.1, MuseScore 2.3.2 is released, Release notes for MuseScore 2.3.2 and Changes for MuseScore 2.0.
Documentation of new features are available in the chapter they belong to logically (except the one that is referring to upgrading from 1.x) , but for users coming from 1.x here's a collection of links to be able to see at a glance what can be done now...
Download and install the latest version from the download page as described at Installation. If you want to remove 1.x, check the installation page of the 1.x handbook.
Installing MuseScore 2 won't uninstall 1.x—both versions can coexist peacefully and can even be used in parallel. So this isn't really an upgrade but an installation of a new and different program.
MuseScore 2 significantly improved the typesetting quality to make scores attractive and easier to read. Improvements cover many items such as beam slope, stem height, layout of accidentals in chords and general note spacing. However, this means that sheet music made with MuseScore 1.x looks slightly different from sheet music made with 2.x.
It also means that scores saved with 2.x won't open with 1.x.
To prevent you from accidentally overwriting your 1.x scores, 2.x treats them as an import, which means:
If you did not manually adjust the layout of a 1.x score, then MuseScore uses the 2.x typesetting engine to layout the score. If you did touch the layout of the 1.x score, the individual adjustments you may have made should remain after opening it in MuseScore 2.x, but due to slight changes in the surrounding layout they may still not appear correct in context. If you wish to reset even manual adjustments to use the 2.x typesetting engine throughout, select the complete score with the shortcut Ctrl+A (Mac: Cmd+A) and reset the layout with Ctrl+R (Mac: Cmd+R).
While the sound in 2.x has been much improved, you may still prefer the sound from MuseScore 1.x. In that case, you can get the 1.x sound in 2.x by downloading the 1.3 SoundFont and add it in 2.x. You can do this in two steps:
This chapter describes how to find help using MuseScore: the best places to look, the best way to ask a question on the forums, and tips for reporting a bug.
You can help translate the MuseScore software and documentation into your own language, as mentioned in Development / Translating.
Here is a technical explanation: Continuous translation for MuseScore 2.0
Before submitting your support request in the forum, please:
If posting in either the issue tracker (for established reports), or forum (for inquiries/discussions):
Please include as much of the following information as you know and limit each issue to one report:
Please remember:
Recent versions of MuseScore have the option to revert back to the standard built-in presets or "factory-settings". This can be necessary if your settings are corrupted. Warning: Reverting to factory settings removes any changes you have made to the preferences, palettes, or window settings. This is not a commonly needed procedure; consult the forums first, as there may be a way to solve your problem without resetting everything.
In recent versions it is possible to revert from within MuseScore, providing that MuseScore itself is able to start.
Go to Help→Revert to Factory Settings. A warning dialog will appear:
Clicking Yes resets all MuseScore's settings as if the program was installed for the first time, and MuseScore will immediately restart. No will safely cancel the revert.
In older versions of MuseScore, or in later versions if they do not start, you must run this process via the command line.
Click Open to leave the Browse dialog and return to the Run dialog. The following text (or something similar) should display in the Run dialog
C:\Program Files\MuseScore 2\bin\MuseScore.exe
(actually %ProgramFiles%\MuseScore 2\bin\MuseScore.exe
)
For 64-bit Windows, the location is
C:\Program Files (x86)\MuseScore 2\bin\MuseScore.exe
(actually %ProgramFiles(x86)%\MuseScore 2\bin\MuseScore.exe
)
For the Windows Store version (Windows 10), it is pretty well hidden, search for it via Windows Explorer
Click after the quote and add a space followed by a hyphen and a capital F: -F
After a few seconds, MuseScore should start and all the settings reverted to "factory settings".
For advanced users, the main preference file is located at:
%APPDATA%\MuseScore\MuseScore2.ini
)The other preferences (palettes, session, shortcuts, workspaces...) are in:
%APPDATA%\MuseScore\MuseScore2\
)Windows XP or earlier: C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Local Settings\Application Data\MuseScore\MuseScore2\
For the Windows Store version (Windows 10), these are pretty well hidden, search for them via Windows Explorer
Type (or copy/paste) the following command into your terminal line (include the '/' at the front):
/Applications/MuseScore\ 2.app/Contents/MacOS/mscore -F
This resets all MuseScore preferences to factory settings and immediately launches the MuseScore application. Note that you cannot quit the Terminal without quitting MuseScore. You can safely quit MuseScore, quit the Terminal, and then reopen MuseScore in the normal fashion, ready to continue using.
For advanced users, the main MuseScore preference file is located at ~/Library/Preferences/org.musescore.MuseScore2.plist
.
The other preferences (palettes, session, shortcuts, workspaces...) are in ~/Library/Application\ Support/MuseScore/MuseScore2/
.
The following is true for Ubuntu, and most likely all other Linux distributions and UNIX-style operating systems.
Type, (or copy/paste) the following command into your terminal line (Ctrl+Shift+V to paste in Terminal):
mscore -F
Or, if you are using the AppImage version, you must first use the cd
command to change directory to wherever you saved the AppImage. For example, if you saved it to your Desktop:
cd ~/Desktop
./MuseScore*.AppImage -F
This resets all MuseScore preferences to factory settings and immediately launches the MuseScore application. You can now quit Terminal, and continue using MuseScore.
For advanced users, the main MuseScore preference file is located at ~/.config/MuseScore/MuseScore2.ini
.
The other preferences (palettes, session, shortcuts, workspaces...) are in ~/.local/share/data/MuseScore/MuseScore2/
.
The following software is known to crash MuseScore on startup:
MuseScore requires access to your internet connection with AVG. MuseScore doesn't need an internet connection to function, but if AVG blocks it, MuseScore hangs.
If AVG prompts you, Allow MuseScore and check "Save my answer as a permanent rule and do not ask me next time."
If it doesn't prompt you anymore,
MuseScore is known to display notes as square when some fonts are damaged on macOS.
To troubleshoot this issue:
In Bug in noteheads, a user believes to have found the font "Adobe Jenson Pro (ajenson)" to be the culprit, regardless of not being reported as broken, or problematic as per the above validation, and solved the problem by deleting that font, so this is worth checking too.
If the default desktop environment application font is set to bold, MuseScore will not display the notes properly.
To troubleshoot this issue (gnome 2.*/MATE users):
For GNOME 3/SHELL users
Some users reported that the Save As dialog is empty on Debian 6.0 and Lubuntu 10.10.
To troubleshoot this issue:
Type the following in a terminal
which mscore
The command will answer with the path of mscore. Edit it with your preferred text editor and add the following line at the beginning
export QT_NO_GLIB=1
Launch MuseScore and the problem should be solved.
Most keyboard shortcuts can be customized via the menu: select Edit→Preferences...→Shortcuts (Mac: MuseScore→Preferences...→Shortcuts). Below is a list of some of the initial shortcut settings.
Beginning of score: Home (Mac: Fn+←)
Last page of score: End (Mac: Fn+→)
Find (measure number, rehearsal mark, or pXX when XX is a page number): Ctrl+F (Mac: Cmd+F)
Next score: Ctrl+Tab
Previous score: Shift+Ctrl+Tab
Zoom in: Ctrl++ (doesn't work on some systems) (Mac: Cmd++); or Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) + scroll up
Zoom out: Ctrl+- (Mac: Cmd+-); or Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) + scroll down
Next page: Pg Dn; or Shift + scroll down (Mac: Fn+↓)
Previous page: Pg Up; or Shift + scroll up (Mac: Fn+↑)
Next measure: Ctrl+→ (Mac: Cmd+→)
Previous measure: Ctrl+← (Mac: Cmd+←)
Next note: →
Previous note: ←
Note below (within a chord or on lower staff): Alt+↓
Note above (within a chord or on higher staff): Alt+↑
Top note in chord: Ctrl+Alt+↑ (Ubuntu uses this shortcut for Workspaces instead)
Bottom note in chord: Ctrl+Alt+↓ (Ubuntu uses this shortcut for Workspaces instead)
Begin note input mode: N
Leave note input mode: N or Esc
1 ... 9 selects a duration. See also Note input.
Half duration of previous note: Q
Double duration of previous note: W
Decrease duration by one dot: (as of version 2.1) Shift+Q (e.g. a dotted quarter note becomes a quarter note; a quarter note becomes a dotted eighth note)
Increase duration by one dot : (as of version 2.1) Shift+W (e.g. an eighth note becomes a dotted eighth note; a dotted eighth note becomes a quarter note)
To select a voice in note input mode.
Voice 1: Ctrl+Alt+1 (Mac: Cmd+Option+1)
Voice 2: Ctrl+Alt+2 (Mac: Cmd+Option+2)
Voice 3: Ctrl+Alt+3 (Mac: Cmd+Option+3)
Voice 4: Ctrl+Alt+4 (Mac: Cmd+Option+4)
Pitches can be entered by their letter name (A-G), or via MIDI keyboard. See Note input for full details.
Repeat previous note or chord: R (the repeat can be of a different note value by selecting duration beforehand)
Repeat selection: R (The selection will be repeated from the first note position after the end of the selection)
Raise pitch by octave: Ctrl+↑ (Mac: Cmd+↑)
Lower pitch by octave: Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↓)
Raise pitch by semi-tone (prefer sharp): ↑
Lower pitch by semi-tone (prefer flat): ↓
Raise pitch diatonically: Alt+Shift+↑
Lower pitch diatonically: Alt+Shift+↓
Change enharmonic spelling in both written and concert pitch views: J
Change enharmonic spelling in current view only: Ctrl+J (Mac: Cmd+J)
Rest: 0 (zero)
Add interval above current note: Alt+[Number]
Flip direction (stem, slur, tie, tuplet bracket, etc.): X
Mirror note head: Shift+X
Increase stretch of measure(s): }
Decrease stretch of measure(s): {
Line break on selected barline: Return
Page break on selected barline: Ctrl+Return (Mac: Cmd+Return)
Adjust space above a staff (except the top staff) for the whole score: Press Shift, click on the staff and drag
Staccato: Shift+S
Tenuto: Shift+N
Sforzato (accent): Shift+V
Marcato: Shift+O
Grace note (acciaccatura): /
Crescendo: <
Decrescendo: >
Staff text: Ctrl+T (Mac:Cmd+T)
System text: Ctrl+Shift+T (Mac: Cmd+Shift+T)
Tempo text: Alt+T
Rehearsal Mark: Ctrl+M (Mac: Cmd+M)
Enter lyrics on a note: Ctrl+L (Mac: Cmd+L)
Previous lyric syllable: Shift+Space
Next lyric syllable: if the current and the next syllables are separated by a '-': -, else Space
Move lyric syllable left by 0.1sp: ←
Move lyric syllable right by 0.1sp: →
Move lyric syllable left by 1sp: Ctrl+← (Mac: Cmd+←)
Move lyric syllable right by 1sp: Ctrl+→ (Mac: Cmd+→)
Move lyric syllable left by 0.01sp: Alt+←
Move lyric syllable right by 0.01sp: Alt+→
Up to previous stanza: Ctrl+↑ (Mac: Cmd+↑)
Down to next stanza: Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↓)
For more lyric shortcuts, see Lyrics.
Navigator: F12 (Mac: fn+F12)
Play Panel: F11 (Mac: fn+F11)
Mixer: F10 (Mac: fn+F10)
Palette: F9 (Mac: fn+F9)
Inspector: F8 (Mac: fn+F8)
Piano Keyboard: P
Selection filter: F6
Display full screen: Ctrl+U
Toggle visibility on selected element(s): V
Show Instruments dialog: I
Toggle multi-measure rests on or off: M
While all members of the development team did their best to make the software easy to use and bug-free, there are some known issues and limitations in MuseScore 2.x.
The local time signature feature, which allows you to have different time signatures in different staves at the same time, is very limited. You can only add a local time signature to measures that are empty, and only if there are no linked parts. When adding notes to measures with local time signatures, you can enter notes normally via note input mode, but copy and paste does not work correctly and may lead to corruption or even crashes. The join and split commands are disabled for measures with local time signatures.
The Regroup Rhythms
command found under the Layout menu may have unintended side effects, including changing the spelling of pitches and deleting some elements like articulations, glissandos, tremolos, grace notes and, esp. on undo, ties. Use this tool with caution on limited selections, so that you can tell if any unwanted changes are made.
When entering multiple-note chords on a standard staff in a linked staff/tablature system, the notes should be entered in order from the top (first) string to the bottom string to ensure correct fret assignment.
This limitation does not apply if entering notes directly onto a tablature staff, or when using an unlinked staff/tablature system.
Changing settings in the mixer other than the sound doesn't mark the score 'dirty'. That means if you close a score you may not get the warning "Save changes to the score before closing?". Changing mixer values are also not undoable.
There is no way to edit Header and Footer in a WYSIWYG manner. The fields in Style → General → Header, Footer, Numbers are plain text. They can contain "HTML like" syntax, but the text style, layout, etc. can't be edited with a WYSIWYG editor.
You can launch MuseScore from the command line by typing
[options] and [filename] are optional. For this to work the MuseScore executable must be in %PATH%
(Windows) resp. $PATH
(Mac and Linux). If it is not, see Revert to factory settings for detailed instructions on how and where to find and execute the MuseScore executable from the command line on the various supported platforms.
The following options are available
The glossary is a work in progress—please help if you can. You can discuss this page in the documentation forum.
The list below is a glossary of frequently used terms in MuseScore as well as their meaning. The differences between American English and British English are marked with "(AE)" and "(BE)", respectively.
A curved line between two or more notes on the same pitch to indicate a single note of combined duration:
See also →slur.
The act of moving the pitches of one or more notes up or down by a constant interval. There may be several reasons for transposing a piece, for example: