Interleaved beam directions
How do I interleave beam directions in MuseScore 3? Every other note pair should attach to the upper beam and the intervening notes should attach to the lower beam . As in measures 31 through 36 in most solo guitar arrangements of the Prelude From Suite No. 1, BWV1007 for Cello, by Johann Sebastian Bach. I have searched the documentation and various YouTube videos, but cannot locate any information
Thank you
Kommentit
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/voices ?
You can double click a beam and drag it up and down if the notes are on the same staff as it sounds like in your case.
In reply to You can double click a beam… by mike320
I understand that I can flip an entire beam either up or down. That is not what I am requesting in the situation of the Bach Prelude. For example, I need to have the first and third note connected to the upper beam and the second and fourth note connected to the lower beam. Please note the cited example...
In reply to I understand that I can flip… by GeorgeHolbert
A source would be necessary and a sample score attached to your post would be best. Also I never said anything about flipping any stems. If there is room between the notes, like a F at the top of the staff and B in the middle of the staff you can double click the beam and drag it so it is between the notes. This is what it sounds like you asked for.
In reply to A source would be necessary… by mike320
Done, note measures 31 thru 36...
In reply to Done, note measures 31 thru… by GeorgeHolbert
Shoichi was right, you need voices. The stem up notes go in voice 1 and stem down in voice 2. You can put a beam on a rest so the notes on either side of it will be connected then make all of the extra rests invisible. Initially the invisible rests should look gray, if you don't want to see them use the menu View->Show invisible to hide them.
In reply to Shoichi was right, you need… by mike320
I created the MuseScore file from a MIDI output file which was created using voices (in Encore). Sadly, either the MIDI file or the input process to MuseScore dropped the voice information. I assume that I am going to have to erase the contents of those 6 measures and reenter the notes again in two voices with alternating rests in order to accomplish the interleaved beams? Would have been nice to select the affected measures and hit the Interleave Beams button and designate the 2 voices to be used... Thank you for your help!
In reply to I created the MuseScore file… by GeorgeHolbert
You can move the notes to voice 2 by selecting them and pressing ctrl+alt+2, the rests between them and some other rests will automatically appear. You can then fix the beaming.
In reply to You can move the notes to… by mike320
Outstanding, that is a nice feature and a real time saver! Thank you, again...!
In reply to You can move the notes to… by mike320
Ctrl+Alt+voice does separate the beams into alternating rests and notes with half the notes and rests designated as voice 2 However, I am unable to get the voice 1 notes to form a new beam (or the voice 2 notes to form a beam, either). I have tried selecting the notes using either the shift or control keys and pressing the beam palette buttons, also dragging and dropping the beam palette buttons onto the notes, but I am unable to get the beams to reform. I have also tried including the rests and leaving them out, niether way appears to work. It is beginning to look like the only way to do it is to start from scratch... :)
In reply to Ctrl+Alt+voice does separate… by GeorgeHolbert
Look at this (open in MuseScore):
Prelude_from_Suite_No.1_beams.mscz
follow instructions "Shift click..."
In reply to Look at this (open in… by Jm6stringer
Thank you, I will look at that...
In reply to Look at this (open in… by Jm6stringer
These instructions almost worked as I wanted. I wanted beams that included only pairs of 16th notes, as shown in the instructions, but MuseScore insisted on placing all of the voice 1 notes on the upper beam and all voice 2 notes on the lower beam (2 beams to one measure). This is much more readable than attaching all of the notes to just one beam, but including only 2 16th notes per beam would be better still, in my view... Again, though, thank everyone very much for their help...!
In reply to These instructions almost… by GeorgeHolbert
The instructions that almost worked are lacking. There is no need to do it from scratch, but it would work. Here are the step by step instructions.
In reply to The instructions that almost… by mike320
Sure glad you sent this along, because when I opened the score this morning the bottom beams had disappeared, reverting instead to a combination of 16th notes & rests. I put the affected measures back to a single voice and then followed the instructions. The good news is that I now have interlocked beams for maximum score legibility. However, I ran into a couple of glitches. My score tempo time signature is 4/4, not the 2/4 shown in the sample, so I had to click on the rest pattern twice to do an entire measure. Also, the final step of clicking on the invisible rests in one voice and hitting the up arrow twice to shrink the beam height did not work, so the interlocked beams are a little taller than I would like, but overall, I am very pleased with the results. This procedure does seem somewhat complex, I would probably have to look it up again if I ever ran into another musical situation like this. Perhaps, a future release of MuseScore could look at some simplification of the process...?
In reply to Sure glad you sent this… by GeorgeHolbert
To move the invisible rests you need to press the down arrow since they are too high causing the upward beams to be too tall. You need all of the rests under the beams to move down to allow the beams to move, otherwise you can just double click the beam and drag them, but if you copy and paste it would make beams not automatically adjust if they needed to.
The time signature isn't real important, it's the principle of how it works and you understood that.
As for the future, this was a rather common notation back in the baroque era. Version 3.6, which just had the beta release, is a start on simplifying common notations and improving MuseScores response. Perhaps one day this type of notation will be addressed.
In reply to To move the invisible rests… by mike320
I understand the need to move the rests in order to reduce the beam height. My difficulty is that regardless of whether I make the rests visible or invisible, pressing the down arrow any number of times does not move the rests at all. I tried holding the CTRL & ALT keys to see if that would work, but no luck.
In reply to I understand the need to… by GeorgeHolbert
It sounds like you're trying to move them all at once. You do have to move them one at a time with arrows. If you want to move several you can use the inspector and set the y offset to -2 to put them in the middle of the staff.
In reply to It sounds like you're trying… by mike320
That was my error, I was trying to move all the rests in a single measure at one time... This score really looks nice with this final step. Thank you for all of your help...!
In reply to That was my error, I was… by GeorgeHolbert
You're welcome. I learned this trick when I did Bach's Partita #1 several years ago.