Windows

macOS

Linux

AppImage

The easiest way to install the program is by using an AppImage:

1. Go to the Download→Software page at musescore.org
2. Under Linux→AppImage (recommended), click on the Download (64 bit) link
3. When the download is complete, right-click on the AppImage and select Properties
4. Switch to the Permissions tab
5. The next step varies depending on your file manager:
   • Nautilus-based (Nemo, Files, Caja) : Check the “Allow executing file as program” box.
   • Dolphin: Check the "Is executable" box.
   • Thunar: Check the “Allow this file to run as a program” box.
   • PCManFM: Change the “Execute” option in the drop down list to “Anyone”.
6. Exit the dialog.

Although the file will now run as it is (by double-clicking on it etc.), you need to fully install it in order to ensure correct file associations and add the program to the menu.

1. Right-click inside the directory in which the AppImage is installed and select Open in Terminal
2. In the Terminal, type
   ./[file name] install

Alternatively, you can use the absolute file path of the AppImage instead, as follows:

1. Open the Terminal
2. Type
   [file path] install

Tip: if you copy the AppImage and press Ctrl+Shift+V in the terminal this will enter the absolute file path of the file that has just been “copied”.

No formal uninstall proceedure is needed to remove the installed AppImage. Just delete menu entries and any shortcuts manually, then delete the App itself, and its links (which will be in ~/.local/bin).

We’ll start by creating a new score from a template (Alternatively, you can learn about creating a score from scratch in Setting up your score).

To create a score from a template:

1. Click New score in the Scores screen
2. In the New score dialog that appears, browse templates by Category, or use the search bar to look up a template directly
3. Click Next to enter additional score information (or skip this step and let MuseScore pre-fill your score with default information, which you can always change later)
4. Click Done to create your new score

Entering score information

In the Additional score information screen, you can set:

• The initial key signature (the default key signature contains no sharps or flats)
• The initial time signature (the default time signature is 4/4)
• The initial tempo (Click Tempo, then Show tempo marking on my score for this to appear)
• A pickup measure (anacrusis or upbeat measure), and its duration
• The initial number of measures in the score (the default is 32, but you can add/remove measures from the score edit window)

Entering notes

The simplest way to enter notes in MuseScore is to:

1. Hit N on your keyboard to enter note input mode
2. Start typing note names (A, B, C, D, E, F, G)

You’re now engraving in MuseScore! You’ll notice the blue note input highlight, which indicates that you are in note input mode. It shows you where in the measure your next note will be entered.

You can specify the duration of each note you enter in the Note input toolbar. To change note duration:

1. Ensure you are in note input mode (See above)
2. Click on the desired note duration, or
3. Use shortcut keys 1 through 7 to select different note values

Learn more about this topic in Entering notes and rests.

Adding items from the palettes

The Palettes panel contains almost every notational object you might need to add detail to your score. The simplest way to add palette items to your notation is to:

1. Select an existing object (or range of objects) in your score (e.g. a notehead, clef, measure, etc.)
2. In the Palettes panel, open a palette by clicking the triangular arrow button
3. Click once on a palette object

Learn more about this topic in Palettes

Making adjustments in Properties

The Properties panel can be revealed by clicking on the Properties tab on the left side of the screen:

(Users of MuseScore prior to version 4 will know this as the Inspector).

The properties panel will show settings that are specific to the object being selected. These settings usually affect the visual appearance of the selected object. Most of the time, changes you make in Properties will apply only to the object you have selected (e.g. you’ll change the selected hairpin, and not every hairpin in your score).

As you add details to your score, click on any object to see what settings are available.

Learn more about this topic in Properties.

Inserting and deleting measures

To insert a single measure:

1. Click on a measure to select it
2. In the Measure section of Properties, click Insert measures
3. Click the + button

This Measure section contains controls that allow you to insert multiple measures at once. Simply set the number of measures you wish to insert in the text field. You can also use the dropdown menu to change the point where new measures will be inserted.

To delete a measure or group of measures:

1. Select the measure(s) you wish to delete
2. In the Measures popup, click the trash can icon

More information on this topic can be found in Measures.

Exporting your score

Export allows you to create non-MuseScore files, such as PDF, MusicXML, MIDI, and various audio and image formats.

To export your score:

1. Select the Publish tab
2. Click Export
3. Select the parts you wish to export
4. Choose the file format for your exported file(s)
5. If exporting multiple parts, choose whether you want each part combined into one file or exported to as separate files
6. Click Export

You can also share scores online on musescore.com.

Saving your score

Scores can be saved locally or to your MuseScore cloud storage.

To save your score:

1. Go to File
2. Click Save

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”.

Save to computer

The Save to computer option triggers your operating system’s “Save” dialog, allowing you to save the score as a (compressed) MuseScore file, .mscz.

Save to the cloud

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 copy is also automatically saved on your computer in the Cloud scores folder in your user “MuseScore 4” folder.

Learn more about this topic in Opening and saving scores.

If you’re coming to MuseScore 4 from earlier versions, you’ll notice changes not only to the user interface, but also to many familiar features and ways of doing things. These changes have been designed to improve the user experience while providing much greater functionality. Here's a very quick overview of some of the major changes.

New user interface

MuseScore 4 comes with a sleek new interface. Nearly every part of the application has been completely redesigned to be cleaner and easier to read. You can choose between light, dark and high contrast themes, as well as pick your preferred accent color. Changes to the appearance of the app can be made in Preferences.

Instruments and parts

A new instruments panel allows you to hide, rearrange and customize your instruments without having to leave the score view.

The instruments panel integrates tightly with the process of creating parts, making it much easier to produce custom parts with any combination of available instruments. There’s now also a convenient button in the toolbar that allows you to quickly open any available part.

Inspector

The Inspector from earlier versions of MuseScore is now known as the Properties panel. Every option in this panel has been re-organized and the entire experience has been streamlined. By default, the Properties panel displays multiple useful options, like the ability to show or hide empty staves and various other types of score markings. Whereas previously you needed to select single element types before you could make changes to them, MuseScore 4 always displays relevant settings, regardless of how many different elements you have selected.

New playback and VSTi support

Playback improvements are the single largest change to MuseScore 4. Apart from new sample libraries (Muse Sounds, available as a separate download), there’s now support for VSTi plugins, which can be applied to instruments using the new mixer panel. The mixer also lets you easily switch between VSTi, SoundFonts and the Muse Sounds libraries, while also supporting VST effects. Sounds will now always be saved on a per-score basis, so there is no longer any need for the Synthesizer panel found in MuseScore 3 (this has been removed in MuseScore 4). If you previously used SFZ files for playback in MuseScore 3, we now recommend that you use a free VST sampler, like Sfizz or Sforzando, both of which support SFZ playback.

Engraving improvements

MuseScore 4 features many engraving improvements, some of which will have an effect on the appearance and layout of scores created in earlier versions. The most significant changes affect the placement of beams, slurs and ties, horizontal spacing, and page layout. There are far too many changes to list here, so those interested in learning more about the particularities may wish to read this dedicated document (link forthcoming) that explains and illustrates everything in detail.

An unavoidable consequence of having made such significant engraving improvements is that it will not be possible to open a score in MuseScore 4 from an earlier version of MuseScore and have it look identical.

Cloud storage

When you save a document for the first time, you’ll now be asked whether you want to save your file locally to your computer, or to the cloud. This new option is part of an exciting expansion we are making to services on musescore.com. Learn more about this in Open/Save/Export/Print and Share Scores Online.

Other changes

As you use the program, you’ll find lots of other small but significant changes that have been designed to make the process of composing and notating music just that bit easier. These include:

• An expanded note input toolbar, with one-click access to frequently used elements like tuplets and articulation marks. There’s also a convenient “+” menu where you can quickly add everything from notes and intervals, to frames and text elements.
• Easy-access features in the Properties panel that let you quickly add and remove measures, and show and hide empty staves
• A beautiful new mixer
• Improvements to the time signature properties dialog
• A streamlined experience for setting the language of the app
• A new Learn center for instructional videos on how to get the most from the app

Screen readers

MuseScore 4 supports the following screen readers on each operating system:

• Windows 10 and 11: Narrator and NVDA
• macOS: VoiceOver
• Linux: Orca

Speech with JAWS is mostly working, but the output is not as complete as it is with Narrator or NVDA.

Speech on Windows

If screen reader speech output stops working for you at any time, try pressing Alt+F to focus the File menu, then press Esc twice to return to where you were in the app, at which point speech should work again as normal. It can be necessary to do this if you start the screen reader after MuseScore is already running, for example.

Speech on macOS

VoiceOver's Quick Nav mode must be turned off while using MuseScore 4. You can toggle Quick Nav on or off by pressing the Left and Right arrow keys simultaneously while VoiceOver is running, or you can disable Quick Nav from within VoiceOver Utility > Commanders.

MuseScore's interface is navigable with the tab cursor and with VoiceOver's own cursor. In general it's best to use the tab cursor because this matches the interface on other platforms, and as such is the interface described in most documentation and tutorials. VoiceOver's cursor can be used to reach areas of the application that are not yet accessible via the tab cursor. When using the tab cursor, remember to use the arrow keys as well as Tab for navigation (see Navigating the UI).

Speech on Linux

On Linux it is necessary to start the screen reader running before you launch MuseScore, otherwise accessibility features will be disabled to save system resources. If you forget to do this, simply exit MuseScore and launch it again. The same is true of all Linux applications built on the Qt framework.

Orca is the most feature-complete screen reader available for Linux. Orca is built into the GNOME desktop environment, so it is recommended that Linux users with accessibility needs use a distribution based on GNOME or one of its derivatives.

Keyboard access

Navigating the UI

Keyboard navigation in MuseScore 4's user interface (UI) relies on the arrow keys in addition to the tab key. Press the tab key to cycle through each control group, then use the arrow keys to navigate to individual controls within the group. This new system of navigation allows you to navigate to anywhere in the interface with far fewer keypresses than if the tab key was used to access every individual control, as is commonly the case in other applications, including previous versions of MuseScore. The new navigation system is still being refined, and feedback is welcome in the Development Forum.

In addition to the arrow keys and tab, there is a new F6 shortcut that will take you between different panels within the program. Here is how the navigation shortcuts work together to create a hierarchical system of navigation:

• Up, Down, Left and Right arrow keys: Move focus from one control to the next within a control group (e.g. navigate between buttons in a toolbar).

• Tab and Shift+Tab: Move focus out of one control group and into the next one (e.g. navigate between toolbars).

• F6 and Shift+F6: Move focus between panels and large sections of the UI (e.g. navigate from toolbars to the Palettes or notation view).

By default, the grave accent key ` (sometimes called "backtick") can be used as an alternative to F6 for navigation between panels. Grave accent is found above the Tab key on most QWERTY keyboards. If it's not there on your keyboard, consider changing this shortcut in Preferences to set it to whatever key is above Tab on your keyboard, as it can be convenient to have the navigation keys located close to each other.

Once you have navigated to a button or control, in most cases it can be activated by pressing the Spacebar, Enter or Return key. Within lists and other item views, Spacebar is often used to select items rather than to activate them. Once selected, certain items can be deleted by pressing the Delete key, or modified by tabbing to other UI controls that become active once something has been selected. For example, this approach can be used within the Instruments panel to remove instruments that you have previously added to the score.

Navigating the score

Navigation within the score (i.e. inside the "Notation view") is much the same as it was in MuseScore 3. Here are the shortcuts that are of particular value to accessibility users:

Shortcut	Action
Alt+Right and Alt+Left	Move to next or previous element. These shortcuts enable you to visit all kinds of notation elements, not just notes and rests.
Alt+Up and Alt+Down	Move to note above or below. These shortcuts enable you to move between individual notes in a chord, and also to reach notes and rests in other voices and in other staves.
F2 or Alt+Shift+E	Edit selected element. This is the keyboard equivalent of double-clicking on an element with the mouse. It enables you to edit text objects, including lyrics, dynamics, and tempo markings. It also enables you to adjust the length of line elements such as hairpins, slurs, and voltas (use the Tab key to change which end of the line you are adjusting). When you are done editing, press Esc to return to Normal mode.

Other aspects of keyboard navigation are described on pages throughout this handbook.

Video tutorials

The following accessibility tutorials are designed to get you up and running with MuseScore, using your keyboard and screen reader. They don't cover every aspect of the program, but they should give you a solid foundation that will enable you can take full advantage of the rest of this Handbook.

Video	Description
Installing MuseScore	This video covers the installation of MuseScore on Windows, including Muse Hub and Muse Sounds. The process is similar on macOS and Linux, although on Linux you need to install Muse Hub and MuseScore separately.
Score setup	This video covers the initial setup of your score, including choosing instruments and selecting the key and time signature and other settings.
Entering music	This video covers basic note input.
Adding markings	This video covers adding markings such as dynamics to your score, by using the palettes.
The user interface	This video walks through the main window of the program, so you can understand where all the different panels, toolbars, and controls are, and how to reach them by keyboard.

Menu bar

The Menu bar in MuseScore 4 contains the following menus:

• File: Create a new file, open and save files, import and export various formats, create and edit instrument parts, and print
• Edit: Undo and redo options, copy/cut/paste options, and Find / Go to function
• View: Show or hide various palettes, dialogs, and other workspace elements
• Add: Add different kinds of score elements; notes, text, measures etc.
• Format: Adjust global and local formatting of the score. Also allows you to stretch or contract the score, load and save score styles, and much more
• Tools: Many useful commands are available here including transpose, exchange voices, slash notation etc.
• Plugins: Manage your plugins
• Help: Access the online handbook, report bugs and give feedback, and restore factory settings

Keyboard users on Windows and Linux can access these menus by holding the Alt key and pressing a certain letter or number key, known as the mnemonic access key, that is displayed with an underline in the name of the menu item you are looking for. For example, press Alt+F for File followed by Alt+A for Save as. The letters 'F' and 'a' are underlined in the UI while the Alt key is held.

On macOS, MuseScore's menus are part of the system-wide menu bar, which you can navigate to by pressing Ctrl+F2.

Home tab

Beneath the main menu are three tabs, the first of which is the Home tab. This tab contains the following sections:

My account

Create a new MuseScore account, or login to your existing account. With an active account, you can get technical assistance and report bugs in the forums at musescore.org. You can also save your files to the cloud on musescore.com.

Scores

This section allows you to set up a new score, or to open an existing one. Learn about creating new scores in Setting up your score.

Plugins

This window displays a list of available plugins. See the chapter on Plugins to learn about managing these useful add-ons.

Learn

This is where video tutorials are hosted. Clicking on any video tutorial opens it on the official MuseScore YouTube channel.

Score tab

This are is where you do most of your work in MuseScore, including adding music notation and listening to the playback of your score. The workspace consist of several regions (numbered according to labels in the below diagram):

1. Parts: The button near the top center of the window opens the Parts dialog, where you can create, edit and delete instrument part scores.
2. Mixer: The button to the right of Parts opens and closes the Mixer panel.
3. Playback toolbar. Located to the right of the mixer icon.
4. Note input toolbar: Extending across the program window, this includes essential notation elements used in score writing. Use it to set the note input duration, toggle accidentals, apply common articulations, enter tuplets, and change between voices.
5. Side bar: The area on the left-hand side of the program window contains various panels such as Palettes, Properties, and Instruments. These can be hidden or displayed as desired.
6. Document/Score window: This area contains your score, and is where notation elements are added, edited, and deleted.
7. Status bar: This runs along the bottom of the window. The left-hand side displays useful information about the score when one or more elements are selected. The right-hand side contains controls for switching between workspaces, selecting concert or written pitch views, and specifying the page display and zoom factor (magnification).

Keyboard users can use the Tab key or F6 to navigate between these UI regions via the keyboard. Within each region, navigation is performed with the arrow keys and Tab.

Almost all panels and toolbars can be un-docked and repositioned according to your project requirements and workflow preferences. Learn more about this in Workspaces.

Publish tab

This tab allows you to view your score without the clutter of the note input toolbar or sidebar panels. There are options to print the score, and to export it in a variety of image, audio and document formats. When your score is finished, you can also publish it to musescore.com.

Context menus

In certain parts of the application, primarily in the Score tab, context menus are available with additional functionality, such as options to copy, edit, customise, delete, or view the properties of whatever item(s) were selected at the time you opened the menu.

Element context menus

Within the score, every element has a context menu. To open the context menu for a particular element, right-click on the element with the mouse, or select the element via the keyboard and press Shift+F10 (some PC keyboards also have a dedicated Menu key near to the right Ctrl key). The exact options available in the context menu can differ depending on the type of element you selected, so it is worth experimenting to find out what options are available for different kinds of elements. For example, when you right-click on an empty region within a measure the resulting context menu contains options for Staff/Part properties and Measure properties. This is currently the only way to get to those options and the dialogs they lead to.

UI context menus

Outside of the score, the presence of a context menu is often indicated by a small button with three dots, or by a settings cog. Press the button to open the menu. Sometimes the button is associated with another item in the vicinity, such as in the Palettes, where there is three-dots button for each palette. In this case you can right-click on the palette name, or select it with the keyboard and press the Shift+F10 or Menu key shortcut, as an alternative to using the three-dots button.

Scrolling

Mouse wheel

• Use the scroll wheel to move the view up and down.
• Use Shift plus the scroll wheel to move the view left and right.

Scrollbars

Scrollbars appear at the right-hand and bottom edges of the score view. Click and drag them to quickly move the score view up and down, or left and right. Scrollbars are usually hidden from view, but can be revealed by hovering over the edge of the score view with your mouse.

Keyboard

You can also scroll the score using the PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End keys on your keyboard. If your keyboard lacks dedicated keys for these functions, most systems will also allow you to access these functions by holding Fn or a similar key, then pressing Up, Down, Left, or Right respectively.

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.

Element navigation

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.

Navigator

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.

Timeline

A navigation aid that shows instruments and score structure. For details, see Timeline.

Views

You can switch between different views of the score using the pop-up in the right-hand side of the status bar.

Page view

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.

Continuous view (horizontal)

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.

Continuous view (vertical)

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.

Zoom

There are several ways to zoom the score in or out:

Zoom in

Ctrl++ (Mac: Cmd++)
or scroll up with the mouse scroll wheel while holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd).

Zoom out

Ctrl+- (Mac: Cmd+-)
or scroll down with the mouse scroll wheel while holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd).

Status bar zoom controls

To zoom in and out of your score from the Status bar controls:

• Click on the magnifying glass icons in the right-hand area of the status bar
• Click the number field to the right of these icons, then type a custom zoom level
• Choose from one of the preset zoom levels in the pop-up list on the extreme right

Restoring 100% zoom

This restores the zoom to the default (100%) level.

Ctrl+0 (Mac: Cmd+0)

Find/Go to

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:

• Go to Edit → Find, or
• Press Ctrl+F (Mac: Cmd+F).

To hide the panel:

• Click the X (close) button on the left side of the panel, or
• Press Esc while the panel has focus.

Navigating to a numbered measure

Enter the measure number (counting every measure, starting with 1, irrespective of pickup measures, section breaks or manual changes to measure number offsets).

Navigating to a numbered page

Enter the page number using the format pXX (where XX is the page number).

Navigating to a numerical rehearsal mark

Enter the number using the format rXX (where XX is the number of the rehearsal mark).

Navigating to an alphabetic 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.

Overview

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:

Meta labels

This is found in the top left corner of the timeline. These are the names of the meta rows.

Instrument labels

This is found in the bottom left corner of the timeline. These are the names of the rows in the main grid.

Meta rows

This is found in the top right corner of the timeline. These hold the meta values of the score.

Main grid

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

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.

Basic interactions

Selecting a measure

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.

Selecting multiple measures

Drag selection

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.

[Shift] selection

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

[Ctrl] selection

If no cells are currently selected, holding Ctrl and selecting a cell will select the entire measure

Clearing a selection

To clear selection, holding Ctrl and clicking anywhere on the grid or the meta rows will clear any current selection.

Meta values selection

Selecting the meta values on the timeline will attempt to select the respective meta values in the score.

Scrolling

Standard scrolling

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.

[Shift] scrolling

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.

[Alt] scrolling

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.

Dragging

To drag the contents of the timeline, hold the left mouse button and move it around.

Labels interaction

Rearranging meta labels

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.

Collapsing the meta labels

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.

Hiding instruments

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.

Zooming

To zoom in or out of the score, hold Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel up or down respectively (Mac: Cmd + scroll).

Overview

To create a new score, use one of the following options:

• in the Home: Scores tab, select New score, or click New (bottom right).
• From the menu, select File→New.
• Use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+N (Mac: Cmd+N).

This will open the New Score dialog (More instructions about this dialog are below). Once you've finished setting up your score, it will be visible in the Score tab.

Instruments

When creating a new score, you can either choose instruments yourself, or you can use a template that comes pre-configured with appropriate instruments (These can always be changed later).

Choose instruments

In the New Score dialog, make sure the Choose instruments tab is selected.

MuseScore contains over 500 instruments. Instruments are grouped into categories, and categories are organized into families. If you know what you’re looking for, you can simply type the name of your desired instrument in the search bar. Alternatively, you can browse instruments by group from the Family dropdown menu.

Adding instruments

To add an instrument to your score:

1. Click on the instrument name to select it
2. Click the → button to add the instrument to your score (Pro tip: double-clicking an instrument name does the same thing).

Instruments are automatically arranged according to the order shown in the dropdown menu under Your Score. From this menu, you can choose from a range of standard score configurations or use a custom one.

Changing order of instruments

To manually change the order of instruments:

1. Select an instrument in the Your Score panel
2. Click on ↑ or ↓ to change its position

Removing instruments

To delete an instrument from your score:

1. Select an instrument in the Your Score panel
2. Click the trash icon

You can also delete multiple instruments at once by first holding down Shift and selecting multiple instruments, then clicking the trash icon.

Create from template

Scores can also be created from pre-configured templates.

Templates are organized into categories based on musical style or ensemble configuration. Each template contains the instruments most commonly required for a particular type of score. Instruments are ordered and styled according to conventional practice.

To create a score from a template:

1. Click Create from template
2. Select a group of templates from the Category panel
3. Choose your desired template from the center panel
4. Click Done

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.

Additional score information

Click Next in the New score dialog to specify additional information about your score.

Key signature

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.

Time signature

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.

Tempo

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:

1. Click the button under Tempo
2. Tick Show tempo marking on my score
3. Select the desired beat value
4. Enter the desired number of beats per minute (20-400) in the text field or use the up and down arrows to scroll through the tempo range.

Learn more about tempo text indications, metronome markings, and playback speed in tempo markings.

Measures

New scores are created with 32 measures and no pickup (anacrusis). To change the starting number of measures in your new score:

1. Click the button under Measures
2. Enter the desired number of measures in the Initial number of measures field

Learn more about Adding and removing measures at any time after score creation.

To start your score with a pickup:

1. Click the button under Measures
2. Tick Create pickup measure
3. Enter the desired number of beats for the pickup in the text field
4. Select the metrical value of the pickup measure from the drop-down menu

You can always create a pickup later. Learn how to do this in Pickup and non-metered measures.

Title and other text

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:

• Title
• Composer
• Subtitle
• Lyricist
• Copyright

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.

Changing instruments after score creation

There are three ways to change existing score instruments:

• Use the keyboard shortcut I while in the Score tab
• Click Add from the Instruments panel (If this panel is not yet visible, press F7, or select View → Instruments)
• Click Replace instrument in the Staff/Part properties dialog

Overview

inputting music via the computer keyboard is both quick and easy. To enter a note or rest, simply choose a duration, then type the pitch name (A-G) for a note or a 0 (zero) for a rest. You can also input notation using a mouse, MIDI keyboard or MuseScore's own virtual piano keyboard (see below for details).

MuseScore supports virtually unlimited undo, so you don't have to worry too much about making mistakes. Just click the undo button on the far right of the toolbar, or use the standard keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z (Mac: Cmd+Z).

Entering notes

The information in this page refers primarily to music notation on standard staves. See also tablature and percussion notation.

The most common input method (and the one assumed on this page) is step-time in which notes and rests are entered one at a time. For other modes of entry see Alternative note input methods.

Selecting a start point

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.

Entering note input mode

Next, enter note input mode by pressing the pen icon in the toolbar, or using the keyboard shortcut N. A note input cursor appears, indicating where the next note will be added.

If you forget to select a starting location first, MuseScore will place 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, you will 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.

Selecting duration

While in note input mode, select a note value for the next note to be entered by:

• Clicking a corresponding note icon in the Note Input toolbar (directly above the score window)

• 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:

• 64th (hemidemisemiquaver): 1
• 32nd (demisemiquaver): 2
• 16th (semiquaver): 3
• Eighth (quaver): 4
• Quarter (crotchet): 5
• Half (minim): 6
• Whole (semibreve): 7
• Double whole (breve): 8
• Longa: 9
• Dot: . (changes the selection into a dotted note/rest)

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.

Selecting pitch

Once you have selected a duration, you can enter pitches using the computer keyboard, mouse, MIDI keyboard, or virtual piano keyboard.

Selecting pitch using the computer 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.

Selecting pitch using the mouse

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.

Selecting pitch using a MIDI keyboard

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.

Selecting pitch using the virtual piano keyboard

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.

Entering chords

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.

• To add a note to a chord using the computer keyboard, press and hold Shift while entering the note
• To add a note to a chord using the mouse, click the location where you wish to add the note
• To add a note to a chord using a MIDI keyboard, either play all the notes at the same time, or play them one at a time but do not release one key before pressing the next
• To add a note to a chord using the virtual piano keyboard, press and hold Shift while entering the note

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.

• To add an interval above the selected note, use one of the following:
  • From the menu bar, select Add→Intervals and choose an interval from the list;
  • Press Alt+1-9.
• For intervals below the selected note, you will need to apply a custom shortcut of your own (see Preferences).

Entering rests

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.

• From the computer keyboard: press 0 (zero)
• From the note input toolbar: click the rest icon, then click in the score

• Using a mouse: right-click in the score

  

Accidentals

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.

Selecting an accidental before entering a pitch

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:

• Flat : -
• Sharp : +
• Natural : =

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.

Adding an accidental after entering a pitch

Appropriate accidentals are automatically added to a note when you increase or decrease its pitch:

• ↑: move pitch up a semitone (spells with sharps).
• ↓: move pitch down a semitone (spells with flats).

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.

Adding courtesy/cautionary 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.

Ties

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:

1. Select the duration for the second note

2. 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.

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.

See also

• Editing notes and rests
• Voices
• Tuplets
• Alternate note input modes
• Tablature
• Drum notation
• Slash notation
• Noteheads

Overview

A "voice" is a musical line with its own rhythm independent of other voices on the same staff. They are normally indicated using opposing stems—an upper voice with stems up and a lower voice with stems down. Although the term "voice" comes from vocal music, the concept applies equally well to keyboard or guitar music in which there are multiple rhythms happening at the same time:

MuseScore allows up to four voices per staff, but each staff should always start with voice 1, and the next voice should normally be voice 2. Voices 3 & 4 are needed only if there are more than two voices on a single staff, which is not common.

So for example, 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 the tenor and bass:

When there is only a single voice on a staff, the default stem directions are determined by pitch—notes above the center line have stems pointing down, while notes below the center line have stems pointing up. However, when there are multiple voices on a staff, the stem directions are determined according to the voice—up for voices 1 and 3, down for voices 2 and 4. You can change the stem directions if desired using the Flip direction button on the toolbar or the keyboard shortcut X.

Entering notes and rests in multiple voices

By default, notes are entered into voice 1. To enter notes into a different voice:

1. Select your starting point in the score.
2. Click the pen icon on the toolbar or press N to enter note input mode.
3. Select the desired voice using the toolbar icons or press one of the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Alt+1–Ctrl+Alt+4
4. Enter notes and rests normally as described in Entering notes

You can repeat these steps to enter notes into other voices.

Note: be sure to enter note input mode before selecting the desired voice. Pressing one of the voice buttons while in normal mode will change the voice of any currently-selected elements. This can be a useful editing technique, however. For more information, see the section on Changing voice in normal mode.

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.

Editing notes and rests in multiple voices

Adjusting rests

Normally, each voice should include any necessary rests to show all beats for the measure. This can lead to a cluttered appearance, however. MuseScore automatically positions rests to avoid notes in other voices, but in some cases, you may wish to adjust the position of these rests. In other cases where the rhythm is sufficiently clear, you may wish to hide or delete some of the rests.

Hiding or deleting rests

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.

Positioning rests

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.

Changing voice of existing notes

Notes originally entered into one voice can be moved into another voice. For more information, see Changing voice in normal mode.

Combining voices into chords

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.

See also

• Editing notes and rests
• Stems and flags
• Positioning of elements
• Implode and explode

Accessing alternative note input methods

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:

1. Click and hold the Note input button in the Note input toolbar.
2. Select from one of the available 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.

Rhythm only

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.

1. Select your starting point in the score.
2. Select the Rhythm note input method as described above.
3. Select a duration from the note input toolbar, or use the keyboard shortcuts 1-9, to add a note of the selected duration.
4. Add a dotted duration by pressing . and selecting/typing your desired duration. In this mode, the duration dot is toggled on/off for all subsequently entered durations. It's worth noting that the duration dot needs to be activated prior to entering the note value, rather than afterwards.
5. Enter rests by clicking the rest icon in the note input toolbar and select/type your desired duration. When the desired duration already has been selected (from the previous entered note), pressing 0 will enter the rest. Click the rest button to return to entering notes.
6. Continue pressing duration keys to enter notes with the chosen durations.

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.

Re-pitch

The Re-pitch note input method allows you to change the pitches of a sequence of notes while leaving their durations unaltered.

1. Select your starting point in the score.
2. Select the Re-pitch note input method as described above, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+I (Mac: Cmd+Shift+I).
3. Enter pitches using the computer keyboard, MIDI keyboard or virtual piano keyboard. Note: you cannot use the mouse to input notes in the Re-pitch method.

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.

Real-time

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:

• You must pre-select the shortest duration you wish to use.
• You cannot enter tuplets in Real-time note input.
• You must enter notes onto a single staff and in a single voice, just as with other note input modes.
• It is not possible to use a computer keyboard for Real-time note input.

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.

Real-time (metronome)

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).

1. Select your starting position in the score.
2. Select the Real-time (metronome) note input method as described above.
3. Select a duration from the note input toolbar to represent the metronome click.
4. Press and hold a MIDI key or virtual piano key to enter a note of the selected duration.
5. Listen for the metronome clicks—with each click the note grows by the selected duration.
6. Release the key when the note has reached the desired length.

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.

Real-time (foot pedal)

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).

1. Select your starting position in the score.
2. Select the Real-time (foot pedal) note input method as described above.
3. Select a duration from the note input toolbar to represent the metronome click.
4. Press and hold a MIDI key or virtual piano key.
5. Press the "Real-time Advance" shortcut with each press, the note grows by the selected duration.
6. Release the note when it has reached the desired length.

Real-time Advance shortcut

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

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:

1. Select your starting position in the score.
2. Select the Insert note input method as described above.
3. Enter a note or rest as you would in Step time mode. Each note is inserted before the current cursor position, and the measure duration is increased to compensate.

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.

Inserting measures

MuseScore allows you to insert or delete measures in the score using a variety of methods. Measures can be inserted:

• After a selection
• Before a selection
• At the start of the score
• At the end of the score

Measure context menu

To insert one or more measures:

1. Right-click on a blank area of a measure
2. From the context menu, choose Insert measures
3. From the options presented, choose the location where you want the measure(s) inserted
4. Complete the dialog box and press OK.

The Properties panel

To insert one or more measures:

1. Click on a measure
2. Go to the Properties panel
3. Click Insert measures in the Measure section
4. Type the number of measures you wish to insert (or leave it as “1” to insert a single measure)
5. Select where you want the measure(s) to be inserted from the dropdown menu (or leave it as is to insert the new measure(s) after the selection point)
6. Click the + button

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:

Note input toolbar

1. Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
2. Click the + button in the Note input toolbar
3. Navigate to Measures
4. Choose where you want the new measure(s) to be inserted

Menu bar

1. Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
2. Click the Add in the Menu bar
3. Navigate to Measures
4. Choose where you want the new measure(s) to be inserted

Inserting measures with keyboard shortcuts

To quickly insert one measure before the selection point:

1. Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
2. Press Ins

Insert more measures before the selection point by repeatedly pressing Ins.

To quickly insert multiple measures before the selection point:

1. Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
2. Press Ctrl+Ins (Mac: ⌘+Ins)
3. Type the number of required measures in the dialog that appears
4. Click OK

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.

Add measures to a frame

It is also possible to add measures to a frame in the score:

1. Click on the frame
2. Use one of the methods shown under "Note input toolbar" or "Menu bar", or a keyboard shortcut (above).

Deleting measures

To delete one or more measures using keyboard shortcuts:

1. Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
2. Type Ctrl+Backspace or Ctrl+Del (Mac: ⌘+Backspace or ⌘+Del).

Alternatively,

1. Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
2. Right-click on any measure within the selection
3. Select Delete measures

You can also:

1. Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
2. Go to Tools
3. Select Remove selected range

Remove empty trailing measures

To remove any empty measures at the end of your score:

1. Go to Tools
2. Select Remove empty trailing measures

See also

Other measure-related pages:

• Measure numbering
• Measure and multimeasure rests
• Pickup and non-metered measures
• Measure properties
• Mensural notation and Mensurstrich

You can select elements in MuseScore using the keyboard or mouse. Selections can consist of a single element, a list of individual elements that may possibly be discontinuous, or a range of measures and staves that includes the elements within it. Certain commands work only on single elements or lists; some work only on ranges; others work on any type of selection. The documentation for any given command should explain which types of selection are allowed.

When selected, elements display in blue (or whatever color is defined for the voice the element belongs to).

For range selections, a blue rectangle appears around the entire range.

Selecting a single element

To select a single element with the mouse, simply click it.

To select a single element with the keyboard, use the cursor keys to navigate to the element. Note that there is no separate concept of a “cursor” in MuseScore that is separate from the selection, except while in Note Input mode. In Normal mode, the left and right cursor keys select elements one by one as you navigate, so even though there is technically not a cursor, the selection itself acts in a similar way.

By themselves, the cursor keys navigate through notes and rests only. When combined with Alt, they navigate through all elements, including articulation, dynamics, and other markings.

Notes

A note normally consists of multiple elements: the notehead, stem, flag, dot, accidental, etc. Most commands that operate on a single note expect you to select the notehead itself.

Chords

The notes of a chord share a single stem and flag. Even a single note can be considered a “chord” in the sense that it consists of these multiple elements.

To select a complete chord (all noteheads plus the stem and other elements), first make sure nothing is currently selected (you can press Esc to be sure) and then Shift+click the chord. This creates a range selection that encompasses the chord.

Note that the selection may also include content in other voices if present, but see the section on excluding elements from range selections for information on how to avoid that if necessary.

Overlapping elements

If multiple elements overlap, clicking selects the topmost element. To select the element underneath a currently-selected element, Ctrl+click it. This deselects the currently-selected element and selects the next element beneath it, if any. Thus, repeated Ctrl+click operations cycle through a set of overlapping elements.

Selecting a list of individual elements

You can select a list of elements manually by selecting each individually or automatically by using commands to select elements that are similar to a given element.

Selecting multiple elements manually

To add an element to the list of selected elements, Ctrl+click it. If an element is already selected, Ctrl+click removes it from the list of selected elements.

You can also use Ctrl+click to add or remove individual elements from a range selection. In the process, this converts the selection into a list selection.

If the elements you wish to select are outside of the staff and clear of other elements, you may be able to create a list selection by using Shift+drag to draw a selection box around the desired elements. If any notes or rests are included, however, a range selection is performed instead.

Selecting similar elements automatically

To select all elements of a given type in the entire score or in a given staff:

1. Right-click one such element
2. In the resulting menu, click Select→Similar or Select→Similar on this staff as appropriate

To select all elements of a given type within a range:

1. Click the first such element
2. Shift+click the last such element

—OR—

1. Perform the range selection using the techniques described below
2. Right-click one element within the range
3. In the resulting menu, click Select→Similar in this range

To create more complex selections of similar elements:

1. (Optional) Perform a range selection
2. Right-click an element
3. In the resulting menu, click Select→More
4. Check the desired boxes within the resulting dialog (see below)

The options available in the select dialog will depend on the type of element you right-clicked.

The selection options specific to notes are:

• Same notehead: notes with the same notehead group (normal, cross, slash, etc.)
• Same pitch: notes with the same pitch name, accidental, and octave
• Same string: notes with the on the same string (tablature only)
• Same type: notes of the same type (normal, acciaccatura, appoggiatura)
• Same note type: notes of the same duration, not considering presence of dots or tuplets
• Same duration: notes of the same actual duration
• Same note name: notes with the same pitch name and accidental, not considering octave
• Same staff: notes in the same staff
• Same voice: notes in the same voice
• In selection: notes within the current selection
• Same system: notes in the same system

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:

• Replace selection: if checked, this action selection replaces an existing selection
• Add to selection: if checked, this action adds elements to an existing selection
• Subtract from selection: if checked, this action removes elements from an existing selection

Selecting a range of measures and staves

A range selection includes all elements from a given beginning and ending time position across a given set of staves. It is the usual starting point for operations such as copy and paste.

Selecting a range by dragging

To select a range of measures and staves with the mouse alone, use Shift+drag to draw a rectangle around it. Note that this is only feasible for relatively small selections that fit on screen at once.

Selecting a range by clicking

A more flexible method for making selections uses a combination of mouse and keyboard:

1. Click the first note or rest of the desired selection
2. Shift+click the last

In between the click and Shift+click, you can use [navigation commands to position the score. This allows you make selections that span several pages.

This method works just as well if you first click the last note/rest then Shift+click the first.

Selecting a range using the keyboard

You can also make range selections using the keyboard alone or primarily:

1. Select the first note or rest using keyboard navigation or by clicking
2. Hold Shift while using keyboard navigation to extend the selection as you navigate

The available commands include:

• Shift+Left and Shift+Right to extend the selection one note or rest at a time
• Shift+Ctrl+Left and Shift+Ctrl+Right to extend the selection one measure at a time (Mac: use Cmd instead of Ctrl)
• Shift+Up and Shift+Down to extend the selection one staff at a time
• Shift+Home and Shift+End to extend to the beginning or end of the system
• Shift+Ctrl+Home and Shift+Ctrl+End to extend to the beginning or end of the score (Mac: use Cmd instead of Ctrl)

Special range selections

MuseScore includes some special commands to make command selections:

• Edit→Select all or Ctrl+A (Mac: Cmd+A) to select the entire score
• Edit→Select section to select the current section of the score (everything between the previous and next section breaks)

Excluding elements from a range selection

For certain operations involving range selections, you might want to exclude elements of a given type from the selection. For example, you may wish to copy the notes, rest, and most other markings in a phrase, but skip the lyrics. Or in a passage with multiple voices, you may wish to delete everything not in voice 1. To exclude elements of a given type from a range selection:

1. Perform the range selection normally
2. Open the Selection Filter with View→Selection filter
3. Remove the checkmarks next to any element types you want excluded from the selection

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 1, 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.

Overview

After you have entered notes into your score, you may wish to change something about them - pitch, duration, time position, etc. MuseScore provides a number of commands for this purpose. Many of the most powerful commands are only available after you leave note input mode and return to normal mode, but there are a number of quick edits possible while still in note input mode.

Making changes in note input mode

Immediately after entering a note or rest, it is selected, and there are a handful of commands that operate on the selected note or rest while in note input mode. These commands also work if you use the cursor keys to navigate to a previously-entered note or rest.

Changing duration in note input mode

There are two commands that alter the duration of an existing note or rest while in note input mode:

• Shift+W increases the duration
• Shift+Q decreases the duration

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.

Changing pitch in note input mode

The commands for changing the pitch of a selected note while in note input mode are:

• ↑ - move pitch up a semitone (spells with sharps)
• ↓ - move pitch down a semitone (spells with flats)
• Alt+Shift+↑ - move pitch up a step diatonically
• Alt+Shift+↓ - move pitch down a step diatonically
• Ctrl+↑ (Mac: Cmd+↑) - move pitch up an octave
• Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↓) - move pitch down an octave

Replacing notes and rests in note input mode

Most note input in MuseScore is in what a word processor might call "replace" or "overwrite" mode. This means that if you wish to replace a note with a different one, you don't need to delete the old note first—just enter the new one directly, and it automatically overwrites what was there before.

Note: sometimes you may wish to add a new note and move some of the subsequent notes later to make room. In MuseScore, this is done by moving the subsequent notes directly using cut and paste.

Deleting notes in note input mode

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.

Moving notes in note input mode

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.

Making changes in normal mode

Most changes one might want to make to notes and rests already entered are more easily performed in normal mode—the mode you are in when you leave note input or any other mode.

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.

Changing duration in normal mode

Changing selected notes to a specific note value

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.

Increasing or decreasing the duration of a selected note

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 eight 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 to perform the opposite operation, decreasing or halving the duration in the same way.

All of these commands work on only a single selected note.

Doubling or halving all note values in a range selection

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.

Changing pitch in normal mode

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:

• ↑ - move pitch up a semitone (spells with sharps)
• ↓ - move pitch down a semitone (spells with flats)
• Alt+Shift+↑ - move pitch up a step diatonically
• Alt+Shift+↓ - move pitch down a step diatonically
• Ctrl+↑ (Mac: Cmd+↑) - move pitch up an octave
• Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↓) - move pitch down an octave

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.

Deleting notes and rests in normal mode

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.

Removing notes and rests and their associated time

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).

Adding ties in normal mode

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:

1. Select a note that you wish to tie to the next note of the same pitch
2. Click the tie button or use the shortcut T

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.

Changing voice in normal mode

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.

Moving selected notes into another voice

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.

Exchanging the contents of two voices

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:

• Exchange voice 1-2
• Exchange voice 1-3
• Exchange voice 1-4
• Exchange voice 2-3
• Exchange voice 2-4
• Exchange voice 3-4

See also

Entering notes and rests

The cut, copy, and paste commands are powerful tools in MuseScore. They 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.

Accessing the commands

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!

Copying a range

To copy a range—whether a single chord, a single measure, several measures on one staff, or multiple measures across multiple staves—do the following:

1. Select the range you want to copy
2. Use the Copy command from the menu or press Ctrl+C (Mac: Cmd+C)
3. Select the first note or rest of the destination

4. Use the Paste command from the menu or press Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V)

   

Copied music will replace the existing content of the destination. All elements in the selected range will be copied, with the exception of system-wide elements such as tempo text, key and time signature changes, and repeats. You can use the Selection Filter to exclude other elements of a given type from the operation.

Copying a single element or list of elements

MuseScore allows you to copy lyrics, chord symbols, dynamics, articulation, or other markings from one place to another while keeping the notes in the destination intact. For chord symbols and dynamics, MuseScore will preserve the relative beat positions of the markings if possible. For lyrics and articulations, MuseScore will copy note by note.

To copy a single element or list of elements to a new destination:

1. Select the elements you want to copy
2. Use the Copy command from the menu or press Ctrl+C (Mac: Cmd+C)
3. Select the first note or rest of the destination
4. Use the Paste command from the menu or press Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V)

Moving elements

In MuseScore, cut and paste is way to move element from one location to another. This can be used to move a passage from a flute part to a clarinet part, from one measure to another within a single part, or simply shift a passage earlier or later. The latter is especially useful as a way to “insert” or “delete” a note or rest while shifting existing notes to the right or left. Simply cut and paste the notes you wish to shift to their new position.

To move a selection:

1. Select what you want to move
2. Use the Cut command from the menu or press Ctrl+X (Mac: Cmd+X)
3. Select the first note or rest of the destination
4. Use the Paste command from the menu or press Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V)

Swapping a selection with the clipboard

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:

1. Select section A
2. Apply the cut command
3. Select section B
4. Apply the swap with clipboard command to paste A over the contents of B while moving the contents of B to the clipboard
5. Select section A again (or just the first note, rest, or measure)
6. Apply the paste command

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).

Repeating a selection

A common use for copy and paste is to duplicate a given passage immediately after the original. MuseScore provides a special repeat selection command to simplify this process. To quickly repeat a note, chord, measure, or other passage to the location immediately following the selection:

1. Select the passage to be repeated
2. Press R

Unlike the other commands discussed here, repeat selection works in note input mode and it repeats the entire chord containing the selected note. This is useful for creating a series of repeated chords.

Copying a selection to multiple staves

If you wish to copy a passage to multiple staves—for instance, to double a flute part in the oboes and clarinets—you can use the explode command:

1. Select the passage you wish to copy
2. Extend the selection to include the staves below (e.g., by pressing Shift+↓)
3. Use Tools→Explode

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.

Paste half/double duration

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:

1. Select a range to modify
2. Use the copy command
3. If you wish to create a separate copy of the passage with the modified durations, select the destination
4. Use the paste half duration or paste double duration command

Duplicating individual elements

Individual elements—even those that are not normally copied as part of a range select, like time signatures or voltas—can be duplicated using the mouse:

1. While pressing Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift), and click and hold on an element
2. Drag it anywhere in the score

3. When you release the mouse button, the selected element is copied to the new location

   

See also

• Selecting elements
• Implode and explode

Overview

The Palettes panel contains musical symbols that can be applied to your score. These symbols are organized into a number of different palettes such as Key Signatures and Articulations. There is a basic set of palettes that are shown by default, but MuseScore also provides optional palettes you can add easily, and you can also create and customize your own palettes.

Accessing the palettes panel

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.

Adding palette items to your score

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.

Items applied to individual score elements

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:

1. Select the elements you wish to apply the palette item to (single, list, or range selection)
2. Click the palette item

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.

Items applied to ranges

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:

1. Select the range of elements you wish to apply the palette item to
2. Click the palette item

Items applied to full measures

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:

1. Select the measure or range of measures you wish to apply the palette item to
2. Click the palette item

Expanding and collapsing palettes

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.

• Single-click to open a Palette: controls whether palettes are opened by single or double click
• Open only one Palette at a time: if checked, then whenever you open a palette, any already-open palettes are automatically closed
• Collapse all Palettes: immediately close all open palettes
• Expand all Palettes: immediately open all palettes

Searching and navigating the palettes

You can also search and navigate the palettes using your keyboard instead of a mouse.

Search

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.

Navigation

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.

Accessing more palette items

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.

Adding more palettes

The palettes that are shown by default are the ones most users will need often. But MuseScore provides additional palettes that you may find useful. To access these, 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.

Any palettes you add in this way will be displayed added at the top of the panel, but you can then drag them down to reorder the panel as you like.

Also, in addition to the standard Palettes panel, there is a Master palette you can access via View→Master palettes or the keyboard shortcut Shift+F9.

This provides all the symbols found on the other palettes, as well the controls for creating custom key signatures and custom time signatures, plus the Symbols palette that provides thousands of additional symbols from any of the available music fonts.

See also

• Palettes under Customization

The Properties panel shows settings for objects you select in the score. It was known as the “Inspector” in MuseScore 2 and 3.

You can select one object (say, a dynamic mark) or multiple objects at a time (say, a dynamic mark, a notehead, and a hairpin). If any of the objects you have selected contains editable settings, Properties will be the place to find them.

An important thing about Properties is that by default it affects only the object(s) you have selected, so changing how one hairpin looks won’t change all of the hairpins in your score—only those you have selected. However, for most settings, you can also choose to save as the default style for the score.

Accessing the Properties panel

From the Score window, click on the Properties tab in the panel on the left side of the screen:

Global settings

This is what the Properties panel looks like when you have nothing selected in your score. All these settings affect your entire score (not just individual elements):

Show

• Invisible hides/shows all invisible objects in your score
• Frames hides/shows Frames
• Formatting hides/shows formatting elements added from the layout palette
• Page margins hides/shows the page margin

Score appearance

• Empty staves hides/shows staves that contain no notated music within a system. This setting mirrors the Hide empty staves within systems settings in the Style dialog.
• Page settings triggers the Page settings dialog.
• Style settings triggers the Style dialog.

General settings

These settings are visible whenever something is selected in your score.

Visible

Click this box to hide/unhide selected elements, or use the keyboard shortcut V.

Use this feature to hide elements so they don't appear in your exported or printed score. This can be useful when, for example, applying tempo marks or dynamics solely to affect playback in MuseScore. Use the Invisible toggle in Properties (when nothing is selected) to show or hide these hidden elements in the score view (hidden elements will be rendered in a lighter shade).

Auto-place

Usually checked by default, this feature positions the selected object according to MuseScore's vertical and horizontal collision avoidance algorithms. Uncheck Auto-place to have more control over the positioning of certain elements. Learn more about this feature in Positioning elements.

Cue size

This feature is used to create small cue notes: i.e. notes provided to assist the performer by indicating what another ensemble/orchestra member is playing at the same time. Checking the box makes any selected notes smaller, including their stems and any attached beams.

Play

When checked, this property allows playback of the selected element. Uncheck Play to silence the element.

Playback settings

The Playback button displays the editable playback properties of the element (if none, it will be greyed out).

Appearance settings

Leading space

This changes the leading space of selected elements: i.e. the space in front of the element. The leading space adjustment is applied across all staves, so that notes at the same time position remain aligned.

Measure width

This changes the width of the measure as a proportion of the original width: e.g. 1.5 = one-and-a-half times the default width.

Minimum distance

This is used by the auto-place collision avoidance algorithm and applies only to elements that are applied above/below the staff by default, such as staff text, dynamics, fingerings, lines etc. It sets the minimum distance (in sp.) of the selected objects from other elements that are closer to the staff, or the staff itself.

Offset

When newly applied, elements assume a default position. The horizontal/vertical offsets give you a more precise way of positioning an element than dragging it or moving with the keyboard arrows.

Snap to grid

This feature allows you to constrain drag operations to increments of a desired distance. First you need to check the Snap to grid box, then press Configure grid and set the desired horizontal/vertical step distances.

You can switch Snap to grid on/off as required by checking/unchecking the box.

Arrange

The four buttons in this section control how overlapping elements are drawn. They work as follows:

• Forwards moves the selected element in front of the next element
• Backwards moves the selected element behind the next element
• To front moves the selected element in front of all other elements.
• To back moves the selected element behind all other elements, including the staff lines.

Color

Click on this button to change the color of selected element(s). Choose a preset or custom color, or create your own by clicking the + button. This is stored for future reference in the list of custom colors to the right.

Saving and restoring default settings

After changing any given setting, you can click the "three dots" menu button adjacent to the setting to reveal a menu that allows you to either Reset the setting to the default for the score, or Save as default style for this score. The latter option is only available for properties that correspond to style settings, but this includes many of the properties in this panel.

Changing the position of elements

To reposition most score elements, use any of the following methods:

• Click and drag the element with your mouse. You can constrain movement to a vertical or horizontal straight line by pressing Shift before dragging (see also Snap to grid).
• Press the keyboard arrows, either on their own for small steps (0.1 sp), or in combination with Ctrl (Mac: ⌘) for larger steps (1 sp).
• Adjust the horizontal and vertical offsets in the Properties panel.

Certain score elements, such as articulations, ornaments, symbols, and notes and rests, can only be moved with the keyboard arrow keys after placing the element into "Edit mode". To move these elements with the arrow keys:

1. Right-click on the desired element
2. Select Edit element to place the object in "Edit mode", or use the keyboard shortcuts F2 or Alt+Shift+E (Mac: ⌥+Shift+E)
3. Use the ← → ↑ ↓ keys to move the object in increments of 0.5 sp, or click and drag it with the mouse

Changing the shape of elements

To change the shape of elements such as slurs and ties after adding them to the score:

1. Click on the slur or tie to be adjusted
2. Click and drag the adjustment handles that appear around the element (N.b. red letters in the below diagram are for reference only)
   

Note that:

• Handles B, C, and D change the shape of the curve at that point
• Handles A end E adjust the element's length (This can also be achieved by pressing Shift+←/→ to move the ends one chord/rest at a time)
• Handle F repositions the whole line without changing its shape or length

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.

Working with lines

Changing the range of a line

To change the start and end points of a line:

1. Select the line to reveal its adjustment handles
   
2. Click either the start or end adjustment handle
3. Press Shift+←/→ to move the handle one step at a time (a step = one note/rest, or one measure—depending on the line type). Note: You can use Tab to move the focus between handles when adjusting.
4. Fine-tune the position of handles using the keyboard arrows ←/→ if required. Note that this does not affect the playback range of the 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.

Creating diagonal lines

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.

Editing line text

To edit the text of text line elements such as "system text line", "staff text line", and "barré line":

1. Select a text line element in your score
2. Go to the Properties panel
3. Click the Text tab in the Text line section
4. Enter the desired text in the Beginning text field.

Note: If the text line spans more than one system, you may also wish to modify the contents of the Text when continuing to a new system field.

See also

• Other lines: Line properties
• Positioning of elements

Opening a part

MuseScore 4 automatically creates a separate (default) part for every instrument in your score.

To open all parts at once:

1. Click Parts in the toolbar (This will open the Parts dialog)
2. Click Open all

To open an individual part:

1. Click Parts in the toolbar
2. Click a part to select it
3. Click Open selected

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.

Closing a part

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.

Creating custom parts

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.

Reveal instruments in default 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:

1. Open a part (as described above)
2. Select the Instruments panel
3. Click the eye icon next to another instrument

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.

Create a new part

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:

1. Click Parts in the toolbar to open the Parts dialog
2. Click Create new part
3. Give your new part a name
4. Click Open selected

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:

1. Go to the Instruments panel
2. Click the "eye" icon next to each instrument you’d like to appear in your part

Choose which voices appear in each 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:

1. Open a part (see above)
2. Go to the Instruments panel
3. Expand an instrument by clicking on the triangular dropdown icon
4. Click the settings icon next to the staff name
5. Select which voice(s) you want to appear in your part by ticking/un-ticking the checkboxes under Voices visible in the score

Applying styles to parts

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:

1. Ensure a part has been opened and is currently selected in the Score tab
2. Go to Format → Style...
3. Make your desired style settings changes (applicable changes will be visible in the score in real time)
4. Click OK to confirm your changes

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.

Renaming, duplicating and deleting parts

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:

1. Select a part in the Parts dialog
2. Click the "three dots" menu icon for the selected part
3. Select Duplicate from the context menu that appears
4. Enter a new name for the part (or leave the default name as is)
5. Hit Enter, or click anywhere in the Parts dialog

To rename any part:

1. Select a part in the Parts dialog
2. Click the "three dots" menu icon for the selected part
3. Select Rename from the context menu that appears
4. Type your new part name
5. Hit Enter to confirm the new name

Note you can also double click on any part in the Parts dialog to rename it.

To delete a newly created part:

1. Select a newly created part in the Parts dialog
2. Click the "three dots" menu icon for the selected part
3. Select Delete from the context menu that appears

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.

Exporting and printing parts

To export parts:

1. Click File → Export... (alternatively, select the Publish tab and click Export...)
2. Check the box next to the part(s) you want to export, or click Select all to choose all parts at once
3. Select whether to export all parts combined in one file, or leave the default export setting as each part to a separate file
4. Click Export...
5. Select your destination file and name your score in your operating system's Export dialog
6. Click Save

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:

1. Ensure the part you wish to print is selected in the Score tab
2. Click File → Print
3. Use your operating system's print dialog to print the selected part

Note that parts can currently only be printed one at a time.

Navigation

Page navigation

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

Score navigation

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

Note input

General

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

Duration

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

Pitch

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	/	/

Tablature

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

Selecting

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

Editing

General

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

Duration

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

Pitch

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

Notation

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

Manual adjustment

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

Text

General

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

Formatting

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

Lyrics

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

Chord symbols, Roman numeral analysis, Nashville numbers, figured bass

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

Other score elements

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	>	>

Score setup and formatting

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

File Operations

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
New	Ctrl+N	Cmd+N
Open	Ctrl+O	Cmd+O
Close	Ctrl+W	Cmd+W
Save	Ctrl+S	Cmd+S
Print	Ctrl+P	Cmd+P
Quit	Ctrl+Q	Cmd+Q

User interface

Playback

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Play	Space	Space
Show/hide mixer	F10	Fn+F10

Overview

The Instruments panel is a new feature in MuseScore 4. It gives you control over your instruments and some basic staff properties without having to leave the score view. All of the instruments in your score will appear in this panel.

Adding and ordering instruments

Accessing the Instruments panel

Open the Instruments panel by clicking on the Instruments tab on the left side of the screen:

Adding instruments

Click Add. This will open the Instruments dialog (see Choose instruments for more information).

Deleting instruments

To delete an instrument from the score, select the instrument and click the trash can icon, or press Delete.

Changing the order of instruments

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.

Instrument settings

Hiding/showing instruments

The visibility of entire instrument staves can be toggled by clicking the eye icon next to an instrument label.

Hidden instruments aren't ever deleted — they are simply hidden. This means they won't be printed, but you can still generate and export parts for them.

This feature might be useful if you have alternative instruments or alternative versions of a part that you'd like to toggle between (e.g. for different performers or instrumental configurations). You might also like to isolate different sections of a larger score (say, for orchestra) without actually deleting anything or generating any new project files.

Renaming instruments

Click the cog icon to expose settings for renaming your instruments. Leaving any of these fields blank will ensure that no label appears on the score or in the part for that instrument.

Replacing instruments

To replace an instrument in the Instruments panel:

1. Click the cog icon to the right of the instrument name
2. In the popup that appears, click Replace instrument
3. Select your desired replacement instrument in the dialog that appears
4. Click OK

Adding and configuring staves

The Instruments panel can also be used to add staves to an existing instrument and configure some of their basic properties.

To add a staff to an existing instrument

1. If there are no staves visible under the instrument label, click the small black triangle to the left of the label to reveal them
2. Click Add staff
3. Click the cog icon of the newly-added staff, and adjust "Staff type", if required.

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.).

To add a linked staff to an existing instrument

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:

1. If there are no staves visible under the instrument label, click the triangular "show more" icon next to the label
2. Click the cog icon next to the staff label (E.g. "Treble clef")
3. Click Create a linked staff
4. Click the cog icon of the newly-added staff, and adjust "Staff type", if required.

Configuring a staff

Each stave contains some independently configurable properties. By clicking on the cog icon alongside a staff label (E.g. "Treble clef"), you can:

• Change its staff type (including the clef and number of staff lines)
• Reduce the size of the staff (Small staff)
• Hide any measures that do not contain notation

Learn more about staff customization in Staff/part properties.

Deleting staves

The Instruments panel can also be used to delete extra staves from an instrument:

1. If there are no staves visible under the instrument label, click the small black triangle to the left of the label to reveal them
2. Click the staff you want to delete
3. Click the trash icon at the top of the instruments panel, or press Delete.
   

Note: Deleting a staff from an instrument will delete the staff in the main score as well as in any part that the instrument is used.

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.

Hiding empty staves

Ensemble scores often typically omit the staves for instruments that are not playing on any given system.

Hiding all empty staves

To automatically hide staves on systems where they are empty:

1. Ensure that nothing in your score is selected (press Esc if necessary).
2. Go to the Properties panel.
3. Click the icon next to Empty staves.

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.

Excluding specific staves from being hidden

You can specify that certain staves should not be hidden when empty:

1. Right-click a staff.
2. Click Staff/Part properties.
3. In the resulting dialog, set Hide when empty to Never.

For instruments that use two or more staves (like piano, organ, and harp), you may wish to specify that individual empty staves should be shown unless all staves for the instrument are empty. To do this, set the Hide when empty option to Instrument for each of the staves.

Temporary staves

In scores where some empty staves are not hidden in general, there may nonetheless be 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 an individual staff to hide when empty without forcing all staves to be hidden when empty:

1. Right-click a staff.
2. Click Staff/Part properties.
3. In the resulting dialog, set Hide when empty to Always.

Cutaway staves

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 accomplish this in MuseScore:

1. Right-click a staff.
2. Select Staff/Part properties.
3. In the resulting dialog, set Hide when empty to Always.
4. Enable the Cutaway option.

If you wish all staves to be displayed in this manner, you can use the Properties panel or the Hide empty staves style setting to hide the staves. However, you will 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:

1. Set the Cutaway option for the top staff.
2. Press the Apply button.
3. Press the ↓ button to move to the next staff.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have gone through all staves.

Ossia

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:

1. Add a staff as described in Adding and configuring staves.
2. Select and delete or otherwise adjust any automatically added bracket.
3. Enter the desired notation.
4. Right-click the staff.
5. Select Staff/Part properties.
6. In the resulting dialog, set Hide when empty to Always.
7. Enable the Cutaway and Small options.
8. Press OK.

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.

Other invisible measures

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:

1. Right-click the measure.
2. Select Measure properties.
3. Disable the Visible checkbox for the staff or staves in which you wish the measure to be set invisible.

Note: you cannot make a measure invisible on all staves—it must remain visible on at least one.

Implode

The Implode command allows you to do either of the following:

• Combine the notation of several voices in the same staff into one voice
• Combine notation from several staves into separate voices in one staff.

Combine notes from multiple voices in a single staff into one voice

1. Select a range of measures in a single staff.
2. From the menu bar, select Tools→Implode.

All selected notes in the staff are now displayed in voice 1.

Combine notes from multiple staves into multiple voices on a single staff

1. Ensure that there is only one voice in each staff to be imploded;
2. Select a range of measures in the top staff and extend this selection downwards to include up to 4 staffs.
3. From the menu bar, select Tools→Implode.

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

Explode allows you to do either of the following:

• Copy a passage of single notes, in a single staff, into one or more staves below.
• Transform the chords of a selected passage of music, in a single staff, into their constituent notes on one or more staves below.

Copy passage of single notes to multiple staves

1. Ensure that the passage is in voice 1 (there should be no notes or rests in other voices).
2. Select the desired range of measures
3. Extend the selection downwards through as many staves as you wish to copy to.
4. From the menu bar, select Tools→Explode.

The passage in the top staff is copied to each of the selected staves below.

Separate a passage of chords into its constituent notes

In this case the chords in a selected passage of music are separated into their constituent notes as follows:

• If the passage is all in voice 1, the top note of the chord is retained on the top staff, while the lower notes are moved to subsequent staves.
• If the passage contains multiple voices, voice 1 notes are retained on the top staff, while other voices are moved to subsequent staves.
• All exploded notes end up in voice 1.

1. Ensure that there are enough staves underneath the source staff to receive the exploded notes. Create extra staves if necessary using the Instruments panel.
2. Choose one of two options:
   • Select a range of measures in the source staff: this allows all notes to be exploded if there are enough staves available.
   • Select a range of measures that includes both the source staff and also extends downwards to include one or more destination staves: This limits the number of exploded notes/voices to the number of selected staves.
3. From the menu bar, select Tools→Explode.

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.

Adding an instrument change

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 and system text in that it is linked to playback, allowing for a change in sound to the new instrument.

To add an instrument change:

1. Click on a note or rest to select the start point for the change
2. Click on the Change instr. palette item in the Text Palette
3. Choose which instrument you wish to change to in the Select instrument dialog that appears
4. Click OK

The instruction to change to the new instrument will appear above the selected insertion point in the score.

Working with instrument changes

Removing an instrument change

To remove an instrument change, click once on a Change instrument text element to select it, and press either Del or Backspace.

Re-labelling an instrument change

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.

Instrument changes in the mixer

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 staff type

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.

You can change the appearance of a staff mid-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.

Adding a staff type change

1. Select a measure in the score and, in the Layout palette
2. Click the "Staff type change" symbol to add it to your score

Alternatively, you can drag the symbol from the palette to a measure in your score.

Setting staff properties

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

Overview

The Staff / Part Properties dialog allows you to make changes to the display of a particular staff; and to adjust the name, tuning, transposition, and instrument of the corresponding instrument part.

To open the dialog:

• Right-click onto either an empty area in a staff, or the instrument name, and select Staff / Part Properties….

An instrument part often consists of only one staff (e.g. violin, trumpet, flute) but there are notable exceptions. For example, a piano requires two staves—treble and bass; a guitar may need both an 8vb treble staff and a tablature staff, and so on.

Staff properties

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:

• Lines: The number of lines making up the staff.
• Line Distance: The distance between two staff lines—measured in spaces (sp.).
  Note: It is not recommended to change this value from the default. If you need to make the staff larger or smaller, use the Page Settings dialog instead.
• Extra distance above staff: Increases or decreases the distance between the selected staff and the one above in all systems.
  Note: (1) This setting does not apply to the top staff of a system, which is controlled by the minimum/maximum system distance (see Formatting). (2) To adjust the spacing above just one staff line in a particular system, see Fitting systems on a page: Spacers.
• Scale: Changes the size of the selected staff and all associated elements as a percentage (to adjust the overall score size, use "Scaling" (Format→Page Settings…).
• Hide when empty: Together with the “Hide empty staves” setting in Format→Style…→Score, this determines if the staff will be hidden when it is empty:
  • Auto (default): The staff will be hidden if it is empty and “Hide empty staves” is set.
  • Always: The staff will be hidden when empty, even if “Hide empty staves” is not set.
  • Never: The staff will never be hidden when empty.
  • Instrument: For instruments containing multiple staves, the staff is hidden only if all staves for that instrument are empty.
• Show clef: Whether the staff clef will be shown.
• Show time signature: Whether the staff time signature(s) will be shown or not.
• Show barlines: Whether the staff barlines will be shown.
• Hide system barline: Show/hide barline at left-hand edge of the staff.
• Merge matching rests: Check if you want matching rests in different voices to be merged rather than separate.
• Do not hide if system is empty: Never hide this staff, even if the entire system is empty. This overrules any “Hide empty staves” setting in Format→Style…→Score.
• Small staff: Create a reduced-size staff. You can set the default from the menu in Format→Style…→Sizes.
• Invisible staff lines: Make staff lines invisible.
• Staff line color: Use a color picker to change the color of the staff lines.
• Cutaway: Used to create a cutaway staff in which only measures containing notes are visible (e.g. Ossia (Wikipedia); or cutaway scores). This can be used independently of “Hide when empty” or “Hide empty staves”.
• Advanced style properties: (see below)

Advanced style properties

Clicking on Advanced Style Properties… opens a dialog giving access to advanced display options for the staff. These options will vary depending on the staff type chosen.

Template (all staves)

At the bottom of the Advanced Style Properties dialog there are a number of buttons which allow you to make changes to the staff display by selecting a different template.

Note: The options available here depend on the type of staff—whether standard, plucked-string staff/tab, or percussion.

To change the 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).

Standard and Percussion staff options only

• Lines / Line distance:
• Show clef / time signature / barlines / key signature / ledger lines: Set to give the desired display on the staff.
• Stemless: If checked, staff notes will have no stem, hook or beam.
• Notehead scheme: See Notehead scheme.

Tablature options only

• Lines: This number usually matches the number of strings in the String Data dialog (exceptions being the Baroque Lute, Theorbo etc. which have more strings than lines).
  Line distance:
• Show clef / time signature / barlines: Set to give the desired display on the staff.
• Upside down: If not checked, the top tablature line will refer to the highest string, and the bottom tablature line to the lowest string (this is the most common option). If checked, the top tablature line refers to the lowest string, and the bottom tablature line to the highest line (e.g. Italian-style lute tablatures).
• Preview: Displays a short section of a specimen score as it would look with the current properties applied.

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:

• Font: The font used to draw fret marks. A selection of eight fonts are provided supporting all the necessary symbols in 8 different styles—both modern and historic..
• Size: Font size of fret marks in typographic points. Built-in fonts usually look good at a size of 9-10pt.
• Vertical offset: MuseScore tries to place symbols in a sensible way and you do not usually need to alter this value (set to 0) for built-in fonts. If the font has symbols not aligned on the base line (or in some other way MuseScore does not expect), this property allows you to move fret-marks up (negative offsets) or down (positive offsets) for better vertical positioning. Values are in sp.
• Marks are: Select from using Numbers (“1”, “2”…) or Letters (“a”, “b”…) as fret marks. When letters are used, the letter “j” is skipped and “k” is used for the 9th fret.
• Marks are drawn: Choice of placing fretmarks On lines or Above lines.
• Lines are: Choice of Continuous (lines pass through fret marks) or Broken (a small space appears in the line where the fretmark is displayed).
• Show back-tied fret marks: If unchecked, only the first note in a series of tied notes is displayed. If ticked, all notes in the tied series are displayed.
• Show fingering in tablature: Check to allow the display of fingering symbols applied from a palette.

Note Values tab

This group of properties defines the appearance of the symbols indicating note values.

• Font: The font used to draw the value symbols. Currently 5 fonts are provided supporting all the necessary symbols in 5 different styles (modern, Italian tablature, French tablature, French baroque (headless), French baroque). Used only with the Note symbols option.
• Size: Font size, in typographic points. Built-in fonts usually look good at a size of 15pt. Used only with the Note symbols option.
• Vertical offset: Applies only when Note symbols is selected (see below). Use negative offset values to raise the note value symbols, positive values to lower them.
• Shown as:
  • None: No note value will be drawn (as in the examples above)
  • Note symbols: Symbols in the shape of notes will be drawn above the staff. When this option is selected, symbols are drawn only when the note value changes, without being repeated (by default) for a sequence of notes all of the same value.
  • Stems and beams: Note stems and beams (or hooks) will be drawn. Values are indicated for each note, using the same typographic mechanics as for a regular staff; all commands of the standard Beam Palette can be applied to these beams too.
• Repeat: If several notes in sequence have the same duration, you can specify if and where to repeat the same note symbol. i.e. Never / At new system / At new measure /Always.
  Note: This option is only available if “Shown as: Note symbols” is selected (see above).
• Stem style:
  • Beside staff: Stems are drawn as fixed height lines above/below the staff.
  • Through staff: Stems run through the staff to reach the fret marks.
    Note: This option is only available when “Shown as: Stems and Beams” is selected (see above).
• Stem position:
  • Above: Stems and beams are drawn above the staff.
  • Below: Stems and beams are drawn below the staff.
    Note: This option is only available when “Shown as: Stems and Beams” and “Stem style: Beside staff” is selected (see above).
• Half notes: None / As short stems / As slashed stems.
  Note: This option is only available when “Shown as: Stems and Beams and “Stem style: Beside staff” is selected (see above).
• Show rests; Whether note symbols should be used to indicate also the rests; when used for rests, note symbols are drawn at a slightly lower position. Used only with the Note symbols option.

Part properties

Instrument

The name of the instrument is shown here. To change the instrument,

• Click on Replace instrument and make a choice from the "Select Instrument" dialog.

Names

• Long instrument name: Name displayed to the left of the staff in the first system of the score or section.
• Short instrument name: Name displayed to the left of the staff in subsequent systems of the score.

Usable pitch range

• Amateur: Notes outside the amateur range are colored olive green / dark yellow in the score.
• Professional: Notes outside the professional range are colored red in the score.

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.”

Transposition

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:

• Default: Let MuseScore decide
• Flats: Prefer flats
• Sharps: Prefer sharps

Strings and frets

Staves of fretted, plucked-string instruments have a few extra options in addition to those listed above,

• Number of strings: Displays the number of instrument strings.
• Edit String Data…: This button opens a dialog box which allows you to set the number and tuning of strings. See Change tuning.

Various types of brackets and a curly brace are provided in the "Brackets" palette.

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)

Adding brackets

To add a bracket or brace to all systems:

1. Click on the first measure of the staff where you want the bracket/brace to start, hold Shift and click on the measure where you want the bracket/brace to end.
2. Click the desired bracket icon in the "Brackets" palette.

Alternatively:

1. Select the start measure, and click the bracket into place from the "Brackets" palette.
2. Select the bracket, click on the adjustment handle and drag it down to the desired position. It will snap into place.

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)

Editing brackets

If you select a bracket/brace, you can edit its properties in the Properties panel (sidebar).

• Column: Moves the bracket inwards/outwards.
• Span: Extends or retracts the end of the bracket/brace.

Changing bracket type

• Select the bracket/brace in the score to be changed, then click on a new bracket/brace from the "Brackets" palette.

Changing bracket span

Use one of the following methods:

• Select the bracket, click on the adjustment handle, and drag it to the desired position.
• Select the bracket, click on the adjustment handle, and press Shift+↑/↓ to move it from staff to staff.
• Alter "Span" in the Properties panel.

Deleting brackets

• To delete a bracket/brace, select it and press Del.

Customizing bracket appearance

Brackets/Braces also have a few global properties which can be adjusted from the Style menu:

• Adjust thickness and distance from the staff in Format→Style→System.
• Adjust distance above/below in Format→Style→Page→Enable vertical justification of staves.

Overview

Time signatures are applied to the score from the "Time Signatures" palette.

Setting the initial time signature for your score

This is done from page 2 of the New Score dialog.

Adding a time signature change to your score

Use any of the following methods:

• Select an existing time signature, measure, note or rest in the score, and click a time signature in a palette.
• Drag and drop a time signature from a palette onto a space in a measure, or onto an existing time signature.

Deleting a time signature

• To delete a time signature in the score, select it and press Del.

Controlling the visibility of time signatures

To hide/show time signatures on a particular staff:

1. Right-click on the staff and choose "Staff/Part properties";
2. Uncheck/Check "Show time signature".

To disable/enable all courtesy time signatures (at the end of systems):

1. From the menu bar, select Format→Style→Page.
2. Uncheck/Check "Create courtesy time signatures".

To hide or show an individual courtesy time signature:

1. Select the parent time signature;
2. In the Time signature section of the Properties panel, uncheck/check "Show courtesy time signature".

Creating a custom time signature

1. In the Time Signatures palette, click on More, then, in the supplementary palette, click on the “Create Time Signature” button;
2. In Value enter the Numerator, Denominator, and Text (the latter is optional, when you need the display to be different from the actual time signature);
3. Adjust the default note beaming in the Beam Groups section (see Beam groups (below). To restore the default beaming pattern, press Reset;
4. Press Add to transfer the newly-created time signature to the Time Signatures palette.

You can also do the same thing from the Master Palette (Shift+F9).

Adding a local time signature for a single staff

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:

• Hold down Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) and drag and drop a time signature from a palette onto an empty measure.

Resizing a time signature

1. Select a time signature
2. In the Time signature section of the Properties panel, adjust the horizontal and vertical Scale values.

Time signature properties

To open the Time signature properties dialog use one of the following:

• Right-click on a time signature and from the context menu select "Time signature properties".
• Select a time signature, then click on Time signature properties in the "Time signature" section of the Properties panel.

Appearance

This part of the dialog allows you to adjust the nominal appearance of the signature without affecting its underlying rhythmic value.

• Text: Insert the nominal numerator and denominator that you wish to appear on the score.

Alternatively, you can make a selection from a range of time signature symbols below.

Beam Groups

This section allows you to adjust the default beaming patterns of notes occurring in the section controlled by the time signature.

• Click on a note to break the beam in front of it. Click again to reform the beam.
• Alternatively you can drag and drop a "beam selector" icon to the note after the beam you want to make or break.
• Click Reset to restore the default beaming pattern.

Check the "Also change shorter notes" box if you want changes to apply to beam groups below as well.
For more information on beams, see Beams.

Time signature style

There are a few global style properties for time signatures (see Format→Style).

• Create courtesy time signatures: Found in the Page section. Check or uncheck to turn on or off.
• Clef to time signature / Key signature to time signature / Barline to time signature / Time signature to barline / Time signature to first note: Found in the Measure section. Allows you to set spacing for various aspects of time signature layout.

Stem direction

Default stem direction

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.

Flipping stem direction

1. Select either the notehead, stem or attached beam (if any)
2. Use any of the following methods:
   • Press X
   • Click on the "Flip direction" icon in the Note input toolbar
   • Select a stem direction from the Stem tab in the Properties panel

This action will flip any attached beam as well.

Changing stem length

1. Select the stem
2. Use one of the following methods:
   • Press ↑/↓ to extend or shorten the stem
   • Change Length in the Properties panel

Creating stemless notes

To hide the stems of individual notes:

1. Select one or more notehead/s
2. Go to the Properties panel
3. Select the Stem tab
4. Select the checkbox next to Stemless

To hide all stems in an instrument part:

1. Right-click on the staff and select Staff/Part properties
2. Click on Advanced style properties
3. Select the checkbox next to Stemless

Stem and flag properties

Properties specific to stems and flags can be edited from the Stem tab in the Note section of the Properties panel:

• Stemless removes the stem (and associated beams) from the selected note(s)
• Stem direction:
  • Auto determines the direction of the stem according to the voice of the selected note(s)
  • Up and Down override the default stem direction
• Flag style sets the appearance of flags for the entire score to either traditional (default) or straight
• Thickness determines the stem's width
• Length determines the stem's length
• Stem offset can be used to move the stem in a horizontal and/or vertical direction

Stem and flag style

Global settings for Stem thickness and Flag style may also be set in Format→Style→Notes.

See also

Beams

Controlling which notes are beamed

Setting the default beaming for a time signature

By default, MuseScore beams notes according to settings in the Time signature properties dialog. To change this automatic pattern of note-beaming, see Beam groups.

Changing the beaming for selected notes

You can override the default beaming of any individual note, using beam symbols in the Beam Properties palette, or in the Beam tab of the Properties toolbar. Hover over the icons for more info on what each one does.

To change one or more note beams use one of the following methods:

• Select one or more notes and/or rests in the score and click the desired symbol in the Beam Properties palette.
• Select one or more notes and/or rests in the score and click on a symbol under "Beam types" (Beam tab of the Properties panel).
• Drag and drop a beam symbol from the Beam Properties palette onto a note or rest in the score.

The following table describes the effect of each beam symbol:

Icon	Name	Description
	Auto Beam	Apply default beaming as determined by the current time signature (see above).
	No beam	Break beams before and after the selected note.
	Break beam left	If the note is beamed to a previous note, break the beam.
	Break inner beams (eighth)	Start a second level beam at this note.
	Break inner beams (sixteenth)	Start a third level beam at this note.
	Join beams	Join beams on both sides of the note.
	Add feathered beam: decelerate	Start feathered beam to indicate gradually slower tempo.
	Add feathered beam: accelerate	Start feathered beam to indicate gradually faster tempo.

Note: The beam between two notes/rests is determined by both of the note/rests. For example: Two consecutive notes with a status of start beam here will not have a beam between them. If the two consecutive notes are set up to connect to each other they will beam, if one of them is not set up for this, the two notes will not beam.

Controlling the appearance of beams

Changing the angle of a selected beam

1. Click on the beam you wish to adjust;
2. Click on the left/right adjustment handle and adjust the height using one of the following methods:
   • Drag the handle.
   • Move the handle using ↑/↓.
   • In the Beam section of the Properties panel, adjust the "Beam height" properties.
3. Use the center adjustment handle to set the overall height of the beam.

Creating a feathered beam

To create feathered beams use one of the following methods:

• Select one or more beams, notes or rests in the score and click the desired symbol in the Beam Properties palette.
• Select one or more beams, notes or rests in the score and click on a symbol under "Beam types" (Beam tab of the Properties panel).
• Drag and drop a beam symbol from the Beam Properties palette onto a beams in the score.

Please note that only beams with two or more components (i.e. 16th notes or shorter) can become feathered.
See the table above for a description of the beam symbol effects.

Beam properties

Properties specific to beams can be edited from the Beam tab of the Note section in the Properties panel:

Beam types: Alter the beaming pattern at selected notes.
Feather beams: Ditto.
Force horizontal: Make beams of selected notes horizontal.
Beam height: Adjust height and angle of beams.

Editing of these properties is covered in the sections above.

Beam style

A few global properties of beams can be set from Format→Style→Beams:

Beam distance: The vertical distance from one beam to the next.
Beam thickness
Broken beam minimum length
Flatten all beams: Check to make all note beams horizontal, regardless of context.

Overview

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:

• sixteenth notes should be beamed in a way that clarifies each beat
• eighth notes should be beamed in a way that clarifies each group of two beats
• longer notes that start off the beat should be broken up with ties to clarify each beat or group of two beats

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.

Regrouping rhythms

To regroup rhythms according to the common conventions of standard music notation:

1. Select the passage you wish to regroup.
2. From the main menu, select Tools→Regroup rhythms.

The rhythm itself is not changed—only the notation of it.

See also

• Notation Rules: Rhythm

Creating tuplets

A tuplet is any group of notes that divide the beat in a way other than what is normally permitted by the time signature. Triplets consisting of three eighth notes in one beat are the most familiar type of tuplet.

Simple tuplets

A simple tuplet such as the triplet shown above can be entered in note input mode or in normal mode.

In note input mode

1. Navigate to the note/rest (or blank measure) where you want the tuplet to start.
2. Select a final duration for the whole tuplet group (e.g. for an eighth note triplet, this will be a quarter note—keyboard shortcut 5).
3. Use one of the following commands:
   • Press the keyboard shortcut for the required tuplet: i.e. Ctrl+3 for a triplet; Ctrl+4 for quadruplet … and so on, up to Ctrl+9 for a nonuplet. (Mac: Cmd+3 … Cmd+9);
   • From the menu, choose Add→Tuplets…, then select the required tuplet.
   • From the note input toolbar, click on the Tuplet icon and select from the dropdown.

The note or rest is automatically divided for you and an appropriate annotation is applied.

4. Enter the desired series of notes/rests.

In normal mode

1. Select a note or rest that specifies the full duration of the desired tuplet group. You may need to create this in the score beforehand. Thus, if you want an eighth note triplet you need to select a quarter note/rest.
2. Use one of the following commands:
   • Press the keyboard shortcut for the required tuplet: i.e. Ctrl+3 for a triplet; Ctrl+4for quadruplet … and so on, up to Ctrl+9 for a nonuplet. (Mac: Cmd+3 … Cmd+9).
   • From the menu, choose Add→Tuplets…, then select the required tuplet.
   • From the note input toolbar, click on the Tuplet icon, and select from the dropdown.

The note or rest is automatically divided for you and an appropriate annotation is applied.

3. Enter the desired series of notes/rests.

Consecutive tuplets

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.

Custom tuplets

More complex tuplets can be created as follows:

1. In note input mode, select a note duration equaling the total duration of the tuplet; or, if in normal mode, select a note or rest of the desired overall duration.
2. Open the Create Tuplet dialog from either the menu (Add→Tuplets…), or by clicking on the tuplet icon (note input toolbar).
   
3. In the Ratio field, specify the desired number ratio of the tuplet.
4. Set Number and Bracket to get the required tuplet display.
5. Press OK to close the dialog.
6. Enter the desired series of notes and rests.

Nested tuplets

Tuplets can be nested within other tuplets.

To create a nested tuplet:

1. Create the outer tuplet as described above.
2. While entering the individual notes, create inner tuplets in the way (select the total notated duration for the inner tuplet, then use one of the tuplet commands to divide it appropriately).

Changing the display of tuplets

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.

Tuplet properties

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.

Tuplet style

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:

• Properties
  • Direction
  • Number type
  • Bracket type
• Brackets
  • Bracket thickness
  • Bracket hook height
• Vertical distance from notes
  • Maximum slope
  • Vertical distance from stem
  • Vertical distance from notehead
  • Avoid staves
• Horizontal distance from notes
  • Distance before stem of first note
  • Distance before head of first note
  • Distance after stem of last note
  • Distance after head of last note

A full range of common barlines is contained in the Barlines palette.

Adding double and other special barlines

Changing barline type for all staves

1. Select one or more barlines in a staff ;
2. Click on the desired barline in the 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.

Changing barline type for a single staff

1. Select one or more barlines in the score;
2. Hold Ctrl then click on the desired barline in the palette.

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.

Adding mid-measure barlines

1. Select one or more notes.
2. Click on a barline in the palette.

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.

Changing barline length

Here we are concerned with the vertical extension of barlines in order to link staves together, or their reduction to create partial barlines.

Extending all barlines in a staff

1. Select a barline on the "start" staff;
2. Use either of the following:
   • Drag the end handle downwards until it meets the destination staff. This method is the best for extending barlines through multiple staves.
   • Select the edit handle and press ↓.
   • Check the "Span to next staff" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel; then click Set as staff default
3. Repeat if required for subsequent staves.

The barline snaps into place, and all other barlines in that staff follow.

Extending selected barlines in a staff

1. Select one or more barlines (and their counterparts in the staves below if there are more than two staffs to join).
2. Check the "Span to next staff" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel.

Creating partial barlines

Partial barlines can be easily created by adjusting "Span from" and "Span to" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel.

Creating barlines between staves only (Mensurstrich)

See Working with Mensurstrich.

Barline properties

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.

Barline style

Selected properties for all barlines in the score can be changed in Format→Style→Barlines:

See also

• Fixed Measure Widths for a workaround to ensure barlines are aligned vertically between systems.
• Repeat signs

Showing and hiding measure numbers

Showing measure numbers automatically

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:

1. From the menu bar, select Format→Style→Measure numbers.
2. Edit the following properties as required:
   • Measure numbers: This is ON by default. Uncheck to turn off measure numbering.
   • Show first: Check to show measure number on the first system of a section.
   • All staves: Check to show measure numbers on every staff.
   • Every system / Interval: If "Every system" is selected, measure numbers are shown at the start of each system. If "Interval" is selected, you can choose a measure interval at which to display measures.
3. Make changes to positioning using the controls on the right.
4. Edit the display of multimeasure numbers in the section below:
   • Show measure number range at multimeasure rests. If checked, you can also customize the appearance and position of the numbering. Unchecked (the default setting), only the count of multimeasure rests is displayed.

Showing measure numbers manually

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.

Hiding measure numbers

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.

Changing the measure number sequence

Excluding a measure from the count

In Measure properties, check "Exclude from measure count" (in the Other pane).

Altering the numbering of a measure

In Measure properties, edit "Add to measure number". Both positive and negative numbers are accepted.

Resetting measure numbering for a new section

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".

Changing the position of measure numbers

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.

Measure number properties

Note that any changes made to a measure number in the Properties panel may be lost if the layout changes.

Measure number style

Various properties for all measure numbers in the score can be adjusted in Format→Style→Measure numbers. Most are dealt with in the sections above.

See also

Other measure-related pages:

• Measure rests and multimeasure rests
• Pickup and non-metered measures
• Measure properties
• Adding and removing measures
• Mensural notation and Mensurstrich

Measure rest

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).

Multimeasure rest

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.

Enabling and disabling multimeasure rests

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:

1. From the menu, choose Format→Style…→Rests.
2. Check "Multimeasure rests" (if the option is not already enabled).
3. Edit "Minimum number of empty measures".

Multimeasure rests can be turned on/off independently in the score and instrument parts.

Breaking multimeasure rests

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.

1. Disable multimeasure rests;
2. Right-click on the measure at which you want the multimeasure rest to break, and select Measure properties.
3. In the dialog, check "Break multimeasure rest".
4. Click OK.
5. Re-enable multimeasure rests.

Multimeasure rest properties

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.

Multimeasure rest style

Some global properties of multimeasure rests can be set from Format→Style…→Measure numbers:

Others from Format→Style…→Rests:

See also

Other measure-related pages:

• Measure numbering
• Pickup and non-metered measures
• Measure properties
• Adding and removing measures
• Mensural notation and Mensurstrich

Creating a pickup measure

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.

Specifying the pickup duration during score creation

1. Click on Measures in the "Additional score information" page (page 2) of the New Score dialog;
2. Check "Create pickup measure";
3. Choose an underlying time signature using the spin controls below.

Converting a measure into a pickup

1. Right-click on the measure and choose Measure properties;
2. In the Measure duration section, next to "Actual", choose an underlying "time signature";
3. Click OK; or click Apply and then ← or → if you want to configure an adjacent partial measure.

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.

Creating non-metered measures

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:

Inserting notes and rests

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:

Using a keyboard shortcut

1. Select the note or rest in the score before which you want to insert notes/rests;
2. Enter note-input mode;
3. Select a duration;
4. Press Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift) while adding the note/rest from the keyboard or mouse.

Using Insert mode

1. Make sure you have the element selected where you want to start inserting notes/rests;
2. Click and hold the Note input icon, and select Insert (or if Insert is the current default, just press N);
3. Enter a note or rest as you would in step-time mode. Each note is inserted before the current cursor position;
4. Move the cursor forward and backward if required (using the arrow keys), to change the insertion point.

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.

Joining measures

This command joins selected measures into one measure.

Method A. To join two measures only:

1. Select the barline between the two measures;
2. Press Ctrl+Del; or select Tools→Remove selected range.

Method B. To join any number of measures:

1. Select the measures you want to join;
2. From the menu bar, select Tools→Measures→Join selected 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.

Splitting a measure

This command inserts a barline before a selected note, splitting the measure into two.

Use one of the following methods:

• Select a note; then hold Ctrl and click a barline in a palette.
• Hold Ctrl and drag a barline (from a palette) to a note.
• Select a note; then, from the menu bar, select Tools→Measures→Split Measure Before Selected Note/Rest.

See also

• Working with non-metered music.

Other measure-related pages:

• Measure numbering
• Measure and multimeasure rests
• Measure properties
• Adding and removing measures
• Mensural notation and Mensurstrich

Opening and using the dialog

The Measure properties dialog allows you to adjust various properties of an individual measure—such as visibility, duration, numbering and width ("Stretch").

• 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.

Staves

Visible : Uncheck/check the boxes to hide/show the selected measure.
Stemless: Check/uncheck the box to hide/show stems.

Measure duration

Nominal: This is the time signature set in the score.
Actual: Adjust these figures to increase or decrease the duration of a measure.

Other

Exclude from measure count: Check to make the count skip the selected measure.
Break multimeasure rest: See Measure rests and multimeasure rests.
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

See also

• Fixed Measure Widths for a workaround to ensure barlines are aligned vertically between systems.

Other measure-related pages:

• Measure numbering
• Measure and multimeasure rests
• Pickup and non-metered measures
• Adding and removing measures
• Mensural notation and Mensurstrich

Clefs are applied to the score from the "Clefs" palette.

Setting the initial clef for a staff

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.

Adding or changing a clef

Add/Change a start clef

To change a clef at the start of a system, use one of the following:

• Select the first measure in the system and click a clef symbol in the palette.
• Drag a clef from the palette onto the first system measure.
• Select the clef and click a clef in the palette.
• Drag a new clef from the palette onto the clef.

Add/Change a mid-measure clef

To add/change a mid-measure clef before a note, use one of the following:

• Click on the note, then click a clef in the palette.
• Drag a clef from a palette onto the note

To add/change a mid-measure clef in front of a barline, use one of the following:

• Select the following measure and click a palette clef.
• Drag a clef from a palette onto the following measure.

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.

Delete

To delete a clef, just select it and press Del. Note that clefs at the beginning of systems cannot be deleted.

Controlling the visibility of clefs

Standard clefs

To hide/show clefs at the beginning of all systems except the first:

1. From the menu bar, select Format→Style→Page;
2. Uncheck/check Create clef for all systems.

Mid-measure clefs are unaffected.

To hide/show all clefs on a selected staff:

1. Right-click on a measure;
2. Choose "Staff/Part properties";
3. In the dialog, uncheck "Show clef".

This affects clefs at the start of a system and mid-measure.

Courtesy clefs

To hide/show courtesy clefs:

1. From the menu bar, select Format→Style→Page;
2. Uncheck/Check the Create courtesy clefs.

If courtesy clefs are enabled, you can still hide an individual courtesy clef as follows:

1. Select the relevant standard clef;
2. In the Properties panel, uncheck/check Show courtesy clef on previous system.

Clefs and transposition

Using octave clefs

[To be added]

Using different clefs for transposed and concert pitch

[To be added]

Clef properties

See Courtesy clefs (above).

Clef style

Tablature users can select the type of TAB clef displayed:

1. From the menu, select Format→Style→Clefs
2. Set the default TAB clef to "Standard" or "Serif" as required.

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).

Overview

Key signatures are applied to the score from the "Key signatures" palette.

Setting the initial key signature for your score

The initial key signature is set from page 2 of the New Score dialog.

Adding a key signature change to your score

Use one of the following methods:

• Select a measure and click a key signature in the palette.
• Drag a key signature from the palette onto an empty part of a measure.

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.

Adding a local key signature for a single staff

If you wish to add a key signature to only one staff, leaving others unchanged, apply one of the following methods:

• Select the measure from which you want the new key signature to apply, then press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) and click on a key signature in the (Key signatures) palette.
• Press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd), then drag a key signature from a palette on to a measure.

Selecting a key signature for a single staff

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.

Replacing an existing key signature

Use any of the following methods:

• Select the key signature to be replaced, and click a new key signature in a palette.
• Drag a key signature from the palette onto the key signature to be replaced (or onto the measure containing the key signature).

To replace the key signature on a single staff only, press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) before carrying out the above operations.

Deleting a key signature

• To delete a key signature in the score, select it and press Del.
• To delete a key signature from single staff only, hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while selecting it, then press Del.

Controlling the visibility of key signatures

To show key signatures only at beginning of a score, and at a key change:

1. From the menu bar, select Format→Style→Page;
2. Uncheck/Check "Create key signature for all systems".

To hide/show all courtesy key signatures (at the end of systems):

1. From the menu bar, elect Format→Style→Page;
2. Uncheck/Check "Create courtesy key signatures".

To hide/show a particular courtesy key signature:

1. Select the parent key signature;
2. In the Properties panel, uncheck/check "Show courtesy key signature on previous system".

Key signatures and transposing instruments

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.

Open/Atonal key signature

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.

Creating a custom key signature

To create a custom signature:

1. In the "Key signatures" palette, click More, then Create key signature
   

2. Drag accidentals onto the staff image as required. Note: Accidentals are horizontally aligned by default. If you want to an accidental in a custom position, hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while dragging it.

   

3. To remove an accidental select it and press Del. Note: The Clear button deletes all added accidentals.

4. To add the completed signature to the main palette, click Add.

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.

Key signature properties

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".

Key signature style

Various style properties affect key signature display.

Format→Style→Page

Create key signature for all systems
Create courtesy signatures

The use of these properties is discussed in Controlling the visibility of key signatures (above).

Format→Style→Accidentals

Here you can change the way accidentals are displayed in key signature changes in the score.

Format→Style→Measure

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.

See also

• Transposition

Overview

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.

Transposing with keyboard shortcuts

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:

Transpose chromatically

Press ↑ or ↓ to move the selection up/down in semitone steps

Transpose diatonically

Press Alt+Shift+↑/↓ to move the selection up/down in scale degrees (Mac: ⌥+Shift+↑/↓).

Transpose by an octave

Press Ctrl+↑/↓ to move the selection up/down in octave steps (Mac: ⌘+↑/↓).

Using the transpose dialog

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...

Transpose Chromatically

When this is selected, you can choose to transpose to a specific key, or by specified interval.

To transpose chromatically to a specific key:

1. Select To key
2. Select whether to transpose to the Closest key (relative to the current key signature of the selection), or Up or Down to the destination key signature
3. Choose your destination key signature from the drop down menu
4. Leave Transpose key signatures selected to transpose any existing key signatures in your selection (deselecting this will leave any existing key signatures unchanged)
5. Leave Transpose chord symbols selected to transpose any existing chord symbols in your selection (deselecting this will leave any existing chord symbols unchanged)
6. Click OK

To transpose chromatically by interval

To transpose selected notes up or down in semitone increments:

1. Select By interval
2. Select whether to transpose your selection Up or Down by the specified interval
3. Select the transposition interval from the drop down menu
4. Select options for Transpose key signatures and Transpose chord symbols as required (see above)
5. Click OK

Transpose Diatonically

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!

1. Select Transpose Diatonically
2. Select whether to transpose your selection Up or Down by the specified interval
3. Leave Keep degree alterations selected to retain any accidentals in the selection (Note: accidentals will be modified relative to the existing key signature. Note also: Deselecting this will remove any existing accidentals upon transposition)
4. Leave Transpose chord symbols selected to transpose any existing chord symbols in your selection (see above)
5. Click OK

Working with transposing instruments

Transposed and concert pitch

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 the program is displayed with all the staves at written pitch. However, if you wish to view the score at concert pitch just check the "Concert pitch" box (to the left of the tuning fork icon) in the status bar.

Setting the interval of transposition

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.

1. Right-click on the instrument staff and select Staff/Part properties;
2. Next to "Transpose" in the lower part of the dialog, select the interval that the instrument sounds above/below concert pitch. (Music for the Bb clarinet, for example, is written a tone above its sounding pitch and the transpose setting is therefore a major second down.)
   
3. Click OK.

The correct transposed key signature will now appear on the staff.

Controlling enharmonic spelling

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.

Overview

Octave (Ottava) lines are used to indicate that a section of music is to be played one or more octaves above or below written pitch; the line may be dotted or solid:

8--------┐or 8va--------┐: Play one octave above written pitch.
8--------┘or 8va--------┘: Play one octave 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 automatically adjusts playback of the score under the ottava to the correct pitch.

Ottava lines may be found in the Lines palette.

Adding an octave line to your score

See Adding a line to your score.

To adjust the range and vertical position of the line, see Adjusting elements directly.

Octave line properties

Properties specific to the selected ottava(s) can be adjusted in the Ottava section of the Properties panel, namely:

Style tab

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.

Text tab

This has a similar user interface to general lines (see Line properties), but uses special code to specify the ottava text.

Octave line style

Default properties for ottavas can be adjusted in Format→Style→Ottava.

You can choose from an extensive range of alternative noteheads including diamond, crosshead, and many others.

A number of alternative notehead systems are also available allowing you, for example, to write music with pitch names in noteheads, solfege, or shape-note music. e.g.

Changing notehead direction

To flip a notehead horizontally (left to right of stem or vice-versa), use one of the following:

• Press Shift+X.
• Set Note direction in Properties: Note.
  

This also works for a selection of notes.

(Note: Contrast this command with X which flips the stem and beam vertically (top to bottom or vice versa)

Changing notehead shape

1. Select one or more noteheads;
2. Use one of the following:
   • Select a notehead from Notehead type in Properties: Note.
   • Click on a notehead in the Noteheads palette.

Alternatively, you can drag a notehead symbol from a palette onto a notehead in the score.

Sharing noteheads between voices

To force two offset noteheads in different voices to share a single notehead, use one of the following methods:

• Make the smaller-value notehead invisible. This works for the majority of cases.
• Select the smaller value notehead and in the Note section of the Properties toolbar change "Head type (visual only)" to that of the higher value note.

Note: MuseScore uses the following rules for sharing noteheads:

• Notes with stems in the same direction do not share noteheads.
• Dotted notes do not share noteheads with undotted notes.
• Black notes do not share noteheads with white notes.
• Whole notes never share noteheads.

Remove duplicate fretmarks in tablature

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.

Alternative notehead systems

If you wish to notate music in a shape-note style, solfege, or show pitch names in noteheads, for example, you should first score it in conventional notation. Then select all the noteheads and choose an option from Notehead system in Properties: Note.

Adding pitch and velocity information to notes

To edit the playback velocity of a note:

• In the Playback: General section of the Properties panel, edit "Velocity". This adds or subtracts the displayed value to/from the absolute velocity of the note indicated in the score.

To modify the playback pitch of a note (without altering notation):

• In the Playback: General section of the Properties panel, edit "Tuning (cents)". This adds/subtracts the displayed value to/from the note pitch shown in the score.

Notehead properties

After selecting a notehead, the following properties can be edited in the Note section of the Properties panel:

Notehead parentheses: Add or remove parentheses.
Notehead type: See Changing notehead shape (above).
Hide notehead: Makes notehead invisible (see also, Properties: visibility).
Small notehead:
Duration dot position: This provides an alternative vertical offset for the duration dot.
Notehead system: See Alternative notehead systems (above).
Notehead type (visual only): See Change offset noteheads to a shared notehead (above).
Note direction: See Changing notehead direction (above).
Notehead offset: This changes the offset of the notehead only (to change the offset of the complete note, use "Offset" in Properties: Appearance instead).

Adding an ambitus to your score

Changing the range of an ambitus

Ambitus properties

Manually changing the enharmonic spelling of notes

To change the enharmonic spelling of a note, or notes, in both written and concert pitch views:

1. Select a note, or group of notes;
2. Press J;
3. Continue pressing J to cycle through the enharmonic equivalents.

To change the enharmonic spelling in the written pitch view, without affecting the concert pitch view, or vice versa:

1. Select a note, or group of notes;
2. Press Ctrl+J (Mac: Cmd+J);
3. Continue pressing the same combination of keys to cycle through the enharmonic equivalents.

Note: If the pitches of selected notes are not all the same, the effect may be unpredictable.

Automatically respelling all notes in a selection

Respell pitches

• From the menu, select Tools→Respell Pitches.

Articulations can be found in the Articulations palette.

These include all kinds of accents, staccato and vibrato markings.

Adding articulations to your score

Articulations can be added to your score in any of three ways:

Toolbar

Certain articulations (accent, marcato, staccato, and tenuto) can be added from the note input toolbar (above the document pane).

1. Select one or more notes;
2. Click on the desired icon in the articulations toolbar area.
   

Articulations palette

To add any articulation:

1. Select one or more notes;
2. Click on the desired articulation in the Articulations palette;

Alternatively, drag and drop an articulation symbol from the palette to a notehead.

Keyboard shortcuts

To add an articulation with a keyboard shortcut (i.e. accent, marcato, staccato, or tenuto):

1. Select one or more notes;
2. Apply the relevant shortcut from the list below:
   • Accent: Shift+V
   • Marcato: Shift+O
   • Staccato: Shift+S
   • Tenuto: Shift+N

Articulations playback

Certain articulations affect note playback—such as staccato, staccatissimo, louré (tenuto + staccato), and accents. This is handled automatically by the program.

Articulation properties

For a selected articulation any editable properties will be shown in the Properties panel.

• Placement: This alters the position of the symbol above or below the note.

Articulation style

Certain default properties for articulations can be edited in Format→Style→Articulations, Ornaments.

Dynamics are symbols indicating the relative loudness or softness of a note or phrase of music. They can be found in the Dynamics palette.

There are two types of dynamics: standard ones, such as p and ff etc., which apply to the score from the point where the dynamic appears; and single-note dynamics, such as sfz, which apply only to the note to which the dynamic is attached

Dynamics can be edited just like other text objects. They also have a playback effect on the score.

Adding dynamics to your score

Dynamics palette

To apply a dynamic to the score, use one of the following methods:

• Select one or more notes and click a dynamic symbol in a palette.
• Drag a dynamic symbol from a palette onto a note.

Custom dynamics

If the dynamic you want is not available in the palette, you can customize an existing one in the score. Since a dynamic is a form of text, you can edit it as such.

1. Enter edit mode.
2. Edit the text just as you would in a word processor.

Dynamic indications such as p, mf, f etc., are actually special characters and need to be entered from the special characters box. Alternatively you can use shortcuts from the following table:

Dynamic	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

Changing playback of dynamics

[To be added]

Dynamics properties

[To be added]

Dynamics style

The default positioning of all dynamics in the score can be adjusted from Format→Style→Dynamics.

Types of hairpin

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.

Adding a hairpin to your score

Lines palette

To enter a hairpin from a palette use one of the following options:

• Select a range of notes or measures, then click on a hairpin in the palette.
• Drag and drop a hairpin onto a notehead. The hairpin will extend to the end of the measure.

Keyboard shortcuts

To enter a hairpin using a keyboard shortcut:

1. Select a range of notes or measures;
2. Use one of the following options:
   • For a crescendo hairpin press < ("less than" sign).
   • For a diminuendo hairpin press > ("greater than" sign).

Changing appearance of hairpins

Range

To extend or contract the range of a hairpin, see Changing range of a line.

Height

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.

Set at angle

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.

Other adjustments

See Hairpin properties.

Changing playback of hairpins

[To be added]

Hairpin properties

You can edit properties specific to hairpins in the Hairpins section of the Properties panel.

Style tab

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.

Text tab

Properties here allow you to specify beginning, end, and continuation texts and their vertical offsets.

Hairpin style

Default properties for all hairpins in the score can be adjusted from Format→Style→Hairpins:

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.

Adding a slur to your score

After selecting a note, a slur can be created using any of the following:

• A keyboard shortcut, S. This option is both convenient and fast.
• The menu option, Add→Line→Slur
• A slur from the lines palette.

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.

Adding slurs in normal mode

Method 1

1. Select the note where you want the slur to start:
   
2. Press S to add a slur extending to the next note:
   
3. To extend the slur to the next note, hold Shift and press → (right arrow). Repeat as required:
   
4. To flip the slur direction, press X:
   
5. Press Esc to exit edit mode:
   

Method 2

1. Select the note where you want the slur to start;
2. Choose one of the following options:
   • To add a single slur: Hold down Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) and select the last note that you want the slur to cover.
   • To add slurs to all voices: Hold down Shift and select the last note that you want the slurs to cover.
3. Press S.

Adding slurs in note input mode

1. Enter the first note in the slurred section;
2. Press S to begin the slurred section;
3. Type in the remaining notes in the slurred section;
4. Press S again to end the slurred section.

Multi-voice and cross-staff slurs

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:

1. Click on the start/end handle of the slur.;
2. Press Shift+↑/↓ to move the start/end between voices, and from staff to staff.

Changing appearance of slurs

To adjust the shape of a slur or its range, see Adjusting elements directly.

Slur properties

The following properties specific to slurs can be adjusted in the Properties panel.

Style: Solid, dashed or dotted line.
Position: Above or below.

Slur style

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.

Types of pauses

Fermata

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.

Breath mark

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.

Caesura

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.

Adding a pause to your score

To add a fermata:

1. Select a note, rest or barline;
2. Click on a fermata symbol in the Breaths & pauses palette

Alternatively drag a fermata symbol onto a note.

To add a breath mark or caesura:

1. Select a note;
2. Click on a breath mark/pause symbol in the Breaths & pauses palette.

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.

Changing pause playback

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".

Pause properties

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.

Pause style

You can specify default positional properties for all fermatas in Format→Style→Fermatas.

Ornaments and ornament lines can be found in the Ornaments palette.

These include turns, trills, mordents and so on.

Adding an ornament to your score

Add an ordinary ornament

To add an ordinary ornament to the score:

1. Select one or more notes;
2. Click on the desired ornament in the Ornaments palette;

For a trill only, it is possible to use a custom shortcut instead at step 2.

Add an ornament line

The procedure for applying ornament lines is just like any other line, i.e.

1. Select a start note;
2. Press Shift and click on an end note;
3. Click on an ornament line in the (Ornaments) palette

If you subsequenly need to adjust the ornament's length, see Changing the range of a line.

Adding accidentals to ornaments

To apply an accidental to an existing ornament, such as a trill:

1. Select the note to which the ornament is attached.
2. Open the Master Palette (Shift+F2, or View→Master Palette).
3. In the "Symbols" section, search using the terms "figured bass", and the name of the accidental.
4. Click on the desired (small) accidental to apply it to the note. Close the Master palette.
5. Drag the accidental into position (or reposition using keyboard arrows or the offsets in the Properties panel).

Note, that accidentals added in this way do not affect playback.

Ornament properties

The following properties of selected ornaments can be edited from the Ornament section of the Properties panel:

Performance: Choice of Standard or Baroque style of playback.
Placement: Choose from Above staff, Below staff, Chord automatic, Above chord, Below chord.

Ornament style

Certain default properties for ornaments can be edited in Format→Style→Articulations, Ornaments.