Full Table of Contents

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About the handbook

Editing the Handbook

Guidelines for writing articles

Structure - General principles

  • Start with an overview
  • Establish a hierarchy
  • Group information logically
  • Focus on user tasks, not just UI components
  • Create a table of contents

Headings

Content

  • Descriptive material
  • Goal-oriented instructions

Use of non-written media

  • Creating animated GIFs

Linking to other pages

  • Use the right syntax
  • Link to the page's node number, not the page's URL
  • Use a bookmarklet to autogenerate links

Syntax

  • Examples for stuff beyond MarkDown
  • Writing keyboard shortcuts

Leaving a revision log message

Introduction to MuseScore 4

Download and installation

Windows

macOS

Linux

  • AppImage
    • Install
    • Uninstall

Create your first score

Overview

Create a quick new score

Entering score information

Entering notes and rests

Adding items from the palettes

Listening to the result

Making adjustments in Properties Panel

Inserting and deleting measures

Saving your score

Exporting your score

New features in MuseScore 4

New user interface

Instruments and parts

Inspector

New playback and VSTi support

Engraving improvements

Cloud storage

Other changes

Viewing and navigation

Accessibility

Screen readers

  • Speech on Windows
  • Speech on macOS
  • Speech on Linux

Keyboard access

  • Navigating the UI
  • Navigating the score

Video tutorials

The user interface

Menu bar

Home tab

  • My account
  • Scores
  • Plugins
  • Learn

Score tab

Publish tab

Context menus

  • Element context menus
  • UI context menus

Navigating your score

Scrolling

  • Mouse wheel
  • Scrollbars
  • Keyboard

Element navigation

Navigator

Timeline

Views

  • Page view
  • Continuous view (horizontal)
  • Continuous view (vertical)

Zoom

  • Zoom in
  • Zoom out
  • Status bar zoom controls
  • Restoring 100% zoom

Find/Go to

  • Navigating to a numbered measure
  • Navigating to a numbered page
  • Navigating to a numerical rehearsal mark
  • Navigating to an alphabetic rehearsal mark

Timeline

Overview

  • Meta labels
  • Instrument labels
  • Meta rows
  • Main grid

Meta elements

Basic interactions

  • Selecting a measure
  • Selecting multiple measures
    • Drag selection
    • [Shift] selection
    • [Ctrl] selection
  • Clearing a selection
  • Meta values selection

Scrolling

  • Standard scrolling
  • [Shift] scrolling
  • [Alt] scrolling
  • Dragging

Labels interaction

  • Rearranging meta labels
  • Collapsing the meta labels
  • Hiding instruments

Zooming

Basics

Setting up your score

Overview

Instruments

  • Choose instruments
    • Adding instruments
    • Changing order of instruments by making them soloist
    • Changing order of instruments manually
    • Removing instruments
  • Create from template

Additional score information

  • Key signature
  • Time signature
  • Tempo
  • Measures
  • Title and other text

Changing instruments after score creation

Entering notes and rests

Overview

Entering notes

  • Selecting a start point
  • Entering note input mode
  • Selecting duration
  • Selecting pitch
    • Selecting pitch using the computer keyboard
    • Selecting pitch using the mouse
    • Selecting pitch using a MIDI keyboard
    • Selecting pitch using the virtual piano keyboard

Entering chords

Entering rests

Accidentals

  • Selecting an accidental before entering a pitch
  • Adding an accidental after entering a pitch
  • Adding courtesy/cautionary accidentals

Ties

See also

Working with multiple voices

Overview

Entering notes and rests in multiple voices

  • Using multiple instruments
  • Enter notes and rests in multiple voices in one staff

Editing notes and rests in multiple voices

  • Adjusting rests
    • Hiding or deleting rests
    • Positioning rests
  • Changing voice of existing notes
  • Combining voices into chords
  • Separate chords into Voices

See also

Alternative note input methods

Accessing alternative note input methods

Rhythm only

Re-pitch

Real-time

  • Real-time (metronome)
  • Real-time (foot pedal)
    • Real-time Advance shortcut

Insert

Adding and removing measures

Inserting measures

  • Measure context menu
  • The Properties panel
  • Note input toolbar
  • Menu bar
  • Inserting measures with keyboard shortcuts
  • Add measures to a frame

Deleting measures

  • Remove empty trailing measures

See also

Selecting elements

Selecting a single element

  • Overlapping elements
  • Selecting individual element inside a note

Different ways of selecting notes in a chord

Creating a List Selection

  • Selecting multiple elements manually
  • Selecting similar elements automatically

Creating a Range Selection

  • Range Selection by dragging
  • Range Selection by clicking
  • Range Selection using the keyboard
  • Special Range Selections

Excluding elements from a Range Selection

Editing notes and rests

Overview

Making changes in note input mode

  • Changing duration in note input mode
  • Changing pitch in note input mode
  • Replacing notes and rests in note input mode
  • Deleting notes in note input mode
  • Moving notes in note input mode

Making changes in normal mode

  • Changing duration in normal mode
    • Changing selected notes to a specific note value
    • Increasing or decreasing the duration of a selected note
    • Doubling or halving all note values in a range selection
  • Changing pitch in normal mode
  • Deleting notes and rests in normal mode
  • Removing notes and rests and their associated time
  • Adding ties in normal mode
  • Changing voice in normal mode
    • Moving selected notes into another voice
    • Exchanging the contents of two voices

See also

Copy and paste

Accessing the commands

Copying a Range Selection

Copying a single element or a List Selection

Moving elements

Swapping a selection with the clipboard

Repeating a selection

Copying a Range Selection to multiple staves

Paste half/double duration

Duplicating individual elements

See also

Using the palettes

Overview

Accessing the palettes panel

Adding palette items to your score

  • Items applied to individual score elements
  • Items applied to ranges
  • Items applied to full measures

Expanding and collapsing palettes

Searching and navigating the palettes

  • Search
  • Navigation

Accessing more palette items

Adding more palettes

The Master palette

See also

Properties panel

Accessing the Properties panel

Properties for the score

Properties for objects

  • Inside the Playback tab
  • Inside the Appearance tab

Properties for characters inside Text objects

Saving and restoring default values

Adjusting elements directly

Changing the position of elements

Changing the shape of elements

Working with lines

  • Changing the range of a line
  • Creating diagonal lines
  • Editing text of Text line objects

See also

Parts

Opening a part

Closing a part

Creating custom parts

  • Reveal instruments in default parts
  • Create a new part
  • Choose which voices appear in each part

Applying styles to parts

Managing synchronisation of score and parts

  • Excluding items from parts or score

Renaming, duplicating and deleting parts

Exporting and printing parts

Default keyboard shortcuts

Navigation

  • Page navigation
  • Score navigation

Note input

  • General
  • Duration
  • Pitch
  • Tablature

Selecting

Editing

  • General
  • Duration
  • Pitch
  • Notation
  • Manual adjustment

Text

  • General
  • Formatting
  • Lyrics
  • Chord symbols, Roman numeral analysis, Nashville numbers, figured bass

Other score elements

Score setup and formatting

File Operations

User interface

  • Playback

Notation: Instruments, staves, and systems

Working with instruments

Overview

Adding and ordering instruments

  • Accessing the Instruments panel
  • Adding instruments
  • Deleting instruments
  • Changing the order of instruments

Instrument settings

  • Hiding/showing instruments
  • Renaming instruments
  • Replacing instruments

Adding and configuring staves

  • To add a staff to an existing instrument
  • To add a linked staff to an existing instrument
  • Configuring a staff

Hiding a staff but keeping its playback

Deleting instruments and staves

Showing staves only where needed

Hiding empty staff along one system (all its measures along that system)

  • Hiding all empty staves
  • Excluding specific staves from being hidden
  • Temporary staves
  • Choosing the staff to show when all staffs in a system are empty

Hiding empty measure

  • Cutaway staves
  • Ossia
  • Other invisible measures

Implode and explode

Implode

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

Explode

  • Copy passage of single notes to multiple staves
  • Separate a passage of chords into its constituent notes

Mid-score instrument changes

Adding an instrument change

Working with instrument changes

  • Removing an instrument change
  • Re-labelling an instrument change
  • Instrument changes in the mixer
  • Changing staff type

Staff type change

Adding a staff type change

Setting staff properties

Staff/Part properties

Brackets

Adding brackets

Editing brackets

  • Changing bracket type
  • Changing bracket span

Deleting brackets

Customizing bracket appearance

Notation: Rhythm, meter, and measures

Time signatures

Overview

Setting the initial time signature for your score

Adding a time signature change to your score

Deleting a time signature

Controlling the visibility of time signatures

Creating a custom time signature

Adding a local time signature for a single staff

Resizing a time signature

Time signature properties

  • Appearance
  • Beam Groups

Time signature style

Stems and flags

Stem direction

  • Default stem direction
  • Flipping stem direction

Changing stem length

Creating stemless notes

Stem and flag properties

Stem and flag style

See also

Beams

Overview

Controlling which notes are beamed

  • Changing the beaming setting inside a time signature
  • Changing the beaming for selected notes

Controlling the appearance of beams

  • Creating a feathered beam
  • Changing the angle of a selected beam

Beam properties

Beam style

Regroup rhythms

Overview

Regrouping rhythms

See also

Tuplets

Creating tuplets

  • Simple tuplets
    • In note input mode
    • In normal mode
    • Consecutive tuplets
  • Custom tuplets
  • Nested tuplets

Changing the display of tuplets

Tuplet properties

Tuplet style

Barlines

Adding double and other special barlines

  • Changing barline type for all staves
  • Changing barline type for a single staff
  • Adding mid-measure barlines

Changing barline length

  • Extending all barlines in a staff
  • Extending selected barlines in a staff
  • Creating partial barlines
  • Creating barlines between staves only (Mensurstrich)

Barline properties

Barline style

See also

Measure numbering

Showing and hiding measure numbers

  • Showing measure numbers automatically
  • Showing measure numbers manually
  • Hiding measure numbers

Changing the measure number sequence

  • Excluding a measure from the count
  • Altering the numbering of a measure
  • Resetting measure numbering for a new section

Changing the position of measure numbers

Measure number properties

Measure number style

See also

Measure rests and multimeasure rests

Measure rest

  • To create one or more full measure rests
  • To create a full measure rest in a particular voice

Multimeasure rest

  • Enabling and disabling multimeasure rests
  • Breaking multimeasure rests
  • Multimeasure rest properties
  • Multimeasure rest style

See also

Pickup and non-metered measures

Creating a pickup measure

  • Specifying the pickup duration during score creation
  • Converting a measure into a pickup

Creating non-metered measures

  • Inserting notes and rests
    • Using a keyboard shortcut
    • Using Insert mode
  • Joining measures
  • Splitting a measure

See also

Measure properties

Opening and using the dialog

Staves

Measure duration

Other

See also

Notation: Pitch

Clefs

Setting the initial clef for a staff

Adding or changing a clef

  • Add/Change a start clef
  • Add/Change a mid-measure clef

Delete

Controlling the visibility of clefs

  • Standard clefs
  • Courtesy clefs

Clefs and transposition

  • Using octave clefs
  • Using different clefs for transposed and concert pitch

Clef properties

Clef style

Key signatures

Overview

Setting the initial key signature for your score

Adding a key signature change to your score

Adding a local key signature for a single staff

Selecting a key signature for a single staff

Replacing an existing key signature

Deleting a key signature

Controlling the visibility of key signatures

Key signatures and transposing instruments

  • Open/Atonal key signature

Creating a custom key signature

Key signature properties

Key signature style

  • Format→Style→Page
  • Format→Style→Accidentals
  • Format→Style→Measure

See also

Transposition

Overview

Transposing with keyboard shortcuts

  • Transpose chromatically
  • Transpose diatonically
  • Transpose by an octave

Using the transpose dialog

  • Transpose Chromatically
    • To transpose chromatically to a specific key:
    • To transpose chromatically by interval
  • Transpose Diatonically

Working with transposing instruments

  • Transposed and concert pitch
  • Setting the interval of transposition
  • Controlling enharmonic spelling

Octave lines

Overview

Adding an octave line to your score

Octave line properties

  • Style tab
  • Text tab

Octave line style

Noteheads

Overview

  • Notehead schemes
  • Notehead shape
    • Pitch factor
    • Duration factor
    • Notehead type factor

Changing notehead shape

Adding pitch information to notes

Changing notehead direction

Notehead properties

Notehead style and font

Sharing noteheads between voices

  • Remove duplicate fretmarks in tablature

See also

External links

Ambitus

Adding an ambitus to your score

Changing the range of an ambitus

Ambitus properties

Respell pitches

Manually changing the enharmonic spelling of notes

Automatically respelling all notes in a selection

  • Respell pitches

Notation: Expressive markings

Articulations

Adding articulations to a score

  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Toolbar
  • Articulations palette

Articulations playback

Articulation properties

Articulation style

  • Alignment options
  • Combined articulation options

Dynamics

Adding a dynamics symbol to a score

  • Using the palette
  • Using a keyboard shortcuts

Changing appearance of a dynamics symbol

  • Adding plain characters
  • Adding profession glyphs
  • Combining dynamics with Expression Text
    • Snap to (An automatic layout feature)
  • Changing formatting of characters inside a dynamics symbol

Changing playback of a dynamics symbol

Dynamics symbols properties

Dynamics symbols style

Hairpins

Types of hairpin

Adding a hairpin to your score

  • Lines palette
  • Keyboard shortcuts

Changing appearance of hairpins

  • Range
  • Height
  • Set at angle
  • Other adjustments

Changing playback of hairpins

Hairpin properties

  • Style tab
  • Text tab

Hairpin style

Slurs

Adding a slur to your score

  • Adding slurs in normal mode
    • Method 1
    • Method 2
  • Adding slurs in note input mode

Multi-voice and cross-staff slurs

Changing appearance of slurs

Slur properties

Slur style

Breaths and pauses

Types of pauses

  • Fermata
  • Breath mark
  • Caesura

Adding a pause to your score

Changing pause playback

Pause properties

Pause style

Ornaments

Adding an ornament to your score

  • Add an ornament
  • Add an ornament line

Changing ornament intervals (adding accidentals)

Ornament properties

  • Accidental visibility
  • Placement
  • Accidental properties

Ornament style

Arpeggios and glissandi

Arpeggios

  • Adding an arpeggio/strum to your score
  • Adjusting the height of an arpeggio/strum
  • Creating multi-voice or cross-staff arpeggios
  • Changing playback of arpeggios
  • Arpeggio style

Portamento

Glissandi

  • Adding a glissando to your score
  • Editing range of a glissando
  • Changing appearance of glissandi
  • Changing playback of glissandi
  • Glissando properties

Bends

  • Types of bends
  • Adding a bend to your score
  • Changing appearance of bends

Grace notes

Types of grace notes

Adding a grace note to your score

  • Add grace note with keyboard shortcut
  • Add grace note from palette

Multiple grace notes

  • Sequential grace notes
  • Grace note chords

Editing grace notes

  • Change duration
  • Change pitch

Changing playback of grace notes

Grace note style

Tremolo and rolls

Types of tremolo and rolls

  • Single note tremolo
  • Tremolo between notes
  • Buzz roll

Adding a tremolo to a single note

Adding a tremolo between notes/chords

Changing appearance of tremolos

Other lines

Overview

Adding a line to your score

Adjusting a line

Types of lines

  • Standard lines
  • Staff and System Text lines
  • Tempo lines
  • Guitar-related lines
  • Trill lines

Line properties

  • Style tab
  • Text tab

Line style

Other symbols

The Symbols palette

  • View
  • Search

Adding symbols to your score

  • Add a symbol
  • Add to other symbols
  • Reposition symbols
  • See also

Notation: Repeats

Repeat signs

Adding repeat signs to your score

  • Simple repeats
  • Multiple ending repeats

Changing playback of repeat signs

Changing appearance of repeat signs

Repeat properties

Repeat style

Voltas

Adding voltas to your score

Changing appearance of voltas

Changing playback of voltas

  • Example of a complex Volta setting

Volta properties

Voltas style

Jumps and markers

Types of jumps and markers

Adding a jump or marker to your score

Changing appearance of jumps and markers

Changing playback of jumps and markers

Jump and marker properties

Jump and marker style

Measure and multi-measure repeats

Adding a measure or multi-measure repeat to your score

Measure repeat properties

Measure repeat style

Repeat playback

Turning repeat playback on and off

Idiomatic notation: Keyboard

Pedal

Types of pedal markings

  • In terms of visual representation
  • In terms of function inside Musescore

Adding pedal markings to your score

Creating pedal changes

Pedal properties

Pedal style

Cross-staff notation

Creating cross-staff notation

Changing appearance of cross-staff notation

See also

Accordion notation

Adding accordion symbols to your score

Idiomatic notation: Guitar

Fretboard diagrams

Adding a fretboard diagram to your score

  • Chord symbols linked to fretboard diagrams

Creating a custom fretboard diagram

  • Finger markers
  • Alternative notation styles

Fretboard diagram appearance

Fretboard diagram properties

  • General (tab)
  • Settings (tab)

Fretboard diagram style

See also

Guitar techniques

Adding a bend symbol to your score

  • Apply a bend
  • Edit a bend
  • Adjust bend height
  • Reposition bend

Adding a tremolo bar symbol to your score

Adding a slide to your score

  • Add a slide
  • Edit properties
  • Adjust start and end points of a slide

Adding a barre line to your score

Adding hammer-on and pull-off symbols to your score

Notating harmonics

  • Standard staff
  • Tablature
  • Staff/Tablature pairs

Notating guitar fingering

Creating a tablature staff

Overview

Types of tablature staves

Adding a tablature staff to your score

  • Add tablature using the New Score dialog
  • Add tablature using the "Add or remove Instruments" dialog
  • Change an existing staff from standard to tablature

Creating paired standard and tablature staves

  • Create paired standard/tab staves using the New Score Wizard
  • Create paired standard/tab staves using the Instruments dialog

Entering and editing tablature notation

Computer keyboard entry

Mouse entry

Selecting note duration

Period tablature notation

Editing tablature notation

  • Changing the pitch
  • Moving the fretmark to a different string
  • Changing the duration
  • Crosshead/Ghost notes

Customizing a tablature staff

Changing tuning

Adding or removing strings

  • Add a string
  • Delete a string

Mark unfretted string “open”

Change number of instrument frets

Changing tablature staff type

  • Change staff type from Instruments panel
  • Change staff type from Staff/Part properties

Customizing appearance of tablature

  • Tablature staff properties
  • Tablature staff style

Applying capos

Overview

Applying a capo to your score

  • To apply a capo to a staff:

Adjusting capo settings

  • Turning capo on or off
  • Setting capo fret position
  • Specifying partial capo placement
  • Customizing capo text appearance
  • To place the capo text beneath the staff:

Changing capo setting mid-score

Alternate string tunings

Applying string tuning instructions

Specifying string tunings

Alternate tunings affect tablature fret positions

Reading transposed pitches on the standard stave

Guitar bends

Adding bends to your score

General points about bends in MuseScore

Applying a bend

  • Standard bends
  • Grace note bends
  • Pre-bends
  • Slight bends
  • Holds

Modifying bends

  • Modifying bends in the standard stave
  • Modifying bends in the Properties panel

Adding bends to chords

Customising bends styles

Idiomatic notation: Harp

Idiomatic notation: Percussion

Entering and editing percussion notation

Overview

  • Types of percussion staves
  • Adding a percussion staff to your score

Entering notes and rests in percussion staves

  • Mouse entry using the Drum input palette
  • Using keyboard shortcuts
  • Using a MIDI controller
  • Using the on-screen piano keyboard

Drumset customization

Introduction

Customizing a drumset definition

  • Selecting a sound
  • Defining the note
    • Name
    • Noteheads
    • Other properties

Saving and loading drumset definitions

Other percussion notation

Diddles

Pedal lines

Rolls

Sticking

Alternative notation

Mensural notation and Mensurstrich

Adding a mensural time signature to your score

Using mensural note symbols

Working with non-metered music

Working with Mensurstrich

  • Adding barlines between staves

Displaying note values across measure boundaries

See also

Slash notation

Filling a range with beat slashes

Creating rhythmic slash notation

  • Accompaniment rhythms on the staff
  • Accent rhythms above or below the staff

Custom staff types

Overview

Customizing appearance of staff lines

Customizing appearance of generated elements

Customizing appearance of notes

  • Notehead schemes

Changing staff type mid-score

External links

Text

Entering and editing text

Overview

Types of text

  • Musescore Text object
  • Score settings

Adding text object to a score

  • From a palette
  • From the menu
  • Using a keyboard shortcut

Deleting text object on a score

Editing text object content

  • Keyboard shortcuts available inside text edit mode
  • Special characters

Formatting text

Overview

  • Levels of formatting
  • Appearance and function of Text objects

Changing formatting of characters

Changing formatting of a text object

  • Changing which style a text object on a score uses
  • Position

Changing the values inside a style

  • Changing the values inside a User-1 to User-12 style

Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text

Overview

  • Similarity and difference between Staff Text and System Text

Adding Staff Text to your score

Adding expression text to your score

Adding System Text to your score

Repeating System Text on other staves

Properties

  • "Staff Text properties" window
  • "System Text properties" window

Style

Tempo markings

Overview

  • Using Metronome marks and Metric modulations
  • Using Tempo change lines
  • Using Verbal tempo indications

Adding tempo marks to your score

Changing appearance

  • Adding plain characters
  • Adding profession glyphs
  • Tempo change lines

Changing playback

  • Metronome mark, Metric modulation, and Verbal tempo indication
  • Tempo change line

Repeating tempo markings on other staves

Tempo properties

Tempo style

External links

Lyrics

Overview

Adding lyrics to your score

  • Entering syllables
  • Entering a melisma
  • Entering multiple verses
  • Entering lyrics onto rests
  • Special characters within lyrics
    • Elision slur
  • Entering reserved characters

Editing existing lyrics

Delete lyrics

Entering lyrics above the staff

Changing verse number of lyrics

Copying lyrics

  • Copying lyrics within MuseScore
    • Copy to the same verse
    • Copy to a different verse
  • Copying lyrics to other programs

Lyrics properties

Lyrics style

  • Lyrics text
  • Lyrics dash
  • Lyrics melisma

Fingering

Types of fingering

Adding fingering to your score

  • Adding fingering from a palette
  • Adding fingering using a keyboard shortcut
  • Adding fingering using the menu

Adjusting position

Changing the appearance of fingering

Fingering properties

Fingering style

See also

Chord symbols

Overview

Adding chord symbols to a score

  • Entering a chord symbol
    • Chord names, accidentals and formatting
    • Navigation commands
    • Chord symbol syntax
    • Editing a chord symbol
  • Entering Roman numeral analysis
    • RNA accidentals and formatting
    • Examples of RNA
  • Entering a Nashville number

Appearance and function overview

Aligning chord symbols

  • Using the Style menu
    • "Style for Chord Symbols"
    • "Style for text inside certain object"
  • Using the Properties panel

Transposition of chord symbols

  • Transposing instruments
  • Transpose dialog
  • Enabling automatic creation of extra chord symbols (not NNS or RNA) with capo

Changing Spelling of Chord Symbols (not NNS or RNA)

  • Chord Spelling Systems
  • Automatic Capitalization

Changing appearance

  • Font
  • Rendering style of chord symbols and NNS (but not RNA)

Changing Playback of Chord Symbols

  • Enabling and disabling playback
  • Customizing playback
  • Generating chord voicings onto a staff

Chord symbol properties

Chord symbol style

External links

Figured bass

Overview

Adding figured bass to your score

  • Entering a figure
  • Text format
    • Digits
    • Accidentals
    • Combined shapes
    • Parentheses
    • Editing existing figured basses
  • Navigating by note, beat, or measure
  • Duration
  • Entering continuation lines

Figured bass properties

Figured bass style

Figured bass keyboard shortcuts

Rehearsal marks

Overview

Adding a rehearsal mark to your score

  • Manual placement and naming
  • Automatic placement and naming

Using measure numbers in rehearsal marks

Resequencing rehearsal marks

Finding rehearsal marks

Repeating rehearsal marks on other staves

Changing appearance of rehearsal marks

Rehearsal mark properties

Rehearsal mark style

External links

Header and footer

Overview

Adding a header or footer to your score

  • Entering information
  • Using metadata

Changing the appearance of headers and footers

Header and footer Properties

Header and footer Style

See also

Text blocks

Overview

Adding text blocks to your score

Changing the appearance of text blocks

Text block text Properties

Text block text Style

See also

Formatting

Page layout concepts

Definitions

  • Spatium (plural: Spatia) / Space / Staff Space / sp.
  • Staff
  • Grand staff
  • System
  • Frame
  • Margin

Positioning of elements

Default position

Auto-place

  • Vertical collision avoidance
  • Horizontal collision avoidance
  • Vertical alignment
  • Disabling auto-place

Manual adjustment

Manual alignment

Score size and spacing

Page settings

  • Page and margin sizes
  • Scaling
  • Other settings
  • Actions

Style settings

  • Horizontal spacing
  • Vertical spacing
    • Music margins
    • Distance between staves within systems
    • Distance between systems

Staff/part properties

Systems and horizontal spacing

Features

  • System breaks
  • Layout stretch
  • Horizontal frames
  • Keep measures on the same system

Tasks

  • Placing fewer measures on a system
  • Placing more measures on a system
  • Changing the relative spacing of measures within a system
  • Creating space between measures
  • Creating space at the beginning or end of a system
  • Adjusting the width of the final system
  • Grouping measures

Pages and vertical spacing

Features

  • Page breaks
  • Spacers
  • Vertical frames
  • System dividers

Tasks

  • Placing fewer systems on a page
  • Placing more systems on a page
  • Adjusting the spacing on sparse pages
  • Adjusting space between specific systems
  • Adjusting space between specific staves

Using frames for additional content

Overview

Uses of frames

Adding frames between or before/after systems

  • Text frames
    • Adding a text frame
    • Adding text
  • Vertical frames
    • Adding a vertical frame
    • Adding text
    • Adding an image
    • Size
  • Position and alignment of content
  • Spacing

Adding frames between measures

  • Horizontal frames
    • Adding a horizontal frame
    • Adding text
    • Adding an image
    • Size
    • Spacing
    • Other horizontal frame properties

See also

Working with images

  • Importing images
  • Saving images to palettes
  • Copying imported images
  • Adjusting images
    • Change image height/width
    • Scale image
    • Adjust image position
  • Image properties

See also

Using sections for multiple movements or songs

Overview

  • Features
  • Time and key signatures

Adding section breaks

Section break properties

  • Pause
  • Instrument names
  • Bar numbers

Sound and playback

Playback controls

Overview

Playback commands

  • Start/stop
    • To play back all the instrument parts
    • To play back selected instrument parts only
    • To stop playback
  • Rewind
  • Loop
  • Metronome
  • Playback position and monitoring tempo

Other commands

  • Enable MIDI input
  • Play repeats
  • Play chord symbols
  • Pan score automatically

External links

Mixer

Overview

Opening the mixer

Mixer controls

Sound

  • To change an instrument's sound

Audio FX

  • To add an Audio FX plugin
  • To disable an Audio FX plugin
  • To remove an Audio FX plugin
  • Muse Reverb

Aux sends

  • To show/hide an Aux send row (slot)
  • To disable an Aux send row (slot)

Aux channels

  • To show/hide Aux channels
  • To add Audio FX to an Aux channel
  • To adjust an Aux channel's level
  • To apply the effect(s) of an Aux channel to an instrument

See also

SoundFonts

Install a SoundFont

  • Drag and drop installation
  • File directory installation
  • Add or change SoundFont directory

Using sounds from a SoundFont

  • Selecting individual sounds

Editing Soundfonts

Uninstall a SoundFont

A note on the Zerberus player and SFZs

See also

Installing Muse Sounds

Installation via Muse Hub

Using Muse Sounds in MuseScore

Available sounds in Muse Sounds

  • Choir
  • Strings
  • Woodwinds
  • Brass
  • Percussion
  • Keys
  • Harp
  • Guitars

Capo playback (MS 4.0.2 and before)

Adding a capo marking to your score (before MuseScore 4.1)

  • Adding a capo to a single staff
  • Adding a capo to a staff / tablature pair

See also

Swing playback

Overview

Adding a swing or straight marking to your score

  • To add a swing marking
  • To add a straight marking

Changing swing playback

  • Adjust the type and degree of swing
  • Apply swing to one staff only

Working with MIDI

Working with VST and VSTi

Introduction to VST

Installing VSTs

Enabling, disabling, removing and replacing VST plugins

  • See also

File management

Opening and saving scores

Overview

Opening a score

  • File → Open
  • File → Open recent
  • Home tab → Scores

Import file formats

Saving a score

  • Save to computer
  • Save to the cloud
    • Name
    • Visibility
    • Never
    • Always
    • Every x saves

File export

Overview

Exporting your score

File formats

  • Graphical formats
    • PDF
    • SVG
    • PNG
  • Audio formats
    • OGG
    • MP3
    • FLAC
    • WAV
    • Other audio formats
  • Hybrid formats
    • MIDI
  • Score formats
    • MusicXML
    • Braille
    • MEI
  • Customizing export settings

MIDI import

Working with MusicXML files

Overview

Opening a MusicXML file

Cleaning up an imported score

  • Restoring stems
  • Restoring default leading spaces
  • Removing breaks
  • Restoring default text styles
  • Resetting default text positions
    • Frame
    • Score text

Preparing a score for export

  • Export settings

Backup and recovered files

Project properties

Overview

Changing Project properties

Adding and deleting new project properties

Accessing project properties in a score

Score comparison

Publish to musescore.com

Overview

  • Publishing cost and profit
  • Publishing rights

Creating a MuseScore account

Saving only to Musescore.com

Publish locally saved scores

Visibility in score manager

Manage generation of mp3 during upload

  • Never
  • Always
  • Every x saves

Share on Audio.com

Overview

  • To share audio from your score on Audio.com:
  • To share on Audio.com every time you publish a score:

Customization

Language

Overview

  • Change language
    • Update translations
  • See also

Appearance

Overview

Theme and Colors

Fonts

Toolbars and windows

Overview

Toolbars

  • Showing and hiding toolbars
  • Rearranging toolbars
  • Customizing contents of toolbars

Windows and Panels

  • Docking and undocking panels
  • Customizing contents of panels

Templates and styles

Overview

  • Style
  • Layout and formatting in Musescore
  • Reusing Layout and formatting information

Style files

  • Saving settings of all styles of "Full score" or "Part" you are currently editing to a separate .mss file
  • Loading from .mss file into "Full score" or "Part" you are currently editing

Default "level 2 information" for new score file and Musescore Part

Templates

  • Save a score as a custom template
  • Creating a score from a custom template

Palettes

Adding palettes

Hiding and deleting palettes

Changing the order of palettes

Customizing palette contents

  • Adding elements from the Master Palette window
  • Adding elements from the score
  • Moving elements between palettes
  • Deleting elements from palettes
  • Resetting a palette

Saving and loading palettes

Palettes menu

Palette properties

See also

Workspaces

Overview

Creating a new workspace

Deleting a workspace

Switching between workspaces

Keyboard shortcuts

Overview

Defining a shortcut

Resetting and clearing shortcuts

  • To reset a shortcut to its default:
  • To clear (i.e. delete) a shortcut:

Importing and exporting shortcuts

Preferences

General

Appearance

Canvas

Note input

MIDI device mapping

Score

I/O

Import

Shortcuts

Update

Advanced

Plugins

Overview

Managing plugins

  • Installing a new plugin
    • Updating an existing plugins
  • Enabling and disabling plugins

Running a plugin

Pre-installed plugins

Create a plugin

See also

Support

Getting help

Overview

Learn

Forums

Issue tracker

GitHub

Mastering MuseScore

Revert to factory settings

Overview

Reverting to factory settings from the menu

Reverting to factory settings from the command line

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux

Troubleshooting

Installation issues

Score issues

Display issues

Sound issues

Printing issues

Known incompatibilities

Appendix

Command line usage

  • NAME
  • SYNOPSIS
  • DESCRIPTION
  • Batch conversion job JSON format
  • ENVIRONMENT
  • FILES
  • EXAMPLES
    • Convert a score to PDF from the command line
    • Run a batch job converting multiple documents
    • MIDI import operations
  • DIAGNOSTICS
  • SEE ALSO
  • STANDARDS
  • HISTORY
  • AUTHORS
  • CAVEATS
  • BUGS

All keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard Map

Navigation

  • Page navigation
  • Score navigation

Note input

  • General
  • Duration
  • Pitch
  • Tablature

Selecting

Editing

  • General
  • Duration
  • Pitch
  • Notation
  • Manual adjustment

Text

  • General
  • Formatting
  • Lyrics
  • Chord symbols, Roman numeral analysis, Nashville numbers, figured bass

Other score elements

Score setup and formatting

File Operations

User interface

  • Playback
  • Accessibility
  • Other

Known incompatibilities

Upgrade from MuseScore 3.x

Overview

Keyboard Shortcuts

Other changes

Missing Features

Upgrade from MuseScore 2.x or 1.x

Handbook for MuseScore 3.x

Handbook for MuseScore 2.x

Handbook for MuseScore 1.x

Glossary

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • External links