ספר הדרכה זה תקף עבור MuseScore גרסה 4.0 ומעלה. אם אתם משתמשים בגרסה אחרת של התוכנה, אנא עיינו במדריך המתאים לגרסה שלך:
מדריך זה מתוחזק ומתורגם על ידי קהילת MuseScore. תרומות ועזרה בתרגומים יתקבלו בברכה! במקרה של ספק, נא עיינו בגרסה האנגלית של מדריך זה, או בקשו עזרה בפורום התמיכה.
אם אתם משדרגים מ-MuseScore 3, ייתכן שהעמודים הבאים יהיו שימושיים:
השתמשו בקישורי הפרקים שלהלן כדי לחקור את התוכן בכל פרק של ספר ההדרכה.
לחיפוש מידע:
site:musescore.org הנושא שלכם
, לדוגמה site:musescore.org tempo, אואם אינכם יכולים למצוא את המידע שאתם צריכים בספר הדרכה זה, אנא בקשו עזרה בפורום התמיכה או פורום התיעוד והתרגום בעברית.
השתמשו בקישור זה כדי לצפות ב גרסה ידידותית למדפסת של ספר הדרכה זה, ואז השתמשו באמצעי ההדפסה של דפדפן זה כדי להפוך את עמוד זה לPDF בשביל צפייה לא מקוונת
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אתם רוצים לתרום לספר ההדרכה של MuseScore 4 - מעולה! אנחנו כל כך שמחים שאתם כאן.
דף זה מכיל הנחיות קצרות שיעזרו לך להתחיל בכתיבת מאמרים. אנא קראו דף זה בעיון לפני עריכת דבר מה במדריך שלנו. מידע זה נועד לעזור, אך אם יש לך ספק לגבי משהו או יש לך שאלות כלשהן, אנא הצטרפו לדיון בפורום התיעוד או בפורום התיעוד והתרגום בעברית.
כל דף צריך להסביר נושא בודד בצורה מלאה פחות או יותר. אם התחושה היא שהדף מתארך מדי, נסו לפצל אותו לדפים נפרדים.
לא כל דף הוא זהה, אך שמירה על הדברים הבאים יכולה לעזור לך לבנות את תוכן הדף שלך בצורה קלה להבנה עבור הקוראים:
לפתוח את הדף שלך עם סקירה כללית יכול לעזור להצגת הנושא לפני הכניסה לפרטים. סקירות כלליות אינן זקוקות בדרך כלל לכותרת סקציה.
חשבו מה רוב המשתמשים ינסו להשיג, ולמה הם עשויים להגיע למדריך כדי לחפש מידע. שימו פתרונות למשימות הנפוצות ביותר בראש הדף; מידע שדרוש פחות יכול להיות בתחתית.
יש לדון במושגים קשורים יחדיו. זה עשוי לפעמים לדרוש דיון על תכונות בשימוש פחות נפוץ לצד תכונות נפוצות יותר, אבל זה בסדר.
לדוגמה, קטע על "יצירת סימני סולם מותאמים אישית" עדיף על קטע שנקרא "שימוש בלוח כלים הראשי".
אנא הקפידו להפעיל את האפשרות "הפקת תוכן עניינים" עבור כל דפי ספר ההדרכה.
במאמץ להבטיח עקביות של סגנון עבור דפים שנכתבו ע"י הקהילה, כבר סיפקנו כותרות בדפים רבים. אנא ארגנו את התוכן שלך בתוך המבנה הזה. עבור דפים חסרי כותרות, אל תהססו ליצור כותרת משלך בסגנון דומה לזה שמשתמשים בו במקומות אחרים.
מטעמי נגישות, חובה שכותרות אף פעם לא יהיו מעוצבות כטקסט מודגש רגיל. יש לעצב את כל הכותרות כתגיות עם משמעות סמנטית.
כל הדפים מתחילים כברירת מחדל בכותרת 1. לכן כותרת הסעיף הראשונה שתזין תהיה תמיד כותרת 2. אין לדלג על רמות כותרת (למשל, ע"י הוספת כותרת 4 לאחר כותרת 2).
רמת כותרת | תחביר שימוש ותחביר MarkDown |
---|---|
כותרת 1 | ברירת מחדל עבור כל כותרות הדף (לא ניתן לעריכה על ידי תורמים) |
כותרת 2 | השתמשו לתחילת כל קטע. סימן: ## שם כותרת |
כותרת 3 | השתמשו לתחילתו של כל תת-סעיף, ולהציג הוראות שלב בודדות (כלומר כאשר אין צורך ברשימה). סימן: ### שם כותרת |
כותרת 4 | השתמשו אם נדרשים תת-סעיפים נוספים. סימן: #### שם כותרת |
לבסוף, נסו תמיד להתחיל את הכותרות שלך עם שם פעולה. למשל. "הוספת סימן משקל", במקום "סימני משקל"
ספר ההדרכה של MuseScore מכיל באופן כללי שני סוגים עיקריים של מידע: חומר תיאורי והוראות מכוונות מטרה.
הוא משמש כדי להסביר אזורים שונים של התוכנה. לדוגמה,
לוח כלים הוא תיקייה המכילה סמלים מוזיקליים שניתן להחיל על התווים. לוחות הכלים של ברירת המחדל של MuseScore מכילים אוספים של סמלים קשורים, אבל ניתן להתאים אישית לוחות כלים כדי להציג כמעט כל סוג של סמל, קו או טקסט.
חומר תיאורי נוטה להיות ארוך יותר ו"מבוסס" יותר מהוראות מכוונות מטרה, אך אנו עדיין מבקשים ממך להשתמש בשפה פשוטה וברורה בכל מקום שאפשר.
אלה מסבירים כיצד לבצע משימה ספציפית. ההוראות צריכות להיות קצרות וישירות ככל האפשר, בדרך כלל בצורת רשימה ממוספרת. לדוגמה,
כדי ליצור לוח כלים חדש
שימו לב שאנו משתמשים בטקסט מודגש עבור רכיבים בעלי שם של ממשק המשתמש (UI), כולל תפריטים. קיצורי מקשים, כגון Ctrl+S, מוצגים עם תגי <kbd> (ראו תחביר).
בעת כתיבת הוראות ממוקדות מטרה, בבקשה:
לדוגמה, במקום לכתוב את זה:
כתבו את זה:
אנא הקפידו לכלול קיצורי מקשים עבור הוראות מכוונות מטרה, כאשר אפשרויות זאת קיימת. זה חשוב במיוחד לשיפור הנגישות של התוכנה.
אנו מעודדים את השימוש במדיה שאינה כתובה כהשלמה לתיאורים כתובים. זה כולל:
קובצי GIF מונפשים מציעים יתרונות רבים על פני צילומי מסך וסרטונים בכך שהם חושפים בפרק הזמן הקצר ביותר את רצף הפעולות הנדרשות להשגת משימה מסוימת. ישנם המון כלים זמינים ליצירת קובצי GIF, אולם אנו ממליצים על מהלך העבודה הבא כדי להבטיח איכות תמונה חדה וברורה תוך שמירה על גודל קובץ קטן ככל האפשר (באופן אידיאלי <2MB לכל GIF).
קישור לדפים אחרים בספר ההדרכה זה מאוד מועיל. ניתן לעשות זאת בכל מקום שבו מציינים חלק אחר של ממשק המשתמש, או אפילו כאשר מפנים חזרה לגרסאות קודמות של המדריך.
ישנו תהליך ספציפי להוספת קישורים לדפי מדריך אחרים, שיאפשרו הפניות מדויקות ללא קשר לגרסת השפה הנקראת.
[node:######,title="שם הדף שאליו ברצונך לקשר"]
או, כדי לקשר לכותרת ספציפית בתוך הדף:
[node:######,fragment="כותרת ספציפית",title="שם הדף שאליו ברצונך לקשר"]
כדי למצוא את מספר הצומת של הדף:
ניתן למצוא את מספר הצומת של הדף בכתובת ה-URL הנראית במסך העריכה הזה (כן, הוא מופיע רק במסך העריכה). זה ייראה בערך כך:
אתה יכול להשתמש בזה בתור סימניה בסימניות שלך
javascript:void function() {prompt("",`[node:${drupalSettings.path.currentPath.replace("node/","")}${document.querySelector("meta[property=\"og:title\"]").content?`,title="${document.querySelector("meta[property=\"og:title\"]").content}"`:""}${window.location.hash? `,fragment="${decodeURIComponent(window.location.hash).replace("#","")}"`:""}]`)}();
נלקח מתוך צומת, כותרת, סימניה של קטע
המדריך כתוב ב-MarkDown עם כמה תגי HTML מותרים.
אם אינכם מתמצאים בMarkDown, זה לא לוקח הרבה זמן ללמוד. ניתן להתחיל על ידי קריאת דף זה תחילה (דרוש חשבון MuseScore כדי להציג כראוי את התוכן בדף זה, כמו כן, שימו לב שאינך יכול להשתמש יותר ב-HTML מסונן).
כמה דוגמאות לדברים מעבר ל-MarkDown:
<kbd><kbd>A</kbd></kbd>
, נראה כמו A. (ראה כתיבת קיצורי מקשים למטה.)<kbd><kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>A</kbd></kbd>
, נראה כמו Shift+ A. (ראה כתיבת קיצורי מקשים למטה.)<kbd><samp class="button">מאפייני סגנון מתקדמים...</samp></kbd>
, נראה כמו מאפייני סגנון מתקדמים...< /samp>, אך הצורה הספציפית הזו אינה בשימוש במדריך MuseScore 4 (במקום זאת השתמש ב-מודגש עבור טקסט המופיע בתוכנה).__File→Open__
, נראה כמו File→Open<img src="image URL" alt="קובץ שם תיאור" width="500px"/>
, יכול להיות חלופה שימושית לתמונות מוטבעות, שבהן יש לציין את רוחב התמונההשתמשו ב-<kbd> תחביר שתואר לעיל ופעל לפי ההנחיות הבאות:
מטעמי נגישות, השתמשו תמיד במילים במקום בסמלים עבור השמות של כל מקשי הרווח הלבן, מקשי החצים ומקשי השינוי.
טוֹב: Cmd+Space; Win+Return; Shift+Tab
לא טוב: ⌘+ ; ⊞+⏎; ⇧+↹
עבור מפתחות המייצגים תווים הניתנים להדפסה, יש להשתמש בתו המתאים (לדוגמה, כתוב $ לא Dollar).
השתמשו בקיצורים נפוצים כמו Ctrl, Cmd, Esc, Del, PgDn. אין לקצר שמות מפתח שאינם מקוצרים בדרך כלל.
אלא איפה שזה חשוב, העדיפו Return במקום Enter, ו Del במקום Backspace.
עבור שילובים, כתבו את מקשי השינוי בסדר הזה: Win+Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Fn+… (Mac: Ctrl+Cmd+Option+Shift+Fn+…).
כאשר אתם בספק, התייעצו עם ברירת המחדל של מקשי קיצור עבור הדרך הטובה לכתיבת שמות וצירופי מקשים.
לבסוף, בכל פעם שתבצעו שינוי בדף (גדול או קטן ככל שיהיה!), אנא השאירו הודעה תמציתית המתארת בקצרה את השינויים שביצעת. לדוגמה,
השאירו מידע זה בשדה הטקסט הודעת יומן עדכון בחלונית הימנית של תצוגת עריכה עבור כל עמוד:
הדרך הקלה ביותר להתקין את התוכנית היא באמצעות AppImage:
למרות שהקובץ יפעל כעת כפי שהוא (על ידי לחיצה כפולה עליו וכו'), עליך להתקין אותו במלואו על מנת להבטיח שיוך קבצים נכונים ולהוסיף את התוכנה לתפריט.
לחלופין, אתה יכול להשתמש בנתיב הקובץ המוחלט של AppImage במקום זאת, באופן הבא:
טיפ: אם תעתיק את ה-AppImage ותלחץ על Ctrl+Shift+V בטרמינל, זה יזין את של הקובץ שזה עתה "הועתק".
אין צורך בהליך הסרה רשמי כדי להסיר את AppImage המותקן. פשוט מחק את ערכי התפריט וכל קיצורי דרך באופן ידני, ואז מחק את האפליקציה עצמה ואת הקישורים שלה (שיהיו ב-~/.local/bin).
נתחיל ביצירת תווים חדשים מתבנית (לחלופין, תוכל ללמוד על יצירת תווים מאפס בבניית הפרטיטורה שלך).
כדי ליצור פרטיטורה מתבנית:
במסך מידע נוסף על יצירה ניתן לקבוע
הדרך הכי פשוטה להזין תווים ב-MuseScore היא:
אתם כעת כותבים תווים ב-MuseScore! וודאי תשימו לב לסימן הכחול של מצב הכנסת תווים, שמסמן שאתם כעת נמצאים במצב הכנסת תווים. הוא מראה לכם איפה התו הבא שלכם יוזן בתוך התיבה
ניתן לקבוע משך של כל תו שאתם מזינים בסרגל הכלים. כדי לשנות משך תו:
ניתן ללמוד עוד על נושא זה בהזנת תווים והפסקות.
לשונית לוחות כלים מכילה כמעט כל פריט של כתיבת תווים שתרצו להוסיף לפרטיטורה שלכם. הדרך הכי פשוטה להוסיף רכיבים מלוחות הכלים לתווים שלכם היא להלן:
ניתן ללמוד עוד על נושא זה בלוחות כלים
ניתן לחשוף את לוח המאפיינים באמצעות לחיצה על לשונית המאפיינים בצד השמאלי של המסך:
(משתמשים של גרסאות קודמות של MuseScore יכירו חלון זה בשם "הפקח"/"the Inspector").
לוח ה"מאפיינים" יציג הגדרות ספציפיות לרכיב שנבחר. ההגדרות הללו בדרך כלל ישפיעו על הנראות של הרכיב הנבחר. בדרך כלל, שינויים במאפיינים ישפיעו רק על הרכיב שאותו בחרתם (למשל, תשנו את סימן הקרשנדו > הנבחר, ולא כל סימן קרשנדו/דימינואנדו בפרטיטורה)
תוך כדי שאתם מוסיפים פרטים לפרטיטורה שלכם, לחצו על כל רכיב כדי לראות אילו הגדרות זמינות לו
ניתן ללמוד עוד על נושא זה במאפיינים.
כדי להכניס תיבה יחידה:
מקטע התיבה הזה מכיל בקרות המאפשרות לכם להכניס מספר תיבות בבת אחת. פשוט בחרו את מספר התיבות שברצונכם להכניס בתיבת הטקסט. ניתן גם להשתמש בתפריט הנפתח ליד תיבת הטקסט כדי לשנות את המיקום בו התיבות החדשות יוכנסו.
כדי למחוק תיבה או מספר תיבות:
ניתן למצוא עוד מידע על הנושא בתיבות.
ייצוא מאפשר לכם להמיר את הפרטיטורה לפורמט קובץ שונה מקובץ Musescore כגון: PDF, MusicXML, MIDI, ופורמטי תמונה ושמע שונים.
כדי לייצא את הפרטיטורה שלכם:
ניתן גם לשתף קבצים אונליין בmusescore.com.
ניתן לשמור פרטיטורות באופן מקומי או באחסון הענן של MuseScore
כדי לשמור את הפרטיטורה:
תיבת דו-שיח תיפתח ותשאל אתכם “איך ברצונכם לשמור?”, ותציע לכם את האפשרויות "לשמור בענן" או "לשמור במחשב"
אפשרות הלשמור במחשב מפעילה את תיבת הדו-שיח של ה"שמירה" של מערכת ההפעלה שלכם ,מה שמאפשר לכם לשמור את הפרטיטורה כקובץ MuseScore (דחוס), .mscz.
פרטיטורות שנשמרו אונליין (בענן) מופיעות בלשונית ה בית: פרטיטורות עם סימן של ענן בפינת סמל הקובץ. בנוסף לכך, נשמר עותק במחשב באופן אוטומטי בתיקיית "פרטיטורות ענן" (Cloud Scores) בתיקייה בשם "MuseScore 4"
ניתן ללמוד עוד על נושא זה בפתיחת ושמירת פרטיטורות.
אם אתה מגיע ל-MuseScore 4 מגרסאות קודמות, תבחין בשינויים לא רק בממשק המשתמש, אלא גם בתכונות מוכרות רבות ובדרכים לעשות דברים. שינויים אלה נועדו לשפר את חוויית המשתמש תוך מתן פונקציונליות רבה יותר. הנה סקירה מהירה מאוד של כמה מהשינויים העיקריים.
MuseScore 4 מגיע עם ממשק חדש ומלוטש. כמעט כל חלק באפליקציה עוצב מחדש לחלוטין כדי שיהיה נקי וקל יותר לקריאה. אתה יכול לבחור בין ערכות נושא בהירות, כהות וניגודיות גבוהה, כמו גם לבחור את הצבע המועדף עליך. ניתן לבצע שינויים במראה האפליקציה בהעדפות.
לוח כלים חדש מאפשר לך להסתיר, לארגן מחדש ולהתאים אישית את הכלים שלך מבלי שתצטרך לצאת מתצוגת התווים.
לוח הכלים משתלב באופן הדוק עם תהליך יצירת התפקידים, מה שהופך את זה הרבה יותר קל לייצר תפקידים מותאמים אישית עם כל שילוב של כלים זמינים. כעת יש גם כפתור נוח בסרגל הכלים המאפשר לך לפתוח במהירות כל תפקיד זמין.
הפקח מגרסאות קודמות של MuseScore ידוע כעת בשם פאנל המאפיינים. כל אפשרות בפאנל הזה אורגנה מחדש והחוויה כולה עברה ייעול. כברירת מחדל, חלונית המאפיינים מציגה אפשרויות שימושיות מרובות, כמו היכולת להציג או להסתיר קווים ריקים וסוגים שונים אחרים של סימוני תווים. בעוד שבעבר היית צריך לבחור סוגי אלמנטים בודדים לפני שתוכל לבצע בהם שינויים, MuseScore 4 תמיד מציג הגדרות רלוונטיות, ללא קשר למספר האלמנטים השונים שבחרת.
שיפורי הפלייבק הם השינוי הגדול ביותר ב-MuseScore 4. מלבד ספריות דוגמאות חדשות (Muse Sounds, זמינה כהורדה נפרדת), יש כעת תמיכה בתוספי VSTi, שניתן להחיל על כלים באמצעות פאנל המיקסר החדש. המיקסר גם מאפשר לך לעבור בקלות בין VSTi, גופני תווים וספריות Muse Sounds , תוך תמיכה באפקטים של VST. צלילים יישמרו כעת תמיד על בסיס תווים, כך שאין עוד צורך בפאנל הסינתיסייזר שנמצא ב-MuseScore 3 (זה הוסר ב-MuseScore 4). אם השתמשת בעבר בקובצי SFZ להפעלה ב-MuseScore 3, אנו ממליצים כעת להשתמש בדגימת VST בחינם, כמו Sfizz או Sforzando, שניהם תומכים בהשמעת SFZ.
MuseScore 4 כולל שיפורים רבים בתחריט, שלחלקם תהיה השפעה על המראה והפריסה של תווים שנוצרו בגרסאות קודמות. השינויים המשמעותיים ביותר משפיעים על המיקום של קורות, קשתות וקשתות מאריכות, מרווח אופקי ופריסה של עמודים. יש הרבה יותר מדי שינויים מכדי לפרט כאן, אז מי שמעוניין ללמוד עוד על הפרטים המיוחדים, עשוי לרצות לקרוא את מסמך ייעודי זה (קישור בקרוב) שמסביר וממחיש הכל בפירוט.
תוצאה בלתי נמנעת של ביצוע שיפורים כה משמעותיים בתחריט היא שלא ניתן יהיה לפתוח תווים ב-MuseScore 4 מגרסה קודמת של MuseScore ושיראה זהה.
כשתשמור מסמך בפעם הראשונה, תישאל האם ברצונך לשמור את הקובץ שלך באופן מקומי במחשב שלך, או בענן. אפשרות חדשה זו היא חלק מהרחבה מרגשת שאנו עושים לשירותים באתר musescore.com. למד עוד על כך בפתח/שמור/יצא/הדפס ושתף תווים באינטרנט.
כשאתה משתמש בתוכנה, תמצא עוד המון שינויים קטנים אך משמעותיים שתוכננו כדי להפוך את תהליך ההלחנה ורישום המוזיקה לקל במעט. אלו כוללים:
MuseScore 4 תומך בקוראי המסך הבאים בכל מערכת הפעלה:
דיבור עובד בעיקר עם JAWS, אבל הפלט אינו מושלם כפי שהוא עם Narrator או NVDA.
אם פלט דיבור של קורא מסך מפסיק לעבוד עבורך בכל עת, נסה ללחוץ Alt+F כדי למקד את תפריט הקובץ, ולאחר מכן לחץ על Esc פעמיים כדי לחזור למקום שבו היית באפליקציה, ובשלב זה הדיבור אמור לעבוד שוב כרגיל. זה יכול להיות נחוץ לעשות זאת אם אתה מפעיל את קורא המסך לאחר ש-MuseScore כבר פועל, למשל.
יש לכבות את מצב הניווט המהיר של VoiceOver בזמן השימוש ב-MuseScore 4. אתה יכול להפעיל או לכבות את הניווט המהיר על ידי לחיצה על מקשי החיצים שמאל וימין בו-זמנית בזמן ש-VoiceOver פועל, או שאתה יכול להשבית את הניווט המהיר מתוך כלי השירות VoiceOver > Commanders.
ניתן לנווט בממשק של MuseScore עם סמן הכרטיסיות ועם הסמן של VoiceOver עצמו. באופן כללי עדיף להשתמש בסמן הכרטיסיות מכיוון שהוא תואם את הממשק בפלטפורמות אחרות, וככזה הוא הממשק המתואר ברוב התיעוד וההדרכות. ניתן להשתמש בסמן של VoiceOver כדי להגיע לאזורים באפליקציה שעדיין אינם נגישים באמצעות סמן הכרטיסייה. בעת שימוש בסמן הכרטיסייה, זכור להשתמש גם במקשי החיצים Tab עבור ניווט (ראה ניווט בממשק המשתמש).
ב-Linux יש צורך להפעיל את קורא המסך לפני שתפעיל את MuseScore, אחרת תכונות הנגישות יושבתו כדי לחסוך במשאבי מערכת. אם תשכח לעשות זאת, פשוט צא מ-MuseScore והפעל אותו שוב. הדבר נכון לגבי כל יישומי Linux הבנויים על מסגרת Qt.
Orca הוא קורא המסך המלא ביותר הזמין עבור לינוקס. Orca מובנית בסביבת שולחן העבודה של GNOME, לכן מומלץ למשתמשי Linux עם צרכי נגישות להשתמש בהפצה המבוססת על GNOME או על אחת מהנגזרות שלו.
ניווט מקלדת בממשק המשתמש (UI) של MuseScore 4 מסתמך על מקשי החיצים בנוסף למקש ה-Tab. הקש על מקש ה-Tab כדי לעבור בין כל קבוצת בקרה, ולאחר מכן השתמש במקשי החיצים כדי לנווט לפקדים בודדים בתוך הקבוצה. מערכת ניווט חדשה זו מאפשרת לך לנווט לכל מקום בממשק עם הרבה פחות לחיצות מקשים מאשר אם מקש ה-Tab משמש לגישה לכל פקד בודד, כפי שקורה בדרך כלל ביישומים אחרים, כולל גרסאות קודמות של MuseScore. מערכת הניווט החדשה עדיין בשיפור, ומשוב יתקבל בברכה בפורום הפיתוח.
בנוסף למקשי החיצים והכרטיסייה, יש קיצור דרך חדש F6 שיעביר אותך בין פאנלים שונים בתוכנית. הנה איך קיצורי הניווט עובדים יחד כדי ליצור מערכת ניווט היררכית:
מקשי החיצים למעלה, למטה, שמאל וימין: העבר את המיקוד מפקד אחד למשנהו בתוך קבוצת בקרה (למשל, נווט בין לחצנים בסרגל כלים).
Tab וShift+Tab: העבר את המיקוד מקבוצת בקרה אחת לקבוצה הבאה (למשל, נווט בין סרגלי כלים).
F6 וShift+F6: העבר את המיקוד בין לוחות וחלקים גדולים של ממשק המשתמש (למשל, נווט מסרגלי כלים לתצוגת לוחות הצבעים או התווים).
כברירת מחדל, מקש ההדגשה הרציני ` (המכונה לפעמים "backtick") יכול לשמש כחלופה לF6 לניווט בין לוחות. מקש ההדגשה הרציני נמצא מעל Tab ברוב מקלדות ה-QWERTY. אם זה לא קיים במקלדת שלך, שקול לשנות את קיצור הדרך הזה בהעדפות כדי להגדיר אותו למקש שמעל Tab במקלדת שלך, מכיוון שזה יכול להיות נוח שמקשי הניווט ממוקמים קרוב זה לזה.
לאחר שניווטת ללחצן או פקד, ברוב המקרים ניתן להפעיל אותו על ידי לחיצה על מקש הרווח, Enter או Return. בתוך רשימות ותצוגות פריטים אחרות, מקש הרווח משמש לעתים קרובות לבחירת פריטים במקום להפעלתם. לאחר הבחירה, ניתן למחוק פריטים מסוימים על ידי לחיצה על Delete, או על ידי לחיצה על פקדי ממשק משתמש אחרים שנעשים פעילים ברגע שמשהו נבחר. לדוגמה, ניתן להשתמש בגישה זו בתוך חלונית הכלים כדי להסיר כלים שהוספת בעבר לתווים.
הניווט בתוך התווים (כלומר בתוך "תצוגת התווים") זהה במידה רבה לזה שהיה ב-MuseScore 3. להלן קיצורי הדרך בעלי ערך מיוחד למשתמשי נגישות:
קיצור | פעולה |
---|---|
Alt+ימין וAlt+שמאל | עבור לאלמנט הבא או הקודם. קיצורי דרך אלה מאפשרים לך לבקר בכל מיני רכיבי תווים, לא רק תווים והפסקות. |
Alt+למעלה וAlt+למטה | מעבר לצליל מעל או מתחת. קיצורי דרך אלו מאפשרים לנוע בין תווים בודדים באקורד, וגם להגיע לתווים והפסקות בקולות אחרים וחמשות אחרות. |
F2 או Alt+Shift+E | ערוך את האלמנט שנבחר. זוהי המקבילה למקלדת של לחיצה כפולה על רכיב עם העכבר. זה מאפשר לך לערוך אובייקטי טקסט, כולל מילים, דינמיקה וסימוני טמפו. זה גם מאפשר לך להתאים את אורך רכיבי הקו כגון קרשנדו, קשת ווולטה (השתמש בTab כדי לשנות את קצה השורה שאתה מכוון). כשתסיים לערוך, לחץ על Esc כדי לחזור למצב הרגיל. |
היבטים אחרים של ניווט במקלדת מתוארים בדפים לאורך מדריך זה.
מדריכי הנגישות הבאים נועדו לתת לך דחיפה קדימה בניצול של MuseScore, באמצעות המקלדת וקורא המסך שלך. הם לא מכסים כל היבט של התוכנה, אבל הם אמורים לתת לך בסיס שיאפשר לך לנצל את מלוא היתרונות של שאר המדריך הזה.
סרטון | תיאור |
---|---|
התקנת MuseScore | סרטון זה מכסה את ההתקנה של MuseScore on Windows, כולל Muse Hub ו-Muse Sounds. התהליך דומה ב-macOS ו-Linux, למרות שב-Linux אתה צריך להתקין את Muse Hub ו-MuseScore בנפרד. |
הגדרות תווים | סרטון זה מכסה את ההגדרה הראשונית של התווים שלך, כולל בחירת כלי נגינה, בחירת המפתח, חתימת הזמן והגדרות נוספות. |
נכנסים למוזיקה | סרטון זה מכסה קלט תווים בסיסי. |
הוספת סימנים | סרטון זה עוסק בהוספת סימנים כגון דינמיקה לתווים שלך, על ידי שימוש בפלטות. |
ממשק המשתמש | סרטון זה עובר בחלון הראשי של התוכנית, כך שתוכל להבין היכן נמצאים כל הפאנלים, סרגלי הכלים והפקדים השונים וכיצד להגיע אליהם באמצעות המקלדת. |
שורת התפריטים ב-MuseScore 4 מכילה את התפריטים הבאים:
משתמשי מקלדת ב-Windows ו-Linux יכולים לגשת לתפריטים אלה על ידי החזקת המקש Alt ולחיצה על מקש אות או מספר מסוים, המכונה מקש גישה נמונית, המוצג עם קו תחתון בשם פריט התפריט שאתה מחפש. לדוגמה, הקש Alt+F עבור קובץ ואחריו Alt+A עבור שמירה בשם. האותיות 'F' ו'a' מסומנות בקו תחתון בממשק המשתמש בעוד מקש הAlt מוחזק.
ב-macOS, התפריטים של MuseScore הם חלק משורת התפריטים בכל המערכת, שאליו תוכל לנווט על ידי לחיצת Ctrl+F2.
מתחת לתפריט הראשי יש שלוש לשוניות, הראשונה שבהן היא לשונית בית. כרטיסייה זו מכילה את הסעיפים הבאים:
צור חשבון MuseScore חדש, או היכנס לחשבון הקיים שלך. עם חשבון פעיל, אתה יכול לקבל סיוע טכני ולדווח על באגים בפורומים בכתובת musescore.org. אתה יכול גם לשמור את הקבצים שלך על הענן בmusescore.com.
סעיף זה מאפשר לך ליצור פרטיטורות חדשות, או לפתוח קבצים קיימים. למד על יצירת תווים חדשים בהגדרת התווים שלך.
חלון זה מציג רשימה של תוספים זמינים. ראה את הפרק על תוספים כדי ללמוד על ניהול התוספים השימושיים הללו.
זה המקום שבו נמצאים מדריכי הוידאו. לחיצה על סרטון הדרכה כלשהו פותחת אותו בערוץ YouTube הרשמי של MuseScore.
זה המקום שבו אתה עושה את רוב העבודה שלך ב-MuseScore, כולל הוספת תווי מוזיקה והאזנה לתווים שלך. סביבת העבודה מורכבת ממספר אזורים (ממוספרים לפי תוויות בתרשים שלהלן):
משתמשי מקלדת יכולים להשתמש במקש Tab או F6 כדי לנווט בין אזורי ממשק משתמש אלה באמצעות המקלדת. בתוך כל אזור, הניווט מתבצע באמצעות מקשי החיצים וTab.
כמעט לכל הפאנלים וסרגלי הכלים ניתן לבטל את העגינה ולמקם מחדש בהתאם לדרישות הפרויקט והעדפות זרימת העבודה שלך. למידע נוסף על כך בסביבת עבודה.
כרטיסייה זו מאפשרת לך להציג את התווים שלך ללא העומס של סרגל הכלים להזנת תווים או סרגל הצד. ישנן אפשרויות להדפיס את התווים, ולייצא אותם במגוון פורמטים של תמונות, אודיו ומסמכים. כאשר התווים שלך גמורים, אתה יכול גם לפרסם אותם בmusescore.com.
בחלקים מסוימים של האפליקציה, בעיקר בלשונית הפרטיטורה, תפריטי הקשר זמינים עם פונקציונליות נוספת, כגון אפשרויות להעתיק, לערוך, להתאים אישית, למחוק או להציג את המאפיינים של כל הפריט/ים שנבחרו בזמן שפתחתם את התפריט.
בתוך הפרטיטורה, לכל רכיב יש תפריט הקשר. כדי לפתוח את תפריט ההקשר של אלמנט מסוים, לחץ לחיצה ימנית על האלמנט עם העכבר, או בחר את האלמנט באמצעות המקלדת ולחץ על Shift+F10 (לחלק מהמחשבים למקלדות יש גם מקש ייעודי Menu מקש ליד Ctrl הימני). האפשרויות המדויקות הזמינות בתפריט ההקשר עשויות להשתנות בהתאם לסוג האלמנט שבחרת, לכן כדאי להתנסות כדי לגלות אילו אפשרויות זמינות עבור סוגים שונים של אלמנטים. לדוגמה, כאשר אתה לוחץ לחיצה ימנית על אזור ריק בתוך מידה, תפריט ההקשר המתקבל מכיל אפשרויות עבור מאפייני צוות/חלק ומאפייני מדידה. זו כרגע הדרך היחידה להגיע לאפשרויות האלה ולדיאלוגים שהם מובילים אליהם.
מחוץ לתווים, נוכחותו של תפריט הקשר מסומן לעתים קרובות על ידי כפתור קטן עם שלוש נקודות, או על ידי גלגל שיניים של הגדרות. לחץ על הכפתור כדי לפתוח את התפריט. לפעמים הכפתור משויך לפריט אחר בסביבה, כגון ב פלטות, כאשר יש כפתור שלוש נקודות עבור כל לוח. במקרה זה אתה יכול ללחוץ לחיצה ימנית על שם הפלטה, או לבחור בו באמצעות המקלדת וללחוץ על קיצור הדרך Shift+F10 או Menu, כחלופה לשימוש בלחצן שלוש הנקודות.
פסי גלילה מופיעים בחלק הימני והתחתון של המסך. לחץ וגרור אותם על מנת לזוז בתצוגת פרטיטורה מעלה או מטה, ימינה ושמאלה. פסי הגלילה בדרך כלל חבויים אך ניתן להציג אותם על ידי הצבעה על קצות המסך באמצעות העכבר.
ניתן גם לגלול את הפרטיטורה באמצעות מקשי PgUp, PgDn, Home, ו-End במקלדת. אם במקלדת שלך אין מקשים כאלו, רוב מערכות ההפעלה יאפשרו לך לגשת לפעולות אלו גם באמצעות Fn או כפתור דומה, יחד עם למעלה, למטה, ימינה, או שמאלה בהתאמה.
By themselves, PgUp and PgDn scroll one screenful at a time. This may be less than an actual page of your score. If you hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while pressing PgUp or PgDn, it moves a full page at a time.
When a single element is selected in your score, it acts as a cursor. You can change the selection—and thus move the cursor—using common keyboard shortcuts.
The Left and Right keys will move horizontally through your score one note or rest at a time. If you hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while pressing Left or Right, you can navigate a full measure at a time.
To move the cursor vertically through the various notes, voices, and staves in your score, use the shortcuts Alt+Up and Alt+Down (Mac: Option+Up and Option+Down).
You can also use the shortcuts Alt+Left and Alt+Right (Mac: Option+Left and Option+Right) to select elements other than notes or rests. These commands allow you select almost any elements—including articulations, barlines, hairpins, and more—using the keyboard alone.
In addition, Ctrl+Home (Mac: Cmd+Home) will select the first element in your score, and Ctrl+End (Mac: Cmd+End) will select the last element. Again, for keyboards that lack dedicated Home and End keys, most systems provide the alternative of Fn+Left and Fn+Right respectively.
See Default keyboard shortcuts to learn more.
The Navigator is a panel that displays thumbnails of score pages. To view or hide the Navigator, click View → Navigator.
The blue bounding box represents the area of the score currently in focus in the score view. Click on the box and drag it to move around your score.
A navigation aid that shows instruments and score structure. For details, see Timeline.
You can switch between different views of the score using the pop-up in the right-hand side of the status bar.
The score is shown 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. In addition, you can apply your own system (line), page or section breaks.
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.
The score is shown as a single page with a header but no margins, and with an infinite page height. System (line) breaks are added automatically, according to the settings made in Page settings and Style. In addition, you can apply your own system (line) or section breaks.
There are several ways to zoom the score in or out:
Ctrl++ (Mac: Cmd++)
or scroll up with the mouse scroll wheel while holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd).
Ctrl+- (Mac: Cmd+-)
or scroll down with the mouse scroll wheel while holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd).
To zoom in and out of your score from the Status bar controls:
This restores the zoom to the default (100%) level.
Ctrl+0 (Mac: Cmd+0)
The Find/Go to panel allows you to speedily navigate to a specific measure, rehearsal mark or page number in the score.
To show the panel:
To hide the panel:
Enter the measure number (counting every measure, starting with 1, irrespective of pickup measures, section breaks or manual changes to measure number offsets).
Enter the page number using the format pXX (where XX is the page number).
Enter the number using the format rXX (where XX is the number of the rehearsal mark).
Enter the name of the rehearsal mark (the search is not case sensitive).
Pro tip! 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.
Timeline is a navigation aid that displays at the bottom of the program window, giving you an overview of the instruments and main structural elements measure-by-measure. You can easily move about the score by clicking on a measure or a structural element.
There are four parts to the timeline:
This is found in the top left corner of the timeline. These are the names of the meta rows.
This is found in the bottom left corner of the timeline. These are the names of the rows in the main grid.
This is found in the top right corner of the timeline. These hold the meta values of the score.
This is found in the bottom right corner of the timeline. This holds multiple 'cells' (a specific measure and staff in the score represented as a square)
Meta elements are those found in the score that are not notes, but are still important to the score—such as key signature, time signature, tempo, rehearsal marks, bar lines, and jumps and markers.
To select a measure in the timeline, press the mouse button on the cell. A blue box will appear around the selected cell and the respective measure in the score will be selected. The score view will place the selected measure in view.
Holding Shift and holding the left mouse button and dragging the mouse over the main grid will create a selection box. Upon releasing the mouse button, all the cells underneath the selection box will be selected, as well as all the measures in the score.
If a cell is already selected, holding Shift and selecting another cell in the timeline will stretch the selection to that new cell, similar to how the score does
If no cells are currently selected, holding Ctrl and selecting a cell will select the entire measure
To clear selection, holding Ctrl and clicking anywhere on the grid or the meta rows will clear any current selection.
Selecting the meta values on the timeline will attempt to select the respective meta values in the score.
Scrolling the mouse wheel up or down will move the grid and instrument labels down or up respectively. The meta labels and rows do not move.
Holding Shift and scrolling the mouse wheel up or down will move the grid and meta rows left or right respectively. The meta labels and instrument labels do not move.
Holding Alt and scrolling the mouse wheel up or down will move the grid and meta rows left or right respectively, faster than Shift scrolling. The meta labels and instrument labels do not move.
To drag the contents of the timeline, hold the left mouse button and move it around.
All meta labels besides the measures meta may be rearranged in any way. By moving the mouse cursor onto one of the meta labels, small up and down arrows will appear. Click the left mouse button on the up arrow to swap the meta label with the one above it. Click the left mouse button on the down arrow to swap the meta label with the one below it.
In order to hide all the meta labels while keeping all the meta information on the timeline, click the left mouse button on the measures meta to collapse all the currently visible meta rows into one row, where the meta values are staggered in that row. Click the left mouse button again on the measures meta to expand the meta rows.
All instruments--hidden or not--will be displayed on the timeline. To start this interaction, the mouse cursor is moved over an instrument label. A small eye will appear on the right side of the label that is open if the instrument is visible on the score, and closed if the instrument is hidden. Click the left mouse button on the eye to toggle between the two options.
To zoom in or out of the score, hold Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel up or down respectively (Mac: Cmd + scroll).
MuseScore 4.1 added a braille panel that displays the current measure in braille music notation. The content is similar to what you get if you export braille via the File menu, but the braille panel updates live as you navigate through the score.
As of MuseScore 4.2, the braille panel can be used to enter notes and some musical symbols using Perkins-style 6-key braille input.
The contents of the braille panel can be displayed on a braille terminal connected to your computer (e.g. via Bluetooth or USB).
The following limitations apply when using a physical braille display:
Please let us know in the Documentation forum if you discover a way to bypass any of these limitations.
On this page, we refer to MuseScore's ordinary stave notation as "print music". This is the traditional music notation that sighted musicians use on paper or electronic devices, and is displayed in the central region of MuseScore's main window, known as the score view.
Braille can also be used on paper, but it's not printed with ink. Instead, it's embossed as raised dots, which blind musicians read by touch. It is common in accessibility circles to use the word "print" to mean non-braille notation.
The braille panel appears directly below the score in MuseScore’s main window.
With the braille panel open, press the Tab key while the score has focus. A caret (text cursor) will appear in the braille at the position of whatever element was selected in the score. For example, if a note was selected in the score, the text caret will appear on that note in the braille.
Press Shift+Tab at any time to leave the braille panel and return to the score. The braille panel will remain open so you can navigate to it again with Tab.
While the braille panel has focus, you can move the text caret around using the arrow keys. As the caret moves through the braille, the element to the right of the caret becomes selected in the score. If that element is a note, MuseScore will play the sound of the note.
The braille panel only shows one measure at a time, but it shows that measure for all instruments in the score. Each line of braille corresponds to a staff in the print notation, so grand staff instruments like the piano get two lines of braille, and the organ gets three lines.
If a staff has lyrics, these are written on another line of braille immediately below the line corresponding to that staff. If there are multiple lines of lyrics (e.g. for multiple verses), each line of lyrics is written on a separate line in the braille.
The following keyboard shortcuts are available for navigating the braille.
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Go to next braille cell | Right | Right |
Go to previous braille cell | Left | Left |
Go to braille line above | Up | Up |
Go to braille line below | Down | Down |
Go to next measure | Ctrl+Right | Cmd+Right |
Go to previous measure | Ctrl+Left | Cmd+Left |
Go to beginning of score | Ctrl+Home | Cmd+Fn+Left |
Go to end of score | Ctrl+Emd | Cmd+Fn+Right |
Toggle braille input mode on/off | N | N |
Notes and certain musical symbols can be entered in the braille panel using a 6-key method of braille input similar to that of the Perkins Brailler.
While the braille panel has focus, press N to toggle braille input mode on or off.
While in braille input mode, six letter keys on the computer keyboard are used to represent the six braille dots that make up a single braille cell (⠿).
The keys used are F, D, S for dots 1, 2, 3 down the first column of the cell, and J, K, L for dots 4, 5, 6 down the second column. The Space key is used to represent an empty braille cell (⠀), sometimes referred to as dot 0.
Up to six of these keys can be pressed in combination to construct any pattern of raised dots. For example, to enter a quarter note C, which in braille is ⠹ (i.e. dots 1, 4, 5, 6), press and hold F+J+K+L, then release these keys to confirm the pattern. The keys can be pressed and released in any order, providing at least one key is held at all times, until you have completed the pattern.
When the final key is released, MuseScore reads your braille pattern. If your pattern corresponds to a recognized note or musical symbol then this element is entered directly in the score, not in the braille panel, because print notation is the "ground truth" for MuseScore. Once the element is in the score, the braille panel automatically updates to reflect this change.
Sometimes in music braille, the same information can be expressed in multiple ways. For the sake of consistency, MuseScore always picks the same way regardless of how you entered the notation. Therefore, the braille that appears in the braille panel may not exactly match the pattern(s) you entered with the six keys, though it will have the same meaning.
In braille, eighth notes (quavers) and 128th notes are written as:
Note | Braille | Dots | Keys |
---|---|---|---|
C | ⠙ | 1, 4, 5 | F+J+K |
D | ⠑ | 1, 5 | F+K |
E | ⠋ | 1, 2, 4 | F+D+J |
F | ⠛ | 1, 2, 4, 5 | F+D+J+K |
G | ⠓ | 1, 2, 5 | F+D+K |
A | ⠊ | 2, 4 | D+J |
B | ⠚ | 2, 4, 5 | D+J+K |
Additional dots are added to the above sequences to create other durations:
Duration | Braille | Dots added | Keys added |
---|---|---|---|
Quarter (crotchet) and 64th notes | ⠠ | 6 | L |
Half (minim) and 32nd notes | ⠄ | 3 | S |
Whole (semibreve) and 16th notes | ⠤ | 3, 6 | S+L |
Hence a quarter note C is ⠹ (dots 1, 4, 5, 6) and is entered with F+J+K+L. This pattern is also used for a 64th note C.
As mentioned above, 16th notes and smaller use the same dot patterns as larger durations. When reading braille, you can work out whether the shorter or longer duration is being specified by looking at the time signature as well as other notes in the measure. However, when writing braille, you need to tell MuseScore which durations you want to use.
⠤ | ⠄ | ⠠ | ⠀ | Dots to select | Keys to select | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Group 1 | whole | half | quarter | eighth | 0, 1 | Space+F |
Group 2 | 16th | 32nd | 64th | 128th | 0, 2 | Space+D |
By default, MuseScore enters group 1 durations (whole, half, quarter, eighth). To switch to group 2, enter dots 0, 2 (i.e. press Space+D). Nothing will appear in the braille panel, but any notes or rests you write from now on will be in group 2 (16th, 32nd, 64th, 128th). To switch back to group 1 durations, enter dots 0, 1 (i.e. press Space+F).
It's not currently possible to enter durations of 256th and smaller, or breve (double whole) and larger, via the braille panel.
Braille uses ⠄(dot 3) to represent an augmentation dot, which is added in a new braille cell immediately following a note. No other cells are allowed to come between the note and its augmentation dot.
To create a dotted note in the braille panel, first write the main note duration using the rules above, then follow it with dot 3 (i.e. press S).
For example, a dotted quarter note C is ⠹⠄, which can be stated as dot pattern 1456-3, where the dash means to start a new cell. In terms of keys, this is F+J+K+L, S.
It's not currently possible to enter multiple dot 3s to create double and triple dotted notes via the braille panel.
Octave marks in braille serve a similar purpose to clefs in print music. If you see a note in print, you don't know what pitch it is until you look at the preceding clef. In braille, if you see ⠙ (dots 1, 4, 5) then you know the note is a C, but it could be a C in any octave. To determine the octave, you need to look at the preceeding octave mark (and also at any notes between that octave mark and the current note).
A standard 88-key piano has 7 complete octaves. Starting on the lowest C, which is called C1 in braille as well as in scientific pitch notation, the first complete octave of white notes is C1, D1, E1, F1, G1, A1 and B1. After B1 comes C2, which is the start of the second complete octave. This scheme continues up to the final complete octave, which starts with C7 and ends with B7.
In this system, C4 is middle C, and A4 is "concert A" (i.e. the note that the orchestra tunes to at the start of a performance). Enharmonic spelling is important, so B♯3 sounds the same as C4 despite being notated in a different octave, and C♭4 sounds the same as B3.
Even standard 88-key pianos have a few notes outside the range C1 to B7. Braille refers to the C0 octave as the "sub" octave, and the C8 octave as the "super" octave. These simply double the markings used for the first and seventh octaves.
Octave | Marks | Dots | Keys |
---|---|---|---|
0 (sub) | ⠈⠈ | 4-4 | J, J |
1 | ⠈ | 4 | J |
2 | ⠘ | 45 | J+K |
3 | ⠸ | 456 | J+K+L |
4 (middle) | ⠐ | 5 | K |
5 | ⠨ | 46 | J+L |
6 | ⠰ | 56 | K+L |
7 | ⠠ | 6 | L |
8 (super) | ⠠⠠ | 6-6 | L, L |
When specified, octave mark are placed immediately prior to a note. So a middle C quarter note is ⠐⠹, or dots 5-1456, which is entered as K, F+J+K+L. No other cells are allowed to go between the octave mark and the note it belongs to.
Octave marks don't have to be given before every note. Octave marks are only required for the:
This chapter focuses on Instruments setup and basic score information setup. You should already be familiar with the basic workflow of Musescore covered in the quickstart tutorial Create your first score.
An instrument in Musescore is an abstraction that contains the tablature(s) or staff(s) (the most useful aspect, see Page layout concepts: staff), notation styles (clefs, noteheads etc), the musical behaviors (transposition, playable range) and settings related to playback audio created by the Musescore synthesizer.
An Musescore instrument contains staff(s) that can represent a single or multiple real world instrument(s), for example in Beethoven's Symphony No.3, Op.55 First edition published by Cianchettini & Sperati, n.d.[1809] London, the third staff Corni 1 & 2 in Eb represents two French horn players:
To transcribe this, you should add one Musescore instrument "Horn in Eb", and rename it, playback is not affected by naming.
Real world instrument, instrument section, vocals, and choir, are supported in Musescore in several ways:
Use pre-configured template to create a new score, you can also setup instruments in any score (any of its Parts).
MuseScore contains over 500 instruments, see https://musescore.org/en/instruments. To suggest adding a missing instrument, see https://musescore.org/en/contribute.
When creating a new score, in the New Score dialog, click to open Choose instruments tab. Some methods mentioned in "Changing instruments after score creation" also open this window.
Instruments are filtered by the type/genre shown in the dropdown menu under Family heading on the left. "Common" is selected by default, which displays some of the most common instruments or voices you are likely to need. NOTE: To show all available instruments, you must select "All instruments".
Instruments are grouped into the instrument family they belong to. If you know the instrument/voice you are looking for, you can simply type its name, or part name, in the search bar under Instruments heading . Press the clear button (X) to clear the selection.
To add an instrument to your score:
or
Staffs on score are arranged according to the order shown under the Your Score heading on the right. The Order … dropdown shows the current staff ordering preset.
Soloist ordering position is a practice on orchestral scores. For example, in the 'Orchestral' ordering practice, soloists are above the strings. Soloist does not mean "only one on score".
Select the style in the Order … dropdown list under the Your Score heading.
To rearrange an instrument (all of its staffs) to soloist position:
To manually change the order of instruments:
To delete an instrument from your score:
or
You can also delete multiple instruments at once by first holding down Shift and selecting multiple instruments, then clicking the trash icon.
Scores can also be created from pre-configured templates. A template is a complete instrument setup for a particular type of score, ordered and styled according to conventional practice. Templates are organized into categories based on musical style or ensemble configuration.
To create a score from a template:
You can also search across all available templates in the search bar.
Visit Templates and styles to learn more templates, including how to create your own for future use.
Click Next in the New score dialog to specify additional information in the Additional score information screen, such as key signature, time signature, tempo, pickup measure (anacrusis or upbeat measure), and the number of measures.
Note that this is one convenient way to add info while creating a new score, but not the only way. There are other methods you can use anytime later on, covered in their respective chapters, such as Keyboard shortcuts, Using the palettes, project properties etc.
By default, new scores are created with a key signature containing no sharps or flats (C major). Specify a different key signature by clicking the button under Key signature. Major keys are shown first; minor keys can be displayed by selecting the Minor tab.
New scores will be created in 4/4 by default. Change this by clicking the button under Time signature. Change the number of beats per bar using the arrows in the spin box, and change the beat quality from the dropdown menu. You can also select common and cut-common (alla-breve) time signatures in this popup.
By default, new scores will play at a tempo of crotchet (quarter note) = 120 beats per minute (bpm). Metronome markings are not automatically included in new scores.
To customize the starting playback tempo, and to show a metronome marking above the uppermost stave:
Learn more about tempo text indications, metronome markings, and playback speed in tempo markings.
New scores are created with 32 measures and no pickup (anacrusis). To change the starting number of measures in your new score:
Learn more about Adding and removing measures at any time after score creation.
To start your score with a pickup:
You can always create a pickup later. Learn how to do this in Pickup and non-metered measures.
Enter text in the fields at the bottom of the New score dialog, and MuseScore will automatically place it in an appropriate format in your new score. You can enter text labels for the score's:
This information also becomes data in the score's project properties (menu File), which you can change at any time.
Once you've finished specifying additional score information, click Done to confirm your selections and create your score.
There are three ways to change existing score instruments:
This chapter explains music creation on standard staves only, see also tablature and percussion chapters.
Musescore supports inputting music via a computer keyboard, a mouse, a MIDI keyboard or MuseScore virtual piano keyboard. Using the computer keyboard input method is quick and easy, simply choose a duration, then type the pitch name (A-G) for a note or a 0 (zero) for a rest.
MuseScore supports virtually unlimited undo to revert input mistake. Click the undo button on the far right of the toolbar, or use the standard keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z (Mac: Cmd+Z).
This chapter explains the default input mode, step-time, where notes and rests are entered one at a time. It is based on the logic that, when a new note or rest is added by the user, the subsequent notes and rests adjust their duration ( note value or length ) automatically without affecting the total number of beats in any measures. See also Alternative note input methods chapter.
To add a note or rest to the score, start by selecting a location to begin entry. You can use the mouse or the keyboard navigation commands.
Next, enter note input mode by pressing the pen icon in the toolbar, or using the keyboard shortcut N. A note input cursor is now visible, it is the thin and tall light blue box spanning the whole staff, its left border line is dark blue. Appearance of note input cursor indicates that Musescore is currently in note input mode. The box is positioned at the time or beat position that the next entered note or rest is being added to.
If you forget to select a starting location first, MuseScore places the cursor at the last input position, or in some other logical place, so be sure the cursor is where you intend.
Once in note input mode, enter notes left to right by first selecting a duration and then entering a pitch or rest. When you are done entering notes in this location and are ready to do something else—for example, entering notes at a different location, adding other markings, or performing other operations like copy and paste—you can leave note input mode by clicking the note input button or pressing N again. You can also press Esc to return to normal mode from note input or any other mode.
While in note input mode, select a note value for the next note to be entered by:
Entering the keyboard shortcut 1–9 corresponding to the desired duration
The keyboard shortcuts are designed to be efficient and easy to remember. The most common note values are eighth, quarter, and half (UK: quaver, crochet, minim) and these are represented by the keys 4, 5, and 6 respectively (the middle row of a numeric keypad). Shorter note values are represented by smaller numbers, longer values by larger numbers. The full list is as follows:
Other durations, including double dots and 128th notes, can be selected if you first customize your toolbar and/or define your own keyboard shortcuts.
Note: it is also possible to select duration using a MIDI keyboard, if you set up the keys you wish to use for this in advance.
Once you have selected a duration, you can enter pitches using the computer keyboard, mouse, MIDI keyboard, or virtual piano keyboard.
This is normally the most efficient way to enter notes in MuseScore.
To enter a note of a given pitch using the computer keyboard, simply press the corresponding letter (A–G) on your computer keyboard.
Notes entered in this way will replace any rests or notes that were already present at the cursor location. To add a note to an existing note or chord, press Shift while entering the note. See the section on chords below for more information.
When entering notes by letter name, MuseScore will choose the octave that is closest to the previous note on that staff. This works well for passages that move mostly by steps and small leaps. If you need to change the octave for a larger leap, use Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↑ and Cmd+↓) to raise or lower the pitch of the previously entered note by an octave.
To enter a note using the mouse, position your mouse on the desired line or space in the staff, then click. The mouse cursor will show you a preview of the note you are about to enter to help you place it accurately.
If any notes already exist at the location where you are entering a new note, the new note will be added above or below it. To replace existing notes instead, press Shift while entering the new note.
It can be difficult to enter notes very far above or below a staff with this method, because MuseScore may interpret clicks far from the intended staff as an attempt to enter notes onto the staff above or below. Instead, try entering the note an octave lower or higher, then raise or lower the pitch by an octave using Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↑ and Cmd+↓).
Note: although one would normally enter notes left to right, the mouse entry method actually allows you to enter a note at any location where there is an existing note or rest to replace.
If you have a MIDI keyboard connected, you can enter notes by simply pressing the corresponding keys.
When playing notes on a MIDI keyboard, they are entered consecutively so long as you release each key fully before pressing the next. If you press a key before releasing the previous key, the new note is added above or below the previous note.
Notes entered via MIDI keyboard that are outside of the current key signature will have accidentals applied automatically, but the spelling of the accidental may not be what you intend. To change the enharmonic spelling of a note, press J.
You can also input notes using the on-screen Piano keyboard window. To display this, use View→Piano keyboard or press the shortcut P. The window can be closed the same way.
To enter a note of a given pitch, simply click the appropriate piano key with your mouse.
As with the computer keyboard, notes entered in this way replace any existing notes or rests. To create chords instead, press and hold Shift while entering notes.
Note: to resize the keyboard, position the mouse within the window and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while scrolling up or down.
For the purpose of this section, chords are any combinations of multiple notes all starting at the same time, all sharing the same duration, and all sharing a single stem.
If you wish to enter notes that sound together but start at different times, have different durations, or have separate stems, see Voices. Text of the form "Dm7" is a chord symbol, discussed in Chord symbols.
Just as for individual notes, chords can be entered by computer keyboard, mouse, MIDI keyboard, or virtual piano keyboard. Except for MIDI keyboard (where you can play multiple notes at once), the notes are still entered one at a time, but in a way that tells MuseScore to combine them into a chord rather than add them sequentially.
When using Shift+A–G to add a note to a chord, the note will be added above any notes already present at the cursor location. You can also specify the note to be added based on the interval above or below the currently-selected note.
Rests can be entered using the computer keyboard or mouse. The duration is selected in the same way as for notes (e.g., using the toolbar or keyboard shortcuts 1–9). Then instead of entering a pitch as you would for a note, choose one of the following options.
Using a mouse: right-click in the score
Standard accidentals (flat, natural, sharp, double flat, double sharp) can be entered either by selecting one before entering the pitch it applies to or by adding them to a note already entered.
To specify an accidental to be applied to the next note entered, you can use the buttons on the Note input toolbar above the score or the corresponding keyboard shortcuts. This can be done either before or after selecting the duration.
The default accidental shortcuts are:
Unlike selecting duration—which applies to all subsequent notes until you change it—an accidental is applied only to the next note entered. But the usual rules of music notation apply, so if you apply a flat to a given note, any subsequent notes you enter of that same pitch within the same measure will be flatted as well, even though no explicit flat sign will be added in front of them.
Appropriate accidentals are automatically added to a note when you increase or decrease its pitch:
You can also apply an accidental to a note by clicking the appropriate icon in the Accidentals palette. This palette also contains a large number of microtonal and other special accidentals.
Although the rules of music notation say that a barline cancels an accidental, and that any note on the same staff line or space in the next measure returns to the pitch indicated by the key signature, it is considered good practice to add a courtesy (also called cautionary) accidental anyhow. These do not change the pitch of the note, so they cannot be added with the ↑ and ↓ keys. However, any of the other methods described above work.
While parentheses or brackets are not required for courtesy accidentals, some editors do choose to use them. To add parentheses or brackets around an accidental, you will need to temporarily leave note input mode, select the accidental, then either use the Properties panel to select a bracket type, or click the parentheses or brackets in the More section of the Accidentals palette.
Note: there are also a set of plugins pre-installed with MuseScore that can automatically add courtesy accidentals as needed.
A tie is a curved line between two notes of the same pitch, indicating that they are to be played as one combined note. Even though they look similar, ties should not be confused with slurs, which join notes of different pitches and indicate legato articulation.
MuseScore makes it very easy to enter ties. Because ties are always between notes of the same pitch, you do not need to enter the pitch for the second note—just select the duration and enter the tie; MuseScore will add the note automatically. After entering the first note, follow these steps to create the tie:
Click the tie button on the toolbar or use the shortcut T
The tie command adds the second note and ties it to the first in one step. If the first note you entered is part of a chord, then the tie command actually creates an entire second chord with the same pitches as the first and ties all of the notes.
Tie placement (options)
Up to MuseScore 4.1, the previous default behaviour was to draw ties to single notes 'outside' (connecting the top/bottom of the noteheads) and to draw ties to chords 'inside' (connecting the right and left of noteheads). As from MuseScore 4.2 tie placement can now be configured either way for single notes and chords; the default for new scores is that all ties are drawn 'outside'. As well as a score-wide style setting (in Format > Slurs & ties > Ties), this can be overridden for any given tie (via Properties > Tie placement).
Note: ties normally connect adjacent notes in the same voice, but MuseScore also supports ties between non-adjacent notes and between notes in different voices as described in the section on editing.
A MuseScore voice is a line of music on a staff that has its own rhythm independent of other music on the same staff. Other notation programs may refer to it as a "layer".
"Voice", in a different sense, may also refer to a pitch range in vocal music—soprano, alto, tenor, bass etc. It is important not to mix up the two meanings by assuming, for example, that the four "voices" in an SATB choir are equivalent to MuseScore "voices" 1–4 (see below); that would be to confuse chalk with cheese.
MuseScore allows up to four voices in one staff: Voice 1, Voice 2, Voice 3, and Voice 4. When writing music on a staff, one usually starts in voice 1 then moves on to voice 2. Voices 3 & 4 are less commonly used.
Two voices on the same staff are normally indicated using opposing stems—an upper voice with stems up and a lower voice with stems down:
In a four-part SATB arrangement on two staves, you would use voices 1 & 2 on the top staff for soprano and alto, and voices 1 & 2 on the bottom staff for tenor and bass:
The first step to enter multiple voices is to determine whether you need to write notes as voices in one staff, or spread voices among multiple staffs such as four voices among two staffs of a piano, or among multiple instruments such as four voices on four string instruments. You should consider the design of MuseScore's notation function and your production needs. Do not base your decision merely on academic reasons.
If you decide you need to write different voices as notes on different instruments, start by creating multiple instruments using Setting up your score: Changing instruments, then edit clef symbols as required, and then compose on Voice 1 in all of these staffs. A common example is to write four voice SATB open score on four instruments' Voice 1.
To convert separate staffs into one staff containing multiple voices, or to do the opposite, see Implode and explode. A common example is SATB open score <-> short score conversion,
To enter new notes into a Voice:
You can repeat these steps to enter notes into other voices.
Note: to enter new notes, make sure you are in note input mode before selecting the desired voice, otherwise you will change the voice of any currently-selected elements instead.
Note: the note toolbar only displays voice 1 and 2 icons by default. You can make all voice icons visible using the controls that appear when you click the gear icon on the toolbar. For more information, see the section on customizing the note input toolbar.
To make sense notation wise, rests should be used in each existing voice whenever necessary to complete beats of a measure, Musescore creates them automatically. In measures containing multiple voices, rests are automatically added to voices of lower number whenever appropriate. MuseScore also automatically positions rests to avoid overlapping other score elements.
To hide, delete, or adjust the position of these rests to create better layout, use one of the following methods:
Rests may be hidden by selecting them and unchecking the Visible box in the Properties panel or using the keyboard shortcut V.
Rests in voices 2-4 may also be deleted by selecting them and pressing Delete. However, this leaves a "hole" in the voice that can be difficult to edit later. To restore missing rests from a voice, you can use the commands in Tools→Voices to exchange the contents of the voice with those of voice 1, which will fill the holes with rests again. You can then use the same command to move the contents of the voices back where they were.
Note: to ensure the correct duration of each measure, voice 1 rests can be hidden, but they cannot be deleted.
While MuseScore will normally avoid collisions with other voices, it can sometimes be helpful to move rests up or down to create more space or to clarify which voice they apply to.
To move a rest vertically, select it and press Up or Down to move it a staff space at a time.
For more information on manual positioning, see Changing position of elements.
You can also change the default vertical offset between rests and elements in other voices from 1 space to 2 spaces in Format→Style…→Rests
Notes originally entered into one voice can be moved into another voice, depending on the situation. For more information, see Changing voice in normal mode.
In cases where the rhythms match, notes originally entered as multiple voices can be combined into chords in a single voice. For more information, see the Implode command.
To separate a chord written in one voice into separate notes of different voices:
In addition to the default step-time note entry method, there are several other methods by which notation can be entered in MuseScore.
To enter these alternative note input methods:
Keyboard users can get to the Note input button by pressing Shift+Tab or Shift+F6 a few times from the score. Screen readers will say something like "Note input toolbar: Default (step-time)". Press Space on this button to open a menu that contains all the available note input methods.
Each note input mode can also be activated directly using an assigned keyboard shortcut (See Keyboard shortcuts to learn how to assign these).
Note that the selected note input method remains in effect even when you leave note input mode and will be enabled the next time you enter note input mode. So if you change to the Re-pitch method for a single passage, be sure to change back to the Step time method when you are done.
The Rhythm note input method allows you to enter durations with a single keypress. This is especially useful for unpitched percussion instruments that use a single sound. In addition, you can combine Rhythm and Re-pitch methods for an efficient workflow in certain circumstances.
By default, notes are entered onto the middle staff line. You can use the cursor keys to change the pitch of the note just entered, and subsequent notes will also be entered using that pitch. You can also use Re-pitch mode to quickly enter pitches for a passage after entering the rhythm.
The Re-pitch note input method allows you to change the pitches of a sequence of notes while leaving their durations unaltered.
The Re-pitch method can be an extremely efficient way of entering notes in music with repeated rhythmic patterns. Simply copy and paste an existing passage that uses the same rhythm as your new passage, then use re-pitch mode to alter the pitches. The same technique can be used to enter multiple instrumental or vocal parts that share the same rhythm but different pitches.
The real-time note input methods 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:
These restrictions mean that MuseScore has very little guessing to do when working out how your input should be notated, which helps to keep these methods accurate.
With the Real-time (metronome) note input method, 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—necessary to enter rests—then you can use the Real-time Advance shortcut to start the metronome. The same action will stop the metronome again.
With the Real-time (foot pedal) note input method, you indicate your input tempo by tapping on a key or pedal. 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 start the metronome with the Real-time (metronome) method or to tap beats with the Real-time (foot pedal) method. It is called "Real-time Advance" because it causes the input position to move 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...→MIDI mappings (Mac: MuseScore→Preferences...→MIDI mappings).
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.
Insert note input method allows you to insert and delete notes and rests within measures, automatically shifting subsequent music forward and backward within the measure. The measure duration is automatically updated as you go.
To insert a note:
When the notes are entered they will be placed just before the selected starting element, which will be highlighted with a square blue marker. The start element and any subsequent notes or rests within the same measure will be shifted forward. You can move the insertion point forward and backward using the arrow keys → or ←, and the new insertion point will then be highlighted.
Alternatively, if you have only one or two notes to insert, you can do this directly with the default Step time note input method. Press Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift) while adding the note by mouse or keyboard shortcut (A-G).
To insert a rest, first insert a note of the desired duration, then press Delete.
To delete a note or rest, use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Delete. The measure duration is decreased to compensate. The shortcut works with both the Step time and Insert note input methods.
Because inserting and notes may cause the measure duration to increase or decrease beyond what is specified by the time signature, a small "+" or "-" sign will be shown above the measure when this happens.
MuseScore allows you to insert or delete measures in the score using a variety of methods. Measures can be inserted:
To insert one or more measures:
To insert one or more measures:
This popup remains open until you click another part of the user interface. As such, you can continue pressing the + button as many times as you need to insert further measures.
In addition, you can insert measures from one of two menus:
To quickly insert one measure before the selection point:
Insert more measures before the selection point by repeatedly pressing Ins.
To quickly insert multiple measures before the selection point:
To append to the end of your score, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+B (Mac: ⌘+B) for a single measure, or Alt+Shift+B (Mac: Option+Shift+B) for multiple measures.
It is also possible to add measures to a frame in the score:
To delete one or more measures using keyboard shortcuts:
Alternatively,
You can also:
To remove any empty measures at the end of your score:
Other measure-related pages:
Not to be confused with the note input cursor explained in Entering notes and rests : Note Input mode
Select elements on a score for further action such as duplication. Elements currently selected on the score are shown colorized with the Voice each element belongs to, otherwise black by default. Voice 1 blue, Voice 2 green, Voice 3 orange and Voice 4 purple. The color can be changed under Edit→Preferences : Advanced, see Preferences chapter.
The current selection status is shown on the bottom left status bar, it changes whenever the selection is updated by the user. There are four selection status:
Many common operations such as Copy and paste requires a Range Selection.
Shown below are "single item selection" of a Voice 1 item (top) and "Range Selection" and its status bar (bottom).
To select a single element with the mouse, simply click it. Clicking on an element always select it only, except for the measure element. Clicking on the blank space of a measure (inside the measure's five staff lines) to select it also automatically selects multiple objects inside that measure, the result is a Range Selection.
To select a single element with the keyboard, use the cursor keys to navigate to the element. In Normal mode (press keyboard Esc to use this mode), the left and right cursor keys ← → only navigate to the next (or prior) note or rest. Use Alt + cursor keys to navigate through all elements, including all notes, articulation, dynamics, and other markings.
[Does not work yet (Musescore 4.2), https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/10225 please help update this paragraph]
When multiple objects occupy the same position on a score and fully overlap each other, such as two notes having same pitch but in different Voices, Ctrl + click on it repeatedly to cycle through the set, until the desired element is selected.
Most commands that operate on a single note requires selecting the notehead, for example, changing the note's pitch. A note is also a collection of elements including notehead, stem, flag, dot, accidental, etc. Each of these items can be selected individually for purpose like fine tuning its layout position.
Multiple notes of a single chord can be selected one by one to create a List Selection. A single chord can also be selected with the time positions it starts and ends at to create a Range Selection.
Many commonly used commands, including Copy and paste, that can be used on a single chord requires a Range Selection of it, as shown in the image above. Besides the method explained in "Creating a Range Selection" section, there is a special quick way to do it for a single chord. First make sure nothing is currently selected (press Esc to be sure) and then Shift+click on any one of the notehead of the chord.
As Range Selection automatically selects base on time positions, notes in other voices may be included unless explicitly excluded, see "Excluding elements from Range Selection" section.
The repeat selection command (R) works on a single chord, either on a Range Selection of it, and when exactly one note of that chord is selected. See Copy and paste: Repeating a selection chapter.
Create a List Selection manually by using mouse clicks, drag select, or by using commands.
To add an object to the selection, or remove one, Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) + click on the object. This converts the selection to List Selection. Measure does not support the addition/removal method. Adding and removing element from a Range Selection also converts it into a List Selection.
Elements positioned outside of the area of any staff lines and does not overlap with other elements, can be selected together using mouse drag select. Shift + click on any blank space (outside of staff lines) and drag the cursor to create a selection box. This creates a List Selection only if no notes or rests are included, otherwise a Range selection using the "starting and end time position method" is created.
To select all elements of a given type in the entire score or in a given staff:
To select all elements of a given type between two time positions:
—OR—
To create more complex selections of similar elements:
The options available in the select dialog will depend on the type of element you right-clicked.
The selection options specific to notes are:
In addition to the type-specific selection options, there are action options at the bottom of the dialog that are common to all element types. These control what happens to the selected elements, and only one of these can be chosen at a time:
A Range selection instructs Musescore to automatically select useful elements between a given beginning and ending time position across a given set of staves.
Suitable for selections that fit on one screen. Shift + click on any blank space (outside of staff lines) and drag the cursor to create a selection box. Include at least one note or rests to create a Range selection.
Suitable for selections that span several pages.
Using the keyboard alone or primarily:
The available commands include:
MuseScore includes some special commands to make command selections:
Before executing actions on a Range Selection, it is possible to exclude elements by type. For example, leaving out the lyrics when duplicating notes, rest etc of a phrase; or deleting everything not in voice 1 in a multiple voices passage. To exclude elements of a given type:
Note that if you exclude voice 1, you will not be able to select any measures that lack content in other voices. So be sure to restore voice 1 after performing the operation for which you are excluding voice 1. For example, if you wish to copy and paste only voice 2, make your range selection, use the Selection Filter to exclude voice 1, use Edit→Copy or Ctrl+C, then restore the checkbox next to voice 1 before attempting to select the destination to paste.
This chapter discusses the methods to edit music that already exists on a score. The reader should already be familiar with the music input method explained in the Entering notes and rests chapter.
To change notes (pitch, duration, time position, etc) and rests in a score, either use
Enter note input mode by pressing the pen icon in the toolbar, or using the keyboard shortcut N. A note input cursor will then be visible: the thin and tall light blue box spanning the whole staff, whose left border line is dark blue. The presence of the note input cursor indicates that Musescore is currently in note input mode.
In note input mode, use the keyboard arrow keys ← → to move the note input cursor position to the adjacent note or rest in the current staff.
There are two commands that alter the duration of an existing note or rest while in note input mode:
Both commands will first add or remove a dot if appropriate, then will move to the next larger or smaller note value. So for instance, pressing Shift+W on a quarter note changes it into a dotted quarter, and pressing Shift+W again changes it to a half note.
The commands for changing the pitch of a selected note while in note input mode are:
With the default input mode, step-time, notes and rests are entered one at a time. Step-time is based on the logic that, when a new note or rest is added by the user, the subsequent notes and rests adjust their duration (note value or length) automatically, without affecting the total number of beats in any measures.
An analogy would be "replace" or "overwrite" mode in a word processor such as Microsoft Word. To replace a note with a different one, enter the new note directly. The new note automatically overwrites what was there before, with no need to delete the old note first.
To add a new note and move subsequent notes so that they are not overwritten, either:
To delete a note and replace it with a rest, simply press Del.
Note: If you instead wish to move subsequent notes earlier to take the place of the deleted note, there is no need to first delete the original note. Simply move the subsequent notes directly using cut and paste.
Although for the most part, moving notes to a different time position is done in normal mode, there is one pair of commands that can be used to change the time position of a note or rest in certain cases while in note input. If you have two notes or rests of the same duration and you wish to exchange them while in note input mode, you can use Shift+← or Shift+→ to exchange a note or rest with its neighbor of the same duration.
Use normal mode by quitting from all other modes.
To quit note input mode if Musescore is currently in it, either press keyboard Esc, or click the note input button, or press N again. The note input cursor should not be visible afterwards. See "Making changes in note input mode" section.
To quit editing mode if Musescore is currently in it, press keyboard Esc. See main chapters Adjusting elements directly and Entering and editing text : Editing text object content.
Except where noted, the methods described below work on either a single selected note or rest, a list selection consisting of multiple notes or rests, or entire range selections. See the page on selections for more information.
To change the duration of one or more selected notes in normal mode to a specific note value, simply click the appropriate duration icon or use the keyboard shortcuts 1–9.
To increase the duration of a selected note, you can use the Shift+W command as described above. This adds an augmentation dot if one is not already present, or changes to the next longer note value if the note is already dotted. For example, an eighth note will be changed into a dotted eighth note, and a dotted quarter will be changed into a half note. You can also use W to double the duration, thus changing an eighth note into a quarter note directly, or a dotted eighth into a dotted quarter.
The commands Shift+Q and Q perform the opposite operation, decreasing or halving the duration in the same way.
All of these commands work on only a single selected note.
If you have entered a passage using eighths and sixteenths but wish to double the durations of all notes and rests—thus doubling the duration of the passage itself—see the section on the paste half/double duration commands.
The same commands that work to change pitch in note input also function in normal mode, including single, list, and range selections. These commands are:
In addition, when in normal mode, the accidental buttons on the Note input toolbar and corresponding keyboard shortcuts will toggle (add or remove) accidentals on any selected notes, thus potentially changing their pitch. The Accidentals palette can also be used to add accidentals to selected notes.
To delete a note and replace it with a rest, simply press Del.
If multiple notes are selected as a list, Del replaces them each by rests individually.
If you select a range, Del replaces the entire passage with the correct rests according to the meter.
Rests cannot normally be deleted, as removing them would leave a measure with fewer beats than it should have. However, see the remove selected range command below for information on how to do this when required. Also, rests in voices 2–4 can be deleted without removing time from a measure.
To completely remove selected notes or rests—thus leaving the piece with fewer measures if entire measures are selected, or fewer beats within the measure if a partial measure is selected—use Tools→Remove selected range or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Del (Mac: Cmd+Del).
Ties can be added in normal mode, but unlike in note input mode where the tie command automatically adds a note and creates a tie, in normal mode both notes must already exist.
To add a tie in normal mode:
This works even if the next note of the same pitch is in a different voice.
If you select multiple notes, MuseScore will start a tie at each of them. You can use the technique to tie entire chords at once.
This technique also allows you to tie notes that are not adjacent, such as to show an arpeggiate-and-hold pattern on piano.
A note entered into a given voice may be moved into another voice if this is musically possible, or the contents of two voices may be exchanged.
To move a selection of one or more notes into another voice, either press one of the voice buttons on the toolbar or use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Alt+1–4 (Mac: Cmd+Option+1–4). Notes will be moved to the extent it is possible without compromising the current content of the destination voice.
A note can be moved into another voice if there is currently silence (rests, or nothing at all) in the destination voice at that time position for the duration of the note to be moved. In that case, the note will simply be moved to the new voice.
A note can also be moved into another voice if there is already a note or chord of the same duration starting at that time position. In that case, the note will be combined with the existing note or chord.
MuseScore can also exchange the contents of any pair of voices. These commands work only on full measures (or multiple measures), not on individual notes.
To exchange the contents of any two voices, use the corresponding command in Tools→Voices:
The cut, copy, and paste commands can be used to reproduce entire passages of music, to move music earlier or later, to copy text or other markings between staves, to exchange the content in different measures, and more.
In all cases, the first step is to select what you want to cut or copy.
As with other programs that support cut, copy, and paste, you can access these commands from the Edit menu, from a context menu that appears upon right-click or related gesture (e.g., Ctrl+click, or two-finger tap), or via the standard keyboard shortcuts.
Command | Shortcut (Windows) | Shortcut (Mac) | Context 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 |
Paste half duration | Ctrl+Shift+Q | Cmd+Shift+Q | N/A | Edit→Paste half duration |
Paste double duration | Ctrl+Shift+W | Cmd+Shift+W | N/A | Edit→Paste double duration |
Note: When using the context menu, take care to always right-click on a selected item; if you right-click on an empty space by mistake your selection will be lost!
As explained in the Selecting Elements chapter, in a Range selection, Musescore automatically selects useful elements between given beginning and ending time positions across a given set of staves. These elements includes all of the notes, rests, Musescore Texts such as dynamics symbols, Musescore Lines such as pedal etc. System-wide elements such as Tempo, Time signatures, Repeats, Layout breaks are not included in the automatic selection, thus are not copied.
Upon pasting onto a destination time position, the copied music replaces all of its existing content, except for its original measure rhythm structure and system-wide elements.
Use the Paste command from the menu or press Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V)
MuseScore also allows copying a single element, or a List Selection of multiple lyrics, chord symbols, dynamics, articulation, or other markings from one place to another, while keeping the content such as notes in the destination intact. Multiple notes List Selection cannot be copied.
MuseScore preserves the relative time positions of the markings based on literal note value distance if possible, measure rhythm is not taken into account. This includes case of copying chord symbols and dynamics. Valid note or rest anchors are required at the destination music when pasting lyrics and articulations.
Cut and paste commands can be used to
Measures (their rhythmic structure) cannot be moved, but see Adding and removing measures and Time signatures chapters. When moving List Selection, its elements' relative positions are preserved if possible, see "Copying a List Selection" section.
To move a selection:
The swap with clipboard command combines two operations into one: (1) First it overwrites a selected part of the score with the contents of the clipboard, just like the paste command; (2) Second, 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:
Like the other commands discussed here, you can access the swap with clipboard command from the menu or via a keyboard shortcut—in this case, it is Ctrl+Shift+X (Mac: Cmd+Shift+X).
A common use for copy and paste is to duplicate a given passage (including notes, chords etc) immediately after the original. Use the special repeat selection command to simplify this process.
This does not work on List Selection. It works on a single chord, either on a Range Selection of it, and when exactly one note of that chord is selected. See Selecting Elements chapter. In note input mode, this command repeats the entire chord that contains the current note. This is useful for creating a series of repeated chords.
If you wish to copy a passage to multiple staves—for instance, to double music of flute with oboes and clarinets—you can use the explode command:
This copies the original selection, assuming it contains only single notes—no chords and no multiple voices. If there are chords or multiple voices, then these are distributed among the remaining staves as described in the section on the explode command.
If you have entered a passage using mostly eighth notes but wish to halve the entire passage to using mostly sixteenth notes, or double it to quarter notes, MuseScore provides a pair of special commands to accomplish this. You can either modify the durations of a selection in place or create a separate copy of the passage with the modified durations. To halve or double the duration of a passage:
Individual elements—even those that are not selected automatically in a Range Selection, like time signatures or voltas—can be selected and then duplicated using a mouse.
When you release the mouse button, the selected element is copied to the new location
Musical symbols and text may be applied to your score using the Palettes panel. MuseScore comes with a set of preset palettes divided into categories—such as Key Signatures and Articulations etc. A basic working set of palettes is visible by default, but more advanced or specialist palettes can also be displayed if required.
You can add, delete, edit and rearrange items inside any palette, as well as create and customize your own palettes.
This chapter shows you how to display palettes, search for items, and how to apply palette symbols to your score. Customizing the palettes area is dealt with later in Palettes (Customization).
The Palettes panel is normally displayed on the left sidebar of the main window. There are three tabs displayed at the top of the sidebar: Palettes, Instruments, and Properties. If one of the other tabs is currently being displayed in the sidebar, click the Palettes tab to display the palettes instead.
You can open and close the Palettes panel using View→Palettes or the keyboard shortcut F9. If all of the panels in the sidebar are closed, the sidebar itself closes as well, allowing more room for the score display.
Like most other panels within MuseScore, the Palettes can also be undocked to function as a separate window.
To add a palette item to your score, first open the appropriate palette if it is not already open, by clicking its title or the arrow icon to the left. The items in that palette will be displayed in a grid.
in general, to apply palette items to your score, you can either select the target elements in the score and then click the palette item, or drag the item from the palette to a target element. See the section on searching and navigating below for information on applying palette items via the keyboard.
Many palette items—for example, articulations, dynamics, and most other text—can be applied to individual notes, rests, or other score elements. When using drag and drop, be sure to drag the palette item onto a specific score element, and do not release until the target element highlights to indicate it can accept the palette item.
It is usually more efficient, however, to select the target elements in your score first and then click the palette item. This is especially true if you wish to apply the same palette item to multiple score elements, since this method allows you can apply the palette item to multiple score elements at once.
To apply a palette to one or more score elements:
The palette item will normally be added to each of the selected elements. Note that with a range selected, when clicking a palette item representing text (including dynamics and tempo markings), the item will be added to the first element in the range only. System text (including tempo markings) will be applied to the top staff only; other text will be applied to the first selected element of each selected staff.
Palette items such as hairpins, slurs, ottavas, and pedal markings are applied to a range rather than a single note or rest. The process for adding them is the same:
Certain palette items such as barlines, time signatures, voltas, and layout breaks are normally applied to a measure as a whole—or a range of measures—instead of a specific note or rest. The process for adding these to the score is the same as for other palette items:
A palette can be opened (expanded) or closed (collapsed) individually by clicking on the title bars or the icon to the left of the title. In addition, you can expand or collapse all palettes at once, or let MuseScore close palettes automatically. To access these options, click the ... button at the top of the palette window to popup the palettes menu.
You can also search and navigate the palettes using your keyboard instead of a mouse.
To search for palette elements by name, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F9 (Mac: Cmd+F9), or click the magnifying glass icon at the top of the Palettes panel.
This will display a search box. As you type characters into the box, MuseScore will display any matching palette items.
To close the search box, click the "X" icon.
The palettes are completely accessible by keyboard. The search facility described above is one method you can use to start the process, but you can also focus the keyboard on the Palettes panel by using Shift+F6 to move focus to the sidebar.
Once focus is on the palette panel, the ↑ and ↓ keys will move through the various individual palettes. You can then open and close a palette by pressing Enter. To access the elements with a palette, press → to access the palette, then ↑ and ↓ to move through the elements on the palette. Pressing Enter will apply element in the same way as clicking it.
Some palettes also contain additional elements that are not displayed by default. To access those, click the More button at the bottom right of the palette.
You can add any of these additional items to the main part of the palette by simply dragging. For more information, see Palettes under Customization.
The palettes that are shown by default are the ones most users will need often. But MuseScore provides additional palettes that you may also find useful.
To access these extra palettes:
Click the Add Palettes button at the top of the Palettes panel.
This will display a list of palettes you can add to your Palettes panel. To add any palette, click the + button next to the palette name.
Added palettes appear at the top of the panel. To reorder them simply drag them into position.
You can also create an empty custom palette that can be filled later with your own choice of elements.
The Master palette is MuseScore’s repository of all musical symbols; it also provide an alternative pathway for creating custom key signatures and custom time signatures.
To display the Master palette, use the keyboard shortcut Shift+F9, or from the menu select View→Master palette.
The Master palette window is divided into categories matching the names of the default palettes (whether displayed or hidden) in the Palettes panel; in fact, the contents of each small palette are drawn from the corresponding section of the Master. The exception is the Symbols category of the Master palette which contains items not found in the Palettes panel.
Items can be applied to the score from the Master palette in the same way as from the small palettes; however, aside from applying items from the Symbols section, it is usually better to do so from the Palettes panel.
Items found in all sections of the Master palette window, except "Symbols", are functional in that they have an effect on the score: Key and Time signatures, for example. However, items from the Symbols palette are non-functional—that is, they are for display only.
See also, the chapter on Other symbols.
The Properties panel shows layout and playback properties of the selected objects or selected characters inside Text object. When nothing is selected, it shows the properties of the score. It is an upgraded version of Inspector, it has the functionality of Text toolbar, see Entering and editing text chapter, and musescore 3 handbook Inspector , and Text editing chapters.
The Editing of the musescore 4 Handbook has also been changed. Properties customization is now explained in a different way than in Musescore 3 Handbook. They are explained inside a respective chapter that is most relevant. This chapter only discusses the panel, and the properties common to multiple objects. (To editors: feel free to move content to a most relevant chapter, if the property is not common to multiple objects)
Score properties are saved to score file (*.mscz). It is not to be confused with Workspaces.
When nothing is selected, the Properties panel shows the properties of the score.
Under the Show subheading,
Under the Score appearance subheading,
When one or more objects are currently selected, the Properties panel shows the layout and playback properties common to all of them. Under Notation section, press any of the [Object Type] buttons to narrow items presented to that object type only.
Some settings common to most objects:
Playback feature of dynamics symbols is under active development, it may change drastically among software versions. Information provided here is valid for Musescore 4.2 beta (November 2023). It could be outdated at the time of reading. Please help update this chapter.
Under the Playback button, the playback properties is shown, if the selected elements have them.
When Text object(s) are selected (the object, not the characters), the Properties panel shows the formatting settings of the Text object. Editing these properties changes the object, it may change all of the characters inside.
When character(s) inside a Text object are selected, the Properties panel shows the formatting settings of the characters. Editing these properties only changes the selected characters. See Formatting text chapter.
See the main chapter Templates and styles.
Under the ellipsis menu button (three dots menu button) adjacent to a property, there are two buttons:
This chapter explains methods to fine tune the literal positioning of elements on a score for layout purpose. The more common musical editing methods are explained in Entering and editing text, and Editing notes and rests chapters.
To fine tune the literal positioning of elements on a score, either
Use Edit mode.
To enter Edit mode, either
Then, in Edit mode, press the keyboard arrows ← → ↑ ↓ to move the object in step of 0.5 sp, or
Edit it directly, this method does not work on notes, rests, and elements added from "Master palette : Symbols" (see Other symbols chapter). Select element(s) on a score, press the keyboard arrow keys ← → ↑ ↓ to move in small steps (0.1 sp). In combination with Ctrl (Mac: ⌘), they are moved in large steps (1 sp).
Read more about spatium (sp.) in Page layout concepts chapter.
To change the shape of elements such as slurs and ties after adding them to the score:
Note that:
If you wish to change the note to which a slur or tie is connected, the recommended method is to use the keyboard shortcuts described above (Shift+←/→). This is the most efficient way of changing both the visual and playback range of notes encompassed by a slur or tie.
See also the main chapter Other lines.
To change the start and end points of a line:
As with slurs and ties, it is recommended to use Shift when adjusting line length with the arrow keys to ensure that the playback range also adjusts accordingly.
Although lines are horizontal by default, they can be set at any angle simply by dragging the start or end adjustment handles; or by selecting a start/end handle and using the Up/Down keyboard arrows.
To edit the displayed text of Text line objects ( such as "system text line", "staff text line", and "barré line", see Entering and editing text):
MuseScore 4 automatically creates a separate (default) part for every instrument in your score.
To open all parts at once:
To open an individual part:
You can also select specific parts to open at once. Do this by holding Control (Mac: ⌘) while selecting the parts you’d like to open, then click Open selected. You can also select a range of contiguous parts by clicking the first and holding Shift while clicking the last.
Click the X close button in a part tab to close a part.
Note that changes you make to a part will be saved with that part and retrievable the next time you open it from the Parts dialog.
The Parts dialog is tightly integrated with the new Instruments panel. This integration makes it easy for you to create parts with any combination of instruments from your score.
There are two ways to customize parts in MuseScore 4: using the default (i.e. ready-made) parts to reveal other instruments, and creating entirely new parts.
As we’ve already seen, MuseScore 4 automatically creates a new (default) part for every instrument in your score. All you have to do is open the part from the Parts dialog.
In fact, each default part already contains all of the instruments in your score – they’re simply hidden from view (except, of course, the chosen part instrument).
This means you can “reveal” other instruments within any of the default parts. To do this:
This instrument will now be visible in the chosen part.
This makes creating custom parts an incredibly flexible process. Revealing or hiding other instruments is completely non-destructive, meaning you can customize every instrument in every part, and hide or show only what you want to reveal to different players (or for different musical projects) without having to create entirely new parts each time.
MuseScore 4 does of course give you the option to create a completely "blank" part from scratch, allowing you complete customization control. To do this:
Your new part will now be open in the Score tab, but it will appear to contain no instruments. To add instruments to this part:
Sometimes it will be necessary to create individual parts from staves that contain multiple voices. You might, for example, want to extract separate parts for orchestral players who share a staff in the main score (E.g. Flute I and Flute II). Or you might wish to create individual vocal parts from choral scores where, for example, four voices are notated across two staves.
You'll need to first create (see above) or duplicate (see below) a part. To then select which voices will appear in a part:
Style settings for a wide range of engraving elements can be applied specifically to parts without affecting the main score.
To change style settings for a specific part:
Changes you make in this dialog will affect only the part selected in the Score tab. If you want changes to affect all parts (but not the main score), select Apply to all parts before clicking OK.
Learn more about saving and loading default style settings in Templates and styles.
(This section describes features that are new or considerably enhanced in MuseScore 4.2.)
When you make changes to the content of the score - adding or deleting an item, or changing pitches and durations of notes, for example - these changes are always reflected in the parts, and vice versa.
However, just as you can apply different styles to score and parts, you may want the properties (position, style/appearance) of certain items to differ between score and parts. Therefore:
When an item in a part is desynchronised, its colour when selected changes to orange and, according on which properties have been changed, the toggles which appear in the Properties panel under Score and part synchronisation will switch off:
Position refers to offset, leading space, minimum distance, autoplace, direction (up/down, above/below), alignment, and a few other properties specific to certain types. Style/appearance is, essentially, all other properties.
If you have made changes to an item in the part but wish to resynchronise that item with the score, you can turn these toggles back on to reset those properties to match the score.
Text items have a third toggle, Text, which allows you to control synchronisation of the content and formatting of a text item. Unlike other properties, this must be manually switched off before you make changes to a text item in a part which you do not want to be reflected in the score.
In some cases you may wish certain items to be in the score but not to appear in the parts at all, or to appear in a part but not in the score. This is not the same as simply making the item invisible, as invisible items sometimes affect the layout.
This option is available for frames, clef changes, ottava lines, staff text and system text. In the case of clefs and ottavas, excluding these items from one view will cause the notes there to be repositioned accordingly.
To exclude an item from parts:
To exclude an item from the score:
This all takes place in the Parts dialog (accessible from the Parts button in the toolbar).
Simply click the "three dots" menu icon next to a selected part to reveal its options. Note that only newly created parts (created by clicking the Create new part button) can be deleted. All parts can be duplicated or renamed.
To duplicate any part:
To rename any part:
Note you can also double click on any part in the Parts dialog to rename it.
To delete a newly created part:
When a part is deleted, its tab in the Score tab (if already opened) will be closed. Any customizations made to that part will also be lost. The part will also no longer appear in the Parts dialog.
To export parts:
Parts will be exported in the PDF format by default. To change the export format, select your preferred format from the dropdown menu in Export settings. You can export your parts in a range of image and audio formats, as well as the braille format for compatible printers. For more information, see File Export.
To print parts:
Note that parts can currently only be printed one at a time.
On macOS, make the following substitutions:
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Zoom in | Ctrl+= | Cmd+= |
Zoom out | Ctrl+- | Cmd+- |
Zoom to 100% | Ctrl+0 | Cmd+0 |
Go to first element in score | Ctrl+Home | Cmd+Fn+Left |
Go to last element in score | Ctrl+End | Cmd+Fn+Right |
Jump to next screen | PgDn | Fn+Down |
Jump to previous screen | PgUp | Fn+Up |
Jump to top of first page | Home | Fn+Left |
Jump to bottom of last page | End | Fn+Right |
Jump to next page | Ctrl+PgDn | Cmd+Fn+Down |
Jump to previous page | Ctrl+PgUp | Cmd+Fn+Up |
Find / Go to | Ctrl+F | Cmd+F |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Select next chord | Right | Right |
Select previous chord | Left | Left |
Go to next measure | Ctrl+Right | Cmd+Right |
Go to previous measure | Ctrl+Left | Cmd+Left |
Select next element in score | Alt+Right | Option+Right |
Select previous element in score | Alt+Left | Option+Left |
Select note/rest above | Alt+Up | Option+Up |
Select note/rest below | Alt+Down | Option+Down |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Note input: toggle note input mode | N | N |
Show/hide piano keyboard | P | P |
Use voice 1 | Ctrl+Alt+1 | Cmd+Option+1 |
Use voice 2 | Ctrl+Alt+2 | Cmd+Option+2 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Set duration | 1 – 9 | 1 – 9 |
Set duration: 32nd note | 2 | 2 |
Set duration: 16th note | 3 | 3 |
Set duration: 8th note | 4 | 4 |
Set duration: quarter note | 5 | 5 |
Set duration: half note | 6 | 6 |
Set duration: whole note | 7 | 7 |
Toggle duration dot | . | . |
Enter tuplet | Ctrl+2 – Ctrl+9 | Cmd+2 – Cmd+9 |
Enter tuplet: duplet | Ctrl+2 | Cmd+2 |
Enter tuplet: triplet | Ctrl+3 | Cmd+3 |
Enter tuplet: quadruplet | Ctrl+4 | Cmd+4 |
Add tied note | T | T |
Halve selected duration (includes dotted values) | Shift+Q | Shift+Q |
Double select duration (includes dotted values) | Shift+W | Shift+W |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Enter note | A – G | A – G |
Add note to chord | Shift+A – Shift+G | Shift+A – Shift+G |
Enter interval | Alt+1 – Alt+9 | Option+1 – Option+9 |
Toggle accidental: flat | - | - |
Toggle accidental: natural | = | = |
Toggle accidental: sharp | + | + |
Enter rest | 0 | 0 |
Add grace note: acciaccatura | / | / |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Set duration (TAB) | Shift+0 – Shift+9 | Shift+0 – Shift+9 |
Set duration: 32nd note (TAB) | Shift+2 | Shift+2 |
Set duration: 16th note (TAB) | Shift+3 | Shift+3 |
Set duration: 8th note (TAB) | Shift+4 | Shift+4 |
Set duration: quarter note (TAB) | Shift+5 | Shift+5 |
Set duration: half note (TAB) | Shift+6 | Shift+6 |
Set duration: whole note (TAB) | Shift+7 | Shift+7 |
Enter TAB: fret | 0 – 9 | 0 – 9 |
Enter TAB: fret | A – K | A – K |
Go to string above (TAB) | Up | Up |
Go to string below (TAB) | Down | Down |
Toggle ghost note | Shift+X | Shift+X |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Select all | Ctrl+A | Cmd+A |
Add to selection: previous note/rest | Shift+Left | Shift+Left |
Add to selection: next note/rest | Shift+Right | Shift+Right |
Add to selection: staff above | Shift+Up | Shift+Up |
Add to selection: staff below | Shift+Down | Shift+Down |
Select to beginning of measure | Ctrl+Shift+Left | Cmd+Shift+Left |
Select to end of measure | Ctrl+Shift+Right | Cmd+Shift+Right |
Select to beginning of score | Ctrl+Shift+Home | Cmd+Shift+Fn+Left |
Select to end of score | Ctrl+Shift+End | Cmd+Shift+Fn+Right |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Escape | Esc | Esc |
Undo | Ctrl+Z | Cmd+Z |
Redo | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Cmd+Shift+Z |
Copy | Ctrl+C | Cmd+C |
Cut | Ctrl+X | Cmd+X |
Paste | Ctrl+V | Cmd+V |
Repeat selection | R | R |
Insert one measure before selection | Ins | Ins |
Insert measures before selection | Ctrl+Ins | Cmd+Ins |
Insert one measure at end of score | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B |
Insert measures at end of score | Alt+Shift+B | Option+Shift+B |
Delete | Del | Del |
Delete selected measures | Ctrl+Del | Cmd+Del |
Show/hide properties | F8 | Fn+F8 |
Edit element | F2 | Fn+F2 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Set duration | 1 – 9 | 1 – 9 |
Enter tuplet | Ctrl+2 – Ctrl+9 | Cmd+2 – Cmd+9 |
Add tied note | T | T |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Toggle accidental: flat | - | - |
Toggle accidental: natural | = | = |
Toggle accidental: sharp | + | + |
Move pitch/selection up | Up | Up |
Move pitch/selection down | Down | Down |
Move pitch up an octave | Ctrl+Up | Cmd+Up |
Move pitch down an octave | Ctrl+Down | Cmd+Down |
Change enharmonic spelling (concert and written pitch) | J | J |
Move note to higher string (TAB) | Ctrl+Up | Cmd+Up |
Move note to lower string (TAB) | Ctrl+Down | Cmd+Down |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Flip direction | X | X |
Use voice 1 | Ctrl+Alt+1 | Cmd+Option+1 |
Use voice 2 | Ctrl+Alt+2 | Cmd+Option+2 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Move text left | Left | Left |
Move text right | Right | Right |
Move text left quickly | Ctrl+Left | Cmd+Left |
Move text right quickly | Ctrl+Right | Cmd+Right |
Move selection up | Up | Up |
Move selection down | Down | Down |
Move selection up quickly | Ctrl+Up | Cmd+Up |
Move selection down quickly | Ctrl+Down | Cmd+Down |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Add text: staff text | Ctrl+T | Cmd+T |
Add text: expression text | Ctrl+E | Cmd+E |
Add text: system text | Ctrl+Shift+T | Cmd+Shift+T |
Add text: tempo marking | Alt+Shift+T | Option+Shift+T |
Add text: rehearsal mark | Ctrl+M | Cmd+M |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Format text: bold face | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B |
Format text: italic | Ctrl+I | Cmd+I |
Format text: underline | Ctrl+U | Cmd+U |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Add text: lyrics | Ctrl+L | Cmd+L |
Go to next syllable | Space | Space |
Go to previous syllable | Shift+Space | Shift+Space |
Lyrics: enter hyphen | - | - |
Lyrics: enter melisma | _ | _ |
Add lyric verse | Return | Return |
Go to next lyric verse | Down | Down |
Go to previous lyric verse | Up | Up |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Add text: chord symbol | Ctrl+K | Cmd+K |
Next text element | Space | Space |
Previous text element | Shift+Space | Shift+Space |
Advance cursor: next beat | ; | ; |
Advance cursor: previous beat | Shift+; | Shift+; |
Advance cursor: duration | Ctrl+1 – Ctrl+9 | Cmd+1 – Cmd+9 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Show/hide palettes | F9 | Fn+F9 |
Search palettes | Ctrl+F9 | Cmd+Fn+F9 |
Add slur | S | S |
Add articulation: accent | Shift+V | Shift+V |
Add articulation: marcato | Shift+O | Shift+O |
Add articulation: staccato | Shift+S | Shift+S |
Add articulation: tenuto | Shift+N | Shift+N |
Add hairpin: crescendo | < | < |
Add hairpin: decrescendo | > | > |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Add/remove instruments | I | I |
Open instruments dialog | F7 | Fn+F7 |
Toggle visibility of elements | V | V |
Decrease layout stretch | { | { |
Increase layout stretch | } | } |
Add/remove system break | Return | Return |
Add/remove page break | Ctrl+Return | Cmd+Return |
Reset shapes and positions | Ctrl+R | Cmd+R |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
New | Ctrl+N | Cmd+N |
Open | Ctrl+O | Cmd+O |
Close | Ctrl+W | Cmd+W |
Save | Ctrl+S | Cmd+S |
Ctrl+P | Cmd+P | |
Quit | Ctrl+Q | Cmd+Q |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Play | Space | Space |
Show/hide mixer | F10 | Fn+F10 |
Readers should already know the concept of Musescore instrument, and usage of Add or remove Instrument window explained in Setting up score chapter. This chapter discusses the new Instruments panel feature in MuseScore 4 that manages
Read more about "Full score" and "Part" in Parts chapter.
Open the Instruments panel by clicking on the Instruments tab on the left side of the screen:
Click Add (or just press i). This will open the Instruments dialog (see Choose instruments for more information).
To delete an instrument from the score, select the instrument and click the Trash can icon, or press Delete.
Select any instrument and use the ↑ or ↓ buttons to change its position in the score. Alternatively, you can drag the instrument up/down using the mouse.
To toggle the visibility of one instrument (all of its staves)
Hiding is not deleting. Hiding an instrument disables all its staffs' playback. This feature is useful in combination with Musescore's Part feature, see Parts chapter. This allows for example the creation of alternative instruments or different printing versions for different performers; or isolation of sections of a larger score for orchestra without deleting anything.
To replace an instrument in the Instruments panel:
The Instruments panel can also be used to add staves to an existing instrument and configure some of their basic properties.
Added staves share the same instrument but their notation can be edited independently. Amongst other things, they can be used to create staff/tablature for stringed-instrument players (e.g. guitar, banjo, ukulele etc.).
Certain notational objects on one staff can be made to automatically appear on other staves if they are linked together. Linked staves can be used to create staff/tablature for stringed-instrument players (guitar, banjo, ukulele etc.).
To create a linked staff:
Learn more about staff customization in Staff/part properties.
Hiding is not deleting.
See also "Hiding/showing instruments" section that explains how to hide an instrument, hiding an instrument disables all its staffs' playback.
Note: On score that uses Musescore's Parts feature, deleting a staff deletes it in "Full score" and all "Part" that features it. See also the alternative "hide" commands in "Hiding/showing instruments" and "Hiding a staff but keeping its playback" sections.
To delete an instrument and all of its staffs:
To delete a staff from an instrument:
By default, a score will show all measures of all staves on all pages throughout the score, whether they contain notes or not. However, you may wish to have certain staves appear only on systems where they are needed. You may even wish to have a staff appear or disappear mid-system. MuseScore provides a number of controls for this purpose, this chapter explains them.
To hide certain instrument everywhere on a score, use Choose instruments dialog (shortcut key i), Instruments panel on the left (a new feature in MuseScore 4), and the Parts toolbar button on the top instead.
Omission of empty staves is a common practice found in printed ensemble scores. When a staff along one system (the page layout concept) contains no notations, the staff (all its bars along that system) are hidden.
To configure the current score to automatically hide any of its staves on systems where the staff is empty:
Alternatively, you can enable the Hide empty staves within systems option in Format→Style→Score.
MuseScore will normally continue to show all staves on the first system, in accordance with common convention. If you would like to force MuseScore to hide empty staves on the first system as well, disable the Don't hide empty staves in first system option in the dialog. You can also control whether or not brackets are shown if, for example, only a single instrument from a section is playing, via the Show brackets when spanning a single staff option.
The score-wide setting explained above affects all staffs on a score. There is also an individual setting for each staff (that contains a clef) that overrides the score-wide setting:
In a score where score-wide setting Hide empty staves within systems option is enabled,
The score-wide setting explained above affects all staffs on a score. There is also an individual setting for each staff (that contains a clef) that overrides the score-wide setting:
In a score where all staffs are shown everywhere (score-wide setting Hide empty staves within systems option is disabled), there may nonetheless be one or two special staves that you wish to only show where needed. For example, this might be a solo part in an ensemble score, or a bass staff in a lead sheet. To set one staff to hide when empty without assigning a score-wide staff hiding setting, set its Hide when empty option to Always.
In a score that contains a system where all staffs of all visible instruments are completely empty, the top staff is shown by default. To specify the staff to display:
This setting may be useful when using Musescore Parts function. This setting is unrelated to all other staff hiding settings covered in this chapter.
Film scores and other contemporary scores often use a style of notation where individual measures are hidden when empty. These are sometimes called cutaway scores.
To use this style on one staff in MuseScore:
The Cutaway option alone does not change vertical layout, the staff's vertical space is reserved in all systems as if invisible.
If you wish all staves to be displayed in cutaway score style, you can replace step 3 with score-wide setting explained above. However, you still need to set the Cutaway option for each staff individually. You can speed up this process by using the arrow buttons in the Staff/Part Properties dialog:
An ossia is a special type of cutaway staff in which a given musical passage is notated using a small staff above the normal staff, such as to show an alternate interpretation.
These can be created in MuseScore using a combination of features:
If you wish to hear the ossia playback instead of the normal staff, select the corresponding measures on the normal staff and uncheck the Play setting on the Properties panel. Do the same for the ossia staff if you would rather hear the normal staff playback.
Depending on the look you desire, you might also want to hide the initial or final barline for the passage. To do this, select the barline and press V or uncheck the Visible option in the Properties panel.
You may also wish to decrease the distance between the ossia and the normal staff. To do this, use a Staff spacer fixed down from the Layout palette.
MuseScore also allows you to make individual measures invisible on any given staff, whether empty or not.
To set a measure to be invisible on a given staff:
Note: you cannot make a measure invisible on all staves—it must remain visible on at least one.
The Implode command allows you to do either of the following:
All selected notes in the staff are now displayed in voice 1.
The notation initially in the upper staff will now be in voice 1, that from the staff below in voice 2, and so on.
Explode allows you to do either of the following:
The passage in the top staff is copied to each of the selected staves below.
In this case the chords in a selected passage of music are separated into their constituent notes as follows:
Notes: (1) If the selection is all in voice 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 the selection is all in voice 1, and 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.
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.
In MuseScore, the instruction to change to a different instrument is handled by the Change Instrument text element, which is found in the Text Palette. This text element is different from Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text in that it is linked to playback, allowing for a change in sound to the new instrument.
To add an instrument change:
The instruction to change to the new instrument will appear above the selected insertion point in the score.
To remove an instrument change, click once on a Change instrument text element to select it, and press either Del or Backspace.
You can re-label any Change instrument text element in the score by double-clicking on it and entering new text. This will not affect the playback sound of the new instrument.
Playback sounds for instrument changes are reflected in the Mixer as separate channel strips stacked to the right of the primary instrument channel strip. These instruments are labelled in parentheses. You can change the assigned playback library, apply effects, adjust the volume, and mute, solo, and pan these channel strips just as you would any other instrument channel strip. For more information, see the Mixer.
Changing to a different instrument may necessitate the use of different key signatures, clefs, and even staff type. Learn more about changing staff type in Staff type change.
To change one staff everywhere on a score change Staff type or template instead. Staff types and templates supported by Musescore are covered in Staff/Part properties chapter.
You can change the appearance of a staff starting from certain point on a score by adding a "Staff type change" element to a measure, and adjusting its properties in the Properties panel. This can be used when changing between pitched and unpitched staves or for various experimental notation effects.
Alternatively, you can drag the symbol from the palette to a measure in your score.
When you alter a "Staff type change" property in the Properties panel, the new value takes precedence over the value shown in the global Staff/Part properties dialog. Only those property values in Staff/Part properties that cannot be changed for the "Staff type change" will be valid throughout the score.
The properties that can be altered for the "Staff type change" in the Properties panel are:
Cue size
Use the Small staff size that is defined for the score
Offset
Displace the staff vertically
Scale
Change the size of the staff using a custom percentage
Number of lines
Change the number of lines making up the staff
Line distance
Change the distance between two staff lines
Step offset
Offset the notes on the staff relative
Invisible staff lines
Toggle visibility of the staff lines
Staff line color
Set the color of the staff lines
Notehead scheme
Specify alternate noteheads such as pitch names or shape note
Stemless
Toggle display of note stems
Show barlines
Toggle display of barlines
Show ledger lines
Toggle display of ledger lines
Generate clefs
Toggle display of clefs
Generate time signatures
Toggle display of time signatures
Generate key signatures
Toggle display of key signatures
Warning: the word "Part" mentioned in this chapter and the window heading is is currently a wrong use of wording in Musescore 4 due to be updated (a outdated data from Musescore 3). Inside this chapter, the word means Musescore Instrument, but note that everywhere else inside this handbook and Musescore 4, it means Parts (the feature to create different versions of the same score)
The Staff / Part Properties dialog allows you to change display properties of one Staff and the properties of the Musescore Instrument it belongs to. To open the dialog:
Clicking on Navigation arrows ↑ and ↓ buttons at the bottom left will cancel any unsaved changes and switch to edit the previous or next staff.
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.
four instruments shown above are examples of the four staff types respectively. Download this testing score file MS4-1-1 Staffstypes.mscz
For each type, there are pre-defined Template to choose from in the Advanced Style Properties (Edit Staff Type) window
Replacing an instrument also changes staff types but may create unreasonable result and wrong playback. For example, replacing Piano (a standard staff, type 1a) with Drumset (percussion staff, type 3).
The top section of the dialog allows you to adjust many aspects of the appearance of an individual staff. The following options are common to all types of staves:
First column:
Second column:
Third column:
Clicking on Advanced Style Properties… opens the Edit Staff Type window, the properties available vary depending on staff type.
First row: Lines, Line Distance: duplicated UI for the exact same property as above
Second row: Show clef, Show time signature, Show barlines: duplicated UI for the exact same property as above
At the bottom of the window:
- Template dropbox
Assigning a template changes the number of lines (type 3 percussion staff) or switch staff types altogether (type 1a, type 1b and type 2). To apply a template:
1. Make a selection from the drop-down list labeled “Template”;
2. Press < Reset to Template;
3. Press OK to accept the changes and exit the dialog (or Cancel to cancel the operation).
Third row:
Under Fret Marks tab:
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:
Under Note Values tab: properties define the appearance of the symbols indicating note values
Warning: The wording "Part" used in the heading is a misnomer as of Musescore 4.1.1
The name of the instrument is shown here. To change the instrument,
Note: 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.”
Set the octave, and up/down interval to ensure that transposing instruments are notated correctly. This is automatically done by the program for most instruments.
For transposing instruments an additional option is shown: "Prefer sharps or flats for transposed key signatures". There are three options:
In addition to those listed above, staves of fretted, plucked-string instruments (Type 1b and type 2) have a few extra options at the bottom part of the window,
Brackets/braces are used to connect multiple staves of one instrument (e.g. a piano's grand staff) or of a group of instruments (e.g. 2 x violins, viola and cello in string section) within a system. See Page layout concepts : system chapter.
Brackets/braces are automatically applied when a score is created in the New Score dialog. You can easily change them if the default is not what you want (see below).
To add brackets and curly braces, use Brackets palette.
To add a bracket or brace to all systems:
Alternatively:
Nested brackets can also be applied using these methods, applying the innermost first and ending with the outermost. The order can be edited subsequently using the "Column" property (see below)
If you select a bracket/brace, you can edit its properties in the Properties panel (sidebar).
Use one of the following methods:
Brackets/Braces also have a few global properties which can be adjusted from the Style menu:
Time signatures are applied to the score from the "Time Signatures" palette.
This is done from page 2 of the New Score dialog.
Use any of the following methods:
To hide/show time signatures on a particular staff:
To disable/enable all courtesy time signatures (at the end of systems):
To hide or show an individual courtesy time signature:
You can also do the same thing from the Master Palette (Shift+F9).
In certain cases a score may show staves with different time signatures running at the same time. For example, in the following (J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variation no. 26):
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:
To open the Time signature properties dialog use one of the following:
This part of the dialog allows you to adjust the nominal appearance of the signature without affecting its underlying rhythmic value.
Alternatively, you can make a selection from a range of time signature symbols below.
See the Beams chapter.
There are a few global style properties for time signatures (see Format→Style).
MuseScore aligns the stems of voice 1 notes according to the conventions of music theory. By contrast, voice 2 and voice 4 stems point downwards by default, while voice 3 stems point upwards. Voice 1 stems automatically flip upwards in the presence of voice 2 or 4 notes.
This action will flip any attached beam as well.
To hide the stems of individual notes:
To hide all stems in an instrument part:
Properties specific to stems and flags can be edited from the Stem tab in the Note section of the Properties panel:
Global settings for Stem thickness and Flag style may also be set in Format→Style→Notes.
A beam is a line connecting consecutive notes to indicate rhythmic grouping of eighth or shorter notes (Wikipedia). You can change control the presence or absence of beams between notes as well as their appearance.
The default beaming of notes is determined by properties of the time signature. You can edit those defaults and thus affect the beaming of all notes within that time signature, and you can also override the beaming of individual notes to differ from the time signature defaults.
See the main chapter Time signatures
Each time signature has a set of beaming defaults that control the beaming of all notes in that time signature. Since you will normally want the beaming consistent throughout the score, this is usually the place to start when altering the beaming. To edit the defaults for a given time signature, use the Time signature properties dialog.
You can also access this dialog by right-clicking a time signature.
Note: the settings made in this dialog are per score and also per staff. To apply changes to other staves within the same score, you can Ctrl+Shift+drag the time signature to another staff, which acts similarly to adding it from the palette. To make a customized time signature available to other scores, Ctrl+Shift+drag it back to the palette.
To change the beaming of a note of a given duration on a given beat, click the corresponding note in the Beam groups section to toggle the beam into that note on or off. That is, if you click a note that is currently beamed to the previous note, that will break the beam, and if you click a note that is not currently beamed to the previous note, that will join them. You can also drag one of the Beam selector icons to any given note to set its beaming as explained further below.
If you select the Also change shorter notes option, then changes made to any given note will affect notes on the same beat of shorter durations as well.
Click Reset to remove all changes made since this dialog was opened. Note that this button does not reset settings back to the original defaults from the palette. To revert all changes made since the time signature was added, use the palette to replace the time signature.
The time signature properties control the default beaming for notes in your score, but you can override those defaults on a note-by-note basis, such as to have one measure beamed differently from another. This can be useful when writing certain rhythms that might be more readable beamed in a non-standard manner, or in cases where the options available in Time signature properties are insufficient to create the defaults you want. It is also the only way to create beams over rests.
Beam properties are set on the notes themselves. To change the beam between two notes, you will normally start by selecting the second of the two notes, as most of the beam properties control the beam into a note. Note that these properties can be set from the Properties panel or the Beam properties palette, but this discussion will focus on the Properties panel.
To change the beaming of a given note:
Select one of the icons to set the appropriate property
From left to right, the available properties are:
To extend a beam over a rest:
To extend a beam across a barline:
While breaking and joining beams is a function of the individual notes, the actual appearance of the beam can be controlled by selecting either the beam itself or any of the notes it joins. Thus, to set these properties, you can either:
or
Either way, at that point, you will see the options to control the appearance of the beam.
The buttons in the Feather beams section of the Properties panel can be used to indicate gradual slowing down or speeding up of the joined notes (note this is not supported in playback). These options only apply to 16th and shorter durations using multiple beams.
The angle of a beam can be edited directly by selecting it and moving the handles by dragging or using the cursor keys. But you can also use the settings in the Properties panel. You may need to click the More button first to display this section.
The two settings here correspond to the left and right handles on the beam and allow you to set the height of either side of the beam independently.
You can also force a beam to be horizontal by enabling the Force horizontal property.
A few global properties of beams can be set from Format→Style→Beams:
Standard music notation normally follows a set of conventions designed to facilitate the reading of rhythm. The basic idea is to group notes in ways that clarify which notes belong to which beat. Rules include:
A full discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of this Handbook, but for more information, see this handout.
Here is an example of a rhythm written incorrectly and then correctly:
MuseScore can correct many of these cases automatically.
To regroup rhythms according to the common conventions of standard music notation:
The rhythm itself is not changed—only the notation of it.
מקצב אי-רציונלי הוא כל קבוצה של תווים המחלקת את הפעמה באופן שלא מתאים לחלוקה של סימן המשקל. טריולה המכילה 3 שמיניות בפעמה אחת היא הסוג הכי מוכר של מקצב אי-רציונלי
ניתן להוסיף מקצבים אי-רציונליים פשוטים כמו הטריולה הנ"ל במצב הזנת תווים או במצב רגיל
התו או ההפסקה מחולקים אוטומטית בשבילכם בשיטת כתיבה מובנת
* לחצו על קיצור הדרך במקלדת בשביל המקצב האי-רציונלי הרצוי. כלומר: Ctrl+3 לטריולה; Ctrl+4 לקוורטולה … וכו', עד ל- Ctrl+9 לנונולה. (ב-Mac: Cmd+3 … Cmd+9);
* מהתפריט, בחרו הוספה→מקצבים אי-רציונליים…, ואז בחרו את החלוקה הרצויה.
* מתפריט הזנת התווים, לחצו על סמליל ה- מקצב אי-רציונלי ובחרו מן התפריט הנפתח
.
התו או ההפסקה מחולקים אוטומטית בשבילכם בשיטת כתיבה מובנת
If you need to input a series of tuplets, and don't want to continually repeat the tuplet command, you can select the notes of the first tuplet and press R (Repeat) as many times as needed; then move subsequent notes into position using keyboard arrows, retyping or re-pitch mode.
More complex tuplets can be created as follows:
Tuplets can be nested within other tuplets.
To create a nested tuplet:
You can choose to display or hide a tuplet number or bracket, change its orientation, or adjust line thickness. See Tuplet properties (below) for details.
The display of selected tuplets can be changed in the Tuplet section of the Properties panel.
Direction: Whether the tuplet indication appears above or below the staff. Available settings are "Auto", "above" (↑) or "below" (↓).
Number type: Affects the numerical display. Choice of "Number", "Ratio" or "None".
Bracket type: Sets bracket display. Settings are "Auto", "bracket", or "no bracket".
Line thickness: The thickness of the tuplet bracket, if displayed.
You can set the global properties of tuplets in the score from Format→Style→Tuplets. These settings provide fine control over the default display of tuplets.
The settings include:
A full range of common barlines is contained in the Barlines palette.
Alternatively, you can drag a barline from the palette onto a barline in the score.
Changes are applied automatically to all barlines at the same point in the score.
Alternatively, you can hold Ctrl and drag a barline from the palette onto a barline in the score.
Only barlines in the one staff are affected.
This will add a "barline" in front of each selected note. The barline is for visual purposes and does not factor into any measure operations.
If you wish to divide a measure, inserting a real barline in the process, see Splitting a measure.
Here we are concerned with the vertical extension of barlines in order to link staves together, or their reduction to create partial barlines.
The barline snaps into place, and all other barlines in that staff follow.
Partial barlines can be easily created by adjusting "Span from" and "Span to" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel.
See Working with Mensurstrich.
You can edit properties specific to barlines in the Barlines section of the Properties panel:
Style: Used to change selected barlines to one in the dropdown list.
Span to next staff: Check this to make selected barlines extend to the staff beneath.
Span from/to: used to set the vertical start and end points of one or more selected barlines.
Set as staff default: Applies the changes made in Span to next staff and Span from/to to all barlines in the staff.
Span presets: Applies the selected preset to one or more selected barlines in the score.
Selected properties for all barlines in the score can be changed in Format→Style→Barlines:
By default, MuseScore shows measure numbers at the start of each system except the first one in a section. Numbering starts at the first complete measure in a section.
if you wish to change measure numbering:
To always show the number of a particular measure, regardless of style settings, open Measure properties and select "Always show" from the Measure number mode dropdown.
To hide all measure numbers, uncheck "Measure numbers" in Format→Style→Measure numbers.
To hide the number of a particular measure, regardless of style settings, open Measure properties and select "Always hide" from the Measure number mode dropdown.
In Measure properties, check "Exclude from measure count" (in the Other pane).
In Measure properties, edit "Add to measure number". Both positive and negative numbers are accepted.
By default, numbering of measures always restarts at the beginning of a new section. To prevent this, and make numbering continuous, select the break and in the Properties panel uncheck "Reset measure numbers for new section".
To adjust the position of all measure numbers, edit the X and Y offsets of "Position above" and "Position below" in Format→Style→Measure numbers.
Note that any changes made to a measure number in the Properties panel may be lost if the layout changes.
Values of the "Style for Measure number" can be edited in Format→Style→Measure number.
Values of the "Style for text inside Measure number" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Measure number.
Other measure-related pages:
A measure rest looks like a whole rest, but is centered within a measure and indicates that the entire measure (or a voice within it) is silent:
It is commonly used in all meters (except 4/2 and 8/4).
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 (Mac: Backspace).
If one or more of the measures contains a custom duration, use the following method instead:
If the voice contains only rests you can select the first rest and invoke the conversion keystroke.
A multimeasure rest is used to indicate a run of empty measures, the number of measures being shown by a figure above/below the staff.
Multimeasure rests can be turned on/off with the shortcut M, or by checking "Multimeasure Rests" in Format→Style…→Rests.
By default, if multimeasure rests are enabled, any sequence of two or more empty measures is automatically converted to multimeasure rests.
To change the minimum number of empty measures needed to trigger multimeasure rests:
Multimeasure rests can be turned on/off independently in the score and instrument parts.
Multimeasure rests are automatically broken at important points, such as double barlines, rehearsal marks, key signature or time signature changes, section breaks etc.
However, you can opt to break a multimeasure rest elsewhere as follows.
You can edit properties specific to multimeasure rests in the Multimeasure rest section of the Properties panel:
Show number: This box is checked by default. Uncheck it to hide the multimeasure number.
Number position: Adjust the vertical position of the multimeasure number, above or below the rest.
Values of the "Style for text inside Multimeasure rest range" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Multimeasure rest range .
Values of the "Style for Measure numbers" can be set in Format→Style…→Measure numbers:
Others from Format→Style…→Rests:
Other measure-related pages:
A pickup measure, also known as an upbeat or anacrusis, is a partial, or incomplete, measure at the beginning of a score or section.
Note: By convention, measure numbering starts at the first complete measure. MuseScore does not do this by default but you can accomplish this manually by checking "Exclude from measure count" in the Measure Properties dialog.
NOTE: When there are notes in your intended pickup measure MuseScore only preserves the leftmost notes, if they fit in the Actual value you designate. For instance, if a 4/4 measure contains six eight notes starting on beat 1, and you set the Actual value to 1 beat (to create a quarter note pickup) MuseScore keeps only the first two eighths. If you set the Actual value to 2 MuseScore will keep the first four eighths. Whereas with a measure pre-populated with two eighth notes, starting at beat 4, and your Nominal value is 1 or 2 or 3, MuseScore will eliminate those notes from the measure, even though they exist in the logical place for such pickup notes. Finally, it should be understood that pickup configurations are accomplished without using the Time Signature palette.
It is accepted musical practice to omit the same duration as the pickup from the final measure of the piece or of the same repeat section. The same method of shortening the measure applies here.
A non-metered measure is one which is less or greater in duration than the indicated time signature.
A measures of less duration than the indicated signature may be created in exactly the same way as a pickup measure (see above).
Other ways of creating non-metered measures are described below:
Extra notes/rests can be inserted in a measure with the help of either a keyboard shortcut, or by using a special mode of entry called Insert mode:
If, at any time, the total duration of the notes and rests within the measure does not match the time signature, a small + or - sign will be shown above the measure.
This command joins selected measures into one measure.
Method A. To join two measures only:
Method B. To join any number of measures:
Notes:
1. 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.
2. Beaming may be automatically modified.
This command inserts a barline before a selected note, splitting the measure into two.
Use one of the following methods:
Other measure-related pages:
The Measure properties dialog allows you to adjust various properties of an individual measure—such as visibility, duration, numbering and width ("Stretch"). To change all measures on the score, use Format → Style window : Score, Page, Measure numbers, and Measure categories. To change all measures of one staff on the whole score, change the staff Staff / Part properties.
To open Measure properties, right-click on a measure and select "Measure properties".
If you only want to adjust one measure, click OK to make the changes permanent. However, if you also want to adjust adjacent measures there is no need to close the dialog; simply click Apply, then use the arrows on the bottom left of the window to move the dialog to the new measure. The new measure number appears both at the top of the dialog and in the status bar.
Visible : Uncheck/check the boxes to hide/show the selected measure.
Stemless: Check/uncheck the box to hide/show stems.
Nominal: This is the time signature set in the score.
Actual: Adjust these figures to increase or decrease the duration of a measure.
Exclude from measure count: Check to make the count skip the selected measure.
Break multimeasure rest: See Breaking multimeasure rest.
Measure number mode: Allows you to display/hide measure number for the selected measure irrespective of style settings.
Add to measure number: Changes numbering from this measure onwards in the score.
Layout stretch: This property is normally adjusted first with a shortcut (see Stretch); use "Measure properties" for fine adjustment.
Play count: This only appears if the measure is before an end repeat barline. It indicates the number of times the repeat section is played.
The play count of the measure with the end repeat barline must be set one higher than the number of times you want the measure to play (this is usually equal to the number of entries in that volta repeat list + 1).
Take the following score:
Measure 4 should have play count set to 4
Measure 6 should have play count set to 3
Other measure-related pages:
Clefs are applied to the score from the "Clefs" palette.
MuseScore automatically applies the most appropriate clef(s) for the instrument when creating a new score. You can easily change this from the score window if needed.
To change a clef at the start of a system, use one of the following:
To add/change a mid-measure clef before a note, use one of the following:
To add/change a mid-measure clef in front of a barline, use one of the following:
Notes: (1) “Mid-staff” clefs are always smaller than the main system clef. (2) Notes after a clef change are automatically repositioned so that they continue to sound at the original pitch.
To delete a clef, just select it and press Del. Note that clefs at the beginning of systems cannot be deleted.
To hide/show clefs at the beginning of all systems except the first:
Mid-measure clefs are unaffected.
To hide/show all clefs on a selected staff:
This affects clefs at the start of a system and mid-measure.
To hide/show courtesy clefs:
If courtesy clefs are enabled, you can still hide an individual courtesy clef as follows:
[To be added]
[To be added]
See Courtesy clefs (above).
Clefs applied to an entire measure or the first note in a measure are shown before the barline.
To move the clef after the barline:
1. Select the clef
2. Open the Properties panel
3. Under Position relative to barline, choose After
To replace the first clef in a score, see Add/Change a start clef.
Tablature users can select the type of TAB clef displayed:
Other style properties are available in Format→Style→Page, namely:
Create clef for all systems
Create courtesy clefs
For details, see Controlling the visibility of clefs (above).
Key signatures are applied to the score from the "Key signatures" palette.
The initial key signature is set from page 2 of the New Score dialog.
Use one of the following methods:
Note: It is also possible, though uncommon, to add a key-signature mid measure by selecting a note then clicking a palette key signature, or dragging the key signature to a note.
If you wish to add a key signature to only one staff, leaving others unchanged, apply one of the following methods:
If you wish to select a key signature for a single staff only, press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd), then click on the key signature.
Use any of the following methods:
To replace the key signature on a single staff only, press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) before carrying out the above operations.
To show key signatures only at the beginning of a score, and at a key change:
To hide/show all courtesy key signatures (at the end of systems):
To hide/show a particular courtesy key signature:
Care needs to be taken when working in written pitch and applying a key signature directly to a transposing instrument. For example, a Bb clarinet is written a tone higher than it sounds; so, to get the clarinet to display in G major, you need to apply a key signature of F major from the palette. And so on.
Some instruments (e.g. French horn) are conventionally written with no key signature. To achieve this, you need to add an open/atonal local key signature to the staff (this is already done in scores created from templates).
An open/atonal key signature looks similar to a 'C major/A minor' key signature. However, unlike standard key signatures, an open key signature always remains the same, regardless of key changes to the rest of the score.
To create a custom signature:
Drag accidentals onto the staff image as required. Note: Accidentals are horizontally aligned by default. If you want to olace an accidental in a custom position, hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while dragging it.
To remove an accidental select it and press Del. Note: The Clear button deletes all added accidentals.
Note: Custom key signatures are adapted to transposing instruments automatically. If You want transposing instrument to use custom key signature exactly the same, as it is in palette, You need to transpose it back. Select measure where key signature is placed and use Tools→Transpose.
You can edit properties specific to key signatures in the Key signature section of the Properties panel:
Show courtesy key signature on previous system: See Controlling the visibility of key signatures (above).
Mode: You can select a mode for the key signature if required—major, minor, dorian etc. The default is "unknown".
Various style properties affect key signature display.
Create key signature for all systems
Create courtesy signatures
The use of these properties is discussed in Controlling the visibility of key signatures (above).
Here you can change the way accidentals are displayed in key signature changes in the score.
Clef to key signature
Key signature to time signature
Barline to key signature
Key signature to barline
Key signature to first note
These properties control the various distances before and after key signatures in the score.
Transposition is the act of raising or lowering the pitch of a selection of notes by the same interval.
In MuseScore, you can transpose your music using keyboard shortcuts, or via the Transpose dialog.
To transpose with keyboard shortcuts, first select a range of notes (See Selecting elements). Then use one of the following options, depending on how you need to transpose your music:
Press ↑ or ↓ to move the selection up/down in semitone steps
Press Alt+Shift+↑/↓ to move the selection up/down in scale degrees (Mac: ⌥+Shift+↑/↓).
Press Ctrl+↑/↓ to move the selection up/down in octave steps (Mac: ⌘+↑/↓).
The Transpose dialog gives you more control over transposition, with options to transpose to selected keys or by specific intervals.
First select a range of notes you wish to transpose. (See Selecting elements). If no selection is made, the whole score is automatically selected for transposition.
Then open the dialog by selecting Tools → Transpose...
When this is selected, you can choose to transpose to a specific key, or by specified interval.
To transpose selected notes up or down in semitone increments:
Select this to transpose the selection by a specified interval without changing the existing key signature(s). Note: the intervallic relationships between pitches in your selection will change as a result!
Transposing instruments (such as the clarinet, French horn, trumpet etc.) are notated at a different pitch (and key signature) to how they sound. The notated pitch is called the written pitch, while the actual pitch is called concert or sounding pitch.
By default MuseScore displays all staves at written pitch. However, if you wish to view the score at concert pitch go to the Status Bar (located in the bottom right of MuseScore's main window) and check the "Concert pitch" toggle, which includes a tuning fork icon.
When you set up a score in the New Score, or Add or remove instruments dialogs, transposed key signatures are automatically applied to any transposing instruments. However if for any reason you need to set up the staff transposition manually, this is how to do it.
The correct transposed key signature will now appear on the staff.
The enharmonic spelling of the transposed key signature, whether in sharps or flats, is set in Staff/Part properties (see Setting the interval of transposition ).
To change the enharmonic spelling of pitches in the score, see Change spelling.
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. 8va alta/bassa lines are particularly common in piano scores, though they are sometimes used in other instrumental music. 15ma alta (2 octaves above) and 15ma bassa (2 octaves below) are also occasionally used. MuseScore creates playback for ottava. The line may be styled as solid or dotted:
8--------┐or 8va--------┐: Play one octave above written pitch.
8--------┘or 8va--------┘: Play one octave below written pitch.
Ottava lines can be found in the Pitch and Lines Palette. To add one to note(s) or measure, and adjust its time range, see Using the palette and Other lines : Apply line chapters. To fine tune layout position, see Adjusting elements directly.
Properties specific to the selected ottava(s) can be adjusted in the Ottava section of the Properties panel, namely:
Type: Specifies whether the Ottava line is 8va, 8vb etc.
Show number only: Hides any text (such as “va”).
Show line: Makes the line visible / invisible. Text is unaffected.
Allow diagonal: Allow line to slope if required.
For other properties in this tab, see Line properties.
This has a similar user interface to general lines (see Line properties), but uses special code to specify the ottava text.
See the main chapter Templates and styles
Values of the "Style for text inside Ottavas" can be edited in Format→Style→Text Style→Ottavas.
This chapter discusses the appearance of noteheads in MuseScore.
One aspect of music notation systems is notehead scheme. A scheme is a set of rules used to decide notehead shape's meaning, some of which are supported in MuseScore. Supported schemes relate notehead meaning to a note's:
The most widely used scheme is very likely the only one known to most musicians. It is referred to as "Normal" in MuseScore and is the default setting for a new staff. Details of the nine schemes available in MuseScore are covered in Custom staff types:Notehead scheme.
Understanding relative pitch notations (shape note solfege, shape note notation) can enhance the reader's comprehension of this chapter. Most of the time, a notehead shape conveys one specific meaning, and that meaning is only associated with one notehead shape. Shape note solfege is like a variant of movable-do solfege that belongs to the exceptions. For example, in one type of "shape note notation", a triangle must be used to notate a relatively pitched "C4", but triangles are also read as relatively pitched "C"s or "F"s only, and triangles must sing "Fa" or a syllable agree upon by singers on-site. The loosely related shape note solfege notates interval perception much better than the "Normal" setting.
Shown above, the diamond notehead can be used for harmonic notes in guitar, violin etc; and slash notehead for guitar strums etc. The cross is also known as crosshead, ghost note, or dead note.
Final display of notehead shape in MuseScore is determined by three factors: the notehead type factor, the pitch factor, and the duration factor (or note-value, rhythm).
Note pitch may affect affect notehead shape, depending on the scheme, but it only happens on note(s) that do not use an overriding Notehead type property. See "Notehead type factor" section. "Normal" notehead scheme does not use pitch to determine notehead shape.
The duration factor is determined by a note's duration. To edit duration see Entering notes and rests and Editing notes and rests chapters. It also can be visually overridden for an individual note, while keeping the real value and playback intact.
Options available for notehead type factor depends on staff type:
Notehead scheme is used to determine notehead shape unless overridden by individual note's Notehead type property. When notehead scheme is not overridden, note pitch may affect notehead shape, depending on the scheme. "Normal" notehead scheme does not use pitch to determine notehead shape. When a note uses an overriding Notehead type property, note pitch information does not affect notehead shape at all.
Notehead type factor
Duration factor
shown above 7 Shape (Aikin), a "shape note notation"
There are six methods to change "pitch".
Most of the time, a note's pitch only affects its staff space / vertical position, to change it:
Tablatures, percussion staffs and some notehead scheme (see Overview) use notehead shape to convey pitch information:
To move notehead(s) horizontally to the other side of stem, use one of the following:
(Note: Contrast this command with X which moves the stem and beam horizontally and vertically to other side of the notehead)
Selecting a note(s) on score, in the Properties panel Note: Head tab :
There are 8 font options (two new options compared to MuseScore 3) for notehead set in Format→Style→Score. Notehead does not use style profiles (Templates and styles).
Noteheads palette is displayed with Bravura font.
When two notes in different voices coincide on the same beat, they can either share a single notehead, or else be offset to allow the display of both noteheads. This is done automatically by MuseScore according to certain rules (see below).
To force two offset noteheads in different voices to share a single notehead, use one of the following methods:
Rules for automatically sharing or offsetting noteheads:
If you are using paired standard and tablature staves you will come across situations where a shared notehead in the standard staff generates two fretmarks in tablature. In this case simply hide one of the fretmarks by making it invisible.
An ambitus indicates the range of notes included within a stave. It is used to indicate the appropriate voice for a particular part. See Wikipedia: Ambitus.
To create an ambitus choose one of the following methods:
The top and bottom notes of the range can be manually adjusted via Properties.
Four different properties of the ambitus can be manually altered:
1. style: vertical or diagonal
2. notehead type
3. notehead duration
4. line thickness of the line joining the two noteheads
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.
This chapter discusses articulation symbols available in the Articulations palette (accents, staccato, vibrato markings etc).
To add verbal articulation objects available in the Text palette (legato, pizz. , arco, tremolo etc) to a score, see Entering and editing text chapter. Guitar articulation is covered in chapters under Idiomatic notation: Guitar. Brass or woodwind articulation (Fall, Doit, Plop, Scoop) is covered in Arpeggios and glissandi.
To add an articulation with a keyboard shortcut:
Certain articulations (accent, marcato, staccato, and tenuto) can be added from the note input toolbar (above the document pane).
To add an item to a score:
Alternatively, drag and drop an articulation symbol from the palette to a notehead.
Certain articulations affect note playback—such as staccato, staccatissimo, louré (tenuto + staccato), and accents. This is handled automatically by the program.
Editable properties of selected articulation(s) on the score are shown in the Properties Panel.
See the main chapter Templates and styles
Shown below are the result of some options on the score.
Align with stem
Align with notehead
Center between stem and notehead
Always keep together
Prefer closeness to notehead (combined articulations may become separated)
In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases (wikipedia. In Musescore, dynamics symbol objects should be used to indicate dynamics. They are Text objects. Musescore understands them to create appropriate playback.
All dynamics symbol objects are in the Dynamics palette. To add a dynamics symbol to the score, use either one of the following methods:
To add a dynamic symbol that is not present in the Dynamics palette, for example poco f, follow these steps:
There are no shortcut assignment options yet for adding any dynamics symbols onto a score.
Depending on software version, changing appearance of dynamics symbol on a score may or may not change its playback, refer to "Changing playback" section below.
Plain characters are characters entered using (typing on) a computer keyboard, their formatting behavior is different from that of professional glyphs. See musescore 3 handbook Fonts chapter.
Profession glyphs are not plain characters, their formatting behavior is different. They are not italic plain characters. They are only created using keyboard shortcut shown below, but not copied from other programs or the internet, as they are not exactly raw unicode characters. See musescore 3 handbook Fonts chapter.
Glyph | Windows & Linux Shortcut | Mac Shortcut |
---|---|---|
Piano p | Ctrl+Shift+P | Cmd+Shift+P |
Forte f | Ctrl+Shift+F | Cmd+Shift+F |
Mezzo m | Ctrl+Shift+M | Cmd+Shift+M |
Rinforzando r | Ctrl+Shift+R | Cmd+Shift+R |
Sforzando s | Ctrl+Shift+S | Cmd+Shift+S |
Niente n | Ctrl+Shift+N | Cmd+Shift+N |
Z z | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Cmd+Shift+Z |
An Expression Text object can be added beside a dynamic symbol object to indicate dynamics. To add one to the right of a dynamics symbol:
When an Expression Text object is added to a note that is already attached to a dynamics symbol (or vice versa), the two items align automatically. Dragging and moving either one of them moves both. Changing the Position property of either one changes both. This behavior is called "Snap to", and can be changed with the Expression Text object's Properties panel: Snap to dynamic property, see also the main chapter for Expression Text object. source https://musescore.org/en/node/351407.
Explained in Dynamics symbols properties and "Dynamics symbols style" section below.
Playback feature of dynamics symbols is under vigorous developement, it may change drastically among software versions. Information provided here is valid for Musescore 4.2 beta (November 2023). It could be outdated at the time of reading. Please help update this chapter.
To summarize the difference from musescore 3,
The followings are details of changes, it is also suitable to read for users not familiar with musescore 3:
Same as MuseScore 3, when a Standard dynamics symbols, such as p and ff etc. is added to the score, it affects playback from the parent note onward until the next dynamic symbol. Final barlines or rests do not reset the loudness to default. Single-note dynamics symbols, such as sfz only affect the playback of the particular note they are attached to.
Playback depends on each affected instrument's Sound setting, selected in the Mixer. See MuseScore 3 features not implemented in MuseScore 4: Velocity controls.
Playback is pre-configured and does not change with text content. This allows a f symbol to be modified into poco f, by adding plain characters, while keeping the playback effect the same as the original f symbol. This is true, however, even if new and correct profession glyphs are used. For example, a ppp symbol created by replacing the content inside a f symbol (added from palette) with three p glyphs, looks exactly like the ppp in the palette, but it creates f playback.
Playback settings of dynamics symbol , the Property Panel: Playback tab , present in MuseScore 4.0, has been removed. See https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/13858.
Velocity property of dynamics symbol existed in MuseScore 3 is removed. The Velocity property is only available in individual notes, see Properties panel, its effect on playback also depends on Sound setting, see Mixer chapter.
Selected dynamics symbol(s)' can be edited in Properties panel. Under Properties : Dynamics:
Dynamics symbol objects are Text objects, character formatting using Properties : Text is covered in the Formatting text chapter. The Font property affects plain characters, but not the professional glyphs. Professional glyphs use "Musical symbols font", see "Dynamics symbol style" section. Dynamics symbol objects differ from other Text objects in that they do not have the overriding Text Style property (under Show More) used by plain characters inside. They always use the "Style for text inside Expression" profile.
To edit the score-wide settings, see "Dynamics symbol style" section.
See the main chapter Templates and styles
Hairpins are symbols used to indicate gradual changes of volume in the score. There are two kinds: crescendo (getting louder) and decrescendo (getting quieter).
There are also crescendo and diminuendo lines which do the same thing:
All can be found in the Lines or Dynamics palettes.
To enter a hairpin from a palette use one of the following options:
To enter a hairpin using a keyboard shortcut:
To extend or contract the range of a hairpin, see Changing range of a line.
To change the height, select the height adjustment handle (shaded in the image below) …
… then use keyboard arrows, offsets (Properties panel), or dragging, to move the handle into the desired position. (See Basics: Adjusting elements directly.)
Alternatively you can adjust the "Height" in the Hairpin: Style section of the Properties panel.
To allow the hairpin to slope at a diagonal, check the "Allow diagonal" box in Hairpin: Style in the Properties panel. Then move the start/end adjustment handles to get the desired slope.
See Hairpin properties.
[To be added]
You can edit properties specific to hairpins in the Hairpins section of the Properties panel.
Niente circle: Places a small circle at the point of the hairpin.
Allow diagonal: Allows the hairpin to be set at an angle; see Changing appearance of hairpins (above).
Line style: Choose solid, dashed or dotted lines.
Thickness / Height:
Height (new system): Specify the height of subsequent hairpins if the first one spans a system.
Position: Above or Below.
Properties here allow you to specify beginning, end, and continuation texts and their vertical offsets.
Values of the "Style for Dynamics and Hairpin" can be edited in Format→Style→Dynamics & Hairpin.
Values of the "Style for text inside Hairpin" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Hairpin
In Musescore 4.1.1, the "Style for Dynamics and Hairpin" : "Override score font" option does not affect haripin text, use "Style for text inside Hairpin" : "fontface".
A slur is a curved line between notes of different pitches indicating legato phrasing; exact interpretation depends on the instrument.
Slurs should not be confused with (note) ties which connect notes of the same pitch and extend the duration of the first note to encompass the connected notes.
After selecting a note, a slur can be created using any of the following:
The exact method of applications depends on whether you are in note input or normal modes of operation. The keyboard shortcut method will be used as an example.
Using method 2 (above) you can create a slur between notes in the same or different voices. Cross staff slurs can be created in exactly the same way. e.g.
You can also adjust the start/end handles of an existing slur to move the start or end to a note of a different voice:
To adjust the shape of a slur or its range, see Adjusting elements directly.
The following properties specific to slurs can be adjusted in the Properties panel.
Style: Solid, dashed or dotted line.
Position: Above or below.
Some default properties for all slurs in the score can be adjusted in Format→Style→Slurs/Ties:
Breaths and pause symbols may be found in the Breaths & pauses palette.
These symbols also have an adjustable playback effect.
A fermata, or pause appears above/below a note, and extends its written duration, indicating a pause in the music.
It may also be written above a rest, or a barline, indicating the end of a piece or section of music.
A breath mark is placed just above the staff, and tells a wind instrument performer or singer to take a breath here, or other instruments to pause slightly. It may occur between two notes or at the end of a measure.
The caesura also indicates a pause, slightly longer than a breath mark but less so than a fermata. It may occur between two notes or at the end of a measure.
To add a fermata:
Alternatively drag a fermata symbol onto a note.
To add a breath mark or caesura:
Alternatively drag a breath mark/caesura symbol onto a note.
MuseScore automatically places the breath mark/caesura in the correct position, just above the staff and after the selected note.
Pause symbols have a playback effect in the score. To adjust the pause length, click on Playback in the Properties panel and adjust "Time stretch".
The position of selected pauses can be altered by clicking on Appearance in the Properties panel and adjusting the offsets. Alternatively you can drag a symbol, or enter Edit mode and use the keyboard arrows to move it.
In addition you can position a fermata above or below the staff by selecting the desired option in "Placement on staff" in the Fermata section of the Properties panel.
You can specify default positional properties for all fermatas in Format→Style→Fermatas.
Ornaments and ornament lines can be applied from the Ornaments palette.
If the it is not already displayed in the palettes area, see Adding more palettes. Available ornaments include turns, (short) trills, and mordents, are discussed here. See Other lines for ornament lines available including (long) trill lines, upprall, downprall, prallprall.
To add an ornament to the score:
For a trill only, it is possible to use a custom shortcut instead at step 2.
See main chapter of ornament lines Other lines.
The procedure for applying ornament lines is just like any other line, i.e.
If you subsequently need to adjust the ornament's length, see Changing the range of a line.
Ornaments are aware of the key signature and of other accidentals in the bar. By default, trills, turns, mordents and other ornaments will display and play diatonic intervals. Use the Properties panel to change the interval, displaying the appropriate accidentals in the score and changing playback.
To change the interval of an ornament:
Trills can be customized by quality (major, minor, augmented, etc.) and interval number from unison to octave. The appropriate accidental or upper auxiliary note will display in the score above or below the ornament. For intervals larger than a second, consider using a tremolo.
Both the upper and lower interval can be set for turns.
Short trill and mordent intervals can be set to the minor or major second.
Any accidentals introduced only by an ornament must be confirmed or cancelled later in the measure for clarity, meaning it is not possible to delete accidentals where the note:
For example, in a measure starting with a chromatic turn on A as seen below, all Gs and Bs later in the measure will have an accidental, even if it is the same as what appears in the ornament.
While these accidentals cannot be deleted, their visibility can be turned off. To do so:
The following properties of selected ornaments can be edited from the Ornament section of the Properties panel:
Use the placement controls to either let MuseScore automatically choose the standard placement, or manually select above or below.
When selected, accidentals, including those linked to ornaments, have the following options in the Properties panel:
Default sizing and spacing properties for ornaments can be edited in Format→Style…→Articulations, Ornaments.
Ornaments can be individually repositioned by clicking and dragging in the score or via the Appearance dialog in the Properties panel.
Arpeggios, strum arrows, glissandi (slide), portamento (glide), brass or woodwind instrument bends and Guitar techniques: Slide in and slide out can be applied from the Arpeggios & Glissandi palette:
Many have an adjustable playback effect (see below).
To add an arpeggio/strum to a score:
Alternatively you can drag an arpeggio/strum symbol from a palette onto a notehead.
Click on an arpeggio and two adjustment handles will appear at the top and bottom of the symbol. You can move either up or down by dragging, or by selecting a handle and using the up/down keyboard arrows.
Arpeggios only span the voice to which they are input initially, but then can then be adjusted to span multiple voices in the same instrument, even across multiple staves.
To adjust an arpeggio to span multiple voices:
The handle will jump to the next voice above or below that has any notes at that point. This includes voices on staves above or below, in the case of multi-staff instruments.
The arpeggio is considered to 'belong' to the uppermost voice that it spans, and will be coloured accordingly.
(Prior to MuseScore 4.2, only the bottom handle could be used, to extend an arpeggio to a voice of the same numberr in the stave(s) below. Any other adjustments had to be made manually.)
To change the speed of a selected arpeggio, press Playback in the Properties panel, and adjust "Spread delay".
If you want to turn off playback altogether, untick the "Play" box in the General section of the Properties panel.
Default properties for all arpeggios in the score can be adjusted from the style menu at Format→Style→Arpeggios:
To add a slide or "portamento" between two notes, add a glissando symbol and change its appearance and playback setting.
To add a slide or portamento before or after a note before a note (a string instrument or guitar technique), add either one of the four brass or woodwind instrument bends or a Guitar techniques: Slide in and slide out, see also Guitar techniques. Alternative wavy symbols are found in the Symbols category in Master palette, those do not affect playback.
Note: Guitar slides are covered in Guitar techniques.
Alternatively you can drag a glissando symbol from the palette onto a notehead.
Glissandi can cross staves if needs be:
If required, you can change the start or end position of a glissando as follows:
This method can also be used to move the edit handle between voices and across staves.
The line type of a selected glissando—whether straight or wavy—and any text associated with it, can be changed in the Glissando section of the Properties panel. You can also turn off text by unchecking the "Show text" box.
To change the playback effect, click on Playback and select an option from the dropdown list: chromatic, white keys, black keys, diatonic, portamento (this option for glissando symbol creates a portamento between two notes, to add other types see portamento).
You can also choose to turn off the playback effect by unchecking "Play" in the General section of the Properties panel.
The following properties are available in the Glissando section of the Properties panel.
Glissando line: Choose from "Straight" or "wavy".
Show text: Uncheck/Check this box to turn off/on the display of the glissando text.
Text: Specify any text to appear with the glissando.
The default style of all glissando text is determined by the settings of "Glissando" in Format→Style→Text styles.
Not to be confused with Guitar techniques: Bends.
The Arpeggios & glissandi palette also contains bend symbols for brass or woodwind instruments:
These have a playback effect on the score.
Fall:
Doit:
Plop:
Scoop:
if you are not sure what's what, mousing over the palette icon will display the name of the symbol in a tooltip.
Alternatively, drag a bend symbol onto a notehead in the score;
To change the shape of the bend, click on it and four adjustment handles become visible. Drag the handles, or click on them and press the keyboard arrows, until you get the shape you want.
Grace notes can be applied to the score from the Grace notes palette.
For bagpipe players there is a comprehensive range of grace notes in the Bagpipe embellishments palette.
Grace notes are small (cue-size) notes which ornament a previous or following note. They take their value from this parent note but do not themselves count towards the measure duration.
There are several kinds:
Acciaccatura(): Usually written with an oblique stroke through the note flag, or through the beam, if there is a beamed series.
Appoggiatura: A stressed note which takes half the value from the parent note.
Grace note after (trill endings):
Note: For standard staves and tablature, the following instructions for adding grace notes work in both note input and normal modes.
Alternatively, you can drag and drop a grace note from the palette onto a note in the score.
You can add a run of grace notes to a selected note by repeatedly applying any of the following:
To apply a chord of grace notes:
To edit the visual duration, click on the grace note in normal mode, and select a duration from the note input toolbar or by using a keyboard shortcut (see Selecting duration).
Standard staves. To change the pitch of grace notes, use one of the methods described in Editing notes and rests.
Tablature. To change the pitch of grace notes, use one of the methods described in Changing the pitch in normal mode (tablature).
[To be added?]
You can adjust the default size for all grace notes in Format→Styles→Sizes.
A Tremolo is the rapid repetition of one note or chord, or a rapid alternation between two notes or chords. The placement of tremolos is handled automatically by the program.
For stemmed notes, the rhythmic value of the tremolo is indicated by the number of diagonal strokes through the stem. One stroke indicates that the original note is divided into eighth notes. e.g.
Two strokes divides the note into sixteenth notes, and three strokes into thirty-second notes. On whole notes the tremolo symbol is placed above the note.
In traditional two-note or two-chord tremolos, incomplete beams are drawn between the notes to indicate the rhythmic value of the tremolo (to change the style see below). One beam indicates eight notes, two beams sixteenth notes, and three beams thirty-second notes. e.g.
A buzz roll symbol is also available from the Tremolos palette. However, it is notational only and currently has no playback properties.
Tremolo beams appear between the notes/chords and the appearance of the noteheads is adjusted accordingly.
Example: To enter a two-note tremolo with the duration of a half note (minim), enter two normal quarter notes (crotchets). After applying a tremolo symbol to the first note, the note values automatically double to half notes.
Three styles of tremolos between notes/chords are supported in MuseScore; the default is traditional. To change the style:
Musescore Line is a type of object capable of attaching (anchoring) to a horizontal continuous range of more than two notes or rests, or vertical collection of notes (chord). A Musescore Line object contains a length of string or arc, and optionally a text. These objects can functionally affect the score, and share similar configurable line properties, text properties, and styles.
Musescore Line objects include these subtypes, follow the hyperlink on text to read their dedicated main chapters, or "jump to section" on this chapter:
These markings contain length of string or arc, but do not belong to Musescore Line objects because they cannot attach (anchor) to a continuous range:
Note: The following description of actions and general behaviors applies to Line objects discussed here (those do not have a dedicated handbook chapter), for Line objects having dedicated handbook chapters, refer to those chapters for more accurate info.
The commonest way to add a new Musescore Line is to use either:
To apply a line to a selected range:
Or
To apply a line to a single note:
To adjust the range of a line, see Changing range of a line.
Plain lines are applied from the Lines palette. They can be purposed to anything you like such as to create guitar fingering/string number lines. They can be adjusted to be diagonal or vertical.
A staff text line, like staff text, is affixed to one staff in a system, and is indicative only for that staff. It appears only in the part featuring that staff.
A system text line, like system text, is affixed to one staff but is indicative for all the staffs in the system. It appears in all instrument parts.
Tempo markings such as rit --- are new in Musescore 4, they affect playback tempo.
Not to be confused with (short) trills Ornaments.
Trill lines are upgraded in Musescore 4, their have lots of new engraving settings such as showing a bracketed small note and accidentals to notate trill note pitch, these settings are explained in Ornaments.
They still create playback with SoundFonts instruments like in previous Musescore versions. If the instrument use Muse Sounds and the sound sample exists, a trill line will utilize the beautifully recorded trill audio for playback, for example in case of a perfect fifth trill line.
The Properties panel allows you to view and edit General, Appearance, and Playback settings.
The name of the section below varies depending on the type of line. But it will have two tabs marked Style and Text:
Clicking on the Style tab allows you to set the properties of the line itself:
Line type: A choice of straight, hooked, angle-hooked, or double-hooked.
Thickness / Hook height:
Style: Choice of solid, dashed or dotted line.
Dash / Gap: Adjust the appearance if "Dashed" is selected.
Clicking on the Text tab allows you to apply and position any text associated with the line:
Beginning text: Enter the text, if any, to appear at the beginning of the line.
Vertical offset: Allows you to move the text vertically in relation to the line (in sp.).
Text when continuing to a new system: If the line spans a system, this is the text that will appear before the line in the next system.
Vertical offset: As above.
Values of the "Style for Text line" can be edited in Format→Style→Text line.
Values of the "Style for System text line" can be edited in Format→Style→System text line.
Values of the "Style for text inside Text line" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Text line
The Symbols palette is a category within the Master palette and houses all symbols and text from all built-in music fonts.
Unlike other categories in the Master palette, items in the Symbols palette are non-functional: they are for display purposes only and have no other effect on the score.
You should find most symbols and text items you need for scoring in the Palettes panel—use of the Symbols palette should be reserved for specialist items not available in the small palettes, or on those occasions when you really do need a non-functional element.
To view the Symbols palette, select View→Master Palette, or use the shortcut Shift+F9.
Selecting “Symbols” in the list of headings reveals all symbols under all subcategories. Selecting one subcategory to focus on a specific set.
You can search for a symbol by entering a term in the Search box at the top of the Symbols section. Specify the musical font you want in the dropdown at the bottom right.
Symbols added from the Symbols palette scale in line with the score (see Staff size), but their font-size is fixed.
If you need a symbol with an adjustable font-size, you should consider adding it instead from the Special characters palette as staff text.
Use one of the following methods:
After adding a symbol, you can, if required, add an additional symbol to the existing one. Use one of the following:
To reposition, you can drag the symbol, or edit the offsets in the Apprearance section of the Properties panel. You can also move the symbol using the keyboard arrows—after selecting it and entering edit mode by pressing Alt+Shift+E or F2.
If two symbols have been joined together (see Add to other symbols, above), moving the first-added symbol moves both. However you can still move the second symbol in relation to the first.
A repeat sign looks like a double barline with a dot above and below the center line of the staff (see image below). It is used to enclose repeated sections of the score.
Place a start repeat barline at the beginning of the repeated section and an end repeat barline at the end.
If the start of the repeat section coincides with the beginning of the piece there is no need for a start repeat barline.
See Voltas, for repeat sections with multiple endings.
To change the number of times the repeat section is played, adjust the Play count of the final measure in the Measure properties dialog.
Ignore Repeat barlines, Jumps, Markers playback by unchecking Play toolbar : Cogwheel → Play repeats, see Playback controls chapter.
Do any of these as required
See the main chapter Templates and styles
Values of the "Style for Barlines" can be edited in Format→Style→Barlines. Specify thickness, distance etc.
Volta brackets are lines above the staff used to mark different endings for a repeat section. Musescore creates correct playback. Shown below is an example, the repeat section is played once through with the ending marked "1", then a second time with the ending marked "2".
To change the time range covered, see Changing range of a line chapter.
The End hook property affects playback.
To change the time range covered, see Changing range of a line chapter.
Ignore Repeat barlines, Jumps, Markers playback by unchecking Play toolbar : Cogwheel → Play repeats, see Playback controls chapter.
Download example mscz file:
Measure 3 should have play count set to 4
Measure 5 should have play count set to 3
This example plays back as: 1-3, 1-2,4-5, 1-3, 1-3, 1-2,4-5, 1-2,6-8
See the main chapter Templates and styles
Values of the "Style for text inside Volta" can be edited in Format→Style→Text Style→Volta.
Jumps and markers are used to create repeated sections in a score.
Jump object that act as a jumping point:
Marker object that act as both a jumping point, and a labelled time position:
Marker object that act as a labelled time position only:
Use one of the following methods
Jumps and markers are Text objects. To edit text see Entering and editing text and Formatting text chapter. Segno, Capo symbols are glyphs that can be added from the special character window. Segno, Capo glyphs use Format → Score : Musical symbols font, see Musescore 3 handbook Fonts chapter.
Ignore Repeat barlines, Jumps, Markers playback by unchecking Play toolbar : Cogwheel → Play repeats, see Playback controls chapter.
See the main chapter Templates and styles
A measure repeat symbol indicates that the previous measure is to be repeated. Two- and four-measure repeat symbols indicate the repetition of the previous two or four measures.
To apply a measure repeat symbol, select a measure in the score and click on the measure repeat icon in the Repeats & Jumps palette. Or drag the symbol on to a measure.
To apply a two- or four-measure repeat symbol, select the first blank measure following the section you want repeated, then click on the applicable measure repeat icon in the Repeats & Jumps palette. Alternatively, drag the repeat icon from the palette onto the same blank measure instead.
Note: You may need to click the More icon in the palette to reveal the two- and four-measure repeat symbols.
In the case of multiple-measure repeats a "Group measures" symbol appears above and between measures. This keeps the measures together on the same system, where possible, in case of any automatic layout changes in the score. This symbol can be deleted if desired.
Number position in the Measure repeat section of the Properties panel, allows you to edit the vertical offset of the number above the measure.
Properties of all measure repeats in the score can be set from Format→Style…→Measure repeats:
By default, repeats are always played. If you want to turn off repeat playback,
For Harp Pedal see Idiomatic notation: Harp instead.
This chapter focuses on the types of piano pedal engraving available, for knowledge of various piano pedals see wikipedia article.
Supported engravings including:
There are three different subtypes:
Type 1 includes:
Visually, the line or symbol only extends horizontally to the notehead attached to the end anchor.
Functionally, if that note is attached to another marking's start anchor, the following marking will automatically connect and make a shape resembling "-^-", which is indicative of the piano technique "pedal released and pressed again without releasing this note".
shown above is the auto connect, their playback are also in line with the piano technique
If the instrument use SoundFonts such as "MS Basic", or when exported as MIDI file, sustain (MIDI CC 64) is created. When consecutive type 1 markings create a "-^-", playback matches the piano technique, the first marking is interpreted by synthesizer as released at the note attached to the end anchor. Single or trailing type 1 markings creates playback like type 2: sustain until the note attached to the end anchor ends.
The last two type 1 markings shown above are single or trailing, they create the same playback as type 2
Type 2 includes:
Visually, the line extends horizontally to an aprpopiate length spanning the full duration of note attached to the end anchor.
Functionally, if the instrument use SoundFonts such as "MS Basic", or when exported as MIDI file, sustain (MIDI CC 64) is created. Type 2 always sustain until the note attached to the end anchor ends.
Type 1 and 2 are interchangable by adjusting properties.
Type 3 includes the sostenuto pedal marking and custom Staff texts, they are for engraving purpose only and are non-functional.
shown above a type 2 marking on score
Add pedal markings from Lines palette, see Other lines:Adding a line to your score.
Adjust with Shift+←/→, switch handle with Tab, see Adjusting elements directly: Changing the range of a line.
Unfortunately, you might need to make compromise with engraving style or not notate at all if you must create a desired playback, because of the functional limitation of Type 1 and Type 2 explained. As of Musescore 4.1.1, pedal marking always create sustain playback only (cannot be turned off), making it impossible to use "add redundant symbol, make it invisible" trick.
To create shape resembling "-^-" with consecutive Type 1 markings, make sure the end anchor is attached correctly, which is usually to the first note of the next measure instead of the last note of the previous measure. This big picture shows the correct end anchor result.
MuseScore 4.1.1 does not offer keyboard shortcut bindings to palette items, the keyboard shortcut key available in Musescore 3 that you can use to re-apply the same (last used) palette item is removed (not reimplemented yet).
Not to be confused with Harp pedal change
Use type 1 markings, explained in "adding marking" section.
For issues related to MusicXML direction import / export, there are upcoming changes in Musescore 4.2, see forum discussion https://musescore.org/en/node/356899 [please feel free to update info here]
Select pedal marking(s), in Properties panel Pedal section, Line properties can be set, the extra option available to pedal marking is "Show line with rosette" checkbox under Style tab, tick it to make the default line visible in printing and exporting.
Values of the "Style for Pedal" can be edited in Format→Style→Pedal.
Values of the "Style for text inside Pedal" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Pedal
See also Line style.
Select a note in the voice that you wish to move up or down to the other staff. e.g.
Press Ctrl+Shift+↓/↑ (Mac: Cmd+Shift+↓/↑), to move the voice up or down to the other staff. Alternatively, you can click on the cross-staff icon in the note input toolbar and choose the same options from the context menu.
Note: This operation works on a voice basis, rather than on individual notes. It follows that if you want to ensure that notes remain on the same staff during the operation, they should be in a different voice to the one selected above. Be aware that notes which have been moved to a different staff still belong logically to the staff of origin. This is why no rest is shown in the place where the moved notes originated.
To adjust the beam angle and height, click on the beam, then click on an adjustment handle and use the keyboard arrows, or drag the handle with a mouse. e.g.
Alternatively you can make more precise adjustments from the beam section of the Properties panel.
[work in progress, please add missing info]
See Accordion notation and playback tutorial.
Fretboard (or Chord) diagrams usually appear above the staff on lead sheets and piano scores:
They are commonly used for guitar chords, but MuseScore allows you to create diagrams for any stringed instrument.
A library of common guitar chord diagrams (major, minor and 7th) is provided in the Fretboard Diagrams palette.
To reveal the chord name of any diagram in the palette, hover the cursor over it.
Use one of the following methods:
When any of the preset diagrams is applied to the score, a chord symbol is automatically placed above it. This linked chord symbol has the same properties as a stand-alone chord symbol and can be edited and moved as such.
The default placement of a chord symbol in relation to its parent diagram is controlled by the “Distance to Fretboard Diagram” property (set in Format→Style…→Chord Symbols→Positioning). This value interacts with the chord symbol Minimum distance (to view, press Appearance in the Properties panel). Adjust the diagram’s position manually if you need to override this.
A linked chord symbol can be deleted independently of its parent diagram. You can also add a new linked chord symbol to a fretboard diagram: see Entering a chord symbol.
Note: Neither fretboard diagrams nor their linked chord symbols are affected by transposition commands.
Note: See also Fretboard diagram properties (below).
The default finger marker is a round black dot, which suffices for standard chord (and scale) diagrams. However a number of other shapes are provided—cross, square and triangle—to enable other notation styles.
Some arrangers and educators have extended the basic form of the fretboard diagram, incorporating finger dots of various shapes, and allowing multiple dots per string. Jazz guitarist Ted Greene and his successors are notable examples.
Multi-dot notation style. With this approach, the chord signified by round dots on the fretboard diagram is played first (see image below). Then, on successive beats marked by chord symbols, the chord fingering is modified to incorporate other shapes on the same diagram; the usual playing order is: dot → X → square → delta, but this can vary.
Optional-note notation style. Another use of multiple dots per string allows other symbols to show optional notes, rather than delayed notes:
Edit the following properties as desired:
When a fretboard diagram is selected, its properties are viewable in the Properties tab of the sidebar as follows:
At the bottom of the Fretboard diagram section of the sidebar is an image of the selected fretboard diagram. Any changes made to this image are automatically applied to the fretboard diagram in the score as well.
Global fretboard diagram properties can be set in Format→Style…→Fretboard Diagrams:
Tremolo bar symbols are available from the Guitar palette (look for the oversized "V") and are applied and adjusted in a similar way to bend symbols (above)—with a similar graphical interface in the "Tremolo" bar section of Properties.
You can choose from a range of presets in "Tremolo bar type", or create your own custom one.
Slides can be found in the Arpeggios and glissandi palette. They are of two types:
By default, slides have a playback effect on the score. You can turn this off by unchecking "Play" in the General section of the Properties panel.
Use one of the following methods:
In the case of in-between slides going from one chord to the next, the program will attempt to link the correct notes where possible. If further adjustment is required, see below.
For in-between slides, the following properties can be adjusted in the Glissando section of the Properties panel.
In-between slides:
To move an end handle vertically or horizontally, from one note to the next:
Slides in/out:
To adjust the position of the end handle:
A Barre lines is a text-line drawn above a guitar staff to indicate that the passage requires a full or half barre. Symbols such as the following are commonly found in guitar music:
Full bar (2nd fret):
Half barre (2nd fret):
The C before the roman numerals can be omitted and other variations in line style and text are possible—according to the publisher.
To apply a barre:
To adjust the length of a line, see Changing range of a line.
Hammer-ons and pull-offs are notated by slurs. If you need text annotations as well, create them using staff text; they can be saved to a palette for future use (see Adding elements from your score).
A natural harmonic can be notated in one of three ways:
An annotation, such as "Nat. Har.", "N.H.", "Har.", is usually attached, as well as string and fret numbers; the notehead may be standard or diamond-shaped, and rendered clear rather than black; fret numbers may be Arabic or Roman, and so on.
Fixing Playback: If harmonics do not play back at the correct pitch, mute them and create a hidden voice containing the harmonics at concert pitch.
See also, How to Read Harmonic Notation on the Classical Guitar (douglasniedt.com).
A natural harmonic in tablature may be rendered simply as a fretmark, or may be followed by a dot, or enclosed in a diamond, or a pair of angled brackets. e.g.
To create a pair of angled brackets:
You should ensure that the staff/tab pairs are not linked, since you need to be able to edit each staff independently of the other.
The types of guitar fingering and how to apply them are explained in Fingering.
Not to be confused with brass or woodwind instrument bends.
This section shows old instructions for using Bends in MuseScore 4.0 to Musescore 4.1. For users of MuseScore 4.2 and above versions, see the Guitar bends chapter.
Bends are created with the Bend Tool located in the Guitar palette. To apply one or more bends to the score, use one of the following options:
A default bend is created in the score. You can modify this bend or choose from a range of alternatives using “Bend type” in the Bends section of the Properties panel.
Bend shape and length can be edited in the graphical display in the Bends section of the Properties panel:
Each red line segment between blue nodes represents one step in the bend, and each step extends horizontally for 1 sp. in the score. The slope of any line shows whether it is an up-bend, a down-bend or a hold. So the above graph describes an up bend, then a hold—total length 2sp.
The vertical axis of the graph represents the amount by which the pitch is bent up or down: one unit (the side of a small square) equals a quarter-tone, 2 units a semitone, 4 units a whole-tone, and so on.
To add another step to a bend
To delete a bend step
The height of the bend is automatically adjusted so that any text appears just above the staff. This height can be adjusted, if necessary, with a workaround:
Bends can be freely repositioned using the methods shown in Changing position of elements.
Music for fretted, stringed instruments is commonly notated using tablature (often abbreviated as tab); this gives a visual representation of the strings and fret numbers. Tablature is frequently found in combination with traditional staff notation.
A variety of tablature templates for common instruments are supplied. If this isn't quite what you're looking for, you can easily change the template (see Changing tablature staff type), and/or customize the staff (see Tablature: customization).
There are three possibilities:
To create tablature as part of a new score:
To create a tablature staff in an existing score:
Music for the guitar (and other plucked-string instruments) is often notated using paired standard and tablature staves. In MuseScore, the staves can be either linked or unlinked.
Linked: Any change you make to the notation in one staff automatically updates the other.
Unlinked: Each staff is edited independently. To update the other staff, copy and paste the relevant music notation.
Note : In both cases, the staff/tablature pair shares the same instrument.
There are two ways to do this when creating a new score (A or B):
A. For linked staves only:
B. For linked or unlinked staves:
Use this method when you want to add to an existing score:
Note: If you already have one staff of a standard/tab pair in your score, you can simply add the missing staff from the Instruments panel. See Adding and configuring staves.
Note for period instrument tablature: A to K (skipping I) can also be used to enter numbers 0 to 9. In French tablature the corresponding letters appear instead; for L, M, N, you need to type respectively 10, 11, 12.
See also, Editing notes and rests" (below).
See also, Editing notes and rests" (below).
Whether you are using a keyboard or mouse, you can set note duration using one of the following:
Note: This applies to note input mode only. If you want to change the duration of a selected note in normal mode see Changing duration in normal mode.
MuseScore also supports tablature notation for period instruments such as the renaissance and baroque lutes, Theorbo etc. There are a number of notation systems in use (French, Italian, German, Spanish), but the most common is French.
French tablature features 6 lines representing the top 6 courses. Instead of numbers, fretmarks are indicated by letters—as explained above. Any notes on bass courses below the 6th string (fretted or unfretted) are represented by symbols in the space underneath the 6th line of tablature.
To enter symbols below the 6th course:
Cue mark | Number of course | Fretmark entered automatically for unstopped course |
---|---|---|
no cue | 7 | a |
/ | 8 | /a |
// | 9 | //a |
/// | 10 | ///a |
4 | 11 | 4 |
5 | 12 | 5 |
6 | 13 | 6 |
7 | 14 | 7 |
Conversely you can return to a higher course by pressing ↑, and the cue mark changes accordingly.
2. If the selected course is fretted simply enter a fretmark in note input mode (as shown above). If the selected course is unstopped press any note key in note input mode and MuseScore will automatically enter the correct zero fretmark (see table above).
In note input mode:
In normal mode:
Note: The fret mark cannot be higher than the “Number of frets” value set in the Edit String Data dialog.
To move the fret mark to an adjacent string without changing the pitch:
In note input mode:
In normal mode:
Use one of the following methods:
Note: This operation can only proceed if the relevant string is free and can produce that note.
See Changing duration in normal mode.
To change a fret mark to a crosshead/ghost note:
Notes: (1) If the tuning is changed on a tab staff that 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.
The new string is inserted below the selected string. You will also need to adjust the number of lines in Staff/Part properties→Advanced style properties.
Note: After deleting a tablature string you will also need to adjust the number of lines in Staff/Part properties→Advanced style properties.
For an instrument such as the Baroque lute, this feature is used to mark a bass course as unstopped—i.e. always played open like a harp string. This means that only a fret mark indicating a zero fret can be displayed.
To mark a bass course as unstopped:
See also Period tablature notation.
This property defines the maximum fret number which can be entered on a tablature staff.
MuseScore provides a range of common tablature types. If you want to change the tablature type, choose one of two options:
Note: For customization options in detail, see Customizing appearance of tablature (below).
You will find the terms "simple", "common" and "full" in the tablature type names:
This gives you access to a full range of tablature customization options. See Staff properties: Tablature options.
Global settings are set in Format→Style→Tablature styles.
A capo is a device that can be clamped onto the fretboard of a fretted stringed instrument, such as the guitar. The capo effectively shortens the strings, which makes the instrument play in a higher key than it normally would.
MuseScore allows you to emulate this effect by adding a Capo marking to an instrument staff (or staves). This automatically transposes playback to the desired pitch while keeping the notes, or fretmarks, unchanged. Partial capos, where only some strings are shortened, are also possible (see below).
The capo element is available in the Guitar palette, which is hidden by default.
To find the capo element:
Alternatively, to permanently reveal the Guitar palette:
Note: The Add palettes dialog is not currently accessible to screen readers, so blind users must use the first method (via search).
The Capo settings popup dialog appears when you add a new capo marking or select an existing capo marking in the score.
Note: Keyboard users can press Tab to focus the Capo settings popup after it has appeared, and then use the arrow keys to navigate the available settings. If you press Tab a second time the popup will disappear. To get it back, simply deselect the capo marking with Alt+Left, reselect it with Alt+Right, and then press Tab to focus the popup.
By default, if you select Off the text in the score will change to read "No capo".
The number in the Fret spinner refers to the fret where the capo should be applied. For example, fret 1 transposes the key up by a semitone, fret 2 by a whole tone, and so on. The text label in the score will update automatically.
For example, if you choose fret 4, the text in the score will say "Capo 4".
Note: Keyboard focus can get stuck in the fret edit control. If this happens, press Up and Down to change the value of the spinner, then press Right to move to the Apply to string checkboxes below.
The checkbox switches in the Apply to section let you specify that a capo should be applied only on certain strings. When at least one string is turned off, the text in the score will change to indicate a partial capo.
For example, if you choose fret 4 and then turn off strings 1 and 2, the text in the score would say "Partial capo: Fret 4 on strings 3, 4, 5, 6".
To change the wording of the Capo text:
Using the steps above, you can, if desired, vary the capo setting at different points in the score. Each capo instance will affect the transposition of all music that follows it, up until the next capo mark.
Note: It is not possible to apply more than one capo at the same time. This feature is planned for a later release.
This page describes features added in MuseScore 4.2. For string tuning in older versions of MuseScore 4, see Customizing a tablature staff.
To apply a string tuning instruction to a stave:
A tuning fork icon will appear above your stave.
Alternatively, first select a measure, then select the String tunings element in the Guitar palette.
String tuning instructions are added to measures, and affect only the stave to which they have been applied (including any linked staves). You can apply multiple string tunings at different measures in your score. Each string tuning will apply from the start of the measure to which it has been added, up until the next string tuning element.
Once you've added a string tuning element to a stave, you can specify the tuning you want for your instrument.
The tuning fork icon will be replaced with the conventional tuning text instruction, comprising encircled numbers for each of the instrument's strings, and text designations showing the new pitch of each string.
You can customise the string tuning text to display any number of strings, as well as any pitch you like:
Note that the 'eye' icons merely show or hide the text instruction on the score. The actual tuning of each string, insofar as it affects playback and tablature fret positions (see more below), is determined by the pitch indicated in the text field alongside each string – regardless of whether that string's tuning instruction is shown or hidden in the score.
When an alternate tuning element is applied to a stave, the pitch specified for each string will be shown as an open position ("0") in the tablature stave.
During playback, the pitch of all fret positions along each string remains relative to the pitch of the open string: For example,
The notation on any linked standard stave remains unaffected by the presence of alternate string tunings. This allows the player to continue reading the sounding pitches of each string.
Sometimes, especially in cases where every string on the instrument has been uniformly tuned down, it will be preferable for the player to read the standard notation at the ‘regular‘ (i.e. pre-tuned) pitch rather than the sounding pitch. In order to achieve this, the standard stave can be transposed.
A common example is to want to tune the guitar down a half-step without affecting the standard notation. To achieve this:
Both the standard stave and any linked tablature stave (where applicable) will show the fret positions and standard notation at the standard playing pitch (as if no alternate tuning had been specified). Playback will, however, reflect the alternate tuning.
Toggling on Concert pitch will show the sounding pitches notated on the standard stave.
[Draft only: more content forthcoming]
This page describes features added in MuseScore 4.2. For older versions of MuseScore 4, see Guitar techniques.
For other types of bends, see brass or woodwind instrument bends.
From MuseScore 4.2 onwards, four types of guitar bends can be added to your score:
These bends can be found in the Guitar palette
In general, bends in MuseScore connect two notes together: a ‘starting note’ and an ‘arrival note’.
Bends are contextual, meaning if the arrival note is higher than the starting note, an upward bend will be created. Conversely, if the arrival note is lower than the starting note, a release will be drawn.
Whenever a bend is added to a tablature stave, both the starting and arrival notes will be entered as a fret positions. The arrival note, however, will be hidden by default. This allows you to create sequences of multiple bends (such as bend-release combinations) using only the tablature stave, without needing to input notes in the standard stave. If you're working mainly in the standard stave, you may find it more convenient to hide these fret positions via the Invisible setting in the Properties panel.
In all cases, the bend amount, being the intervallic distance between the starting and arrival notes, is reflected by the notated pitches on the standard stave, allowing you to see the shape of a melodic line, as it is affected by the presence of bent notes. On the tablature stave, the bend amount is given by a numerical indicator: "1" for a whole tone, "1/2" for a half-tone (semitone), "1/4" for a quarter-tone, etc.
To apply any type of bend to your score:
Windows Alt+B | macOS ⌥+B
A standard bend connects two notes together: a ‘starting note’ and an ‘arrival note’. Standard bends are mostly used when it is desired to clearly specify the rhythm of the bend pattern.
When a bend is added to a note, it will automatically be drawn to the next note in the score (the arrival note). If a rest follows the starting note, MuseScore will replace the rest so that the bend has an arrival note to connect to.
Windows Ctrl+Alt+B | macOS ⌘+⌥+B
Grace note bends can be used to indicate bends that don’t have a defined rhythmic duration; they are generally played quite quickly before the beat.
When you apply a grace note bend to a note, it will automatically be entered one diatonic step lower than the note it precedes.
No default keyboard shortcut: set your own shortcut in Preferences
Pre-bends indicate a string that has been bent prior to being struck. On the standard stave, it is represented as a stemless, parenthesised grace note. On the tablature stave, it is illustrated with a straight, rather than curved arrow.
No default keyboard shortcut: set your own shortcut in Preferences
Slight bends are the only bend type in MuseScore that do not connect to an arrival note.
They are always set to a pre-defined amount of a ¼ of a tone, and always bend upwards from the starting note.
A hold is indicated by a dashed horizontal line between two bends. It is only ever shown in the tablature stave.
Hold lines are drawn automatically where a bent note is subsequently tied to one or more notes.
In addition, you can manually show or hide hold lines where it makes sense to do so.
Both the intervallic amount and playback speed of bends can be adjusted in MuseScore, either by modifying the pitch of bent notes on the standard stave, or adjusting the bend curve in the Properties panel.
To change the bend amount of a standard bend, grace note bend, or pre-bend in the standard stave, simply raise or lower the pitch of either the starting or arrival note in your score. The fractional indicator in any linked tablature stave will be adjusted automatically.
Both the bend amount and its playback speed can be adjusted via the Properties panel.
To adjust the bend amount:
The left-most point of the bend curve corresponds to the starting note in a bend. The right-most point corresponds to the arrival note.
Dragging the right-most (end point) of the curve upwards raises the arrival note in ¼-tone steps. In the same way, dragging the end point downwards lowers the pitch of the arrival note. The fractional indicator in the tablature stave, and the notated pitch in the standard stave, will be updated accordingly.
To adjust the playback speed of a bend:
Dragging a curve point horizontally changes only its playback speed, including the duration for which the starting and arrival notes are held (indicated with a horizontal line). It does not affect rhythmic notation in your score.
MuseScore also makes it possible to apply bends to chords, and to create unison bends.
To apply bends to chords:
To create a unison bend:
In the case of unison bends, it can be helpful to apply the bend in the tablature stave, where it can be easier to see which string exactly is being bent.
To customize the appearance of bends across an entire score:
In this dialog, you can modify:
Harps typically have seven strings per octave, with one string per pitch-class from C to B. Modern harps also have seven pedals, each of which has three positions: middle (natural), highest (flattened), and lowest (sharpened). Raising the pedal from middle position loosens the tension of one pitch-class of strings in every octave, lowering the notes by a half step, and lowering the pedal results in notes a half step higher. For example, moving the C pedal to the lowest position will make all C strings play C#.
In notated music for pedal harps, diagrams or text markings in the score indicate when to change pedal positions to change playable notes.
As of MuseScore 4.1 the harp pedal diagram element is available in the Harp notation palette.
Notes that cannot be played with the selected pedal configuration will turn red.
The diagram view shows every pedal, while the text view shows only the notes that need to change since the last pedal marking.
By default, diagrams appear above the staves and text markings appear between them.
To change a diagram, select it in the score to reopen the popup dialog.
The diagram corresponds visually to the seven harp pedals. The three to the left of the vertical line are the left foot pedals; the four on the right correspond to the right foot. From left to right, the notes the pedals control are:
A bar on the line indicates the middle position, which plays a natural note. A bar above the line tells the player to raise the pedal, flattening the note, and a bar below indicates lowering the pedal, sharpening the note.
For example, the playable notes indicated by the diagram below are C#, D, E, F#, G#, A, and B.
The upper line of notes refers to the pedals controlled by the right foot, and the bottom line to the left foot pedals.
The first instance of a harp pedal text diagram in the score will always show the positions of all seven pedals. The text view shows only the notes that need to change since the last pedal marking.
Text diagrams appear between the staves by default, but can be manually repositioned.
[This chapter (Oct 2023) does not contain the latest info on the topic. Please refer to the handbook 3's Entering and editing percussion notation chapter (May 2024). Feel free to port and improve, pls note that "major percussion overhaul" is upcoming soon https://musescore.org/en/node/354177 ]
In percussion notation, the lines and spaces of the music staff are allocated to different instruments—rather than different pitches—and a range of different notehead shapes is used.
The example below shows a simple drumkit beat on a five-line music staff. By convention, the bass drum rhythm is written on the lowest space of the staff, the snare drum on the third space, and the closed hihat, using crosshead notes, on the space above the staff.
Stem direction usually describes whether an instrument is hit with a hand-stick or with a foot-pedal. Musescore use the Musescore Voices feature to help create notes that have different stem direction.
Percussion music is usually written on a 5-line, 3-line, or 1-line staff—depending on the instrument. When a percussion instrument is created using the New Score dialog, MuseScore automatically chooses the most appropriate staff type. This can be changed later, if necessary, using the "Staff type" column in the Instruments panel. You can also create a Custom staff types.
See Setting up your score and/or Instruments panel.
There are several ways of entering music on a percussion staff:
After each note or rest is entered, the cursor automatically advances so that it is in the correct position for subsequent entry.
This method is suitable for adding instruments which have a keyboard shortcut displayed in the Drum Input palette.
Note: Shortcuts can be changed in the Edit drumset dialog.
To add notes to a percussion staff from a MIDI keyboard:
Note: Refer to a GM2 drum map for details about which MIDI keyboard key corresponds to which percussion instrument.
To add notes to a percussion staff from the virtual Piano Keyboard:
Note: Refer to a GM2 drum map for details about which piano key corresponds to which percussion instrument.
You can customize the notation of instruments inside the "drumset" Musescore Instrument using the Edit drumset dialog and
To customize percussion staff, see Staff/Part properties and chapters under Idiomatic notation: Percussion.
Edit drumset dialog can be opened in note input mode from the Drum input palette by clicking on the Edit drumset button (bottom left of the program window). Alternatively, in normal mode, right-click on the percussion staff and select Edit drumset...
On the left is a list of available percussion instruments. You can put these in MIDI number order by clicking on the "No." heading; this automatically shows them in note order as well. Clicking again puts the list in reverse order.
The right of the dialog shows you how the selected instrument is displayed on the percussion staff: its name, position, notehead type and note-stem direction.
Any changes made here are automatically saved in the parent MuseScore file (after pressing OK). You can also save the drumset independently as a drumset file.
[the following is a work in progress, "major percussion overhaul" is upcoming https://musescore.org/en/node/354177 , in the meantime see Musescore 3 handbook Drum notation, feature is still identical in Musescore 4.1.1 ]
Diddles can be added by using an eighth-note Tremolo.
To add a vibraphone pedal line, see Pedal.
To add a drumroll to your score, see Tremolo.
To enter sticking symbols (R, L):
To apply mensural signs to a score you need to add a conventional time signature first, then modify its display by substituting with the appropriate mensural symbol in the Time signature properties dialog. Note that these signs are for show only; it is not possible to modify the duration ratio between different note values, and the actual underlying time signature remains unchanged.
[To be added]
Early music, such as renaissance choral music, may be written without barlines or a time signature. This can be achieved in MuseScore as follows:
Note: In step 4 you can make the barlines invisible instead by selecting all and pressing V.
Note that the score still behaves as if measures are present. Measure properties can be applied if required.
Mensurstrich is a form of modern notation of early music in which barlines are drawn between staves rather than across them:
To indicate that a range of measures is to be strummed—but without indicating the exact rhythm:
Apply chord symbols in the usual way to the slashes.
Using beat slashes is a quick and convenient way of indicating strumming. The exact rhythm is left to the player and only the chord symbols play back.
To notate the chord slashes with the correct duration:
To notate the strum rhythm, with the option to include correct playback, you need to use rhythmic slash notation.
Musescore has four staff types, each of them has different build-in templates, see Staff/Part properties.
To create a custom staff used on whole score :
To create a custom staff to be used on one section of score:
Modified Stave Notation (MSN) is a formatting common used in large print. To use MSN see MuseScore 3 tutorial page Creating Modified Stave Notation in MuseScore, it works similarly inside Musescore 4.
[this section is a work in progress, please add missing info]
[this section is a work in progress, please add missing info]
Download this testing score file MS4 Noteheadschemes.mscz
'Notehead schemes' are used by musicians to designate notehead shape meaning. In Musescore 4.1.1, schemes for a staff is named "Notehead Scheme", same options for a note is named "Notehead System", see Noteheads.
Musescore has nine of them. Five of them are directly fully supported, notes written create correct playback. Four "shape note notations" are supported in terms of notehead engraving, users need to take advantage of 'Transposing instruments' feature to create desired playback, see Noteheads.
To create custom "shape note notations", see Noteheads.
The nine supported by Musescore are:
4 solfege related notations:
4 shape note notations, need further config if you wish to create desired playback:
See Overview
[this section is a work in progress, please add missing info]
For Notehead scheme:
Musescore has different text editing functionalities. This chapter and other chapters under handbook Text section focus on the Musescore Text objects, individual objects that can be placed on a score, and objects containing it. There are also score settings that add text onto pages automatically.
A Musescore Text object is an object on a score that contains individual characters that can be entered and removed by using (typing on) a computer keyboard. It is usually attached to a note or a rest, some of them attach to another object.
Different types of Text object are not interchangeable. They have distinct property fields that affect how Musescore functions. For example, a Staff Text object styled as a metronome mark can never be configured to change playback tempo inside Musescore. The Tempo object should be used to change playback tempo inside Musescore.
To check the object type, select an object on a score, its type is displayed on the status bar.
Text object type | Uses |
---|---|
Staff Text | General purpose text for one MuseScore instrument. Can be configured to apply swing playback or sound flags. See Setting up your score and Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text chapter. |
System Text | Similar to Staff Text, but for all instruments in the system (page layout concept). See Page layout concepts and Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text chapter. |
Expression Text | The expression item in the Text Palette. A new type introduced in Musescore 4. Does not affect Musescore playback as of Musescore 4.2. See Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text chapter. |
Instrument change | The Change instr. item in the Text Palette. Change the Musescore Instrument after the anchored note or rest. See Setting up your score and Mid-score instrument changes chapters. |
Dynamic | Such as p and mf, are Text that affects Musescore playback dynamics. See Dynamics chapter. |
Hairpin | Such as crese. and dim., are Text line that affects Musescore playback dynamics. See Hairpins chapter. |
Playing technique annotation | The legato. pizz. etc items in the Text Palette. [This info is a work in progress, the software function is under active dev, pls see and update Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text, and Dynamics, and Mixer, and Glossary and Articulations chapters] |
Tempo | Numerical metronome mark, verbal direction. A Text type that specifies Musescore playback tempo. See Tempo marks chapter. |
Gradual Tempo Change | Such as accel.. A new Text line type introduced in Musescore 4 that affects Musescore playback tempo. See Tempo marks chapter. |
Swing and Straight item in the Tempo Palette | A pre-configured System Text. See Swing playback and Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text chapters. |
Lyrics | Ctrl+V keyboard shortcut breaks up words stored in clipboard, paste and then jump to next anchor conveniently. See Lyrics chapter. |
Jump | Such as "D.C."(Da Capo), "D.S. al Coda" etc found in the Repeats & Jumps Palette. See Jumps and markers chapter. |
Marker | The Capo symbol, Segno symbol, "Fine", "To Coda" etc found in the Repeats & Jumps Palette. See Jumps and markers chapter. |
Rehearsal mark | The boxed B1 item in the Text Palette. Facilitate rehearsals, divide score into sections, bookmark passages etc. See Rehearsal marks chapter. |
Chord symbol | Has playback, notes automatically decided. See Chord symbol chapter. |
Nashville number | Has playback, similar to Chord symbol. See Chord symbol:NNS chapter. |
Roman Numeral | No playback. See Chord symbol:RNA chapter. |
Figured bass | A period keyboard notation. No playback. See Figured bass chapter. |
Sticking | Letters (L and R) attached to (drum) notes showing which hand or foot to use. See Sticking chapter. |
Fingering | Numbers or letters attached to notes showing which fingers to use. See Fingering chapter. |
Title, Subtitle, Composer, Lyricist, and Text (text block type) | They are Text types designed to be added into a frame. See Text blocks and Frame chapters. They are not the placeholder text used in the header and footer, see "Score setting" section. |
Text line, including Volta, Pedal etc types | Volta etc found in Repeats & Jumps Palette. Pedal found in Keyboard Palette. Ottava (8--, 8ve, 8va, 15--) etc found in Pitch Palette. Guitar Barre lines etc. See Other lines chapter. |
Long and short name of Musescore Instrument (see Setting up your score chapter) is automatically added to the left of staff in each system (page layout concept, see Page layout concepts chapter). Names can be changed direcly on a score using text edit mode, or using Staff/Part property window, see Staff/Part properties chapter. They are, by default, only added when there are more than one instrument. To change this default behavior, change the setting under Format → Style → Score.
Measure numbers can be added automatically. Configure it at Format → Style → Measure nubmers, see Measure numbering chapter.
Musescore's header and footer functionality adds text to every pages automatically. Configure it at Format → Style → Header & footer. Placeholder text (special symbols) can be used to add information like the current page number, copyright claim etc. Placeholder text is also used to add metadata tags, the digital data of a score file, onto the score dynamically. See Header and footer chapter.
Different types of Text object are not interchangeable, decide on the suitable object type before adding it. Use the chart under "Musescore Text object" section. For general engraving or visual display purpose, it is recommended to use a Staff text or System text.
The following explains how to add text to a note or a rest or a valid anchor outside frames. Adding text to a frame is covered in the Text blocks chapter.
To add a text element to your score from a Palette, either select one or more notes/rests and click on the desired palette item; or drag the text from the palette onto a note/rest. e.g.
If the text object is associated with a staff you can add it by selecting a note, then choosing a text option from Add→Text.
Many text types can be entered using keyboard shortcuts. Shortcuts are shown to the right of items in Add→Text.
To create a text object, select a note, then enter the required shortcut.
To edit *text automatically added by score settings*, see "Score setting" section.
To delete object(s) on a score, select the objects then press Delete.
To edit *text automatically added by score settings*, see "Score setting" section.
Text and text line objects are edited with two different methods, depending on the object type:
To enter text edit mode use one of the following methods:
To leave text edit mode either press Escape or click on a part of the score outside the edit area.
The following keyboard shortcuts are available in text edit mode:
Function | Windows & Linux | Mac |
---|---|---|
Bold (toggle) | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B |
Italic (toggle) | Ctrl+I | Cmd+I |
Underline (toggle) | Ctrl+U | Cmd+U |
Move cursor | Home, End, ←, →, ↑, ↓ | (Alt+) ←, →, ↑, ↓ |
Remove character to the left of the cursor | Backspace | Delete |
Remove character to the right of the cursor | Del | → Delete or Fn+Del |
Start new line | ↵ | return |
Insert special characters (see below) | Shift+F2 | Fn+F2 |
Characters not available from the standard keyboard may be accessed using the Special Characters window.
To open Special Characters, in text edit mode (see "Editing text object content" section), press Shift+F2; or click on Insert special characters in the Text section of the Properties panel.
The dialog is divided into 3 tabs: Common symbols, musical symbols and unicode symbols. The musical and unicode tabs are further subdivided into alphabetically-arranged categories. It is preferable to use items in Common symbols tab as they are functional, see Musescore 3 handbook Fonts chapter.
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 add a functional version of special characters (whenever possible) into the current Text object, see Musescore 3 handbook Fonts chapter.
Character | Windows & Linux | Mac | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Sharp ♯ | Ctrl+Shift+# | Cmd+Shift+# | May not work on some keyboard layouts |
Flat ♭ | Ctrl+Shift+B | Cmd+Shift+B | |
Natural ♮ | Ctrl+Shift+H | Cmd+Shift+H | |
Piano p | Ctrl+Shift+P | Cmd+Shift+P | |
Forte f | Ctrl+Shift+F | Cmd+Shift+F | |
Mezzo m | Ctrl+Shift+M | Cmd+Shift+M | |
Rinforzando r | Ctrl+Shift+R | Cmd+Shift+R | |
Sforzando s | Ctrl+Shift+S | Cmd+Shift+S | |
Niente n | Ctrl+Shift+N | Cmd+Shift+N | |
Z z | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Cmd+Shift+Z | |
Elision ‿ | Ctrl+Alt+- | Cmd+Alt+- |
Layout and formatting in Musescore has 2 main levels, read Templates and styles first. Text objects have finer levels:
The final visual and function of most object in a score file is determined by:
Options in Properties panel behave differently depending on the current selection.
"Font", "Style", "Size", "Subscript and superscript" are both object properties, and individual character formatting options. When you change an object using the Properties panel, incompatible formatting on individual characters are removed.
"Alignment", "Frame", "Text style" are object properties. When you select individual characters and change these options in the Properties panel, the object properties are changed instead.
To edit text content, see Entering and editing text instead.
Use the Properties panel to change formatting of individual characters. Musescore 4 updated the Inspector present in Musescore 2 and Musescore 3 and integrated the function of Text Toolbar (Text editing) into the Properties panel.
Click More to see:
To edit text content, see Entering and editing text instead.
Use the Properties panel to change formatting of the Text object, which may change all of the characters inside:
Options are self-explanatory, these special settings are shown after clicking More:
Match staff size: whether text size changes proportionally, see Page layout concepts.
Text style : Changes which style a text object on a score uses, see below
Position : Above or below the staff, see below
In the Properties panel, use Text style property under More. Concept of formatting is explained in the overview. Only the "style for text inside certain type of object" a text object on a score uses can be changed, they includes the "User-1" ... "User-12", see below. See Templates and styles.
The Properties panel is used for assigning formatting to the Text object(s). When a Text object is changed, all of the characters inside it may change. The Properties panel also is used for assigning formatting to individual characters inside a Text object, when characters are selected.
It is important to know that, even when characters inside a Text object are selected, some properties shown on the Properties panel are still the Text object's setting, but not the character property. They includes the Position property.
In the Properties panel, Use Position property under More to change layout of the Text object. If a overriding option exists for this type of object, is in "style for certain type of object", but not in "style for text inside certain type of object", see "Changing the values inside a style" section below. See also the main chapter Templates and styles.
Concept of formatting is explained in the overview.
Understand Templates and styles first. To change values inside a style, use the "Style" window: Format→Style.
To assign visual settings values to a custom style: "User-1" to "User-12", use the "Style" window: Format→Style > Text Style > User-1 ... User-12
Staff Text objects and System Text objects are for indicative purposes listed right below. They can optionally affect Musescore playback, only the section after the attached note or rest is affected.
Expression text objects indicate musical expressions and performance indications. They do not affect Musescore playback. To indicate dynamics and create playback at the same time, use Dynamics symbol object. To indicate and affect tempo at the same time, use Tempo markings.
Staff Text and System Text are similar in behavior and function.
Alternatively, drag the "Staff Text" icon onto a note in the score before entering the desired text.
Alternatively, drag the "Expression text" icon onto a note in the score before entering the desired text.
Alternatively, drag the "System Text" icon onto a note in the score before entering the desired text.
New System Text is positioned above the top staff of each system (layout concept). If you need a similar indication on a lower staff, add it to that staff using Staff Text.
Some templates have an additional feature. When you create a System Text, it is automatically duplicated and shown just above another lower staff. If either instance of the object is edited the content of both is updated. If either one is removed, both are removed. These templates includes:
Edit properties of selected Staff Text, System Text, and Expression Text object(s) in the Properties panel. Text related settings are covered in Formatting text chapter.
Staff Text and System Text can optionally affect playback. Playback related settings are edited in "Staff Text properties" and "System Text properties" window. When a Staff Text or System Text is duplicated, or reused through customized palette, the playback settings are reused.
An Expression Text can be added to a note that already has a Dynamics symbol attached. Doing so snaps it to the dynamics symbols, this behavior and the Properties : Expression: Snap to dynamic property is explained in Dynamics chapter.
Staff Text properties, for swing and capo settings, can be accessed as follows:
"System Text properties" window only has one tab, the Swing settings.
See main chapter Templates and styles.
"Style for text inside Staff Text" is special, see Formatting text.
Values of the "Style for text inside Expression" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Expression
The musical terminology tempo means the speed or pace of a composition. Musicians use tempo markings/marks to indicate tempo. Supported tempo markings include:
Musescore's synthesizer paces based on two settings:
Musicians use tempo markings to indicate the value of one beat, but Musescore does not use the beat information inside tempo markings. Beat information is obtained from Time signatures only.
Tempo markings are Musescore Text, except tempo change lines are Musescore Line that contains Text, see Text and Other lines chapter.
The Properties palette and Playback panel use a special unit "BPM". "BPM" is the amount of quarter notes would have been within one minute in decimal number. It is not related to the musical beat. It is not the whole number used in metronome marks conventionally, or on the score.
Playback follows written content by default only when note and augmentation dot professional glyphs are used. User can also use an overriding setting.
The tempo changes along the object's anchored range, see Other lines chapter.
Musescore does not understand the written content. These items have pre-defined tempo setting. In Musescore 4.2 beta's Tempo palette, by default:
The setting is changable, see "Changing playback" section.
Musescore does not understand the written content. In Musescore 4.2 beta's Tempo palette, by default:
All of these settings are changable, see "Changing playback" section.
All markings are found in the Tempo palette, see Using the palettes chapter.
Tempo markings affect playback of all staffs on a score.
New Tempo change line is positioned on top of a staff, like Staff Text does. It only appears in the "FullScore" and the "Part" that features the staff. All other new tempo markings are positioned on top of system, like System Text does. System is a layout term, see Page layout concepts chapter).
To add a Metronome mark, Verbal tempo indication, or Metric modulation onto the score, use one of the following methods:
To add a Metronome mark that use a suitable note value by using the beat information from the time signature:
To add a Tempo change line, use the methods explained in the Other lines: apply line chapter. One common method is to add it to a selected range:
Playback can be configure to follow written content of Metronome mark and Metric modulation. Musescore only understand note and augmentation dot professional glyphs. Do not copy or use unicode characters from other programs or the internet. The augmentation dot is not a "Full stop / period" on the computer keyboard.
Other characters and numbers are plain characters, entered using (typing on) a computer keyboard. They have different formatting behaviors, for example changing the Properties panel:Font does not affect glyphs, see musescore 3 handbook Fonts chapter. See also Entering and editing text chapter.
Tempo change lines are Musescore Line. To change appearence of the dashed line, see Other lines: line properties and Adjusting elements directly: Changing the range of a line chapters.
To change the predefined tempo setting:
To assign a manual / overriding tempo setting:
To change the manual tempo setting:
Tempo change lines are Musescore Line. The tempo changes along the object's anchored range. To change the range, see Other lines: line properties and Adjusting elements directly: Changing the range of a line chapters.
A tempo marking's layout and default positioning depends on how it is added, see "Adding tempo marks to your score" section.
For tempo markings that behave like "System Text" or "System Text Line", there is a special method to mirror the object, see Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text: Repeating System Text on other staves chapter.
Selected tempo markings(s) on a score can be edited with Properties panel, settings are already covered in other sections of this chapter. The Properties panel: Font property affects plain characters, but not the professional glyphs. Professional glyphs use "Musical symbols font", see "Tempo style" section. Text related settings are covered in Formatting text chapter. Line related settings are covered in Other lines chapter.
To edit the score-wide settings, see "Tempo style" section.
See main chapter Templates and styles
Values of the "Style for text Metronome" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Metronome. No object uses this profile by default, its purpose is for styling Tempo markings which have both a verbal indication part and a metronome mark part. Often the metronome mark part is non-bold and a little smaller. Source: https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/13377#issuecomment-147399…
Lyrics are a form of text associated with melody lines on staves. e.g.
As you can see in the example above, lyrics are entered syllable by syllable, those within words being connected by hyphens. Underscore lines or hyphens (depending on the context) are used to indicate melismas, where a syllable extends over several notes (see below).
Lyrics are organized into verses, with verse 1 at the top and subsequent verses in order below.
In order to enter new lyrics, or to edit/format existing ones, you need to be in lyrics mode.
There are two ways to enter lyrics mode:
A melisma is a syllable that extends over more than one note.
If the melisma is at the end of a word it should be notated by an underscore line:
If a melisma occurs in the middle of a word it may be notated by hyphens instead:
To enter subsequent verses, simply repeat the steps shown under Entering syllables. Lyrics entry automatically starts in the space beneath the last entered verse.
In lyrics mode you can move up and down between verses using the keyboard arrows, ↑ and ↓.
By default, the cursor skips over rests in lyrics mode. However, It is possible to enter a syllable on a rest by selecting the rest, (re-)entering lyrics mode and typing the syllable. Then you can continue entering lyrics as above.
Characters not available from the computer keyboard may be entered in lyrics mode using the Special characters palette. A special case is highlighted below:
An Elision slur (lyric slur or synalepha) is a symbol used to join two syllables together under one note.
For example, to create the lyrics text below, starting with the syllable text "te":
For the most part, lyrics can be edited like normal text. However, as noted above, keys like - (hyphen) and _ (underscore) have a special meaning during lyrics entry. If you want to enter one of these characters as itself then an escape modifier (i.e. a shortcut) must be pressed to avoid triggering the special meaning.
Character | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Space ( ) | Ctrl+Space | Alt+Space |
Hyphen (-) | Ctrl+- | Alt+- |
Underscore (_) | Ctrl+Shift+_ | Alt+Shift+_ |
Line feed (↵) | Ctrl+Return (or Enter on the numeric keypad) | Alt+Return (or Enter on the numeric keypad) |
To make additions or changes to existing lyrics, click on a syllable and use a text edit mode shortcut to enter lyrics mode.
Lyrics are automatically deleted with their parent notes. You can also delete lyrics while leaving the notes intact, by selecting the lyrics and pressing Delete.
If you wish to position all lyrics above, instead of below, the staff:
You can of course do the same thing by selecting all lyrics in the score and changing Position to "Above" in the text section of the Properties panel.
Each verse attached to the staff is allocated a verse number—with the lowest positioned at the top and highest at the bottom. (You can of course prepend a number to the beginning of each verse, but this is a visual indication only.)
To change the verse number, select the verse and adjust "Set to verse" in the Lyrics section of the Properties panel.
Lyrics are automatically copied with their parent notes, but you can also copy lyrics on their own without the notes.
Note that the destination range should be clear of existing lyrics, otherwise the clipboard contents will be pasted on top of them.
All lyrics attached to staves can be copied to the clipboard from the menu using Tools→Copy lyrics to clipboard.
See Changing verse number of lyrics.
Values of the "Style for Lyrics" can be edited in Format→Style→Lyrics.
Values of the "Style for text inside Lyrics odd lines" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Lyrics odd lines
Values of the "Style for text inside Lyrics even lines" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Lyrics even lines
Here you will find a number pf properties which allow you to control how hyphens between syllables are displayed:
Fingering symbols for various instruments are found in the Fingerings palette; some of these are duplicated in the Guitar palette.
Mouse over the palette icons to reveal the names of the symbols.
The different types of fingerings are as follows:
Note: If you want fingering to be displayed in tablature, right-click on the TAB, and select Staff/Part Properties…→Advanced Style Properties; then check the box labelled "Show fingering in tablature"
To add fingering to a selection of notes:
Alternatively, you can drag and drop a fingering symbol from a palette onto a single note.
When fingering is added to a note, the focus immediately shifts to the symbol, so you can adjust it right away.
To edit fingering position, see Changing position of elements.
Some fingerings can be flipped to the other side of the staff using the X shortcut, or the Flip direction icon on the note input toolbar.
The text formatting of fingering elements can be adjusted in the Text section of the Properties panel. See Formatting text for details.
General and text properties for fingering can be edited from the Properties panel.
For General properties see General settings.
For Text properties, see Formatting text.
Each of the different classes of fingering have their own text style. These can be viewed and edited from the menu: Format→Style→Text styles.
A chord symbol is an abbreviated way of representing a musical chord and its harmony.
MuseScore supports the following notations:
Am
,6m
,vi
.After you exit Edit Mode, any characters entered are automatically converted to the correct format. A root note typed in lower case turns into upper case (for alternative options, see Automatic Capitalization). And characters entered for accidentals are automatically converted into professional glyphs. For example, a "#" (hash character) automatically becomes a sharp sign (♯). Don't input, or copy and paste, unicode characters, such as U+266F (sharp sign, ♯), or U+266D (flat sign, ♭) etc, as MuseScore will not render them correctly in chord notation.
The following is a summary of keyboard shortcuts used to move the cursor in chord symbol entry mode:
Action | Command (Windows) | Command (macOS) |
---|---|---|
Move cursor to next note, rest, or beat | Space | Space |
Move cursor to next beat | ; (semicolon) | ; |
Move cursor to previous note, rest, or beat | Shift+Space | |
Move cursor to previous beat | : (colon) | : |
Move cursor to next measure | Ctrl+→ | Cmd+→ |
Move cursor to previous measure | Ctrl+← | Cmd+← |
Move cursor by duration number | Ctrl+1-9 | Cmd+1-9 |
Exit chord symbol entry | Esc | Esc |
MuseScore understands most of the abbreviations used in chord symbols:
Chord symbols are Text. Double-click on a chord symbol to enter Edit Mode, see Text editing. Use methods described above to create special characters. After you exit Edit Mode, they are automatically converted to the correct formatting.
Not to be confused with Figured bass.
RNA input offers the same keyboard shortcuts for navigation as in chord symbols (see above ).
Upon each computer keyboard input, characters are automatically converted to the correct format. MuseScore uses a specialist font, Campania, to provide the correct formatting for RNA.
Type this:
To get:
The Nashville Number System (NNS), is a shorthand way of representing chords based on scale degrees rather than chord letters. This allows an accompaniment to be played in any key from the same chord chart.
To start entering Nashville notation:
Just as with standard chord symbols, you can type Nashville notation normally and MuseScore will do its best to recognize and format the symbols appropriately. The same shortcuts used for navigation when entering standard chord symbols (e.g. Space, see above) are available for Nashville notation as well.
See also the main chapter Templates and styles.
The final visual and function of a chord symbol, Nashville Number, or Roman Numeral Analysis in a score file is determined by:
See main chapter Formatting text, also "Appearance and function" section above.
The default vertical alignment of all Chord Symbols, NNS and RNA are defined in "Style for Chord symbols" Format→ Style→Chord Symbol: Positioning.
The default alignment of objects also depends on the profile used, see "Chord symbol style" section. Effect of values in style profiles are cumulative.
To align object(s):
Upon switching "concert pitch" score viewing mode, chord symbols of transposing instrument adjust themselves automatically. When chord symbols are copied and pasted, they are transposed accordingly. See also Transposition chapter.
Chords associated with guitar fretboard diagrams are not transposed automatically, see Fretboard diagrams chapter.
The Transpose dialog transposes all selected objects except NNS and RNA, see Transposition: Using Transpose dialog chapter. To disable transposing selected chord symbols, uncheck Transpose chord symbols.
Musescore can be configured to create an extra bracketed chord symbol with capo next to each chord symbol (not NNS or RNA) on the score automatically. The bracketed symbol, when played using that capo, sounds identical to the unbracketed one. To enable this feature:
For chord symbols only (not NNS or RNA).
MuseScore uses letter names (A-G) by default, but you can switch the spelling system. MuseScore also automatically capitalizes, regardless of whether you entered them in upper or lower case, you can change this behavior.
From the main menu, choose Format→ Style→Chord symbols. Then choose one of the following radio buttons in the spelling section:
From the main menu, choose Format→ Style→Chord symbols. Then choose from of the following options:
You can also turn off the automatic capitalization completely, in which case note names are simply rendered the way you type them.
Shown below are results of different Font face and Rendering style settings. In the third exmaple, individual objects' Font property are ignored because the Jazz rendering style is used.
Font (font face, typeface, or font family) is not to be confused with Rendering style. See also Fonts.
To assign font and formatting to individual symbol on a score, use Properties panel. To assign default font, use global style profiles "style for text inside certain type". For chord symbols and NNS (but not RNA), individual object's Font property is ignored when the Jazz rendering style is used.
Rendering style is not to be confused with Font option.
Rendering style is the MuseScore feature that uses extra formatting to improve engraving. It is defined in the global style profile "Style for Chord Symbol" in Format → Style → Chord Symbols . All Chord symbols are affected by the chosen rendering style, there is no individual property option. An appropriate default setting is used automatically, based on the template selected to create the score. For Jazz templates the Jazz rendering style is used, for other templates the Standard rendering style is used. The three options available are:
Musescore uses the following terminology:
Extension part and modifier part can use extra formatting:
Only chord symbols and NNS create playback, RNA does not create playback.
To disable/enable playback of these objects of the Musescore program:
To disable/enable playback of selected object(s) on score:
To edit selected chord symbols edit settings under Properties panel: Chord symbol section. To edit the global settings for all chord symbols and NNS (but not RNA) in a score, edit settings under Format→ Style→Chord symbols : Playback section.
Note: The triangle symbol Δ in Musescore creates a Major triad only.
MuseScore allows you to generate notes from selected chord symbols and NNS (but not RNA) . The voicing depends on the playback settings explained.
To realize a selection of chord symbols:
Note: The triangle symbol Δ in Musescore creates a Major triad only. To change chord quality afterwards, see "External links" section.
Chord symbol(s) on a score can be edited with Properties panel. Text related settings are covered in Text. Playback related settings are covered in Changing Playback of Chord Symbols section above.
See main chapter Templates and styles, and Appearance and function section above.
Values of the "Style for chord symbols" can be edited in Format→Style→Chord symbols.
Values of the "Style for text inside Chord Symbol" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Chord Symbol
Values of the "Style for text inside Chord Symbol (Alternate)" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Chord Symbol (Alternate).
Values of the "Style for text inside Nashville Number" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Nashville Number
Values of the "Style for text inside Roman Numeral Analysis" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Roman Numeral Analysis
To change chord quality after Generating chord voicings onto a staff, use a plugin such as:
To identify harmony or chord, use a plugin such as:
Chord symbols style file (*.xml):
Figured bass is a shorthand notation for representing chords on a continuo instrument (such as a keyboard), using a series of numbers and other symbols written underneath the notes of the bass line.
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.
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: (1) The editor does not check that parentheses, open and closed, round or square, are properly balanced. (2) Several parentheses in a row are non-syntactical and prevent proper recognition of the entered text. (3) A parenthesis between a digit and a combining suffix ('+', '\', '/') is accepted, but prevents shape combination.
To edit a figured bass indication already entered use one of the following options:
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.
The duration of a Figured Bass indication often lasts until the next bass note or the end of a bar. Such Figured Bass can be entered consecutively using the keyboard. (To move to a point in between, or to extend a figured bass group for a longer duration, see Duration).
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 in the table below can be used to (1) advance the editing box by the indicated duration, and (2) set the duration of the previous group up to the new editing box position.
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.
Continuation lines are input by adding an '_' (underscore) at the end of the line, then pressing the keyboard combination for the required duration of the continuation line to exit the editing box. Each digit of a group can have its own continuation line. To write the continuation lines in the following example:
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.
The text formatting of figured bass symbols is handled automatically by the program, based on style settings (see below). Only General and Appearance properties can be adjusted from the Properties panel..
Properties of all figured bass symbols in the score can be set from Format→Style…→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: Choose between "Modern" or "Historic." The difference between the two styles is shown below:
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. |
Note: For Mac commands, Ctrl is replaced with Cmd.
Rehearsal marks (sometimes called Rehearsal Letters) can be used in a number of ways. e.g.
Rehearsal marks are a type of system text. In a full score they show only above the top staff of a system, but appear in all instrument parts.
Rehearsal marks can be added to the score in two ways: (1) manually, allowing you to name them as you wish, or (2) automatically, which ensures that they are named in sequence
To create a rehearsal mark manually and give it a name of your own choosing:
MuseScore can name the Rehearsal Marks automatically. Do either:
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).
If you want the rehearsal marks to be displayed as measure numbers:
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:
See Find / Go to (Navigating your score).
In most full scores any Rehearsal marks are shown only above the topmost staff of a system, but appear in all the generated instrument parts. If duplicate marks are required on lower staves they should be added as staff text.
Some templates have an additional feature, e.g. Symphony Orchestra or Classical Orchestra, see the list of templates in Staff Text and System Text chapter. On a new score created using either of the two templates listed abve, when you create a rehearsal mark above the top staff, an identical one is automatically added just above the string section. If either instance of the mark is edited the content of both is updated. If either one is removed, both are removed.
By default, rehearsal marks appear in a large bold font, enclosed in frames, and aligned to the center of the start barline of the measure. You can edit the default text properties from Format→Style→Text style.
The properties of selected rehearsal marks can be changed in the Properties Panel.
See Templates and styles.
Values of the "Style for Rehearsal marks" can be edited in Format→Style→Rehearsal marks.
Values of the "Style for text inside Rehearsal mark" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Rehearsal mark
Not to be confused with the top vertical frame and text added to the first page, when a new score is created from certain templates, see Create your first score and Using frames for additional content chapters.
The header and footer are text automatically added to the top and the bottom area of each page respectively. To add text to certain page(s) only, use frame and Musescore Text objects instead, see Entering and editing text chapter.
Note: To create a header or footer for a Part, open and view that Part first.
Part name placeholder text is only available in a Part, but not the "Full Score". Its placeholder text is $I, $i, or $:partName: . To rename a Part's name, see Parts: Renaming chapter.
Metadata are digital information, or tags, assigned in File→Project properties, use $:[metadata tag]:
syntax to add them to header and footer. See the example in "Entering information" section, and the main chapter Project properties.
Header and footer respect page margins configured in Format→Page Settings (see the main chapter Score size and spacing). Page margins are always left blank, Musescore resizes the staffs area to show content of header and footer. Additional margin can be achieved by adjusting the Offset in style profiles, font options are also available there, see "Header and footer Style" section.
Header and footer are not Musescore Text objects, it is not possible to select and use Properties panel to change properties of a header or footer on a particular page separately. To settings for all headers and footers, change values in the style profiles, see "Header and footer Style" section below.
To add text to certain page(s) only, use frame and Musescore Text objects instead, see Entering and editing text chapter.
See the main chapter Templates and styles
Values of the "Style for text inside Footer" can be edited in Format→Style→Text Style→Footer.
Not to be confused with header, see Header and footer chapter.
A text block is a Text object in frame. Used together with a vertical frame that spans whole width of a page, they are designed to elegantly:
Score created from certain template contains a top vertical frame with Text objects on the first page. They are automatically assigned with information provided by user in the New Score dialog, see Setting up score : Additional score information . They are not header, header is the functionality to add text to every pages, see Header and footer chapter.
Add an appropriate frame first if there is none, see Using frames for additional content.
To add a text block to a frame, either:
Every option explained above adds a blank object, regardless of information provided in New Score dialog or metadata tags (see Project properties chapter. Content entered into the said object also does not change the metadata tags. The main difference between these options is the default alignment positioning and font size, see "Text block text style" section.
To save settings into a style profile, click on the ellipsis (three dots) icon to the right of a property and select “”Save as default style for this score”, see Templates and styles chapter.
The text properties of a selected text block can be changed in the Text section of the Properties panel.
Alternatively you may wish to choose a different text style altogether from the dropdown list under “Text style” (in Properties: Text→More)
See the main chapter Templates and styles
MuseScore generally does an excellent job of arranging music and text on the page, but there are situations where you may need to adjust things—to make music larger or smaller, to add space between staves, to change the number of measures on a page, to move text closer to or further away from the staff, etc. In order to make these types of changes, it helps to understand how MuseScore works with respect to page layout.
There are a number of terms used throughout this chapter that you will need to be familiar with.
The size of everything on a score, such as staff, note heads, note stems, accidentals, clefs etc., uses a basic unit of measurement called "staff space" or "sp." to maintains correct proportions.
One sp is defined as the standard vertical distance between the midpoints of two lines of a music staff (or one quarter of vertical dimension of a full five-line staff, assuming a hypothetical staff line thickness of 0).
When you create a new score, MuseScore tries to adjust the staff space automatically so that the staves all fit on the page initially.
This usually leads to 1 sp = 1.75 mm, which results in a staff height of around 7 mm (more details explained in "Final absolute staff height" section), which is a good staff height for most solo music, choral music, small ensemble scores, and individual parts. Lead sheets and children's music may benefit from a larger staff size. Large ensemble scores may often require a smaller staff size in order to fit all instruments on the page.
You may need to adjust this value further as you add music, if auto-place results in additional space being added between staves in order to avoid collisions.
Modify the definition of "staff space" itself in the "Page settings" window. See Score size and spacing chapter, the overriding options are also explained there.
Not to be confused with concept of Musescore instrument.
A staff is the set of lines and spaces on which notes are written. When the term is used in MuseScore, it refers to that set of lines and spaces for a given instrument throughout an entire score. In the following score for voice and piano, everything marked in yellow constitutes a single staff—the staff for the voice:
Staff line thickness is set in Format→Style...→Measure. Its default value is 0.11sp, and the default value of sp is 1.75mm, so the default staff line thickness 0.1925mm. The 'absolute' height of default 5-line stave, measuring from the top edge of the top line to the bottom edge of the bottom line, is 0.5x0.11sp + 4sp + 0.5x0.11sp = 0.5x0.1925mm + 4x1.75mm + 0.5x0.1925mm = 7.1925mm. source: https://musescore.org/en/node/362733
In music for piano and certain other instruments, two staves are used—one primarily for the right hand, the other for the left. This set of two staves is normally connected by curly braces and is referred to as a grand staff. In the following excerpt, the portion marked in yellow is a grand staff:
Like text, music is read left to right, top to bottom. Each line of music read across the page is called a system, and it contains the staves and grand staves for all instruments. In the following example, the yellow highlighted region represents a single system:
Even if a score has only a single staff for a single instrument, we still refer to a line of music read across the page as a system. In the following lead sheet, there is only a single staff but three systems:
Most text in notated music is associated with specific notes or measures. However, you may also need to place text that is not associated with a specific note or measure—the title at the beginning of a score, lyric verses placed at the end of a score, explanatory information placed between systems or even between measures. MuseScore uses elements called frames for this. There are vertical, text, and horizontal frames—each optimized for a particular type of use. Horizontal frames can also be used to create separation between measures on a system, with or without associated text.
A margin is an area in which MuseScore will not normally place music or other elements. The page margin is the area around all four edges of the page where no elements are placed. The music margin is the area between the top and bottom margin and the first and last staff. The staves themselves will not be placed in those margins, but notes and other markings above or below the staves may be.
MuseScore places elements in your score automatically according to a set of rules and style settings. These are designed to produce excellent results by default in most cases‐elements positioned according to standard engraving practices while avoiding collisions between elements. MuseScore also provides the ability to customize these defaults and also to override the defaults for any given element.
Most elements in MuseScore have a default position that is determined by a style setting that can be customized via the Properties panel or the Format→Style dialog. For elements that are placed above the staff, the position is specified as an offset from the top line of the staff; for elements that are placed below the staff, the position is specified as an offset from the bottom line of the staff. These offsets, like most measurements in MuseScore, are expressed in staff spaces—abbreviated sp. For many element types, you can specify an offset to be used when placed above as well as a separate offset to be used when placed below, and also which of these placements should be applied by default.
For more info, see Templates and styles chapter.
For example, for dynamics, the default placement is below the staff, and the default offset below the bottom staff line is 2.5 sp. If you flip a dynamic marking above the staff, it defaults to 1.5 sp above the top staff line staff (expressed as a negative offset: -1.5 sp). These settings are all found in Format→Style→Dynamics.
Note that the default offset is larger for dynamics placed below the staff than above only because the offset is measured from the baseline of the text.
Auto-place is the term MuseScore uses for a set of algorithms used to avoid collisions as well as to align certain elements automatically. A basic understanding of how auto-place works can be useful when making adjustments.
For most elements placed above or below the staff, collision avoidance works vertically. When an element is being positioned, MuseScore first tries to place it according to the default offset for that element type. If that would result in a collision with another element, then one of the two elements will be moved further from the staff to avoid the overlap. MuseScore follows standard engraving rules in determining which elements to move. For example, tempo markings will be moved further above the staff to trill lines, rather than vice versa.
The Minimum distance style setting found determines how much distance MuseScore places between elements when avoiding collisions in this manner. The corresponding setting in the Properties panel allows you to override this for individual elements where necessary. But MuseScore adjusts this value automatically when positioning elements manually, as seen below in the section on manual adjustment.
For certain elements such as lyrics or chord symbols, MuseScore will widen measures to avoid collisions rather than displace these elements vertically.
MuseScore will also try to align certain elements vertically, so that if one element of that type needs to be adjusted vertically to avoid a collision, other elements of that same type on the same system will automatically be adjusted as well. Elements that are always aligned vertically include lyrics and pedal markings. Dynamics and hairpins will be aligned if they are directly adjacent, as will pedal markings.
Chord symbols can also be aligned vertically if you enable this in the chord symbol style settings, by setting a Maximum shift value. See Chord symbols for more information.
Auto-place normally does a good job of avoiding collisions and of aligning elements. And in cases where you wish to position an element manually, you can normally do so directly, without the need to disable auto-place (see manual adjustment below). However, there can be some situations in which you may still wish to disable auto-place. For example, rehearsal markings default to displaying above voltas, but you may wish to reverse this for some specific case where the volta was already displaced higher and there is then room for the rehearsal mark underneath.
In this case, disabling auto-place for the rehearsal mark allows it to display underneath the volta, while still allowing the volta to automatically avoid collisions with the notes.
To disable auto-place for an element, select it and then disable the Auto-place setting in the Properties panel.
The element will be returned to its default position (as determined by its style settings) and it will not be included in the detection of collisions with other elements. Disabling auto-place for an element also causes it to be excluded from any vertical alignment that would otherwise have applied.
Whether auto-place has displayed an element from its default or not, the position of elements can be adjusted manually, such as by dragging, using the cursor keys, or the Offset fields in the Properties panel. See Adjusting elements directly for more information.
MuseScore even allows you to perform manual adjustments that would result in collisions. In the example above, if you drag the rehearsal letter below the volta, MuseScore will allow this and will automatically set the Minimum distance for that element to a negative value, thus effectively allowing the collision without disabling auto-place.
Elements of the same type will normally be aligned by default simply because they have the same style settings and therefore the same offset. However, auto-place can result in some of the elements being moved further from the staff than others. As described above under Vertical alignment, MuseScore will automatically align some types of elements. For other elements types, you can align them manually by assigning them the same vertical offset.
To do this, simply select the elements you wish to align (e.g., click the first, Shift+click the last), then gradually increase or decrease the vertical offset in the Properties panel. For example, to align a series of tempo markings above the staff, you will need to set their vertical offsets to the same value. To make sure they are aligned and also avoid the collisions that cause auto-place to display one or more of them to begin with, you will need to set the offset to a sufficiently large negative value.
MuseScore provides a number of score-wide settings to control the overall size and spacing of music.
Below we will cover these settings and Musescore's algorithm. These settings are in the "Page settings" window, and in the items around the top of "Style" window left pane: Format → Style → Score, Page, Size, System, Bars etc.
There are also a variety of ways to override these defaults to change the horizontal or vertical spacing of individual systems pages, and these are covered in Systems and horizontal spacing and Pages and vertical spacing chapters.
See also Templates and styles if you are using Musescore Part feature.
The settings that control the overall size of your music are found in Format→Page Settings.
Note that units in this dialog default to millimeters, but you can change to inches using the control provided.
The default page size is Letter in North and Central America, and A4 in most of the rest of the world.
The margins default to 15 mm regardless of the page size. If Two sided is not enabled, then only the Odd Page Margins settings are applicable.
Staff space (sp) : changes the definition of staff space (sp) itself. See Page layout concepts chapter.
See overview above for info on other overall size and spacing options and the two chapters detailing individual systems pages specific options.
Overriding options for individual object on a score are available:
In addition to the standard OK and Cancel buttons, this dialog also contains:
Note that in large ensemble scores where MuseScore has automatically reduced the staff size in order to fit all instruments on a single page, resetting page settings will revert to the standard staff space default of 1.75 mm.
The horizontal spacing of notes and the vertical spacing of staves and systems are controlled by style settings.
This section contains overview, see Systems and horizontal spacing for details.
MuseScore determines an initial width for each measure based on the music it contains, then calculates how many measures can fit on each system, and then stretches those measures out so that all systems (except the last if desired) are filled to the right margin, similar to the "justified" option in word processor software. You cannot change this behavior, but see overriding options in Systems and horizontal spacing.
The initial width for a measure is determined by the music within it as well as a group of style settings that control the spacing between notes and other symbols. Most of the settings affecting the horizontal spacing for a score are found in Format→Style→Bars. The most important are:
The default spacing ratio of 1.5 means that each note value takes 1.5 times as much space as the next shorter value. So, a half note takes 1.5 times as much space as a quarter note, etc. The minimum note distance specifies the smallest distance MuseScore will allow between two notes, and this sets the initial distance for the shortest note values. Longer note values will always receive more space as per the spacing ratio, and by the time measures are stretched to fill the page width, it is likely that even the shortest notes will not actually be as close as the minimum. The minimum note distance and spacing ratio settings together determine how tight or loose the spacing is.
At one extreme, the top staff above uses a Spacing ratio of 1.0, which results in all notes taking equal space regardless of note duration. At the other extreme, the bottom staff uses a ratio of 2.0, which results in notes spaced proportionally to their relative duration, such that a half note gets twice as much space as a quarter note. This is useful if measures of equal width are desired. Values closer to the default of 1.5 are best for most cases. A slightly smaller value allows for tighter spacing, while a slightly higher value allows for looser spacing. Decreasing or increasing the minimum note distance also results in tighter or looser spacing.
If the spacing calculation results in some measures (those containing relatively few notes) working out to less than the minimum measure width, extra space is added to enforce the minimum.
There are also many individual settings in this same dialog to control specific details such as the padding from Clef to time signature or Barline to grace note. More such settings are added over time, and these are meant to be self-explanatory.
Additional relevant style settings can be found in :
This section contains overview, see Pages and vertical spacing for details.
MuseScore provides a choice of two different vertical spacing algorithms.
In both algorithms, MuseScore fills pages with systems in a similar manner to how it fills systems with measures. First, it determines an initial size for each system, then it determines how many systems can fit on each page, and then it spreads those systems out so that all pages are filled well. Depending on your style settings, MuseScore may literally fill each page to the bottom margin, or it may leave additional space on the bottom of some pages if trying to fill the page completely would spread things out too widely.
The difference between the two algorithms has to do with how the spreading to fill the page occurs.
If you select Disable vertical justification of staves, the distance between the staves within a system is fixed, unless that would result in collisions. In this algorithm, if MuseScore needs to spread systems to fill a page, it will always do so by adding space between systems rather than within systems. This yields consistent spacing between staves from one system to the next, but it can result in spacing between systems being much larger than spacing within them, and it will usually result in ragged bottom margins on pages with only a single system (since the staves within the system won't be spread to fill the page).
The default, however, is to Enable vertical justification of staves. With this method selected, the distance between staves within systems is also subject to spreading. This results in more even spacing overall—the spacing between systems will still be larger than the spacing within them but not to the same extreme—and it mostly avoids ragged bottom margins on pages with only a single system (since the staves within the system can be spread to fill the page).
Most of the settings controlling the vertical spacing for a score are found in Format→Style→Page. There is, however, one relevant setting in Format→Style→Score.
Regardless of whether vertical justification is enabled or disabled, MuseScore will add space above the top staff and below the bottom staff of each page:
If you select DIsable vertical justification of staves, then there are two settings that control spacing within systems:
Note: even with DIsable vertical justification of staves selected, MuseScore will still add more space between staves as necessary to avoid collisions. To force a completely consistent distance between staves (and accept the resulting collisions), set the Minimum vertical distance to a large negative number.
If you select Enable vertical justification within staves, then there is not a single setting for staff or grand staff distance. Instead, you select a range of acceptable distances and values that control how much of the available space MuseScore will fill by spreading systems versus spreading staves (and how much extra space to add between bracketed and braced groups of staves). The relevant settings include:
Whether vertical justifications of staves is enabled or disabled, you specify the distance between systems as a range:
In addition, if you select Enable vertical justification of staves, there are two more settings:
See Staff/Part properties main chapter.
There are also a couple of staff-specific settings that affect size and spacing. To access these, right-click (Ctrl+click) a staff and then select Staff/Part properties. The relevant settings are:
The horizontal spacing algorithm in MuseScore determines the width of each measure, which in turn determines how many measures will fit on each system. While this will produce good results in many cases, there are also situations where you may wish to override this and have fewer or more measures on a system, or to have them spaced differently within the system.
The main tools used to control systems and horizontal spacing are described below.
A system break causes MuseScore to end a system after a specific measure or horizontal frame, even if more measures would fit. To add a system break, select a measure (or any element within it) or a frame, and then click the System break icon in the Layout palette:
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Enter. Both methods of adding breaks also work while in note input mode.
After adding a break, the icon will appear above the measure you added it to:
As with other formatting elements, system breaks appear in gray and will not print, and their on-screen display can be disabled via the Properties panel.
You can increase or decrease the width of measures, and their contents will stretch accordingly. The calculated width of a measure is multiplied by a layout stretch factor that you can set numerically for selected measures, but you can also use commands to increase or decrease the stretch of selected measures directly without needing to set a specific number.
To change the layout stretch directly, you can select one or more measures, then use one of the commands in Format→Stretch:
To set the layout stretch value numerically, you can select one or more measures and then set the Measure width in the Appearance section of the Properties panel.
As you can see if you watch this setting, each press of } or { increments or decrements this value by 0.1.
You can also set this value for a single measure by right-clicking it, selecting Measure properties, and setting Layout stretch in the resulting dialog.
A horizontal frame is a container for empty space, text, or images, that can be placed between measures in a score. Although you can place text or images within horizontal frames (see Using frames for additional content), one of their main purposes is to create empty space within systems, as shown below.
To add a horizontal frame to your score, select a measure and then click the Insert horizontal frame icon in the Layout palette:
The frame will be inserted in front of the selected measure. If the measure is at the beginning of a system, the frame may actually appear at the end of the previous system, if there is room.
You can also use the commands in the Add→Frames menu.
You can then change the width of the frame using the Width setting in the Properties panel, or by selecting the frame and dragging its handle or using the Left and Right cursor keys to change the width. Keyboard adjustment occurs in steps of 0.5 sp, or 1.0 sp if you hold Ctrl (Cmd on Mac).
To keep measures together for the purpose of determining if they fit on a given system or not, you can select them and then click the Keep measures on the same system icon on the Layout palette:
When MuseScore is deciding how measures to place on a given system, and it encounters such a group and determines that they do not all fit, MuseScore will move the entire group to the next system.
These features can be used in a variety of ways, but there are a handful of tasks that are especially common.
It is always possible to get fewer measures on a system than what MuseScore places by default. To end a system on a particular measure or horizontal frame, select it and add a system break.
While it is not always physically possible to fit more measures onto a given system at the current page and staff size and spacing settings—there may simply be “too many notes” to fit without overlapping—you can reduce the widths of selected measures.
To place more measures on a system:
Depending on how close it was to fitting before, it might take multiple Decrease layout stretch operations before the stretch is reduced enough for them all to fit. But it may also be the case that it just is not possible without reducing your overall page or staff size, or spacing settings. See Score size and spacing for more information.
The default spacing is designed to make sure that all notes of a given duration on the same system take the same amount of space, unless more space is required to make room for markings between specific notes. But there can be cases where it might make sense to increase the spacing in one or more measures, thus correspondingly decreasing the spacing in the others (or vice versa).
To change the spacing in one or more measure, simply select them and increase or decrease the layout stretch as described above.
To create space between two measures, select the second measure, then insert and adjust a horizontal frame as described above.
To create extra space at the beginning or end of an individual system, add horizontal frame. For the first system of a score, the First system indent style setting (in Format→Style→Score) automatically creates space. See Score size and spacing for more information. You may want to create separate sections with a "Section Break" instead, when you think of extra space at the end of an individual system, see Using sections for multiple movements or songs chapter.
To add space at the beginning of a system, select the first measure of the system then insert and adjust a horizontal frame as described above. You may also need to place a system break on the last measure of the previous system to ensure that the horizontal frame does not appear there instead.
To add space at the end of a system, first make sure there is no system break on the last measure, then select the next measure and insert a horizontal frame. Then add a system break to the horizontal frame itself if needed.
The last system of a score will normally be right-justified (stretched to fill the width of the page) if its default width exceeds the Last system fill threshold as set in Format→Style→Page. See Score size and spacing for more information. This normally produces good results, but there may be cases where the last system is filled but would look better if it were not, or vice versa.
For cases where the system is filled but you would prefer it not to be, you can increase the threshold. A value of 100% will mean the last system is never filled (since its width will never exceed that threshold). Conversely, if the last system is not filled but you want it to be, then decrease the threshold. A value of 0% will mean the last system will always stretch (because its width will always exceed that threshold).
Normally, however, you should select a threshold value that will accommodate future changes to the score that might result in more or fewer measures ending up on the last system. For instance, if your last system currently has several measures and you force it to be filled by setting the threshold to 0%, this might look bad if the layout changes in the future and the last system has only one measure. Or if the last system has only one measure and you force it not to be filled by setting the threshold to 100%, this might look bad if the layout changes in the future and the last system ends up with several measures. This is why a more middle-of-the-road value usually makes sense.
It is usually even better, however, to plan system breaks to avoid having the last system being less full than others.
As discussed in Score size and spacing, MuseScore normally fits as many measures as it can on each system. This can sometimes result in two or more musically-related measures being split across a system break, when it might be easier to read if they were kept together on the next system. While you could add a system break to the measure before the group, this could easily turn out to be counterproductive if the layout changes later and all the measures could have fitted on that system. What you really want is to be able to specify that a group of measures should be kept together if possible, whether that means keeping them on the original system or moving them all together to the next.
In a word processor, a “non-breaking space” character can be used to keep two words together. If the words both fit on the current line, then the non-breaking space acts like a regular space. But if the two words cannot both fit on a line, word wrap will move them both together to the next line rather than split them apart at the non-breaking space.
In MuseScore, you can use the Keep measures on the same system icon in the Layout palette to group selected measures in the same way. These measures will be treated as a single block for the purpose of deciding whether to place them on one system or the next.
Note that this will not allow you to fit more measures on a system than your current settings would normally allow. It simply tells MuseScore that it should keep them all together if possible.
As described in Vertical spacing, MuseScore fills each page with as many systems as can fit given the current score settings, and then adjusts the spacing within each page according to one of two different algorithms. You can also adjust the number of systems on a page, or the spacing between specific staves or systems, manually.
A page break causes MuseScore to end a page after a given system, even if more systems would fit. To add a page break, select a measure or frame and then either press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on Mac) or click the Page break icon in the Layout palette:
A spacer is a formatting element you can add to a measure to control the amount of space above or below that particular staff. Spacers can work to either add or remove space, and they can operate either within or between systems.
To add a spacer to your score, select a measure and then click the appropriate icon in the Layout palette:
You can also drag and drop a spacer from the palette to a measure in your score.
Once you have added a spacer, you can adjust its height by selecting it and dragging its handle, or by using the Height setting in the Properties panel. There are three different types of spacers, and the height setting affects the score differently according to the spacer type:
In all cases, the spacer works within a system when added between staves of a system. In addition, a Staff spacer down or Staff spacer fixed down works between systems when added to the bottom staff of a system, and a Staff spacer up works between systems when added to the top staff of a system.
A vertical frame is a container for empty space, text, or images, that can be placed between systems in a score. Although vertical frames can be left empty and thus function in a manner similar to spacers, the primary purpose of vertical frames is to add text or images. For more information, see Using frames for additional content.
In ensemble music in which multiple systems fit on a single page of music, it is common to use a pair of diagonal strokes to help clarify the division between the systems.
MuseScore can add these automatically via the settings in Format→Style→System. You can enable Left and Right dividers independently. For each, you can customize a number of settings:
The feature listed above can be used to achieve a number of common tasks.
To place fewer systems on a page, simply add a page break to the system or frame you wish to appear last on the page.
As with horizontal spacing, in some cases it might not be possible to fit more systems onto a page than your current settings permit. So you may also want to consider a smaller staff size, or reducing the minimum system distance score-wide, or other style changes. However, in some cases you may be able to fit more systems on a page by manually reducing the distance between specific systems.
To reduce the distance between two specific systems, add a Staff spacer fixed down to the bottom staff of the upper system, then set its height as desired. If this reduction allows another system to fit on the page, then it will happen automatically.
MuseScore normally spreads systems and staves out to fill a page (see Vertical spacing for more information). Whether you enable or disable vertical justification, however, pages that are especially sparse may still look awkward. This is especially common for the last page of a score, where it is possible more systems could have fit.
In many cases, the best results would be obtained by planning the system and/or page breaks throughout the score to avoid these overly sparse pages. But in cases where this is unavoidable, you will need to decide where you want the extra space—all at the bottom of the page, equally divided between the top and bottom, dispersed between systems, or dispersed between staves within systems as well as between systems.
To force all extra space to the bottom of the page, once solution is to add a Staff spacer down below the last system, and adjust its height as appropriate to take the space you wish to leave below. Another is to reduce either the Maximum system distance or Maximum page fill distance (see Vertical spacing). These settings may affect other pages as well, but in most cases, they will only be relevant for especially sparse pages.
To force some space at the top of the page, you can add a Staff spacer up above the first system.
To change the distribution of space between systems and staves within systems, be sure Enable vertical justification of staves is enabled in Format→Style→Page, then adjust Factor for distance between systems. A value of 1.0 means that space is equally distributed within and between systems. Larger values mean that more of the available space will be allocated between systems as opposed to within them.
To add space between two specific systems, add a Staff spacer down to the bottom staff of the upper system, or a Staff spacer up to the top staff of the lower system.
To add space between specific staves within a single system, add a Staff spacer down to the upper staff, or a Staff spacer up to the lower staff.
To add space between specific staves across all systems—such as to separate piano accompaniment from the vocal staves in a choral score—right-click the lower staff, select Staff/Part properties, and increase the Extra distance above staff setting.
A frame is a rectangular space in the score into which one or more text objects or images may be inserted. In the score window the sides of the frame are marked by dotted lines (these do not show up in the printed score).
A frame may be one of three types:
Note: Although you can use frames to create extra space between systems, it is best to use spacers for this purpose.
Frames may be used to
and so on.
A text frame is a full-width rectangle placed either before the first system or after the last one, or between systems. One text block (only) may be added to the frame. The height of the frame is automatically adjusted to the height of any text block contained within it.
If the measure selected is the first one in the system, the frame will simply be inserted above the system. If the selected measure is any one but the first, it will start a new system and the frame will appear above it.
To add a text block to the text frame:
The text has the “Frame” style by default but you can change this using “Text style” in the Text tab of the Properties panel. You can also apply character formatting in the usual way.
A vertical frame is a full-width rectangle placed either before the first system or after the last one, or between systems. Several text blocks and/or images may be added to the frame.
If the measure selected is the first one in the system, the frame will simply be inserted above the system. If the selected measure is any one but the first, it will start a new system and the frame will appear above it.
To add a text block to the vertical frame apply one of the following methods:
The height of the vertical frame is automatically adjusted to the height of any text block contained within it. But you can override this using “Height” in the Vertical frame tab of the Properties toolbar.
The position of a text object which abuts directly onto the border of a vertical/text frame can be altered by adjusting the relevant margin (Top/Bottom/Left/Right) in the Vertical frame tab of the Properties panel.
For example, a left- and top-aligned text object will be pushed away from the respective border by increasing the “Left margin” and/or “Top margin”, and so on.
In the Vertical frame or Text frame tab of the Properties panel, adjust “Gap above” and “Gap below” to create extra space above/below the frame.
A horizontal frame is used to create space between the measures of a particular system with optional text and/or image content.
The frame is inserted between the selected measure and the following one.
To add a text block to a horizontal frame, right-click on the frame and select Add→Text.
You can adjust the width of the frame in the Horizontal frame tab of the Properties panel.
You can adjust the space on either side of the horizontal frame using “Left gap” and “Right gap” in the Horizontal frame tab of the Properties panel.
Images may be inserted into scores by attaching them to score objects or to frames.
The following image formats are supported: SVG (*.svg), PNG (*.png), JPEG (*.jpg and *.jpeg), Bitmap (*.bmp), and TIFF (*.tif and *.tiff).
Notes: (1) SVG is the recommended image format as it allows you to adjust the image size without any loss of definition. Note that shading, blurring, clipping or masking is not supported. (2) PNG supports transparency. (3) GIF (*.gif), WebP (*.webp) and X PixMap (*.xpm) formats are not supported.
To add an image to a Vertical or Horizontal frame:
Note: That method currently doesn't allow for Bitmap (*.bmp), and TIFF (*.tif and *.tiff), but see below.
To attach an image to a score object:
Note: Use the latter method for small images associated with music staves, such as symbols.
To save an imported image to a palette, see Adding elements from the score.
Once an image has been imported into the score it can be copied/cut and pasted to another location, such as a frame, note or rest, using the standard commands and procedure (see Copy and paste).
Select the image and use either of the following methods:
As long as the padlock symbol is active (colored blue in Properties: Image) the aspect ratio (height/width) of the image will be maintained throughout. If you want to adjust a side independently of the other, click on the padlock to break it (colored grey).
To scale an image to the height of the containing frame:
As long as “Scale to frame size” remains checked the image size will follow the frame height.
The image can be repositioned by dragging, or adjusting the horizontal/vertical offsets in the Appearance section of the Properties panel. Ctrl+R restores the image to its default position.
The image properties of a selected image can be adjusted in the Image section of the Properties panel.
Use staff space units: When checked (the default setting), the image automatically scales proportionally with the Scaling setting in Format→Page Settings, and uses the staff space unit, sp. If unchecked, the image uses mm and does not scale proportionally. See Page layout concepts.
This symbol is 4sp in height so it fits perfectly into the space between the top and bottom line of a 5-line staff. Its "Use staff space units" option is checked so it scales proportionally.
A section break is used to divide a score into separate sections, such as might be required in a musical suite, for example.
In the following score example, there is a section break at the end of the first system, followed by a text frame providing the title of the next movement.
A section break has the following features:
These options are detailed in Section break properties (below).
If the beginning of a new section is accompanied by a change of time or key signatures, there will be no courtesy signature at the end of the previous section.
To add a section break, select a measure, barline (or any element within the measure), then click the Section break icon in the Layout palette. You can substitute the latter action with a custom shortcut if desired (see Preferences: Shortcuts).
The following properties of section breaks are adjustable from the Section break part of the Properties panel:
To adjust the playback pause after a section break: select the break and edit “Pause before new section starts”.
To display the long intrument names on the first system after a section break: select the break and make sure that “Start new section with long instrument names” is checked.
To restart measure numbering after a section break: select the break and make sure that “Reset bar numbers for new section” is checked.
Additional settings for measure number display are available in the Measure properties dialog.
You can store your files either locally on your computer, or online (“in the cloud”) to your musescore.com account. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one for free here.
In the case of scores saved online, MuseScore also keeps local copies on your computer, so you can work on them even without an active internet connection. Every time you save a "Cloud Score", the online copy at musescore.com is also updated. This system protects both the integrity of your local cloud scores while offering all the advantages of online storage, including backup, viewing and playback across multiple devices, ease of sharing, commenting, and much more.
Please note that, if you download one of your cloud scores from musescore.com and open it in MuseScore, the file you download and open will be a new, locally-stored file, separate from the file in the cloud.
There are a few ways to open a score in MuseScore 4.
This triggers your file browser, allowing you to select and open scores stored on your computer or storage device (dialog will vary according to operating system).
Windows/Linux: Ctrl+O. MacOS: Cmd+O
This option allows you to choose from a list of recently-opened scores.
This window displays your most recently modified scores. Double-click on any score thumbnail to open it. You can also click Open other… to access locally-stored scores from your file browser.
Scores that have been saved to the cloud are indicated with a cloud icon. Unlike local scores, it is not possible to rename or otherwise modify a cloud file from your computer’s file browser. You can, however, do this from the score manager on musescore.com. Go directly to your score manager by clicking the Score manager (online) button in the Scores window.
It is possible to open multiple scores simultaneously. In this case, MuseScore opens each score in a separate window.
Apart from its 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. You can customize various import settings by going to Preferences → Import.
To save a score:
1. Go to File
2. Choose any of the following options:
Option | What it does | Shortcut |
---|---|---|
Save | Saves current score to new file, or saves changes to a previously saved file | Windows/Linux: Ctrl+S, MacOS: Cmd+S |
Save As... | Saves current score to new file | Windows/Linux: Shift+Ctrl+S, MacOS: Shift+Cmd+S |
Save a copy... | Saves current score to new file, but allows you to continue editing the original file | None |
Save selection... | Saves selected measures to new file | None |
Save to cloud... | Saves score as a new file on musescore.com | None |
The first time you use any of the above save options, a dialog opens asking you “How would you like to save”, then offering you the options of “Save to the cloud” or “Save to computer”.
To disable this window, click Don't show again to ensure you only see your operating system's native save dialog for future saves.
The Save to computer option triggers your operating system’s “Save” dialog, allowing you to save the score as a (compressed) MuseScore file, .mscx.
There is also an option in your “Save” dialog to save files in an uncompressed format (“Uncompressed MuseScore folder”). This option creates a new folder on your computer that contains a MuseScore (.mscx) file, as well as a thumbnail image file (.png) and any relevant .json, .mss, and .xml files.
Scores saved online (to the cloud) appear in the program’s Home: Scores tab with a cloud symbol at the corner of the file icon. A local copy is also automatically saved on your computer.
To save a score to the cloud, choose Save to the cloud. This triggers a dialog with the following options:
This is the name under which your score will be identifiable on musescore.com
When you’re ready, click Save. The first time you do this, MuseScore will ask whether you also want to upload your audio to musescore.com. You can choose from the following options:
Each time you press Save, only the score itself will be uploaded to musescore.com. Online playback will use the MS Basic soundfont.
Each time you press Save, MuseScore will generate an .mp3 file to upload together with your score. Score playback on musescore.com will sound the same as it does in your desktop app (including audio from the Muse Sounds library, if installed, or any VST instruments and effects you’ve added)
MuseScore will only generate and upload an .mp3 file at a save interval you specify.
These settings only affect your private cloud scores. You will only be asked to specify this setting once, however you can change this setting at any time by going to Preferences → Cloud. Once you click OK, MuseScore will confirm your score has been saved. Your file will be accessible from both the Home tab as well as the score manager on musescore.com.
This chapter covers the saving of MuseScore scores in formats other than the native ones (*.mscz and *.mscx), such as MusicXML, MIDI, MEI, MP3, PDF, PNG etc.
To export a score:
Portable Document Format (PDF) is a universal format for text, pictures, music and so on. Use this format when you want to generate music scores for other musicians to read.
Virtually every computer will have a dedicated PDF reader; if not a PDF can also be opened using web browsers such as Firefox etc. PDF scores can also be printed to hard copy if desired.
Like PDF, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) enables you to zoom in and enlarge the image without loss of quality. Use SVG when you want to embed extracts of music inside another document or webpage.
All modern web browsers support SVG. However, many websites and apps do not support it, so if you try to use SVG somewhere and it doesn't work, try using PDF or PNG instead.
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is a compressed graphical format suitable for editing or embedding in all kinds of documents. However, PNGs become pixelated if you zoom in or enlarge the image, so consider using PDF or SVG instead if your software supports it.
OGG files commonly contain lossy Vorbis-compressed audio, which offers higher quality than MP3 at the same file size. Use this format for personal listening, if your device supports it.
Most Android devices support OGG audio, but Windows, macOS, and iOS devices require third-party software in order to read these files. You may find MP3 easier to use.
MP3 is a lossy compression format that is universally supported. Use this format to share audio with other people for listening purposes (not for editing).
FLAC is a lossless compression format that fully preserves audio quality, but produces larger file size than the lossy compression formats. Use FLAC when sending audio for someone else to edit, but only if you can't send them the actual MuseScore file (e.g. because they don't have the necessary instrument sounds or audio plugins installed for it to sound the way you intended).
WAV is an uncompressed format. It offers full audio quality but its files are extremely large. Use this format for audio that you plan to edit yourself in another program, such as Audacity.
If you need audio in a format not mentioned above (e.g. Opus or AAC), this requires using an external audio conversion tool. Audacity is a free program that can be used for this purpose. It's developed by Muse Group, the same company that makes MuseScore.
Simply export your score from MuseScore as a WAV file, then open this file in Audacity, or whichever audio program you choose to do the conversion. Using WAV as the transition format ensures the highest quality after conversion and avoids wasting time compressing the file in MuseScore only to decompress it immediately in the other program.
Alternatively, you could use a website to do the conversion. In this case it's better to use FLAC as the transition format, as this will reduce the size of the upload while retaining maximum quality. Make sure you research any third-party software or web service carefully before using it. Some websites retain files after you have uploaded them, and some will even make the files available to other users.
Once the file has been converted to the desired format, you should listen to it to ensure the quality is acceptable and the entire file was converted.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is a well-established music industry standard for encoding all the notes and instruments in a score, but none of the visual formatting. MIDI files can be played in some media players, but only if the right software (or hardware) instruments are available to realize it. The files can be edited in a sequencer or other music notation software.
You should be aware that the sound generated by a MIDI file is dependent on the virtual instruments used to play it back, so it's likely to sound different when played outside of MuseScore. Also MIDI does not preserve visual formatting, so the file will look very different when opened in any notation program, including MuseScore, compared to the original score.
MusicXML is a universal standard which aims to preserve as much of the original score formatting as possible. It can be opened in any modern score writer. MuseScore 4 uses MusicXML 4.0, although some features have yet to be implemented.
Braille Ready Format (BRF) is a plain text format that can store written text or music documents intended for use by people who are blind. These files can be opened in third-party software for reading with an electronic braille display or embossing onto paper as raised dots.
MuseScore's braille files use bar-over-bar formatting, which means there is a separate line of braille for each staff, and measures are vertically aligned between staves like in the print music. (An alternative would be bar-by-bar or section-by-section formatting, where one or more measures are written for the first staff, followed by those same measures for the next staff, and so on, all on a single line of braille. MuseScore does not support these types of formatting currently.) MuseScore's braille files use ASCII rather than Unicode character encoding, so sighted users who open these files in a text editor will just see random letters and punctuation characters; you would need to install a special braille font in order to see the braille as dots.
MuseScore's braille conforms to the Braille Authority of North America's Music Braille Code 2015, but many of its features have yet to be implemented. At present, you may get better results if you export scores as MusicXML, and then use a third-party MusicXML to braille conversion tool, such as the free web-based tool SM Music Braille.
Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) is an open XML format that represents the semantic structure of music notation documents and is developed as a community-driven effort. The MEI support in MuseScore focuses on MEI Basic, a subset of MEI that facilitates the use of MEI for data exchange and improves interoperability. The MEI support in MuseScore is available as of version 4.2 and is documented here.
[To be added]
MusicXML is a universal file format that allows music scores to be shared between different music notation programs. For example, you can convert a MuseScore .mscz file to a MusicXML file and it will open in Sibelius, Finale, or any other compatible scorewriter; and vice versa.
MusicXML faithfully reproduces the notes and instrumentation, but, nevertheless, it is usually necessary to do some clean-up work to make the transferred score look exactly the same as the original.
When a MusicXML file is first opened in MuseScore, the positions and custom properties of text objects are preserved as far as possible. There may also be other customizations visible in the score which you may or may not wish to keep.
To reset the stems of all notes to their default positions and orientations:
To reset the leading space of all notes to the score default:
To remove all breaks—system, page and section:
1. Right-click on a break and choose Select→Similar
2. Press Delete.
To remove just system breaks (leaving section and page breaks in place):
To reset all text objects in the score, and in frames, to their default styles:
See Format→Style→Text styles to view the list of styles, and property values.
To reset the positions of all text objects in frames:
You can apply the same method for text objects in the score, as for frames. However you will need to repeat this for each individual class of object—all tempo texts, all staff texts and so on.
To export a score as a MusicXML file see File export.
When exporting a score to MusicXML, you can choose from a compressed (the default option) or uncompressed format; and whether to export all breaks or not, or to allow only manually-added breaks to appear in the file.
[To be added:
The Project Properties dialog contains metadata tags, editable descriptive digital data of the file. Every score created with Musescore 4 contains the following predefined metadata tags. Some of them are automatically assigned with information provided by user in the New Score dialog, see Setting up your score chapter.
Property | Details |
---|---|
Work title | Assigned with "Title" provided in New Score dialog. |
Subtitle | Assigned with "Subtitle" provided in New Score dialog. |
Composer | Assigned with "Composer" provided in New Score dialog. |
Arranger | |
Lyricist | Assigned with "Lyricist" provided in New Score dialog. |
Translator | |
Copyright | Assigned with "Copyright" provided in New Score dialog. Feel free to copy and use this copyright symbol literally: © |
Work number | |
Movement title | |
Movement number | |
Creation Date | Date of the score creation. This could be empty, if the score was saved in test mode (see Command line usage). Edit manually if you are Beethoven's ghost. |
Platform | The computing platform the score was created on. This might be empty if the score was saved in test mode. |
Source | May contain a URL if the score was downloaded from or Publish to MuseScore.com. |
Audio.com URL | |
Musescore Version | Not editable. The version of MuseScore the score was last saved with |
File Path | Not editable. The score file's location on the Computer. |
Note:
To change a Project property (metadata tag),
To add a new custom metadata tag, click on the New button. Fill in the "New tag name" field and press OK;
To delete a tag click on the trashcan symbol. Predefined metadata tags cannot be deleted.
The only place to add project properties (metadata tags) on to a score is by referring them in header or footer, see Header and footer chapter.
Understand that these are separate entities before we begin this chapter:
You can publish to musescore.com either directly, or from within Musescore, but note that musescore.org volunteers are not capable of handling any issues related to musescore.com such as payment, refund, ownership, copyright, licensing, piracy etc, see How and where to ask for support.
You may elect to keep your scores private or to allow others to read or download them. To use its service you need to open a musescore.com account, which can be either free or subscription (see also Opening and saving scores).
musescore.com seems to prioritize providing virtually free of charge score hosting service, rather than helping self-publishers generate income. Nevertheless, it has generous terms on how hosted scores are used. The platform has not been openly, directly working with or sharing revenue with self publishers / individual composers yet. It has begun collaborating with publishers in response to complaints about copyright protection. For musicians aiming for profit, try alternative methods such as listed on https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/696/sites-with-a-good-selecti…
Respect copyright. Just as you own the copyright for music you create, others own the copyright for music they create. You may transcribe other people’s copyrighted music using Musescore, but you do not necessarily own the copyright for the resulting Sheet music.
A broad definition of "publish" is used in this chapter to avoid confusion only - the act of uploading/saving content to an online server is considered "publishing". You should pay attention to the definition of "publish" used in any legally binding licenses. From https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq-definitions.html ... Publication is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public ... A score can be uploaded "unlisted", meaning it is not publicly searchable or shown inside a public systematic catalog, but the said score may arguably still be considered public.
From the forum post Copyright Infringement
... for a cover song you'd need the copyright holder's permission (maybe the author, the publisher, the heirs, etc) ...
... you cannot upload a piece even with a licence from the original author, unless said licence also includes the specific rights grant to MuseScore BVBA which the ToS require, but which are not necessary to obtain if (also) another suitable licence, such as any and all Open Source / Open Knowledge licences, are present. The ToS also (part of the same bug) require the uploader to waive certain moral rights of the artist ...
From the forum post Would somebody tell me what is original music?
... If you haven't deliberately based your score on another composition then upload it as an original. If it turns out to be similar to a known composition then someone will point it out. If it's close to a copyrighted score then it may get taken down, (made private), but without causing you any trouble ...
From https://bernardgreenberg.com/MuseScore.html (by Bernie/BSG, a long time volunteer music mentor on musescore.org and musescore.com) 29 June 2021
... the CPO (Chief Product Officer) of MuseScore.com, David Mandelstam, posted, in public discussion with me, that the site (musescore.com) is the world's largest free sheet music catalog. It is not a social media, and not a score hosting site ...
Last but not least, from https://musescore.com/community-guidelines
... Treat people the way you would like to be treated ...
The first time you save a score you will be asked if you want to publish the score to Musescore.com.
If you are not already logged in to Musescore.com, or you do not have an account, you will need to login.
You will be asked if the score should be Public, Unlisted, or Private.
If you’re publishing a score that you’ve already published at least once, you can choose to replace the existing online score or to publish as a new online score.
You will be asked whether you also want to upload your audio to musescore.com. See Managing publishing preferences
Musescore will tell you when it is ready. Large scores may take some time to generate the MP3 file.
Scores saved on your computer can also be published at Musescore.com but are not automatically updated.
To publish a score at Musescore.com
Scores published only at Musescore.com are marked with a "cloud" symbol in the Musescore score manager.
MuseScore also keeps local copies on your computer, so you can work on them even without an active internet connection.
When saving online Musescore creates an MP3 file of the audio of your score. Depending on the score length, and number of instruments in the score, this might take a long time. To control when this happens:
Under "Generate MP3 audio for private cloud scores" choose Never, Always, or Every (X saves)
Each time you press Save, only the score itself will be uploaded to musescore.com. Online playback will use the MS Basic soundfont.
Each time you press Save, MuseScore will generate an .mp3 file to upload together with your score. Score playback on musescore.com will sound the same as it does in your desktop app (including audio from the Muse Sounds library, if installed, or any VST instruments and effects you’ve added)
MuseScore will only generate and upload an .mp3 file at a save interval you specify.
In addition to publishing your score on MuseScore.com, you can share the MP3 audio generated by MuseScore to Audio.com, a free service from Muse Group. On Audio.com, you can share your tracks publicly, make them available to download, and upload unlisted audio.
MuseScore 4.1 and above
MuseScore 4.2 and above
The first time you publish a score, you will be prompted to share on Audio.com. You can choose to be prompted every time you publish, and this can be controlled in Preferences.
Basic playback functions are accessed from the Play toolbar at the top right of the program window, the icons from left to right, the icons are:
Undock the toolbar to reveal the Playback Panel for additional controls. See "Playback position and monitoring tempo" section.
Notes: (1) If no selection is made before activating Play, playback returns to the place it stopped at previously; or, if no previous playback, to the start of the score. (2) The Play button changes to a "stop" icon while music is playing.
To rewind playback click on the Rewind icon on the Play toolbar. Rewind returns the playback to the beginning of the score or, if a loop is set, to the beginning of the loop.
To loop playback over a section of music:
In the example below, playback will cycle over the selected two bars of Violin 2 and Viola, the region marked by the blue flags. Use the "Loop playback" button to toggle the loop on or off.
To automatically add metronome ticks sound to playback, use the metronome button.
The number of ticks added onto each measure is determined by
The following logic is used,
For compound meters (6/8, 9/8, etc), the top number of the time signature divided by three, is the number of beats in each measure. 6 = duple, 9 = triple, 12 = quadruple. A tick is added to each beat. Two additional ticks per beat are added to passages where the resultant Monitoring tempo of the measure is below 60 beats per minute. The 60 is not referring to Play Toolbar / Play Panel's top right corner metronome symbol.
Shown above is a demo of compound meters metronome handling, the demo score file is available under the External links section. To a measure using 9/8 where there is a written tempo marking dotted crotchet ♩ . = 59, and the monitoring tempo slider is at 100%, nine ticks are added. Using a quaver ♪ = 179 marking creates identical result. Whereas, to a measure using 9/8 where there is a written tempo marking dotted crotchet ♩ . = 60, and the monitoring tempo slider is at 100%, three ticks are added. Using a quaver ♪ = 180 marking creates identical result. Lowering the monitoring tempo slider to 90% creates nine ticks in that measure.
The default Metronome uses MS Basic. It has two tick sound clips, a high pitched ticks (T1) and a low pitched ticks (T2). T1 is used on the very first tick of each measure, T2 is used on all other places. Alternative sound source can be selected in the Mixer, T1 play note E5, and T2 play note F5.
These ticks are added to any exported audio files. For more control of the ticks in the audio file, or during playback, try these:
The current playback position is shown by two counters to the right of the playback controls. One shows the position in terms of time elapsed, the other in measures and beats (see image in overview). To jump to a timestamp or measure or beat manually, click a counter and enter a number.
The item at the very right end is monitoring tempo. It shows the tempo would have been in the unit of crotchet (quarter notes) within one minute at the current cursor position. It is not exact mirror appearance of any particular written tempo marking on the score. Its crotchet is not related to the musical beat of the score.
To reveal additional controls, undock the toolbar. Click and hold down the "6 dots", then drag away from the top right of the MuseScore screen and release, see Toolbars and windows:Docking and undocking panels chapter. Undocked toolbar automatically expands into a small Playback Panel that has two sliders. The slider on top shows the current playback position . the slider below shows monitoring tempo . Monitoring tempo overrides score tempo temporarily, the setting of each written tempo markings on the score remains unchanged. Returning the slider to default position, 100%, restores tempo to that as written on score.
In the example screen capture shown above. The knob on the top current playback position slider is at one third from the left, suggesting it is currently about one third of the way through the score. The knob on the lower monitoring tempo slider is adjusted slightly to the right of the default position. It reads 130%, suggesting the tempo of playback is currently speeded up to 130% of written tempo. The written tempo is crotchet = 60, it is designated by a Tempo marking not shown in the picture. The top right corner metronome symbol shows crotchet = 78, meaning there would have been 78 crotchet (quarter notes) within one minute at the current cursor position.
To change the playback tempo temporarily, either:
Edit the Playback tempo. It can be adjusted in 1% increments. In the image below the tempo will playback at 96% of the current metronome speed
Click the settings button (cogged gear) on the Play toolbar to show the following controls:
You can uncheck or check these options as desired.
Enable MIDI input to write music to your score with a linked MIDI device (such as a keyboard or drum machine) during playback. See Working with Midi for details.
Uncheck this option if you want playback to ignore any repeat indications in the score.
Uncheck this option if you want playback to ignore chord symbols in the score.
When checked, this option pans the score during playback; uncheck if you want the view to remain stationary.
Metronome tick demo score file https://musescore.org/en/node/357722#comment-1220561
The mixer allows you to
adjust volume and panning, and make other adjustments to the playback for each stave.
The mixer is divided into a number of color-coded channel strips:
You can display/hide the mixer by:
Note: If the instrument channel strips are not in the same order as the instruments in the score, try closing and reopening the Mixer again.
A channel strip contains the following controls (from top to bottom):
Click the three dot icon in the upper right corner of the Mixer panel to show / hide a control. For example, you can hide the Volume faders to save up vertical screen space for score viewing.
The row labelled Sound shows the virtual instrument set used in each track. This can be either a SoundFont (.sf2,.sf3) such as MS Basic, a VST instruments (VSTi), or a Muse Sound. If you have selected a particular sound from within that instrument set then the sound's name will be displayed instead of the set's name.
Note: This changes the instrument's sound, but has no effect on instrument's notation. If you want the staff to be updated as well, say, with correct transposition and clef changes, see Choose instruments.
Starting with MuseScore 4.2, it is now possible to use this method to choose individual sound from within a SoundFont. If you're using an older version of MuseScore 4, use the workaround detailed in SoundFonts.
SFZ files are supported but only by using a VST sampler; see SoundFonts.
Each row (slot) under the Audio FX allows you to add an extra VST effect or Muse Reverb (a native effect). Audio is processed through the Audio FX from top to bottom.
This deactivates the plugin without removing it from the mixer.
Muse Reverb is MuseScore’s native reverb unit. A fixed amount of reverb is added by default to each instrument—you can adjust the amount for each channel using the Aux send knobs next to the blue buttons labelled "Reverb". The effect can be toggled on/off for each channel by clicking on the same buttons. You can also adjust the Muse Reverb output volume using the Aux 1 fader.
Each row (slot) under the Aux sends adjusts how much of a corresponding Aux channel effect(s) is added to the audio created for an instrument.
There are two Aux sends, corresponding to the two aux channels:
Aux channels are special channels to simplify audio FX application. You can set up audio FX(s) in one Aux channel and then apply them to multiple instruments.
There are up to two Aux channels in each score:
By default, aux channels are hidden. To show/hide a aux channel:
The process is the same as adding Audio FX(s) to an instrument channel, see To add an Audio FX.
If there is only one Audio FXin an Aux Channel, the channel strip and its corresponding aux send are labelled by the name of the Audio FX. If there is more than one, they are labelled Aux 1 and Aux 2. You may need to save and reopen the score to see the labels update.
Aux channel strips have volume faders. This changes the volume of the effect across all channel strips with the corresponding aux send turned on. Think of this as setting the maximum volume of the effect(s) that an instrument channel can receive.
To adjust how much effect of an Aux channel come through on each instrument, use the knob in the corresponding Aux sends row (slot) on that instrument channel strip, see Aux Sends.
MuseScore uses virtual instruments to create audio for playback. SoundFont files (.sf2, .sf3) are one of the supported formats . An sf2 or sf3 file contains all the audio data for one or more virtual instruments.
MuseScore comes packaged with its own native SoundFont, MS Basic, which contains most of the instrument sounds you need for score playback.
You can also add and use custom SoundFonts—many are available free online. See also the list in SoundFonts and SFZ files (MS3 handbook).
Once you’ve downloaded a SoundFont to your computer, there are two ways to install a SoundFont in MuseScore 4:
A dialog should appear offering to install the SoundFont file to the correct location.
It's also possible to manually install SoundFont files to the correct location. By default, this location is ~/Documents/MuseScore4/SoundFonts, where ~ (tilde) represents your home directory. The full path to this location is:
C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\MuseScore4\SoundFonts
/Users/USERNAME/Documents/MuseScore4/SoundFonts
/home/USERNAME/Documents/MuseScore4/SoundFonts
SoundFont files placed in this folder will automatically become available for use in MuseScore.
It's also possible to specify alternate location(s) to store SoundFont files instead of—or in addition to—the default location mentioned above. SoundFont files placed at any specified location will be available in MuseScore.
To specify an alternate SoundFont location:
Once a SoundFont is installed, here's how to use it in MuseScore:
As of MuseScore 4.2, it possible to choose a specific sound within the SoundFont. The default setting Choose automatically instructs MuseScore to use sound(s) that matches the instrument in the score.
On some instruments (such as Violin) using MS Basic, verbal articulation text items (such as legato, pizz. arco) create proper playback only if Choose automatically is selected, see musescore at github. Therefore it is preferable to change the Musescore Instrument, see Setting up your score : Changing instruments after score creation chapter. Choose automatically only works with SoundFonts that obey the General MIDI standard, see Musescore 3 handbook SoundFonts and SFZ files: soundfonts chapter.
Shown below is soundfont selection in MuseScore 4.1.1.
As mentioned above, MuseScore 4.2 reintroduced the ability to choose individual sounds within a SoundFont.
Prior to MuseScore 4.2, you had to make do with the automatic choice, or employ a workaround where each individual sound was packaged into a separate SoundFont file. A special version of MS Basic was created for this purpose. For other SoundFonts, you could split them into individual sound files using a free tool such as sf2-split or SF2 Splitter. For VSTs you could use a VST sampler such as Sforzando, FluidSynthVST, or juicysfplugin.
This is possible using 3rd party software such as Polyphone. For more information, see also Soundfont, MIDI velocity and instruments.xml (Developer’s Handbook).
To uninstall a SoundFont, simply open the folder where its file is installed and delete it.
Users of MuseScore 3.6 and earlier may be accustomed to using the Zerberus player, which supports the .sfz file format. In building a new system that now supports VST instruments, changes were required that necessitated the removal of the Zerberus player, as well as the Synthesizer found in previous versions of MuseScore. Consequently, some functionality has been lost in this process, including the ability to map specific instrument sounds like pizzicato and tremolo to specific MIDI channels. Our highest priority in future releases of MuseScore 4 is to again support this functionality for VST, SoundFont and the Muse Sounds libraries. Users who rely extensively on mapping .sfz sounds to specific performance directions are advised to continue using earlier versions of MuseScore until we re-enable this capability in MuseScore 4. It is worth mentioning that the new systems we are planning will be much more flexible, easy to use and powerful than those found in MuseScore 3.
For those who wish to still use SFZ sounds in MuseScore 4, good alternatives for Windows and macOs would be the open source VST samplers Sfizz or Sforzando, both of which support SFZ playback. Currently, the use of SFZ is not possible in MuseScore4 for Linux.
Alternatives to soundfonts:
Muse Sounds is a library of sophisticated plugins that provide realistic playback for MuseScore.
On Windows and macOS, Muse Sounds are installed using the Muse Hub application, which can also be used to install MuseScore 4. If you don't have Muse Hub yet you can download it for free from musehub.com.
Once installed, Muse Hub is found in the Windows system tray (shortcut Win+B to focus), or the macOS menu bar (press VO+M twice to focus while VoiceOver is running).
When Muse Hub is open, click Get under any sound you’d like to have in your library, and it will begin downloading and installing right away.
Muse Hub also contains a range of effects plugins. Download and install these from the Effects tab.
Once a plugin is fully downloaded, it will appear in the Mixer the next time you launch MuseScore.
On Linux, Muse Sounds are installed using Muse Sounds Manager, which you can download from musescore.org as a DEB or RPM package for 64-bit Intel/AMD architectures (not ARM currently).
When Muse Sounds Manager is open, click Get under any sound you’d like to have in your library, and it will begin downloading and installing right away.
Once a plugin is fully downloaded, it will appear in the Mixer the next time you launch MuseScore.
Any Muse Sounds plugins you’ve downloaded will be automatically assigned to the appropriate instruments in your score.
You can tell MuseScore to always use available Muse Sounds plugins via the Playback Setup dialog.
The Muse Sounds playback profile will ensure that all Muse Sounds plugins will be assigned to every available instrument in your score. You can also manually assign a Muse Sounds plugin to a single instrument via the Mixer. This can be helpful for scores with more than one instrument, where you may wish to combine Muse Sounds plugins with other VSTs or Soundfonts.
Muse Sounds currently supports the following instruments:
Any instruments not supported by Muse Sounds will remain assigned to MS Basic by default.
Sound flags are available starting in MuseScore Studio 4.3
Sound flags can be added to staff text to access additional sounds and playing techniques on Muse Sounds instruments. You can download all the free Muse Sounds instruments (and soon, more sounds from the world’s best audio developers) via the Muse Hub.
When you add a sound flag (pictured below), it affects playback on the entire instrument from that point forward in the score until it reaches another sound flag.
Using sound flags, you can:
Sound flag buttons that appear in the score will never be visible when exporting, printing, or publishing your score to MuseScore.com.
Sound flags must always be attached to a staff text element. If you wish to hide the text:
Selecting the sound flag button and pressing Del will remove it and leave the staff text in place.
Deleting the staff text will also remove the associated sound flag.
The sound flag buttons will be hidden. They can still be edited by clicking the associated staff text to reveal its sound flag button.
The first options in the Modify sound and/or Playing techniques sections of the sound flag popup are the default sounds. If you wish to quickly reset a sound flag to these sounds:
You may wish to combine more than one sound option to play at the same time. If a sound flag has the Modify sound section, you can do the following:
By default, sound flags affect all staves on an instrument, but this can be changed.
Not all Muse Sounds instruments have sound flag options. If we haven’t included any sound flag options yet, you’ll see this in the sound flag popup:
This page shows you how to apply Capo markings in MuseScore versions prior to MuseScore 4.1. See Applying capos for the new method of applying capos in MuseScore 4.1 and above.
MuseScore allows you to transpose the playback of a staff without changing the music notation (written pitch). This simulates the effect of a capo on a guitar (or other stringed instrument).
Use one of the following:
Note: Any capo playback settings apply until overridden by a subsequent Staff text with “Capo Settings” enabled.
Music in “straight” time is performed strictly as written in the score. By contrast, music in swing time interpets straight eigth and sixteenth notes as triplet pairs, with the first of the pair being roughly twice as long as the second. This gives the rhythm a characteristic bouncy feel—often asssociated with Jazz music. e.g.
Swung eighths:
Swung sixteenths:
Rather than notate swung music exactly as performed, it is accepted convention to write it in straight time and simply provide the written indications “Swing and “Straight” at appropriate points in the score.
Swing markings have a playback effect on the score. The default swing ratio is 60% (3:2) but you can vary this to suit the feel of the piece if required.
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the Swing text from the palette onto the note or rest in question.
You can, if desired, add a visual swing marking as well.
Note that the above markings are a form of System text and therefore the playback effect is applied to all staves in the system. If you want swing to apply to only one staff you can use Staff text instead: see below.
In the Swing settings tab edit the “Swing” and “Swing ratio” as required.
Note: Swing settings are found in both system and staff text.
If you want swing to apply to only one staff in the system, use staff text instead:
This section needs to be organized / written by someone with an understanding of how to use MIDI input/output in MuseScore 4. If JACK is still supported, it could be discussed here too, or in a new page.
Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in software interface licensed under Steinberg that integrates software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. Most VST plugins are either instruments (VSTi) or effects (VSTfx); VSTi includes software simulation emulations of well-known hardware synthesizers and samplers.
In MuseScore 4, any compatible VST plugins installed on a Windows or MacOS computer will automatically be made available in the Mixer, where you can easily configure playback settings for all instruments in a score. Note that Linux is not yet supported (but see Linux VST3).
After installing new VSTs on your computer, you may have to restart Musescore 4 to make them visible in the mixer. If this doesn't work, you can force a re-scan of VSTs by deleting previous cache settings before restarting. On Windows 10 the relevant file can be found at
C:\Users\ [your user] \AppData\Local\MuseScore\MuseScore4\known_audio_plugins.json
MuseScore 4 directly supports VST3 plugins only (not VST1 or VST2) because of licensing restrictions. If you are using VST1 or VST2, see How to use older, non-VST3 plugins in MuseScore 4.
Note: Sound settings in the Mixer are saved with the score, but not to the program.
See Mixer: Sounds and Audio FX.
Alternatives to VST instruments:
MuseScore works 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 translation(s):
A message which displayed if the version of your language is already up to date, if not then the update will be downloaded.
To complete this step, a restart of the application is required.
To change the appearance of MuseScore
In the Appearance tab, select the desired option described below.
The following options are available to change the colors of MuseScore. The display changes immediately so options can be tested without closing the dialog. The changes apply to all open instances of MuseScore (see Windows)
To change the font face and text size for Menu and Palette elements:
This does not affect and text elements in the score.
Windows, toolbars and panels within MuseScore can be repositioned, and you can choose which elements you want to see displayed in them.
The default appearance of MuseScore is shown below:
To show or hide the playback controls, note input toolbar, or the status bar:
To change the position of either the note input or playback toolbars, click on and hold the six dots at the left of the toolbar, then drag and drop it to the desired location. The toolbar can be left free floating, but in the case of the note input toolbar, you can also drag and drop it either to the left or the bottom edge of the program window—a blue rectange then appears to show you that you can drop the toolbar at that location to redock it. The playback toolbar can only be redocked in its default position.
To select the icons that you want on view in the note input or playback toolbars, click on the gear icon to the right of the toolbar:
In the case of the note input toolbar, this reveals a dropdown list from which you can hide or display the various icons by clicking on the eye symbol to the left of each one (closed=hidden, open=displayed).
In the case of the playback toolbar, uncheck or check the various options in the gear menu to hide or display the corresponding elements.
To undock and move one of the side panels (Palette, Instruments, Properties, or Selection filter), click on the three dots on the tab, select the Undock option, then drag the undocked panel to the desired position.
You can leave the panel free-standing but there are also dock positions at the top and right hand edges of the document window—a blue rectangle appears to show that you can drop the panel to redock it at that location.
In a similar way, you can redock the free panel back to the sidebar:
You can also redock the free panel in its original position by clicking on the three dots on the tab, and selecting Dock.
Panels such as the Mixer or virtual Piano can be undocked if desired, by dragging them into position or clicking on the three dots icon and selecting Undock. To redock, click on the three dots icon and select Dock.
The undocked mixer can be resized by dragging the edges inwards or outwards.
To choose which elements to display within the mixer or the virtual Piano, click on the three dots, select View and uncheck or check the applicable options.
To customize the palettes area, see Customization: Palettes.
This chapter contains incomplete information and does not reflect the current status of Musescore 4. Please consult third party professionals listed on Getting help instead.
useful info for editing:
TODO testing
Styles in Musescore are profiles that contains settings, rather than being the settings themselves. The visual setting for text and musical symbol in musescore some users mistaken for style is called Font.
All styles are built-in, they contain visual and functional settings default values. Each object type, eg Chord Symbol object, Accidental object, has a corresponding style of the same name built-in: "Style for Chord Symbols", "Style for Accidentals". Each Text object, eg Chord Symbol object, Lyrics object, also has one or more corresponding style(s) built-in: "Style for text inside Chord Symbols", "Style for text inside Chord Symbols (Alternative)", "Style for text inside Lyrics Even Lines", "Style for text inside Lyrics Odd Lines". Style is not the object type.
You cannot create a new style, but you can edit the settings values in each style. Use the "Style" window: Format → Style , or Properties panel: 'three dots' button : Save as default style for this score.
After you created an object, you cannot change its object type. The same is almost true for style: an accidental object on a score must use values in "Style for Accidentals", it cannot use values in "Style for Staff Text" or "Style for Chord Symbols". You cannot change which style (the named profile) an object on a score uses unless the object is a Text object or it contains a Text object within. A Lyrics object on a score, if desired, can use the compatible values in "Style for text inside Chord symbols" or "Style for text inside Staff Text" rather than the values in "Style for text inside Lyrics Odd Lines" or "Style for text inside Lyrics Even Lines", for more see Formatting text chapter.
Read on to see the final visual and function of objects are determined.
Layout and formatting in Musescore consists of two main levels, Text objects and objects containing them have more levels, see Formatting text. The final visual and function of most object in a score file is determined by:
Every score file has a "Full Score" layout. It also contains "Parts" when you use Musescore Part feature to generate different versions of the same score. Each "Part" and the "Full Score" has their own separate complete set of layout and formatting information.
Visit https://musescore.org/en/node/355981 for .mss files shared by other musicians.
The concepts and layout logic are explained in the overview. .mss file contains "level 2 information" and can be stored in any folder, Musescore does not automatically use any specific folder. The default folder for easier file management can be set-up in Edit → Preferences.
Open Preferences → Score tab
Not to be confused with Staff/Part properties: staff type template.
Usage of template is covered in chapters Create your first score, and Setting up your score. Score template can be used to quickly set up a new score. A template contains:
[This item list is a work in progress, please add missing info, see TODO above, and
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/instruments-staff-setup-and-templat…
- itemX
- itemY
- itemZ
]
A template file is a score file under certain directory that Musescore uses. You can create a score from scratch and save it as template, or copy any existing .mscz file to that directory to use it as template. There are two kinds of templates:
Click File → Save as and save the score file as .mscz format into the template directory Musescore uses. Content of the last added Title text is used as the template name (not the content of File → Project Properties → Work Title field; also not the file name as Musescore 3).
This chapter shows you how to customize the palettes and their contents; the application of palette items is already covered in Using the palettes (Basics).
To add a preset or a custom palette, see Using the palettes: Adding more palettes.
To hide a preset palette, right click on it and select Hide palette. The palette is returned to the Add Palettes list (see above). Note that preset palettes cannot be deleted.
To hide or delete a custom palette you have created earlier, right click on it and select Hide/Delete palette. Then follow the instructions in the dialog.
To change the order of a palette simply drag it up or down and drop it onto the desired position in the palettes list.
Palettes can be populated with items from the Master Palette (Shift+F9 or View→Master palette), or from an opened score.
Score items, when added to a palette, are saved with their custom properties.
To enable/disable editing for a particular palette:
To add a symbol from the Master Palette to a palette in the Palettes panel:
If you have created a custom palette, there is another way to access the Master Palette:
To add score elements to a palette:
Symbols can be moved from one open palette to another simply by dragging and dropping them.
To delete an element in a palette, right-click on it and select Delete. In the case of preset palettes, the element will be moved to the More section. For custom palettes you are offered a choice of Hide (send element to the More section) or Delete permanently.
To reset a palette to its default state, right-click on the palette name, or click on the ellipsis symbol (three dots) to the right of the palette name; then select Reset palette.
Note: A custom palette will be reset to an empty palette when this function is applied.
To save a palette, right-click on the palette name, or click on the ellipsis symbol (three dots) to the right of the palette name; then select Save palette.
To load a previously-saved palette, right-click on a palette name, or click on the ellipsis symbol (three dots) to the right of the palette name; then select Load palette and navigate to the desired palette, select it and click Open.
To access display options for the palettes area, click on the ellipsis symbol (three dots) to the right of the Palettes title at the top of the palettes area.
To access Palette properties for individual palettes, right-click on the palette name, or click on the ellipsis symbol (three dots) to the right of the palette name; then select Palette properties.
This allows you to rename the palette, create a visible grid to separate elements, adjust width and height of cells, and change the scale and offset of the symbols.
Workspace is the visual settings, also known as graphical user interface (GUI), of the Musescore program itself. An analogy to the position of the pen, ruler etc on a composer's desk. It includes the content, docked/undocked status and positions of palettes, toolbars and assorted open panels. Changes made to the current workspace are automatically saved, no further action is required. You can create custom workspaces to quickly change all these settings with a mouse click.
Note that the following settings do not count as workspace. View→Show→ Show visible, Show Invisible, Show formatting, Show Frames, Show Page Margins, Mark irregular measures, and status bar's Concert Pitch, Zoom level, and Page View/Continuous View option. These settings, covered in The user interface chapter, are score data. They are saved to and loaded from each score file. Templates contain these settings and will be used when you create a new score from a template, see Setting up your score.
To create a new workspace:
To customize the palettes display and contents, see palettes.
To customize the display of toolbars and panels, see Toolbars and panels.
Alternatively
MuseScore commands can be accessed via the main menus, toolbars, Properties panel or context menus, or by using keyboard shortcuts.
Pre-existing keyboard shortcut are shown alongside the commands in the main menus or context (right-click) menus, or by hovering the mouse pointer over an icon in a toolbar.
Alternatively, you can view a list of commands and their shortcuts in Edit→Preferences→Shortcuts. This is also the place where you can create a shortcut or change an existing one. To locate a command in the list either scroll down the alphabetical order, or enter an appropriate keyword in the “Search shortcut” box.
To define a new shortcut, or change an existing one:
Note: You can select more than one shortcut if needed. Press the Shift key to establish a continuous range, or the Ctrl key for a list.
To save the existing shortcuts or import a list of your own:
To edit Preferences (the appearance and general behavior of MuseScore), go to Edit→Preferences.
These are divided logically into sections (see below); notice also the three buttons at the bottom of the window:
You can specify your language, and autosave interval in “General”. See also Language.
“Program start” allow you to choose what, if any, score you want displayed in the edit window after launching.
“Folders” allows you to customize locations for any user folders (though it’s a good idea to leave them at default to start with if you are a new user).
Choose between light and dark options, and specify the accent color; there is also a high contrast option for visually impaired users.
The system font is also the default for the MuseScore UI, but you can alter this if desired—and the font-size.
You can set the score paper/color option and the background. For visually impaired there is an “Invert score” option which inverts the score colors (white to black and vice versa)
Specify the default zoom level of the score, and the mouse zoom precision. Also how you want your score pages to scroll, and the degree of precision of mouse selection.
Here you can choose how MuseScore sounds when you click on or advance to a note. And whether you want notes outside the playback range of an instrument to be colored.
Here you can map certain keys of your external MIDI keyboard to certain actions. For example to start or stops score playback, set note-entry duration, and so on.
Customize the default order of instruments in your score.
Specify your audio and MIDI input devices.
Specify the way that MuseScore handles the import of MusicXML and MIDI files. You can supply a style file covering every aspect of the score.
See Keyboard shortcuts for more information.
By default MuseScore automatically checks for updates when online. You can turn this off by unchecking the box.
A number of specialized options can be accessed here, such as voice color, and palette behavior.
Not to be confused with VST and VSTi.
A MuseScore plugin is a small piece of software that adds extra functionality to the program. A plugin need to be enabled first, and then executed by using the Plugins menu. Some plugins come pre-installed, they are disabled by default. There are also plugins created and shared by other musicians, anyone can download and use them.
Updating works the same way as installing, but remember to remove the files from the previous version to avoid duplicate plugins!
To assign a keyboard shortcut a plugin, use Home: Plugins or Plugins: Manage plugins....
[work in progress, please provide missing info, write brief info on each]
See https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/tree/master/share/plugins
The plugin system of Musescore 4 is currently being redesigned and reimplemented.
As of October 2023, Musescore 4.1.1 plugin system is mostly a somewhat restricted version of the Musescore 3 plugin system. Visit Developers' Handbook Plugins for 3.x Chapter for fundamentals, and Plugins for 4.x Chapter for info on the new parameters and porting a Musescore 3 plugin to MuseScore 4.
The official, up-to-date support info is posted at https://musescore.org/support, visit that page and read it first.
In addition to tutorial material promoted inside Musescore, MuseGroup, the managing company of the MuseScore project maintains an online server https://musescore.org for the musician community free of charge. The community volunteers to maintain written handbooks and a collection of help pages collaboratively. To ask for help, use https://musescore.org/en/forum
Everyone are invited to join the community and encouraged to contribute, see https://musescore.org/en/donate and https://musescore.org/en/contribute . Report bugs of Musescore 4 the windows, macOS and linux software at https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues
There are other really good quality third party tutorial materials, video streams and communities for different level of Musescore users online, most notably https://school.masteringmusescore.com/ created by Mr. Marc Sabatella. While Marc Sabatella has been contributing heavily to MuseScore codebase and official tutorial materials and diligently helping the community for an extended period of time, that site is not affiliated with Muse Group or any of its subsidiary companies.
[the following is a work in progress, please add missing info]
Resetting Musescore app preferences may be necessary if your app's preferences are corrupted. This deletes custom palettes and custom keyboard shortcuts, and clears out links to recent scores under File menu and Home tab : Scores but will not delete any score files.
Feel free to consult volunteers at https://musescore.org/en/forum before committing. Proceed at your own discretion, Muse Group and the online community are not responsible for any data loss.
If MuseScore does not start, you must run this process via the Command line.
source: https://musescore.org/en/node/342982
C:\Program Files\MuseScore 4\bin\MuseScore4.exe
or
%ProgramFiles%\MuseScore 4\bin\MuseScore4.exe
For the Windows Store version (Windows 10), it is pretty well hidden, search for it via Windows Explorer
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:
C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\MuseScore\MuseScore4.ini
or
%APPDATA%\MuseScore\MuseScore4.ini
The recent list is located at:
C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\MuseScore\MuseScore4\recent_files.json
or
%LOCALAPPDATA%\MuseScore\MuseScore4\recent_files.json
The other preferences (palettes, session, shortcuts, workspaces, logs, ...) are in:
C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\MuseScore\MuseScore4\
or
%LOCALAPPDATA%\MuseScore\MuseScore4\
For the Windows Store version (Windows 10), these are pretty well hidden, search for them via Windows Explorer
Instruction written under this section (macOS) is not tested and no Musescore 4 specific macOS test result found online yet (October 2023), the following is adapated from Musescore 3 https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/revert-factory-settings. Please test it, correct errors, and remove this paragraph.
/Applications/MuseScore\ 4.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.MuseScore4.plist
. Often, deleting this file has no effect: macOS stores a cached copy of the settings in some unknown location. The correct way to delete this file, is by running the following command in the Terminal app:
defaults delete org.musescore.MuseScore4
The other preferences (palettes, session, shortcuts, workspaces, logs,...) (Those are not cached by macOS.) are in
~/Library/Application\ Support/MuseScore/MuseScore4/
source : https://musescore.org/en/node/345932
The following is true for Ubuntu, and most likely all other Linux distributions and UNIX-style operating systems.
mscore -F
Or
musescore -F
Or
mscore4portable -F
Or, if you are using the AppImage version, use the cd
command to change directory to wherever you saved the AppImage. For example, if you saved it to your Desktop (and there is only one):
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
${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/MuseScore/MuseScore4.ini
The other preferences (palettes, session, shortcuts, workspaces,logs, …) are in
${XDG_DATA_HOME:-~/.local/share}/MuseScore/MuseScore4/
Browse the How-to's first
The most useful pages from How to:
PLEASE NOTE: This page was copied from the equivalent page in the MuseScore 3 Handbook. If you find an option that no longer works in MuseScore 4, please report it on GitHub and add a note next to that option on this page. If the option was intentionally removed from MuseScore 4 then please delete it from this page.
MSCORE(1) — General Commands Manual Page
mscore, MuseScore4 — MuseScore 4 sheet music 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.
A more detailed synopsis follows:
mscore [-deFfhIiLmnOPRstvw]
[-b | --bitrate bitrate]
[-c | --config-folder pathname]
[-D | --monitor-resolution DPI]
[-d | --debug]
[-E | --install-extension extension file]
[-e | --experimental]
[-F | --factory-settings]
[-f | --force]
[-h | -? | --help]
[-I | --dump-midi-in]
[-i | --load-icons]
[-j | --job file.json]
[-L | --layout-debug]
[-M | --midi-operations file]
[-m | --no-midi]
[-n | --new-score]
[-O | --dump-midi-out]
[-o | --export-to file]
[-P | --export-score-parts]
[-p | --plugin name]
[-R | --revert-settings]
[-r | --image-resolution DPI]
[-S | --style style]
[-s | --no-synthesizer]
[-T | --trim-image margin]
[-t | --test-mode]
[-v | --version]
[-w | --no-webview]
[-x | --gui-scaling factor]
[--diff]
[--long-version]
[--no-fallback-font]
[--raw-diff]
[--run-test-script]
[--score-media]
[--score-meta]
[--highlight-config]
[--score-parts]
[--score-parts-pdf]
[--score-transpose]
[--sound-profile]
[--source-update]
[--template-mode]
[file ...]
MuseScore is a Free and Open Source WYSIWYG cross-platform multi-lingual music composition and notation software, released under the GNU General Public Licence (GPLv3).
Running mscore without any extra options launches the full graphical MuseScore program and opens any files specified on the command line.
The options are as follows:
Set MP3 output bitrate in kbit/s
Override configuration and settings directory
Specify monitor resolution (override autodetection)
Start MuseScore in debug mode
Install an extension file; soundfonts are loaded by default unless -e is also specified
Enable experimental features, such as layers
Use only the standard built-in presets (“factory settings”) and delete user preferences; compare with the -R option (see also Revert to factory settings)
Ignore score corruption and version mismatch warnings in “converter mode”
Display an overview of invocation instructions (doesn’t work on Windows)
Display all MIDI input on the console
Load icons from the filesystem; useful if you want to edit the MuseScore icons and preview the changes
Process a conversion job (see EXAMPLES below)
Start MuseScore in layout debug mode
Specify MIDI import operations file (see EXAMPLES below)
Disable MIDI input
Start with the New Score wizard regardless whether it’s enabled or disabled in the user preferences
Display all MIDI output on the console
Export the given (or currently opened) file to the specified output file. The file type depends on the extension of the filename given. This option switches to “converter mode” and avoids the graphical user interface.
When converting to PDF with the -o option, append each part’s pages to the created PDF file. If the score has no parts, all default parts will temporarily be generated automatically.
Execute the named plugin
Use only the standard built-in presets (“factory settings”) but do not delete user preferences; compare with the -F option
Set image resolution for conversion to PNG files. Default: 300 DPI (actually, the value of “Resolution” of the PNG option group in the Export tab of the preferences)
Load a style file first; useful for use with the -o option
Disable the integrated software synthesizer
Trim exported PNG and SVG images to remove whitespace surrounding the score. The specified margin, in pixels, will be retained (use 0
for a tightly cropped image). When exporting to SVG, this option only works with single-page scores.
Set test mode flag for all files, includes --template-mode
Display the name and version of the application without starting the graphical user interface (doesn’t work on Windows)
Disable the web view component in the Start Center
Scale the score display and other GUI elements by the specified factor; intended for use with high-resolution displays
Print a conditioned diff between the given scores
Display the full name, version and git revision of the application without starting the graphical user interface (doesn’t work on Windows)
Don’t use Bravura as fallback musical font
Print a raw diff between the given scores
Run script tests listed in the command line arguments
Export all media (except MP3) for a given score as a single JSON document to stdout
Set highlight to svg, generated from a given score
Export score metadata to JSON document and print it to stdout
Generate parts data for the given score and save them to separate mscz files
Generate parts data for the given score and export it as a single JSON document to stdout
Transpose the given score and export the data to a single JSON file, print it to stdout
Use with '-o .mp3' or with '-j ', override the sound profile in the given score(s).
Possible values: "MuseScore Basic", "Muse Sounds"
Update the source in the given score
Save files in template mode (e.g. without page sizes)
MuseScore also supports the automatic Qt command line options.
The argument to the -j option must be the pathname of a file comprised of a valid JSON document honoring the following specification:
The top-level element must be a JSONArray, which may be empty.
Each array element must be a JSONObject with the following keys:
in
: Value is the name of the input file (score to convert), as JSONString.plugin
: Value is the filename of a plugin (with the .qml
extension), which will be read from either the global or per-user plugin path and executed before the conversion output happens, as JSONString. Optional, but at least one of plugin
and out
must be given.out
: Value is the conversion output target, as defined below. Optional, but at least one of plugin
and out
must be given.The conversion output target may be a filename (with extension, which decided the format to convert to), as JSONString.
The conversion output target may be a JSONArray of filenames as JSONString, as above, which will cause the score to be written to multiple output files (in multiple output formats) sequentially, without being closed, re-opened and re-processed in between.
If the conversion output target is a JSONArray, one or more of its elements may also be, each, a JSONArray of two JSONStrings (called first and second half in the following description). This will cause part extraction: for each such two-tuple, all extant parts of the score will be saved individually, with filenames being composed by concatenating the first half, the name (title) of the part, and the second half. The resulting string must be a valid filename (with extension, determining the output format). If a score has no parts (excerpts) defined, this will be silently ignored without error.
Valid file extensions for output are:
flac
metajson
mid
midi
mlog
mp3
mpos
mscx
mscz
musicxml
mxl
ogg
pdf
png
spos
svg
wav
xml
See below for an example.
SKIP_LIBJACK
XDG_CONFIG_HOME
~/.config
if unset.XDG_DATA_HOME
~/.local/share
if unset.Note that MuseScore also supports the normal Qt environment variables such as QT_QPA_GENERIC_PLUGINS
, QT_QPA_PLATFORM
, QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME
, QT_QPA_PLATFORM_PLUGIN_PATH
, QT_STYLE_OVERRIDE
, DISPLAY
, etc.
/usr/share/mscore-4.0/
contains the application support data (demos, instruments, localization, system-wide plugins, soundfonts, styles, chords, templates and wallpapers). In the Debian packages, system-wide soundfonts are installed into /usr/share/sounds/sf2/
, /usr/share/sounds/sf3/
or /usr/share/sounds/sfz/
, respectively, instead.
The per-user data (extensions, plugins, soundfonts, styles, templates) and files (images, scores) are normally installed into subdirectories under ~/MuseScore4/
but may be changed in the configuration. Note that snapshot, alpha and beta versions use MuseScore4Development
instead of MuseScore4
in all of these paths.
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/MuseScore/MuseScore4.ini
contains the user preferences, list of recently used files and their locations, window sizes and positions, etc. See above for development version paths.
$XDG_DATA_HOME/data/MuseScore/MuseScore4/
contains updated localization files downloaded from within the program, plugin information, cached scores, credentials for the musescore.com community site, session information, synthesizer settings, custom key and time signatures and shortcuts. See above for development version paths.
mscore -o 'My Score.pdf' 'My Score.mscz'
mscore -j job.json
This requires assumes a file job.json
exists in the current working directory with content similar to the following:
[
{
"in": "MyScore1.mscz",
"out": "MyScore1.pdf"
},
{
"in": "MyScore2.mscz",
"plugin": "colornotes.qml",
"out": [
"MyScore2-notecolors.pdf",
"MyScore2-notecolors.svg"
]
},
{
"in": "MyScore3.mscz",
"out": [
"MyScore3.pdf",
"MyScore3.musicxml",
"MyScore3.mid",
[
"MyScore3 (",
" part).pdf"
]
]
}
]
If MyScore3.mscz
contains excerpts (instrumental parts) then the syntax above would cause files like “MyScore3 (Violin part).pdf
” to be generated alongside the conductor’s PDF and MusicXML files, as well as a MIDI file with the full orchestral sound. If MyScore3.mscz
has no excerpts defined then only the conductor’s PDF, MusicXML, and orchestral MIDI files will be generated, while the request for part PDFs is silently ignored.
The attached midi_import_options.xml
is a sample MIDI import operations file for the -M option.
The mscore utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
fluidsynth(1), midicsv(1), timidity(1), qtoptions(7)
Online Handbook, full user manual
Support Forum
Reverting to factory settings (troubleshooting)
Project Issue Tracker — Please check first to if the bug you’re encountering has already been reported. If you just need help with something, then please use the support forum instead.
Documentation of automatic Qt command line options
MuseScore attempts to implement the following standards:
MuseScore was split off the MusE sequencer in 2002 and has since become the foremost Open Source notation software.
MuseScore is developed by MuseScore BVBA and others.
This manual page was written by mirabilos <tg@debian.org>.
The automatic Qt command line options are removed from the argument vector before the application has a chance at option processing; this means that an invocation like mscore -S -reverse
has no chance at working because the -reverse
is removed by Qt first.
MuseScore Studio does not honor /etc/papersize.
Probably some more; check the project’s bug tracker (cf. SEE ALSO).
On macOS, make the following substitutions:
Click on image for full resolution. Or use this Print Friendly PDF version
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Zoom in | Ctrl+= | Cmd+= |
Zoom out | Ctrl+- | Cmd+- |
Zoom to 100% | Ctrl+0 | Cmd+0 |
Go to first element in score | Ctrl+Home | Cmd+Fn+Left |
Go to last element in score | Ctrl+End | Cmd+Fn+Right |
Jump to next screen | PgUp | Fn+Up |
Jump to previous screen | PgDn | Fn+Down |
Jump to top of first page | Home | Fn+Left |
Jump to bottom of last page | End | Fn+Right |
Jump to next page | Ctrl+PgUp | Cmd+Fn+Up |
Jump to previous page | Ctrl+PgDn | Cmd+Fn+Down |
Find / Go to | Ctrl+F | Cmd+F |
Accessibility: get location | Shift+L | Shift+L |
Show/hide timeline | F12 | Fn+F12 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Select next chord | Right | Right |
Select previous chord | Left | Left |
Go to next measure | Ctrl+Right | Cmd+Right |
Go to previous measure | Ctrl+Left | Cmd+Left |
Select next element in score | Alt+Right | Option+Right |
Select previous element in score | Alt+Left | Option+Left |
Select next in-staff element | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right | Cmd+Option+Shift+Right |
Select previous in-staff element | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left | Cmd+Option+Shift+Left |
Select note/rest above | Alt+Up | Option+Up |
Select note/rest below | Alt+Down | Option+Down |
Select top note in chord | Ctrl+Alt+Up | Cmd+Option+Up |
Select bottom note in chord | Ctrl+Alt+Down | Cmd+Option+Down |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Note input: toggle note input mode | N | N |
Note input: toggle 're-pitch existing notes' mode | Ctrl+Shift+I | Cmd+Shift+I |
Note input: toggle 'insert' mode | Ctrl+I | Cmd+I |
Show/hide piano keyboard | P | P |
Use voice 1 | Ctrl+Alt+1 | Cmd+Option+1 |
Use voice 2 | Ctrl+Alt+2 | Cmd+Option+2 |
Use voice 3 | Ctrl+Alt+3 | Cmd+Option+3 |
Use voice 4 | Ctrl+Alt+4 | Cmd+Option+4 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Set duration | 1 – 9 | 1 – 9 |
Set duration: 64th note | 1 | 1 |
Set duration: 32nd note | 2 | 2 |
Set duration: 16th note | 3 | 3 |
Set duration: 8th note | 4 | 4 |
Set duration: quarter note | 5 | 5 |
Set duration: half note | 6 | 6 |
Set duration: whole note | 7 | 7 |
Set duration: double whole note | 8 | 8 |
Set duration: longa | 9 | 9 |
Toggle duration dot | . | . |
Enter tuplet | Ctrl+2 – Ctrl+9 | Cmd+2 – Cmd+9 |
Enter tuplet: duplet | Ctrl+2 | Cmd+2 |
Enter tuplet: triplet | Ctrl+3 | Cmd+3 |
Enter tuplet: quadruplet | Ctrl+4 | Cmd+4 |
Enter tuplet: quintuplet | Ctrl+5 | Cmd+5 |
Enter tuplet: sextuplet | Ctrl+6 | Cmd+6 |
Enter tuplet: septuplet | Ctrl+7 | Cmd+7 |
Enter tuplet: octuplet | Ctrl+8 | Cmd+8 |
Enter tuplet: nonuplet | Ctrl+9 | Cmd+9 |
Add tied note | T | T |
Halve selected duration | Q | Q |
Double selected duration | W | W |
Halve selected duration (includes dotted values) | Shift+Q | Shift+Q |
Double select duration (includes dotted values) | Shift+W | Shift+W |
Insert full measure rest | Ctrl+Shift+Del | Cmd+Shift+Del |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Enter note | A – G | A – G |
Enter note A | A | A |
Enter note B | B | B |
Enter note C | C | C |
Enter note D | D | D |
Enter note E | E | E |
Enter note F | F | F |
Enter note G | G | G |
Add note to chord | Shift+A – Shift+G | Shift+A – Shift+G |
Add note A to chord | Shift+A | Shift+A |
Add note B to chord | Shift+B | Shift+B |
Add note C to chord | Shift+C | Shift+C |
Add note D to chord | Shift+D | Shift+D |
Add note E to chord | Shift+E | Shift+E |
Add note F to chord | Shift+F | Shift+F |
Add note G to chord | Shift+G | Shift+G |
Enter interval | Alt+1 – Alt+9 | Option+1 – Option+9 |
Enter interval: unison | Alt+1 | Option+1 |
Enter interval: second above | Alt+2 | Option+2 |
Enter interval: third above | Alt+3 | Option+3 |
Enter interval: fourth above | Alt+4 | Option+4 |
Enter interval: fifth above | Alt+5 | Option+5 |
Enter interval: sixth above | Alt+6 | Option+6 |
Enter interval: seventh above | Alt+7 | Option+7 |
Enter interval: octave above | Alt+8 | Option+8 |
Enter interval: ninth above | Alt+9 | Option+9 |
Toggle accidental: flat | - | - |
Toggle accidental: natural | = | = |
Toggle accidental: sharp | + | + |
Enter rest | 0 | 0 |
Add grace note: acciaccatura | / | / |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Set duration (TAB) | Shift+0 – Shift+9 | Shift+0 – Shift+9 |
Set duration: 128th note (TAB) | Shift+0 | Shift+0 |
Set duration: 64th note (TAB) | Shift+1 | Shift+1 |
Set duration: 32nd note (TAB) | Shift+2 | Shift+2 |
Set duration: 16th note (TAB) | Shift+3 | Shift+3 |
Set duration: 8th note (TAB) | Shift+4 | Shift+4 |
Set duration: quarter note (TAB) | Shift+5 | Shift+5 |
Set duration: half note (TAB) | Shift+6 | Shift+6 |
Set duration: whole note (TAB) | Shift+7 | Shift+7 |
Enter TAB: fret | 0 – 9 | 0 – 9 |
Enter TAB: fret | A – K | A – K |
Enter TAB: fret 0 | 0 | 0 |
Enter TAB: fret 1 | 1 | 1 |
Enter TAB: fret 2 | 2 | 2 |
Enter TAB: fret 3 | 3 | 3 |
Enter TAB: fret 4 | 4 | 4 |
Enter TAB: fret 5 | 5 | 5 |
Enter TAB: fret 6 | 6 | 6 |
Enter TAB: fret 7 | 7 | 7 |
Enter TAB: fret 8 | 8 | 8 |
Enter TAB: fret 9 | 9 | 9 |
Enter TAB: fret 0 | A | A |
Enter TAB: fret 1 | B | B |
Enter TAB: fret 2 | C | C |
Enter TAB: fret 3 | D | D |
Enter TAB: fret 4 | E | E |
Enter TAB: fret 5 | F | F |
Enter TAB: fret 6 | G | G |
Enter TAB: fret 7 | H | H |
Enter TAB: fret 8 | J | J |
Enter TAB: fret 9 | K | K |
Go to string above (TAB) | Up | Up |
Go to string below (TAB) | Down | Down |
Toggle ghost note | Shift+X | Shift+X |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Select all | Ctrl+A | Cmd+A |
Add to selection: previous note/rest | Shift+Left | Shift+Left |
Add to selection: next note/rest | Shift+Right | Shift+Right |
Add to selection: staff above | Shift+Up | Shift+Up |
Add to selection: staff below | Shift+Down | Shift+Down |
Select to beginning of measure | Ctrl+Shift+Left | Cmd+Shift+Left |
Select to end of measure | Ctrl+Shift+Right | Cmd+Shift+Right |
Select to beginning of line | Shift+Home | Shift+Fn+Left |
Select to end of line | Shift+End | Shift+Fn+Right |
Select to beginning of score | Ctrl+Shift+Home | Cmd+Shift+Fn+Left |
Select to end of score | Ctrl+Shift+End | Cmd+Shift+Fn+Right |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Escape | Esc | Esc |
Undo | Ctrl+Z | Cmd+Z |
Redo | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Cmd+Shift+Z |
Copy | Ctrl+C | Cmd+C |
Cut | Ctrl+X | Cmd+X |
Paste | Ctrl+V | Cmd+V |
Copy/paste: swap with clipboard | Ctrl+Shift+X | Cmd+Shift+X |
Repeat selection | R | R |
Insert one measure before selection | Ins | Ins |
Insert measures before selection | Ctrl+Ins | Cmd+Ins |
Insert one measure at end of score | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B |
Insert measures at end of score | Alt+Shift+B | Option+Shift+B |
Delete | Del | Del |
Delete selected measures | Ctrl+Del | Cmd+Del |
Show/hide properties | F8 | Fn+F8 |
Edit element | F2 | Fn+F2 |
Move chord/rest left | Shift+Left | Shift+Left |
Move chord/rest right | Shift+Right | Shift+Right |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Set duration | 1 – 9 | 1 – 9 |
Enter tuplet | Ctrl+2 – Ctrl+9 | Cmd+2 – Cmd+9 |
Add tied note | T | T |
Halve selected duration | Q | Q |
Double select duration | W | W |
Halve selected duration (includes dotted values) | Shift+Q | Shift+Q |
Double selected duration (includes dotted values) | Shift+W | Shift+W |
Paste half duration | Ctrl+Shift+Q | Cmd+Shift+Q |
Paste double duration | Ctrl+Shift+W | Cmd+Shift+W |
Insert full measure rest | Ctrl+Shift+Del | Cmd+Shift+Del |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Toggle accidental: flat | - | - |
Toggle accidental: natural | = | = |
Toggle accidental: sharp | + | + |
Move pitch/selection up | Up | Up |
Move pitch/selection down | Down | Down |
Move pitch up an octave | Ctrl+Up | Cmd+Up |
Move pitch down an octave | Ctrl+Down | Cmd+Down |
Move pitch up diatonically | Alt+Shift+Up | Option+Shift+Up |
Move pitch down diatonically | Alt+Shift+Down | Option+Shift+Down |
Change enharmonic spelling (concert and written pitch) | J | J |
Change enharmonic spelling (current pitch only) | Ctrl+J | Cmd+J |
Move note to higher string (TAB) | Ctrl+Up | Cmd+Up |
Move note to lower string (TAB) | Ctrl+Down | Cmd+Down |
Toggle ghost note (TAB) | Shift+X | Shift+X |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Flip direction | X | X |
Mirror notehead | Shift+X | Shift+X |
Use voice 1 | Ctrl+Alt+1 | Cmd+Option+1 |
Use voice 2 | Ctrl+Alt+2 | Cmd+Option+2 |
Use voice 3 | Ctrl+Alt+3 | Cmd+Option+3 |
Use voice 4 | Ctrl+Alt+4 | Cmd+Option+4 |
Move selected note/rest to staff above | Ctrl+Shift+Up | Cmd+Shift+Up |
Move selected note/rest to staff below | Ctrl+Shift+Down | Cmd+Shift+Down |
Toggle multimeasure rest | M | M |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Move text left | Left | Left |
Move text right | Right | Right |
Move text left quickly | Ctrl+Left | Cmd+Left |
Move text right quickly | Ctrl+Right | Cmd+Right |
Move selection up | Up | Up |
Move selection down | Down | Down |
Move selection up quickly | Ctrl+Up | Cmd+Up |
Move selection down quickly | Ctrl+Down | Cmd+Down |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Add text: staff text | Ctrl+T | Cmd+T |
Add text: expression text | Ctrl+E | Cmd+E |
Add text: system text | Ctrl+Shift+T | Cmd+Shift+T |
Add text: tempo marking | Alt+Shift+T | Option+Shift+T |
Add text: rehearsal mark | Ctrl+M | Cmd+M |
Insert special characters | Shift+F2 | Shift+Fn+F2 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Format text: bold face | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B |
Format text: italic | Ctrl+I | Cmd+I |
Format text: underline | Ctrl+U | Cmd+U |
Insert flat | Ctrl+Shift+B | Cmd+Shift+B |
Insert natural | Ctrl+Shift+H | Cmd+Shift+H |
Insert sharp | Ctrl+Shift+# | Cmd+Shift+# |
Insert dynamics p | Ctrl+Shift+P | Cmd+Shift+P |
Insert dynamics m | Ctrl+Shift+M | Cmd+Shift+M |
Insert dynamics f | Ctrl+Shift+F | Cmd+Shift+F |
Insert dynamics n | Ctrl+Shift+N | Cmd+Shift+N |
Insert dynamics r | Ctrl+Shift+R | Cmd+Shift+R |
Insert dynamics s | Ctrl+Shift+S | Cmd+Shift+S |
Insert dynamics z | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Cmd+Shift+Z |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Add text: lyrics | Ctrl+L | Cmd+L |
Go to next syllable | Space | Space |
Go to previous syllable | Shift+Space | Shift+Space |
Lyrics: enter hyphen | - | - |
Lyrics: enter melisma | _ | _ |
Add lyric verse | Return | Return |
Go to next lyric verse | Down | Down |
Go to previous lyric verse | Up | Up |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Add text: chord symbol | Ctrl+K | Cmd+K |
Add text: figured bass | Ctrl+G | Cmd+G |
Next text element | Space | Space |
Previous text element | Shift+Space | Shift+Space |
Advance cursor: next beat | ; | ; |
Advance cursor: previous beat | Shift+; | Shift+; |
Advance cursor: duration | Ctrl+1 – Ctrl+9 | Cmd+1 – Cmd+9 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Show/hide palettes | F9 | Fn+F9 |
Search palettes | Ctrl+F9 | Cmd+Fn+F9 |
Open master palette | Shift+F9 | Shift+Fn+F9 |
Add slur | S | S |
Add articulation: accent | Shift+V | Shift+V |
Add articulation: marcato | Shift+O | Shift+O |
Add articulation: staccato | Shift+S | Shift+S |
Add articulation: tenuto | Shift+N | Shift+N |
Add hairpin: crescendo | < | < |
Add hairpin: decrescendo | > | > |
Add parentheses to element | ( | ( |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Add/remove instruments | I | I |
Open instruments dialog | F7 | Fn+F7 |
Toggle visibility of elements | V | V |
Decrease layout stretch | { | { |
Increase layout stretch | } | } |
Add/remove system break | Return | Return |
Add/remove page break | Ctrl+Return | Cmd+Return |
Reset shapes and positions | Ctrl+R | Cmd+R |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
New | Ctrl+N | Cmd+N |
Open | Ctrl+O | Cmd+O |
Close | Ctrl+W | Cmd+W |
Save | Ctrl+S | Cmd+S |
Save as | Ctrl+Shift+S | Cmd+Shift+S |
Ctrl+P | Cmd+P | |
Quit | Ctrl+Q | Cmd+Q |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Play | Space | Space |
Show/hide mixer | F10 | Fn+F10 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Next UI group | Tab | Tab |
Previous UI group | Shift+Tab | Shift+Tab |
Next UI pane/window | F6 | Fn+F6 |
Previous UI pane/window | Shift+F6 | Shift+Fn+F6 |
Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
---|---|---|
Multiinstances | Ctrl+F3 | Cmd+Fn+F3 |
Full screen | F11 | Fn+F11 |
See All keyboard shortcuts for MuseScore 4. Here are the common ones that have changed or are entirely new:
Action | MuseScore 3 | MuseScore 4 |
---|---|---|
Add tied note | + | T |
Next Measure (Chord Symbol Entry) | Tab | Ctrl/Cmd+→ |
Previous Measure (Chord Symbol Entry) | Shift+Tab | Ctrl/Cmd+← |
Toggle accidental: flat | None | - |
Toggle accidental: natural | None | = |
Toggle accidental: sharp | None | + |
Edit element | Alt+Shift+E | F2 or Alt+Shift+E |
Insert special characters... | F2 | Shift+F2 |
Jump to next UI pane | None | F6 or ` (backtick / grave accent) |
Jump to previous UI pane | None | Shift+F6 or Shift+` |
Show / hide selection filter | F6 | None |
Due to the nature of the upgrade some features previously present in MuseScore 3 have not (yet) been included. See this page in the developers' handbook for a listing of those items.
Listed below are technicial terms and musical terms, which are frequently used in MuseScore or in the Handbook. Links to relevant handbook chapter are provided. To help musicians who are capable of reading a notation but do not know its proper name, image is provided. This chapter does not aim to be a dictionary of all musical notations, see External links.
The differences between American English and British English are marked with "(AE)" and "(BE)", respectively. Editors and translators of this chapter should add the individual entry for each term.
A curved line between two adjacent notes of the same pitch to indicate a single note of combined duration. See Tie chapter. A tie is not a slur.
The act of moving the pitches of one or more notes up or down by a constant interval. See Transposition chapter. There may be several reasons for transposing a piece, for example: