Create New Score
From the main menu choose File → New.... This opens the new score wizard.
Title, composer and other information
Enter the title, composer, or any other information as shown above. Windows users please be aware that currently, using characters in the Title field which are restricted by your file system such as : or / may result in you being unable to save your work due to a bug. This is fixed as of version 1.3. If you wish to use characters like this in your title, then edit your title after score creation.
Notice the two options at the bottom:
- Create new score from template
- Create new score from scratch
The first option offers a list of ready-made score templates in the next screen. The second option gives you the full choice of instruments in the next screen. Templates are discussed in more detail below, but for now, choose "Create new score from scratch."
Click "Next" to continue.
Instruments and voice parts
The instrument window is divided into two columns. The first column lists instruments or voice parts to choose from. The second column, while initially empty, will soon contain a list of the instruments for your new score.
The instrument list in the first column is categorized into instrument families. Double click a category to show the full list of instruments in each family. Select an instrument and click "Add". The instrument you selected now appears in the second column. You can add more instruments or voice parts, if needed.
The order of the instruments in the second column determines the order they appear in the score. To change the order, click on an instrument name and use the "Up" or "Down" buttons to move it higher or lower. When you are done, click "Next".
Key signature
The wizard asks for a key signature. Select the key signature you need and click "Next" to continue.
Time signature, pickup, and number of measures
Set the time signature to the numbers you want. If your piece begins with a pickup, then mark the "Pickup measure" checkbox and adjust pickup time signature to indicate the actual duration of the first measure.
If you know approximately how many measures you need, you can specify that here. Otherwise, you can add, or delete measures later.
Click "Finish" to create your new score.
Adjustments to score after creation
You can change any settings specified during the new score wizard, even after you start working on the score.
- To add or delete measures or create a pickup see Measure operations
- To change any text see Text editing . To add a missing Title (or other text item) use the menu Create → Text → Title (or other text item)
- To add, delete, or change the order of instruments use the menu Create → Instruments....
See also: Key signature , time signature , clef .
Templates
The first screen of the new score wizard has an option to "Create new score from template" (see Title and other text above for details). To create a score using this method, select the template option and click "Next" to continue.
The next screen shows a list of templates. Select a template and click "Next". Continue and finish the new score wizard as usual.
The template files are normal MuseScore files stored in the template folder. You can create your own templates by saving MuseScore files to the template folder.
On Windows, the template folder is usually located at C:\Program Files\MuseScore\templates or in the 64-bit versions at C:\Program Files (x86)\MuseScore\templates
On Linux, look under /usr/share/mscore-xxx if you installed from the package manager. If you compiled mscore on Linux yourself, then look under /usr/local/share/mscore-xxx.
On Mac, look under /Applications/MuseScore.app/Contents/Resources/templates