Published on MuseScore (https://musescore.org)

Cross-staff notation

In piano scores, it is common to write a musical phrase extending across both staves—bass and treble. This can be entered in MuseScore as follows:

  1. Enter all notes in one staff:

    Beamed notes in upper staff

  2. Ctrl+Shift+↓ moves the selected note, or chord to the next staff (Mac: ⌘+Shift+↓):

    Selected note moved to lower staff

    Note : this moves the whole chord, not just a single note from a multi note chord. If you need notes in the old staff at the same place, use voices.

  3. To adjust the beam, double-click it to show the handles. Use the keyboard arrows or drag the handles to change the beam angle and position:

    Selected note moved to lower staff

See also

  • Connect barlines: How to extend barlines over multiple staves.

External links

  • How to span a chord or stem over two staves (MuseScore "Howto")