Mid-staff instrument changes

To change instruments setup in a score permanently, for example add a new instrument, use Instruments dialog instead.
To switch the instrument used by one staff permanently, use Staff / Part properties instead.
To switch to another sound sample (switch channel) (e.g. pizz., con sordino) inside an instrument, use Staff Text instead

Change Instrument Text

When a musician is required to double up on a different instrument for a section of a piece, an 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.

MuseScore uses a special class of text called Change Instrument text for this purpose. This allows you to change the instrument for that staff at a chosen point in the score, and have this reflected in playback.

Add change instrument text

1. Select the start point for the change by clicking on a note or rest;
2. In the Add menu, choose Text, then choose Instrument Change.
3. Type any character/text so you don't end up with an empty text element
4. Right click on the just typed text and in the context menu choose Select Instrument.
   This opens the Change instrument dialog: the top box shows the current instrument, the bottom the list of selectable instruments;
   
5. Choose the instrument, then click OK. Text indicating which instrument the player will use appears in the score.
6. Insert a new key signature, if required, at the change, for the staff in question.

Warning: While the "Change Instr." text is also available from the Text Palette, it contains a bug in MuseScore 3.x where transposition for the new instrument might break. Use the Change Instrument Text from the menu instead to prevent this bug.

How Instrument change text affects the score

An instrument in Musescore is a concept including score settings, behaviors (transposition, playable range), sound etc. More info.

Sound setting changes using a Change Instrument text can be observed:

• The sound played on that track in the score will be changed to that of the new instrument from that point onward. The Mixer display mixer changes to add one or more new sub-channels. It is these new sub-channels that can be edited to a new sound.

For example, here is a Mixer display showing the "Tuba" track (first track) among many others. Notice that the small arrow at the top of the Tuba track is dimmed. No new instruments have been added to it.

Now, to the Tuba stave in the score, a "Change Instrument" text has been added to the score, inserting an "Oboe". Notice now that the top arrow on the Tuba track in the Mixer menu has darkened.

Now, if that arrow in the Mixer menu is clicked, a sub-menu opens, showing the sounds of the Tuba are still there (1st two sub-channels), but a new "Oboe" sub-channel has been added. By clicking on this sub-channel, you can assign a sound to the Oboe from the "Sound" tab on the Mixer menu (see below):

• Subsequent notes are automatically adjusted to indicate the correct written pitch for the new instrument (but the new key signature still needs to be added manually—see below).

To change the track back to its original instrument, just insert a new "Change Instrument" text into the stave after the first one, and name the original instrument. For example, in this example, the Tuba stave has been returned back to Tuba. Notice that in the Mixer menu, a new "Tuba" sub-channel has been added after the "Oboe" sub-channel.

• The new instrument name will be displayed in front of the following systems.

Mixer

The Mixer allows you to change instrument sounds, adjust volume and panning, and make other adjustments to the playback for each staff.

Opening the Mixer

To display/hide the mixer, use one of the following:

• Press F10 (Mac: Fn+F10).
• From the main menu, select View→Mixer.

The Mixer is split into a Details Area on the top and a Track controls Area below.

Track controls Area

Displays the Master Gain on the left, and columns of track controls on the right.

Know the difference between the instrument channel (an abstraction in Musescore) and the sound track:

• For each set of staff (all staffs of one instrument) in your in your score, MuseScore creates an instrument (abstraction) by reading from a predefined definition file, more info. An instrument contains various details such as notation settings, symbol interpretation settings, sound etc. Each instrument has one or more channel, a channel represents a specific type of sound, similar to the concept of playing technique (e.g. a violin which can play in arco, tremolo or pizzicato, legato, vibrato), or articulation sample in commercial sound libraries.

  Each track control is an instrument channel that you can adjust audio and MIDI output settings. You must click on a track control to select first before you can edit it, selecting on the score screen area will not reflect on the Mixer automatically.
  Instrument containing more than one channel has an arrow button on top of the parent track control, click the arrow to show or hide all channels. Parent control shadows the first child control, modifing values on parent control modifies all children values. The parent track control is formerly referred to as "part track"
  To add or remove channel, or set a default value, you must create a custom instrument by editing and providing your own instruments.xml, more info. You cannot add or remove channel inside Musescore.

• For each staff (that can contain a clef symbol) in your score, MuseScore also creates a container that contains exactly four subtracks, which corresponds to the four voices. You can assign an instrument channel to each subtrack separately. Contrary to the concept of sound track in popular DAWs, the Mixer has nothing to do with these subtracks except the ability to mute (jump to).

Expanded parent track control, showing child track controls in pink.

Master Gain

The Master Gain controls the overall output volume. To adjust it, click and drag the slider handle or enter a value in the box underneath.

Channel display arrow

Instrument containing more than one channel has an arrow button on top of the parent track control, click the arrow to show or hide all channels. Parent control shadows the first child control, modifing values on parent control modifies all children values.

Mute and Solo

At the top a green S Solo button and a red M Mute button: click to toggle on and off. If any Solo button is checked, unSolo channels are muted regardless of their Mute status. These modify a channel, not voices.. To mute a voice, jump to Mute Voice

Pan

The dial below the mute button controls panning left and right. You can click and drag. Note that value 64, not 50, is center pan.

Volume

The slider controls the playback volume. This is a final post process output volume. The data size 127 is an arbitrary number not related to MIDI velocity, default 100 value is 90% sound sample volume, more info.

Track control name

Not to be confused with instrument name in Staff / Part properties.

Display Part name or Channel name
Does not affect score visually.

Details Area

The details area displays and provides finer control of the currently selected channel.

(Part) Name

Not to be confused with instrument name in Staff / Part properties.

Text for display within Mixer only, also known as Part name in Staff / Part properties
Does not affect score visually.
Does not affect sound.

Channel

Channel name cannot be modified inside Musescore, use custom instruments.xml instead, more info

Drumset

Affects the whole instrument:

• notation settings. Must be checked to use Drum notation and Drum input palette.
• interpretation of soundfont data. Check or uncheck this box base on the layout of the sound.

Changing without understanding will mess up your score audio.

Sound

Understand the concept of instrument channels and track controls and voices first, you may not want to edit this, use these instead:

• To change instruments setup in a score permanently, for example add a new instrument or remove instrument, use Instruments dialog instead. You should use Instruments dialog if you are not sure, it is the preferred way to setup a score. Doing this ensures written symbols affect sound correctly eg violin tremolo text symbol, bass guitar pizz symbol.
• To switch the instrument used by one staff permanently, use Staff / Part properties instead. Doing this also ensures written symbols affect sound correctly.
• To switch the instrument used by one staff mid stream, use 'Change Instrument' Text instead. Use this to instruct your musician to dump an instrument and pick up another mid stream.
• To switch to another sound sample (switch channel) (e.g. pizz.) inside an instrument, jump to Mid-staff sound(channel) change or use a custom Staff Text instead. Similar to keyswitches / articulation-switching in commercial sound libraries. You can do this to each voice separately.

If none of the above options fit, read on to edit sound.

The sound that an instrument channel is pointing to. The data reference method depends on the order of soundfonts in the Synthesizer, pay attention to Synthesizer setting before you close and restart Musescore.

Correct audio won't be produced unless you setup Drumset correctly, you must understand the sound's layout.

The drop-down menu lists every sound from SoundFont loaded in the Synthesizer. They are ordered as the order of soundfont files in the Synthesizer: SF2/SF3 by MIDI Bank first, then SFZs. It is not an alphabetical order. To jump to the sound you desire quickly, while the list is open press on your keyboard (once or more) the first letter of the name.

Sound is formerly named Patch.

Volume

Same as volume on track control

Pan

Same as panning on track control

Track control color

Affects whole instrument. For display in Mixer only. To change, click the colored rectangle to pick from the color palette.
Does not affect score visually.

MIDI controls

Port and Channel

The output MIDI port and MIDI channel.
As of Musescore 3.6.2, MIDI output driver of the program only use 1 port and 16 channels on the operation system.

Reverb and Chorus

The reverb and chorus value sent to MIDI out.
Sent to MIDI devices only. Does not affect MuseScore's built in audio playback.

Mute Voice

Affects voices of whole instrument instead of current channel.
Mute individual voices. Each row represents a different linked-staff. So pressing '2' on the top row will mute the second voice on the first staff of the part.
This field is different from all others in Mixer, this is the only field that affects the voices of the staff directly.

Hide Details Button

At the bottom of the detail area is a wide button with a tiny triangle on it. Clicking this button will hide the detail area to give you more room. Clicking on it again will restore the detail area.

Note: From Preferences > Score it is possible to check the box Show MIDI controls in the Mixer to preset it expanded when opening the Mixer.

Mid-staff sound (channel) change (pizz., con sordino, etc.)

Understand the concept of instrument channels.
You can also do these instead:

• To change instruments setup in a score permanently, for example add a new instrument or remove instrument, use Instruments dialog instead.
• To switch the instrument used by one staff permanently, use Staff / Part properties instead.
• To switch the instrument used by one staff mid stream, use 'Change Instrument' Text instead.

Some instruments come with multiple channels that you can switch audio playback to and from. For example, the build-in string instrument (violin, viola, cello etc.) has three channels: "arco" (or "normal"), "pizzicato" and "tremolo." The build-in trumpet has two channels "open" (or "normal") and "mute".

Switch sound (channel) midway through a score by using a Staff Text. Every subsequent notes will switch to playback the new sound until you use another Staff Text symbol. Eg After 'pizz.' text, to return to normal (arco) later in the piece, you must add 'arco' text. Designate which voice to affect in the text properties.

To switch channel, use Staff Text:

• use these 5 build-in Staff Text in the Text palette (pizz., arco, tremolo, mute, open), these affects all voices :
  

• or create custom Staff Text :

  1. Select the first note of the section you want to be pizzicato;
  2. From the main menu, choose Add→Text→Staff Text or use the shortcut Ctrl+T;
  3. Type "pizz." This text is for visual reference only and does not affect playback;
  4. Right-click on the applied staff text and select Staff Text Properties…;
  5. In the "Change Channel" tab of the "Staff Text Properties" dialog, select one or more voices on the left;
  6. From the dropdown menu, select pizzicato;

  

  7. Click OK or press ↵ (Return) to return to the score.

NOTE:
There's also S/A, T/B, T/L and B/B texts to separate Soprano, Tenor, Tenor and Baritone (voice 1 and 3) from Alto, Bass, Lead and Bass (voice 2 and 4), respectively, on closed scores using the Women and Men 'instruments' or the closed score SATB and Barbershop templates, this allows for different settings of those in the Mixer.

See also

• SoundFont
• Synthesizer

External links

• Mute, unmute and solo actions: Setup keyboard shortcut keys.
• Mixer Minimalistic Style: Vertical minimalistic mixer similar to the Track Control Panel in a DAW.
• Instrument abstraction in Musescore
• How to change instrument sound (e.g. pizz., con sordino) midway through score (MuseScore HowTo, same instruction as above)

Piano Roll Editor

The Piano Roll Editor allows you edit individual notes and tweak aspects of their playback.

Opening the Piano Roll Editor

To open the Piano Roll Editor (PRE), right-click on a measure in the score and choose the Piano Roll Editor option from the context menu. The Piano Roll Editor will open showing the staff and measure where you clicked. If the Piano Roll Editor is already open, it will be updated to show the new staff and measure you clicked on.

Overview

The Piano Roll Editor is divided into several sections. At the very top is a row of buttons and controls that affect playback and can modify notes. The name of the part being edited is at the top right.

The central portion contains the Note Display Area which allows you to view and edit notes. Each note is displayed as a block, with yellow blocks representing selected notes, and darker green blocks representing unselected notes (these colors can be changes in the Preferences). Given sufficient space, each block will display its pitch on the left and the voice it is assigned to on the right. Changing the size of the note blocks is covered in the navigation section.

To the left of the Note Display Area is the Keyboard. By clicking on a key in the Keyboard, you can hear a sample of that note playing. As you move the mouse in either the Node Display Area or the Keyboard, a key on the keyboard will light, corresponding to the pitch you are over. You can also hover your mouse over a particular key to get more information about that pitch. If you are using a Drumkit, the keys of the keyboard will show the name of the drum assigned to that particular pitch. For instruments that are not concert C, the keyboard will be adjusted so that the C of the keyboard matches the C of the instrument.

Along the top of the Note Display Area is the Measure Ruler which displays the current position of the playback head, as well as the current looping range if it set.

The bottom of the editor contains the Levels Display Area. It is a bar graph showing extra data values assigned to each note, such as its velocity or cutoff time. To the left of the Levels Display Area is a dropdown menu allowing you to select the type of data you wish to see displayed or edited.

Navigation

There are several ways to move about in the Piano Roll Editor. First of all, you can click and drag on the scroll bars on the edges of the Note Display Area.

The mouse wheel can also be used to pan and zoom as follows:

• Scroll vertically: Mouse wheel.
• Scroll horizontally: Shift + mouse wheel.
• Zoom vertically: Ctrl + mouse wheel.
• Zoom horizontally: Ctrl+Shift + mouse wheel.

To jump to a particular measure, switch back to score view and find the measure you wish to see. Then right-click on the measure and select Piano Roll Editor. The Piano Roll Editor will scroll to center on the measure you clicked.

Selecting Notes

In the Note Display Area, you can click on single notes or click and drag to select a group of notes. Holding down the modifier keys will affect how your selection changes:

• Shift: Invert existing selection: i.e. notes that were previously selected are deselected, and notes which were not selected are selected. Useful for toggling a note between selected and not selected.
• Ctrl: Add notes to selection.
• Ctrl+Shift: Subtract notes from selection.

Editing Notes

To change the pitch of a selection of notes: Drag a selected note up or down to a new pitch; or press the ↑ or ↓ arrows. Note: Dragging the note horizontally to change the start time is not supported at the moment.

To delete a selection of notes: Press the Del key.

To move a note selection to another voice: Click the desired voice number button at the top of the editor.

To add notes:

Notes can be inserted by clicking in the Piano Note Area with the modifier keys held. These edit operations will use the beat or subbeat line to the left of the spot where you click as the point where a note is altered:

• Ctrl: A note of the current insert note duration will be added at the subbeat and pitch where you clicked. The note insert length is the same as the one you use to add notes in note entry mode in the score. If you wish to change the duration, you will need to select this in the Score View as the Piano Roll Editor does not currently have these buttons. If notes already exist in this location, a chunk will be cut out of them to make room for the note you are inserting, unless they happen to have the same start time and duration of the note you're adding, in which case the new note will simply be appended to the existing chord. Tuplets are currently not supported, and so will be ignored.

  

• Shift: Looks for a chord that already spans this subbeat line. If it finds one, appends a new pitch to the existing chord. Otherwise, this is a rest and the rest will be replaced with a note of equal start time and duration to the existing rest.

• Ctrl+Shift: Looks for a chord or rest that spans this subbeat. This chord will be cut in two at this subbeat line. Tuplets are currently not supported, and so will be ignored.

To edit note event data:

Note event data can be changed in the Levels Display Area. To edit event data such as velocity or cutoff time, first select the notes you wish to edit in the note area. Then click in the Levels Display Area on the corresponding bar; the value of the level will changed to correspond to the point where you clicked. You can also click and drag in this area to change the levels of several notes with a single gesture. If you want the levels to all be set to the same value, hold Shift while dragging. Only selected notes will have their value changed - this is to prevent you from accidentally changing the values of other notes.

The Levels area can display the same data in multiple ways. For example, velocity data can be displayed both as absolute (i.e., relative to the output midi volume) and relative (i.e., as an offset to the dynamics value). You can switch between these display modes as you see fit.

Controls

From left to right the controls have these functions;

First Row

Undo

Undoes the last action

Redo

Redoes the last action

MIDI Toggle

Toggles MIDI input

Rewind

Rewind to start of score.

Play

Starts/stops playback.

Loop Playback

Sets the range of and toggles looping playback.

Play Repeats

Toggles whether repeats are played.

Pan Roll During Playback

If set, the window will automatically scroll to center on the playback head during playback.

Metronome

Toggle metronome.

Wave

Currently does nothing.

Voice Numbers

Moves selected notes to chosen voice.

Part

Name of part currently being viewed/edited.

Second Row

Cursor

Provides feedback on the current measure and pitch of the position of the mouse within the Note Display Area.

Subdiv

Subdivides the beat by adding extra divisions to the Note Display Area. The value indicated the number of time the beat will be subdivided. So for 4/4 time, a division of 2 will draw grid lines at every eighth note; a division of 3 at every sixteenth note, and so on. Setting the subdivision is necessary for some editing operations if you wish to place notes off the beat.

For larger numbers of subdivisions, you may need to be zoomed in to see the extra grid lines since grid lines are not drawn below a certain density. Combines with the tuplet control which also affects grid line placement.

Tuplet

Adds additional grid lines, subdividing the beat to show the rhythmic placement of tuplets. For example, setting tuplets to 3 will show the beat subdivided into three parts. Combines with the subdiv control to show subdivisions of the tuplet. For example, setting tuplets to 3 and subdiv to 2 will draw grid lines showing the tuplet beats subdivided into two parts - i.e., the beat will be subdivided into 6.

Selecting a tuplet mode other than 1 will disable some of the note insertion tools for the Piano Roll Editor. For larger numbers of subdivisions, you may need to be zoomed in to see the extra grid lines since grid lines are not drawn below a certain density.

Stripe pattern

Changes the pattern of stripes shown behind the notes in the Note Display Area. By default the pitches of C major are highlighted, but you can change this to highlight the pitches of a different key, or even scales such as the diminished or whole tone.

Velocity

Shows the velocity of the currently selected note (only one note may be selected). Indicates the loudness of the note. This can be expressed as 'Offset' or 'User':

• Offset: Value is treated as a multiplier for the velocity already set by the dynamics.
• User: This is the raw value being sent to MIDI and overrides the dynamics value. Values are between 0 and 127, where 64 is "middle, neither loud nor soft".

When you switch from User to Offset or vice versa, the value will be recalculated to best match the value in the other system. This way you could, for example, switch to User mode to set the value as you would like it to sound in MIDI output and then switch to Offset so that this value respects the dynamic marking instead of overriding it. At the moment you switch back, the offset value will be recalculated to match the User value in loudness but will no longer act as an override so you may later change the dynamic.

Pitch

Shows the pitch and octave of the selected note in text format (i.e. f#4).
The pitch will change if the note is dragged Up or down to a new pitch. Currently cannot be edited.

OnTime

Shifts the start of the note in time, which can be used to modify the playing style. Negative values will make the note sound earlier, positive will make it sound later. The duration of the note corresponds to a value of 1000 (e.g. setting the value to 250 will make the note sound 1/4 of its duration later).

Length

Set the time that the note is sounding, which may be used to modify the degree of "legato". Lower values will make the note sound more staccato, higher values will make it sound more legato. The duration of the note corresponds to a length of 1000, but the value can be set higher. 950 is usually considered "non-legato".

Keyboard

Some keys are hooked up to perform special actions:

• ↑: Move selected notes up one semitone
• ↓: Move selected notes down one semitone
• Del: Delete selected notes
• Space: Start/stop playback

Customization

The Piano Roll Editor will display in both normal mode and dark mode. If you wish to change the colors the Piano Roll Editor uses to display in these modes, they can be adjusted in the Preferences under the Advanced tab. All the Piano Roll Editor related properties begin with ui/pianoroll/light for light mode and ui/pianoroll/dark for dark mode.

Play mode

Playback toolbar

Basic playback functions are accessed from the Play toolbar located above the document window:

From left to right, the icons are:

• Toggle 'Midi input':
• Rewind to start position: Playback returns to the beginning of the score, or to the start of the loop (if one is set).
• Start or stop playback: See Start/stop playback.
• Toggle loop playback: See Loop playback.
• Play repeats: Turn off if you want playback to ignore repeats.
• Pan score during playback: Turn off if you want the score to remain stationary.
• Play metronome: Toggles metronome ON and OFF.

Playback commands

Start/stop playback

To start playback:

1. Click on a note, rest or the blank part of a measure to establish the starting point. Note: If no selection is made, playback returns to the place it left off; or, if no previous playback, to the start of the score.
2. Press the Play button; or press Space.

During playback you can jump to a specific note or rest in the score by simply clicking on it.

To stop playback:

• Press the Play button; or press Space.

During playback

Once playback has started, the following commands are available:

• Go back to previous chord: ←
• Advance to next chord: →
• Go back to start of previous measure: Ctrl+← (Mac: Cmd+←)
• Advance to start of next measure: Ctrl+→ (Mac: Cmd+→)
• Rewind to start of score: Home (Mac: Cmd+Home); or press the Rewind button (playback toolbar).

During playback you can still use keyboard shortcuts to open and close panels, such as Play, Synthesizer, Mixer etc.

Loop playback

• Playback should be off, and the "Loop playback button" on.
• Select the desired region of the score for loop playback.
• Press the playback button.

Playback will now cycle within the region marked by the blue flags.

• Use the "Loop playback" button to toggle the loop on or off.

See also: Play Panel (below).

Play panel

To open the Play Panel use one of the following options:

• Press F11 (Mac: Fn+F11).

• From the menu bar, select View → Play Panel.

  

The Play Panel allows you to make temporary changes to tempo and volume, to loop playback between specified points etc.

• Loop playback: Select a start note and click on the Loop in button; select an end note and click on the Loop out button. Press Play to hear the loop. The controls also work during playback.
• Rewind, Play: Playback controls.
• Metronome: Toggle metronome playback ON or OFF. Note about beat subdivision: the metronome adds 'beat subdivision ticks' for sufficiently slow tempo of the piece (see Tempo), but they are not added when the % Tempo is slowed down in the playback panel (it is necessary to edit the piece's tempo to achieve them).
• Count in: (Conductor icon) Adds a count-in when you start playback at the start of a measure. Extra beats are added if you start mid-measure. Toggles ON and OFF.
• Tempo: Make temporary change to tempo. This is displayed as a percentage and as a bpm (beats per minute). Double-click to reset. (Note: Permanent changes to tempo should be made using tempo text)
• Volume: Make temporary change to volume (resets when program is reopened). Note: To change the default playback volume of the score, see Synthesizer.

Playback: Chord symbols / Nashville numbers

To laydown chord notes onto score, see Chord symbols: Realize Chord Symbols instead.

As of MuseScore version 3.5, both chord symbols and Nashville numbers (but not Roman numerals) automatically sound when you play back the score.
As of MuseScore 3.5.1 this only happens with scores initially created with MuseScore 3.5 or later, for older scores you'd need to enable it, using the methods described below.

Turn playback on/off

Note: Settings made below also affect Audio and MIDI export.

For all scores (as of version 3.5.1)

To enable or disable chord symbol playback for all scores:

• Select Edit (Mac: MuseScore)→Preferences…→Advanced); then the following options, as required:
  • To disable/enable playback of pre-version 3.5 scores: Check/Uncheck score/harmony/play/disableCompatibility (default is checked—no playback)
  • To disable/enable playback of version 3.5 or later scores: Check/Uncheckscore/harmony/play/disableNew (default is unchecked, playback)

For the current score

As of version 3.5.1

To turn playback of ALL chord symbols on/off:

• Tick/Untick Format→Style…→Chord Symbols→Play.

As of version 3.5

To turn playback of ALL chord symbols on/off:

1. Select a chord symbol or Nashville number
2. In the "Chord Symbol" section of the Inspector check/uncheck the "Play" box.
3. Click on the associated "Set as style" button (to the right of that box, you may need to scroll a bit)

Alternatively, you can mute the playback track(s) in the mixer—see below. This might be necessary, for example, when you have chord symbols on more than one staff and want to have playback for only one of them. Score parts need to be adjusted separately.

To turn playback of a SELECTION of chord symbols on/off:

1. Select a range of symbols.
2. Right-click a chord symbol or Nashville number.
3. Click on Select→Select all similar elements in selected range, OK.
4. In the "Chord Symbol" section of the Inspector check/uncheck the "Play" box.

or

1. Click on first chord symbol or Nashville number in that range.
2. Shift+click on last chord symbol or Nashville number in that range.
3. In the "Chord Symbol" section of the Inspector check/uncheck the "Play" box.

Note: This does not affect the parts which need to be adjusted seperately.

Change playback sound

The default sound for chord symbols is "Grand Piano". As of version 3.5.1, scores created from Guitar solo templates, use "Nylon String Guitar" instead.

To change the chord symbol playback sound:

1. Open the Mixer (shortcut: F10, Mac: Fn+F10)
2. In the Track area locate the track for the part in question.
3. Click on the "Show channels" arrow to display all the child tracks for that part.
4. Click on the track whose name contains the words "harmony" or "Chord syms." (may be truncated).
5. Select a new "Sound" in the Sound drop-down list.

This setting is shared between score and parts.

Change playback volume / Mute track

1. Open the Mixer (shortcut: F10, Mac: Fn+F10)
2. In the Track area locate the track for the part in question.
3. Click on the "Show channels" arrow to display all the child tracks for that part.
4. Click on the track whose name contains the words "harmony" or "Chord syms." (may be truncated).
5. Adjust the volume slider; or press the "M" button to mute the track.

You'd need to do this for the score and/or the parts, separately.

Turn symbol sound on/off when editing

To turn the sound of the symbols on/off when editing:

1. From the menu, select Edit (Mac: MuseScore)→Preferences…→Note input.
2. Check/Uncheck the "Play chord symbol when editing" option.

Interpretation and voicing of chord symbols

If desired, you can adjust the playback properties of selected chord symbols as follows:

1. Select one or more chord symbols.
2. In the Inspector make changes as follows:
   • Interpretation. The options are:
     • Literal;
     • Jazz. This adds color tones (e.g. the major 9th) but may also omit certain notes—this depends on both the chord itself and the context (the next chord in particular).
   • Voicing. Options are:
     • Auto
     • Root only = Just the bass note;
     • Close = arranges the notes within the span of an octave;
     • Drop 2 = lowers the second highest note of the chord by one octave;
     • Six Note;
     • Four Note = 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th intervals;
     • Three Note.
       Note: All voicings include a bass note, 2 octaves below the root note of the chord.
   • Duration: Options are
     • Until next chord symbol
     • Until measure end
     • Chord/rest duration.

The following shows how the Interpretation and Voicing options affect the playback of a C major seventh symbol (Cmaj7 or CM7).

Note: The "Close" and "Auto" Voicing options are the same for this particular chord, but this isn't necessarily the case for every chord. So if you specifically want "Close", it is best to make the option explicit.

SoundFonts and SFZ files

MuseScore 4.0's Sound and playback support:

• SoundFont (.sf2/.sf3): supported directly, no need to click load in the synthesizer anymore. Setup per instrument in the Mixer. Cannot select preset/bank in the mixer directly (yet). See SoundFonts.
• SFZ (.sfz): supported indirectly through 3rd party VST. See SoundFonts.
• VST, VSTi: supported VST3, some VSTs are reported not working properly. See Working with VSTi
• MuseSounds: free high quality proprietary sounds from MuseGroup, installable thru MuseHub.

The following describes MuseScore 3:

To export a MIDI or audio file, visit Open/Save/Export/Print.
Jump to a curated list of free soundfonts downloadable, feel free to add to the list.

Overview

Audio playback is created by Synthesizer using virtual instruments, MuseScore supports virtual instruments in two formats:

• SoundFont (.sf2/.sf3): A single file containing one or more virtual instruments.
• SFZ (.sfz): A set of audio and definition files containing one or more virtual instruments.

SoundFonts

MuseScore comes with MuseScore_General.sf3, it contains over 128 instruments, sound effects and various drum/percussion kits, its program / preset numbering follows GM (General MIDI) convention.

Install a SoundFont

After finding and decompressing a SoundFont (see →below), double-click to open it. In most cases, the SoundFont file type will already be associated with MuseScore, and MuseScore will start and a dialog will appear asking if you want to install the SoundFont. Occasionally an application other than MuseScore will be associated with the SoundFont file type; if this is the case, you will need to right-click or Ctrl-click on the file, so as to display a menu from which you can choose to open the file in MuseScore. In either case, when the dialog appears asking if you want to install the SoundFont, click "Yes" to place a copy of the SoundFont file in MuseScore's SoundFonts directory. This directory can be viewed or changed in MuseScore's Preferences, but the default location is:

• Windows: %HOMEPATH%\Documents\MuseScore3\Soundfonts
• macOS and Linux: ~/Documents/MuseScore3/Soundfonts

In contrast to user-added SoundFonts, the initial default SoundFont installed with MuseScore is located in a system directory, meant only for that purpose, which should not be modified. This directory and its default SoundFont file is:

• Windows x86 (32-bit) / MuseScore x86: %ProgramFiles%\MuseScore 3\sound\MuseScore_General.sf3
• Windows x64 (64-bit) / MuseScore x86: %ProgramFiles(x86)%\MuseScore 3\sound\MuseScore_General.sf3
• Windows x64 (64-bit) / MuseScore x86_64: %ProgramFiles%\MuseScore 3\sound\MuseScore_General.sf3
• macOS: /Applications/MuseScore 3.app/Contents/Resources/sound/MuseScore_General.sf3
• Linux (Ubuntu): /usr/share/mscore-xxx/sounds/MuseScore_General.sf3 (with xxx being the MuseScore version)

After it is installed, setup Musescore and then use it on a score

Uninstall

To uninstall a SoundFont, simply open the folder where its file is installed and delete it.

SFZ

An SFZ is a collection of files and directories, an SFZ file and a bunch of actual sound files in WAV or FLAC format, with the SFZ file being a text file that basically describes what sound file is located where and to be used for what instrument and pitch range.

Install an SFZ

After downloading an SFZ (see →below), you need to manually extract all the files that belong to the SFZ (the SFZ file(s) and all the sub-directories and other files) into the directory listed above. Leave the sub-directories and their contents as they are. Note, however, that on occasion, an SFZ file in its folder may seek the actual WAV sound files inside the SFZ sub-directory itself, usually in a folder labeled "Libs". If the SFZ zip file you download has a Libs folder in it, move it into the main SFZ sub-directory.

After it is installed, setup Musescore and then use it on a score

Uninstall

To uninstall an SFZ, simply open the folder where its files are installed (see above) and delete them all.

Setup Musescore to use a custom SoundFont or SFZ

Once a SoundFont has been installed on your system, it also needs to be loaded into the Synthesizer.

Use a custom sound on a score

Pick and add an instrument that use a staff style similar to one your sound would use, then change its sound in the Mixer.
To use custom sound more easily, config instruments.xml to create a custom instrument in the "Choose Instruments" menu. This link also provide info on how to make a soundfont more compatible with MuseScore 3 such as adding sound change text (eg pizz.) support, adding MIDI CC response etc.

List of downloadable soundfonts

GM SoundFonts

The following sound libraries conform to GM (General MIDI) program / preset numbering standard that Musescore use. If you remove the build-in soundfont from the Fluid tab in Synthesizer and setup the new one as 1st ordered item , staffs will create correct playback without further tweaking and picking in the Mixer.

• GeneralUser GS (29.8 MB uncompressed)
  Courtesy of S. Christian Collins
• Magic Sound Font, version 2.0 (67.8 MB uncompressed)
• Arachno SoundFont, version 1.0 (148 MB uncompressed)
  Courtesy of Maxime Abbey
• MuseScore 1 came with TimGM6mb (5.7 MB uncompressed)
  License: GNU GPL, version 2
  Courtesy of Tim Brechbill
• MuseScore 2 (up to version 2.1) came with FluidR3Mono_GM.sf3 (13.8 MB).
• MuseScore 2 (as of version 2.2) and 3 come with MuseScore_General.sf3 (35.9 MB) (SF2 version (208 MB)) and are being updated from time to time (see the Changelog).
  License: released under the MIT license
  Courtesy of S. Christian Collins
  MuseScore 3 on top offers an HQ version of that soundfont as an extension
• Timbres of Heaven, version 4.0 (429 MB uncompressed) - alternative download location
  Courtesy of Don Allen
• Soundfonts4U (12 MB up to 1 GB, depending on which package you choose)
  Collection of beautifully sounding acoustic guitars as well as pianos, basses, strings, harps and many more.

Orchestral soundfonts

• Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra (503 MB uncompressed)
  Downloads: SoundFont | SFZ format
  License: Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0
• Aegean Symphonic Orchestra
  Courtesy of Ziya Mete Demircan (352 MB uncompressed)

Piano soundfonts

SF2 Pianos

• Acoustic grand piano, release 2016-08-04
  Description: Yamaha Disklavier Pro Grand Piano, sf2 format, 36 MB compressed, 113 MB uncompressed, 121 samples, 5 velocity layers
  More information: https://freepats.zenvoid.org/ including other soundfonts.
  License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
  Courtesy of Roberto Gordo Saez
• Salamander C5 Light
  Courtesy of Ziya Mete Demircan (24.5 MB uncompressed)

SFZ Pianos

• Salamander Grand Piano
  Downloads: version 2 | version 3
  Description: Yamaha C5, 48kHz, 24bit, 16 velocity layers, between 80 MB and 1.9 GB uncompressed
  License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
  Courtesy of Alexander Holm
• Detuned Piano (244 MB uncompressed)
  License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
• Plucked Piano Strings
  Description: 44.1kHz, 16bit, stereo, 168 MB uncompressed
  License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
• The City Piano
  Description: Baldwin Baby Grand, 4 velocity layers, 696 MB uncompressed
  License: Public domain
  Courtesy of Big Cat Instruments
• Kawai Upright Piano, release 2017-01-28
  Description: 68 samples, 44KHz, 24bit, stereo, 2 velocity layers, 58 MB uncompressed
  License: GNU General Public License version 3 or later, with a special exception
  Courtesy of Gonzalo and Roberto

Unzipping downloaded soundfonts

Since soundfonts are large, they are often zipped (compressed) into a variety of formats, including .zip, .sfArk, and .tar.gz. You need to unzip (decompress) these files before they can be used.

• ZIP is standard compression format supported by most operating systems.

• sfArk is a compression format designed especially for compressing SoundFont files. To decompress it, use Polyphone (cross-platform software); or this online service: https://cloudconvert.com/sfark-to-sf2

• .tar.gz is a popular compression format for Linux. Windows users can use 7-Zip; Mac users can use The Unarchiver, or macOS' built-in Archive Utility. Note that if using 7-Zip, you will need to apply decompression twice—once for GZip and once for TAR.

Troubleshooting

If the toolbar play panel is greyed out, or not visible, follow the instructions below to get your sound working again:

1. Right-click on the menu bar and make sure there is a check mark next to the Playback Controls menu item. If this step does not solve your problem, go to Step 2.
2. If the play panel disappears after changing the SoundFont, go to Edit → Preferences... → I/O tab and click OK without making any changes. After restarting MuseScore, the play panel should reappear.

If you are setting up a SoundFont for the first time, please use one of the recommended SoundFonts listed above.

If playback stutters, then your computer may not be able to handle the SoundFont being used. The following advice may help:

• Reduce the amount of RAM (memory) used by MuseScore by using a smaller SoundFont. See the list above for suggestions.
• Increase the amount of RAM available for MuseScore by quitting all applications except MuseScore. If you still have problems and a large SoundFont is important to you, consider more RAM for your computer.

Drum notation and Unpitched layout sound requires MIDI Bank number set to 128

See also

• Synthesizer
• Add or remove instruments / staffs
• Mixer

External links

• How to change the SoundFont or add another (MuseScore HowTo)
• The SFZ Format (for details about the sfz specification)
• Soundfont, MIDI velocity and instruments.xml (A guide on how to create and edit a soundfont and its MIDI CC response)

Swing

MuseScore's swing feature allows you to change the playback of your score from a straight to a swing rhythm. Swing can be applied globally or only to a section of the score, and is fully variable.

Apply swing to a score section

To apply swing to all staves in a system:

1. Click on the note where you want swing to start;

2. Click Swing in the Text palette (double-click in versions prior to 3.4);
   This inserts a System Text object which affects all staves in the system with a default swing percentage of 60%.

3. Edit the Swing text as required;

4. If you need to vary swing from the default setting, right-click the Swing text and select System text properties... Click on the "Swing Settings" tab and adjust note duration and "Swing ratio" as required.

   

To apply swing only to specific staves in a system:

1. Click on the note where you want swing to start;
2. Add Staff text;
3. Edit the appearance of the text as required;
4. Right-click on the text, select Staff Text Properties..., and click on the "Swing settings" tab. Modify as required;
5. Repeat steps 1–4 for other staves if needed.

Swing text can be edited and formatted just like any other text object.

Triplet in tempo marking

Often this notation is used to indicate swing:

MuseScore does not have a way to include a triplet in text as a tempo marking, but there is an easy workaround:

1. Add Swing text as described above and make it invisible (shortcut V, or untick "Visible" in the Inspector);
2. Add an appropriate Image of the required tempo marking to the score. These can be downloaded from the bottom of the "How To" page: How to create a visual swing marking.
3. Resize and reposition the image as required.

Return to straight rhythm

If you want playback to return to straight time after a swing section, use one of the following options:

From version 3.4:

• Add Straight text from the "More" field of the Workspace's text palette to the first note or rest of the "straight" section (see above).

Prior to version 3.4:

1. Add Swing text to the first note or rest of the "straight" section (see above).
2. Edit the text to indicate a return to straight time: e.g. "Straight."
3. Right-click on the text and select System Text Properties…. Click on the "Swing Settings" tab and set "Swing to "Off."

Apply swing globally

If you wish to apply swing to the whole score, you can do so from the menu:

1. Select Format → Style... → Score.

2. In the "Swing Settings" section, set the desired note value and "swing ratio."

   

External links

• How to create a visual swing marking (MuseScore HowTo)
• Swing (jazz performance style) (Wikipedia)

Synthesizer

Overview

To display the Synthesizer: from the menu, select View→Synthesizer.

The Synthesizer controls MuseScore's sound output and allows you to:

• Load and organize different sound sample libraries to play back the music.
• Apply effects such as reverb and compression.
• Adjust overall tuning.
• Alter the output volume.
• Select Midi Continuous Controllers to use with Single Note Dynamics (versions 3.1 and above).

The Synthesizer window is divided into the following sections/tabs:

• Fluid: A software synthesizer that plays SF2/SF3 SoundFont sample libraries.
• Zerberus: A software synthesizer that plays SFZ format sample libraries.
• Master Effects: Used to apply multi-effects to the score.
• Tuning: Used to adjust overall playback tuning.
• Dynamics (versions 3.1 and above): Used to configure Single Note Dynamics Midi controllers.

Save/Load Synthesizer settings

A set of synthesizer settings includes the order of SoundFonts and SFZ files, effects set-up, master tuning and volume, it is the configuration of the audio engine of one running MuseScore program. Only one set of settings can be in effect (per running MuseScore program).
The buttons at the bottom of the Synthesizer window have the following functions:

Button	Function
Set as Default	Saves all current synthesizer settings as the default settings. These will be automatically applied when you open MuseScore next time. This button works like a save button Save to Default profile : subsequent changes in the current synthesizer settings will not be saved as default until you press this button again.
Load Default	Loads the last saved default settings to the Synthesizer.
Save to Score	Saves all current synthesizer settings to the current score only. These will not be automatically applied next time you open the score.
Load from Score	Loads the settings from the current score to the synthesizer.

Notes: Changes to synthesizer settings will not be heard in exported audio files unless saved to the score first.
See also Tuning

Fluid (SF2/SF3)

Click on the Fluid tab to access the control panel for SF2/SF3 SoundFont sample libraries. Load, rearrange or delete soundfonts as required. By default, the SoundFont MuseScore_General.sf3 should already be loaded.

Ordering the soundfonts

When adding soundfonts to the Fluid synth tab (above), you should keep in mind the following points:

• The order of soundfonts affects playback.
• If your score is using default instruments, it will only play back the correct sound if the default soundfont is the 1st ordered item.
• New soundfonts are loaded as the 1st ordered item, you may need to rearrange them.
• If you have changed sound settings of an instrument manually in the Sound dropdown list in Mixer, it will only play back the correct sound if all soundfonts have the same order as at the moment you change setting.
• When you close and restart Musescore, change (reset) of soundfont order may happen contrary to what you may expect. Order may not be restored automatically as expect. See settings, use the buttons as required.

To load a soundfont

1. Make sure your soundfont is installed in your Soundfonts folder.
2. Click on the Add button
3. Click on a soundfont in the list.

To reorder the soundfonts

1. Click on a soundfont
2. Use the up/down arrows (on the right-hand side) to adjust the order.
3. Repeat with other soundfonts in the list if required.
4. Or use the double up arrow (on the top right-hand side) to move any SoundFont to the top of the list.

To remove a soundfont

1. Click on the name of the soundfont
2. Click on the Delete button.

Note: Removing a soundfont from the synthesizer does not uninstall it from the Soundfonts folder: it will still be available if you wish to reload it later.

Zerberus (SFZ)

Click on the Zerberus tab to access the control panel for SFZ sound sample libraries. You can add, delete or reorder files in a similar way to the Fluid tab. Note that, as with Fluid, the SFZ files must first be installed in your soundfonts folder before they can be loaded into the synthesizer.

Effects

The Master Effects tab of the Synthesizer allows you to add reverb and compression to your score.

Master Effects with Zita1 Reverb and SC4 Compressor.

To turn an effect on or off:

• Select an option from the drop-down list next to Effect A or Effect B (the effects are applied in series, A → B).

To store and load effects configurations, use the buttons at the bottom of the Synthesizer window. See Synthesizer settings (above) for details.

Zita 1 reverb

The Zita 1 stereo reverb module allows you to simulate the ambience of anything from a small room to a large hall. The pre-delay, reverb time and tone of the reverb can be finely tuned using the controls provided:

• Delay: Set a pre-delay for the reverb from 20-100 ms.
• Low RT60 (Low frequency reverb time): Use the grey control to adjust the center frequency (50–1000 Hz) of the low frequency band which you want to affect: the green control adjusts the reverb time (1–8 secs) of this frequency band.
• Mid RT60 (Mid-range reverb time): Adjust the reverb time (1–8 secs) of the mid-range frequency band.
• HF Damping: Adjusts the high frequency component of the reverb. Increasing this value increases the frequency of the cut-off point and makes the reverb appear brighter and longer.
• EQ1: Allows you to cut or boost (-15 to +15) a frequency band (center = 40 Hz - 2 KHz) in the lower part of the spectrum.
• EQ2: Allows you to cut or boost (-15 to +15) a frequency band (center = 160 Hz - 10 KHz) in the higher part of the spectrum.
• Output: Controls the amount of effect applied. "Dry" is no effect. "Wet" indicates 100% reverb. "Mix" is a 50/50 balance of wet/dry signal.

Note: EQ1 and EQ2 affect the tone of the reverb only, not the dry (unprocessed) signal.

To quickly set up an effects patch, set "Output" to "Mix" and adjust the "Mid RT60" control to the desired reverb time. Then fine tune the effect as explained above.

SC4 compressor

The SC4 stereo compressor gives you fine control over the playback's dynamic range, reducing the volume variation between loud and soft sounds. It offers the following controls:

• RMS: Adjusts the balance between RMS (0) and Peak (1) compression. In the former, the compressor responds to averaged-out levels in the signal; in Peak mode, the compressor responds to peak levels.
• Attack: (1.5–400 ms) The length of time it takes for compression to engage fully after the signal exceeds the threshold level.
• Release: (2–800 ms) The time it takes for compression to return to zero after the signal falls below the threshold level.
• Threshold: (in dB) The signal level above which compression starts to take effect. Lowering the threshold increases the amount of signal that is compressed.
• Ratio: The amount of compression applied to the signal above the threshold. The higher the ratio, the greater the compression. Varies between 1:1 and 20:1.
• Knee: Allows you to select a range between "soft knee" and "hard knee". The softer the knee, the more gradual the transition between uncompressed and compressed signal.
• Gain: Compression tends to lower the volume, so use this control to boost the signal as required.

To quickly set-up, try setting RMS = 1, Threshold = -20 db, Ratio = 6. Increase Gain to restore the lost volume. Then fine-tune as explained above.

Tuning

The Tuning tab is where you can adjust the program's master tuning. For Concert Pitch instruments, A4 = 440 Hz by default. To use a custom tuning system, visit Tuning systems, microtonal notation system, and playback.

To change the Master tuning:

• Enter a new value in the Master tuning field, then press Change Tuning.

Notes: (1) This tuning applies to all scores in the current session only. To make this the program default or to store it to a particular score, see Save/Load Synthesizer settings. (2) To apply the new tuning to exported audio files (WAV, MP3, OGG), press Save to Score before exporting.

Dynamics (versions 3.1 and above)

Some dynamics symbols have non-zero "Velocity change" property. When setup properly, it creates an Attack envelope simulation effect on note playback on certain instruments, eg sfz symbol on violins, more info see Dynamics
Musescore also utilize the same audio creation mechanism to simulate a variation of loudness effect on certain instruments eg crescendo on one violin long note, more info see Hairpins
This mechanism utilize the MIDI Continuous Controller / Control Change (MIDI CC) Messages (wikipedia) technology

This tab contains settings for this audio creation mechanism. See also Different meanings of SNDs

• Dynamics method: Master control
  • Default (single-note dynamics and velocity): use MIDI CC to communicate with soundfont if enabled in individual instrument
  • Velocity only (no single-note dynamics): ignore individual instrument's setting, use velocity only, do not use any MIDI CC
  • CC events only (constant velocity): ignore individual instrument's setting, use MIDI CC only
• CC to use:
  • MIDI CC number that Musescore use to communicate with all soundfont. Match this to the SoundFont you loaded. You cannot edit soundfont's attenuation response inside Musescore, see Edit a Soundfont to use MIDI CC mod instead.
  • Available options are CC 1, CC 2 (default), CC 4, CC 11.
  • This setting is global.
  • Because default soundfont response to CC 2, setting this to values other than CC 2 breaks playback for some dynamics symbols if your score is using a default instrument and default soundfont, eg sfz symbol of default violin. Step by step instruction to reset visit How to setup Musescore 3.x for correct playback for all dynamics and hairpins
• Advanced Settings :
  • Buttons inside this box are shortcuts that works only if you are using the default soundfont. They switch sound to another version that has a differet volume response method. They work on every instrument channels currently on the score, equivalent to picking Sound in Mixer for each of track controls.
  • They do not affect instrument's dynamics symbol and hairpins interpretation setting 'Use single note dynamics' in Staff / Part properties
  • They do not affect instruments added afterwards.
  • Available options :
    • To Expressive : switch to the CC 2 responsive version of sounds
    • To Non-Expressive : switch to velocity responsive version of sounds
    • Reset All : Reset all channels to default sound version defined in instruments.xml
• For all dynamics (esp. build-in SNDs such as sfz) and hairpins to produce correct audio when you are using default soundfont, you must use the default options.

Volume

The slider on the right of the Synthesizer controls the playback volume: any changes made here last only to the end of the session, unless saved to the score or set as the new default.

See also

• SoundFont
• Mixer

External links

• How to setup Musescore 3.x for correct playback for all dynamics and hairpins (MuseScore HowTo)
• Soundfont, MIDI velocity and instruments.xml (Create Musescore 3.x compatable soundfont)

Tempo

This page provides information on tempo markings such as ♩ = 80 , ♩ = ♪ etc , fermata symbols, their playback details, and metronome tick sound. To add markings such as ♬ = ♪ 𝅘𝅥𝅯 see Swing instead.

Tempo markings

Tempo markings can be found in the Tempo palette of the Basic and Advanced workspaces.

Add a tempo marking

Use any of the following methods:

• Select a note or rest and press the keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+T.
• Select a note or rest, and from the menu bar choose Add→Text...→Tempo Marking.
• Select a note or rest and click an appropriate metronome mark in the Tempo palette (double-click in versions prior to 3.4);
• Drag-and-drop a metronome mark from the Tempo palette directly onto a note or rest.
• Edit more intuitively with Tap tempo plugin.

Note: The advantage of applying from a palette or using a keyboard shortcut is that you can decide beat note value, because it follows the exisiting time signature automatically.

Edit the displayed content

NOTE: Changing this alone may or may not affect playback as you may expect, read below.

Tempo markings are Text. Edit the displayed content and it's styles and properties as required. See also Fonts.

Fermatas

Fermatas are available in the Articulations and Ornaments palette.
In playback on a score with multiple instruments, if a note or rest of one instrument is extended with a fermata symbol, every notes sounding the same moment as that note will continue to sound until the extended note ends.
Fermatas applied to barlines has no effect

Edit a fermata time stretch

Select a Fermata symbol, edit its property in Fermata in the Inspector:

Placement: Above or below note
Time stretch: Multiplication of normal time duration to play back the current element. Value 1.00 is meaningless as it means no time extension.

Tempo of playback

To create playback, Musescore understands metronome markings such as ♩ = 80 and metric modulations such as ♩ = ♪ . This function can be switched on and off for each marking individually.
Musescore does not understand and does not create playback for any tempo expression text such as Andante, Moderato, ritardando ("rit.") or accelerando ("accel."). Any text entered alongside a metronome marking serves engraving / visual purpose only, it does not affect the interpretation and playback. For example, Andante ♩ = 75 and Moderato ♩ = 75 are both interpreted as ♩ = 75.

Edit tempo used in playback

Select a Tempo marking, edit its property in in the Tempo text section of the Inspector;

• Follow text: Toggle Musescore's metronome marking interpretation function
• Tempo: Tempo for playback. Ignored if Follow text is checked
• Style: Text style
• Tempo: Above or below staff

Note: Actual final playback tempo depends on the setting in the Play Panel. Check settings inside if your score does not produce correct audio.

Ritardando and accelerando

Musescore does not understand and does not create playback for any tempo expression text, including ritardando ("rit.") and accelerando ("accel."), and thus cannot create correct playback for these.

To create ritardando ("rit.") and accelerando ("accel.") playback, you must add multiple tempo markings. Make tempo markings invisible as required, visibility does not affect playback. Use the TempoChanges plugin to automate this process.

For printing and reading purpose, you can also use Staff/System Text to add the expression text.

In the example illustrated below, the tempo was originally 110 BPM (beats per minute). At the ritardando, the tempo decreases by 10 BPM on the first note of each measure. Each tempo change is made invisible by unchecking the Visible checkbox in the Inspector (Keyboard Shortcut V), so that only the ritardando shows on the printed score:

Overriding playback temporarily in Play Panel

Use Play Panel to temporarily override Tempo markings and play the score back at any tempo:

1. Display the play panel: View→Play Panel or F11 (Mac: Fn+F11):

   

2. Move the tempo slider up or down as required. The tempo is shown both as an absolute value and as a percentage of the currently indicated tempo mark. Double-click the tempo slider to reset it.

Note: BPM is always measured and displayed in quarter note beats per minute, regardless of the (denominator of the) time signature in effect.

Metronome

To add metronome ticks sound to playback inside Musescore, use Playback toolbar and Play Panel in Play mode
A workaround to add metronome sound to exported audio file see Issue

Beat subdivision

Musescore add additional softer ticks sound to metronome only if:

• compound time-signatures (6/8, 9/8, etc)
• main beat below 60 BPM

Note that compound time-signatures' main beat is one dotted quarter-note and as such, this is the natural note for the note=number text of compound signatures. If a different note is used, this does not enforce a metronome tick on that note, because it's the time signature that dictates the beat for the metronome. A different note merely affects the playback speed and if the result is less than 60 dotted quarter-notes per minute, the secondary ticks will be heard (e.g. using an eight-note, the number would have to be below 180 to give below 60 dotted quarter-notes per minute).

Also note that the metronome is only responsive to the piece's tempo and not responsive to % tempo adjustments from the playback panel (a feature to allow that is requested - see #304412).

See also

• Text (Overview of all text types)
• Articulations and Ornaments
• Play mode
• Time signature

External links

• How to create a visual swing marking (MuseScore HowTo)
• Metrico: a font to create metronome marks, metric modulations and swing indications for music notation.

Dynamics

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

Additional dynamics are available in the Master Palette (Shift+F9).

Adding a dynamic to the score

To create a crescendo or decrescendo, see Hairpin instead.

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

• Select a note and click a dynamic symbol in a palette (double-click in versions prior to 3.4).
• Drag a dynamic symbol from a palette onto a note.
• Set up and use keyboard shortcuts with the Dynamics actions plugin

NOTE:

• Applying from the palette does not replace exisiting symbol, you can delete the existing one manually first, or use the plugin mentioned above.
• Placing dynamics symbols on different voices of the same staff at the same time does not create desired playback, it is a limitation of Musescore, because the minimal area of effect on playback loudness (Dynamic Range property) is staff, not voice. If playback is priority, try splitting voices into individual instruments.

Creating a custom dynamic

1. Edit the dynamic symbol to your liking
2. Save it for future use in a palette of your choice (see Add an existing score element to a palette).

Editing text

Playback is unaffected by the displayed content, use the Velocity property instead.

Dynamics symbols are Text objects , and can be edited as such (see Text editing). See also Fonts.

In Text editing mode, professional glyphs can be added from the special characters palette, or by using one of the following shortcuts:

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
Niente n	Ctrl+Shift+N	Cmd+Shift+N
Z z	Ctrl+Shift+Z	Cmd+Shift+Z

Inspector properties of dynamics

You can edit the properties of a selection of dynamics in the Dynamic section of the Inspector. To apply a previously-edited property to all dynamics in the score, click on the "Set as Style" button (the small S on the right of the property)

Note: For more about selecting objects of a specific type, see Selection modes.

The following is a list of properties in the Dynamic section of the Inspector:

• Dynamic range: Area of effect of the symbol:
  • System: every instrument in the score.
  • Part: one instrument (all of its staffs), default.
  • Staff: one staff (eg one hand in piano) regardless of voices.
• Velocity: 0 to 127. Use a higher number to make notes sound louder, use lower number to make notes sound softer. For more info, see Loudness of a note.
• Velocity change: -127 to 127. The change in Velocity from the dynamic's parent note to the following one. It is ignored by some instruments. For more information, see SND.
• Change speed: Slow, Normal, Fast. The speed of the change indicated by Velocity change, in real time. This is unaffected by the current Tempo. The default value is Normal.
• Style: Text style to use; default is Dynamics.
• Placement: Position on score, above or below staff. Press X to flip.

Loudness of a note

IMPORTANT: When a dynamics symbol is added to the score, it affects playback from the parent note onward until the next dynamic symbol. Final barlines or rests do not reset the loudness to default.

The Synthesizer creates audio for each note based on its assigned MIDI velocity value, ranging from 0 (softest) to 127 (loudest). The possible range of actual loudness is determined by the soundfont creator. A dynamics symbol uses its Velocity property to assign a basic MIDI velocity to the current note, and all following notes, until another symbol is added. In Musescore 3, Velocity to MIDI velocity assignment is exact assignment without conversion. Check this table for default values of Velocity of popular dynamics symbols in Musescore.

If you do not specify any dynamics symbol, the whole score is in mf (mezzoforte). This is because Musescore assigns MIDI velocity 80 to notes that are not affected by any dynamics symbol, 80 is the also the default Velocity of mf .

Note's playback is not affected by dynamics symbols if the note itself's Velocity type property is set to 'User'. This is common in scores imported from .MID files. Tto fix the problem, see How to restore correct playback of dynamics and hairpins in an imported MIDI file.

MIDI velocity is also affected by each note's Velocity and Velocity type properties, Articulations (eg Accent >, Marcato ^) and Hairpins

The above describe loudness per note, you can also adjust volume broadly. The following sliders affect volume but have nothing to do with MIDI velocity:

• changing the volume of individual instrument (and per instrument playing technique) in Mixer.
• changing the overall volume of whole score, volume slider in the Play Panel, or in Synthesizer.

You cannot adjust default volume of voices, but you can batch adjust existing notes' Velocity properties based on their voice with the Voice Velocity plugin (notes added afterwards will not be affected, you need to run the plugin again)

If you want notes to remain loud for a longer period of time, eg a tom drum hit sound to linger longer, try adding a reverb effect in Synthesizer instead.

Single Note Dynamics (SND)

(After Musescore 3.1)

A dynamic symbol with a non-zero Velocity change property can simulate Attack envelope effect (wikipedia) if the Instrument, Synthesizer and Soundfont is setup correctly, such symbol is called Single Note Dynamics (SND), SND also has several different meanings due to continuous software development. SNDs also use Change speed property.

sfz (sforzando) and fp (fortepiano) are designed to work on certain instruments only; e.g. sfz symbol's effect on the violin does not exist on piano.

For more information, see How to setup Musescore for correct playback for all dynamics and hairpins.

See Also

• Text (Overview of all text types)
• How to setup Musescore 3.x for correct playback for all dynamics and hairpins

External links

• Dynamics (Wikipedia)
• Add Dynamics by keyboard shortcut directly (Plugin)

Capo playback

MuseScore allows you to transpose the playback of a staff, without affecting the music notation. This simulates the effect of a capo (Wikipedia) on the instrument.

Add capo to a single staff

1. Add staff text to the note/rest from which you want capo playback to start;
2. Click on "Properties" in the "Staff Text" section of the Inspector, or right-click on the staff text and select Staff Text Properties...; then click on the Capo Settings tab;
3. Check the "Capo Settings" checkbox, and set Capo fret to the fret number you wish to apply the capo at (each fret increases the pitch by a semitone);
4. Click Ok to apply your changes;
5. Edit the wording of the text as desired.

Add capo to linked staff/tablature

• Same method as above, but in step 1, add the staff text to the music staff only.

Add capo to unlinked staff/tablature

• Same method as above, but apply the staff text to both staff and tablature.

Note: Capo playback will apply from the note that the staff text is attached to, until either the next staff text with "Capo Settings" enabled, or until the end of the score.

Remove capo

To remove capo playback from a staff, returning the instrument to its normal tuning:

• Add staff text with a "Capo fret" setting of "No capo".