Reposition Notes (elements) right and left
I wish Musescore had a convenient way to move notes (elements) within a measure right/left just by clicking and dragging. If there is anything on the left or right, it will move out of the way (go around) what you are moving a la MS-Word. I have searched in the help; the help "hints" at being able to do it (by turning off auto placement), but doesn't give clear direction on how to do it. It is particularly annoying when I want to move a note left to take the place of a rest. The only way I know to do it is to cut and paste.
Thanks
Comments
If you wish to place the notes at a different time position, then indeed cut & paste is currently the only supported method.
In reply to If you wish to place the… by jeetee
Jeetee, do you think I can ask very nicely, in the forums, so that this can be an enhancement in the next version of Musescore?
Another way to do it, I guess, Is to have a feature (or plugin) that allows you to exchange one element for another element. You click on both elements (timed elements, of course), hit a button and Viola!! the two elements exchange places.
In reply to Jeetee, do you think I can… by odelphi231
While in note entry mode, shift+left swaps the last-entered note with the one to the left of it. I have removed that shortcut from my preferences as I kept trying to use shift+left to make a selection without leaving note entry mode, for example to go back and add a slur to the last few notes. Of course instead of making the selection it shifted the last entered note left, often a long way from where it started. Then I had to go and hunt down the note I had just mistakenly moved and put it back where it belonged.
In reply to While in note entry mode,… by SteveBlower
Thanks Steve, but that is not exactly what I am wanting to do. I want to exchange an already existing note with an element (note, rest) to the left without doing a cut and paste.
In reply to Thanks Steve, but that is… by odelphi231
Actually, that is exactly what Steve is describing - Shift+Left after entering a note has this effect. But it is limited - it only works in note input mode, and only if the elements in question have the same duration. It's not impossible that some day it would be enhanced. It would need a different shortcut to work in normal mode, though, since Shift+Left is already taken. But realistically, cut & paste does the job almost as efficiently, especially when using the "Swap with Clipboard" version of this (Ctrl+Shift+X).
In reply to Actually, that is exactly… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks. Maybe I am doing it wrong, but I tried to do what Steve was saying and I couldn't get it to work in input mode. What I am proposing requires no shortcut - just drag and drop, easy peasy. Cut and paste works (though its clunkier than drag and drop) if you are moving to replace a rest. Try doing it to replace a note. Lets say you have a 4/4 measure with 3 Qnotes and 2 8th notes. You wanna move ONE of the 8th notes to the beginning of the measure. As I am writing this I can't even think of an easy way to do that, though I am a nooby. How I would have to do it is delete the first Q note, cut and paste the last 8th note in its place, Musescore would automatically add an 8th rest, then I would have to move the rest of the notes over via cut and paste to replace the 8th rest, then manually re-add the Q note at the end. WHEW!! You mentioned "swap with clipboard". Maybe that would save one step. I will have the read up on the "swap with clipboard" to see how that works.
Here is what my simple mind is imaging. Elements should be able to flow like water left and right (even in different measures) as long as the measure still has the proper timing. Musescore automatically moves everything properly to keep the placement and timing right. I know you have seen how MS Word does that. Admittedly, there is one BIG difference with MS Word. You don't have to worry about proper timing of the words.
In reply to Thanks. Maybe I am doing it… by odelphi231
Some people like using drag & drop, others like doing things fast :-) Shortcuts are usually much better for speed. But, they can be harder to discover, so adding a drag & drop method as well isn't a bad idea either.
That said, what you originally described was just swapping two notes, and as I mentioned, Shift+Left does that if you are in note input mode, the notes are adjacent, and they have the same duration. So it's way faster than drag & drop, but is currently limited and could stand to be improved to handle different durations as well.
What you are describing here is a bit more complex, and it also leads to other situations more complex still. The nice thing about cut & paste it gives you complete control over exactly what you are moving - it's not limited to just swapping adjacent notes or even adjacent phrases. But sure, in the specific case of swapping two adjacent notes, a single command that just does the job is even better. And sometimes a drag & drop method - which might not be as fast or as flexible but might be more discoverable - could be useful as well.
In reply to Some people like using drag … by Marc Sabatella
Thanks Marc. I currently use cut and paste, but it has its limitations. The major limitation is that once you cut, where do you paste? Let's say you cut two notes, now where do you paste them? You need to somehow MOVE other notes out of the way in order to paste those cut notes. What I end up doing is first deleting notes, then cutting the notes I wanna move, pasting them where the deleted notes were, then manually reentering the deleted notes. A drag and drop function would combine cut& paste with move all in one step. The major purpose I would use a drag and drop functionality is when I enter 8th notes, then wanna switch them to 16th notes. It switches the notes to 16th notes, but then puts 16th rests between all the notes. Waaah! So I have to manually cut and paste each note to move them over. Just having a functionality that allows notes to move over to replace rests, would be a MAJOR improvement for me.
I guess I would be happy if there was a swap key-combination that allows swapping non-adjacent keys with different durations. I realize there is a note spacing issue if you swap different durations, but I am sure that can be handled. Would you highlight the notes you wanna move and the notes you wanna swap, then press a key-combination?
In reply to Thanks Marc. I currently… by odelphi231
If the goal is to convert eighths to sixteenth, not need to laboriously drag and drop things one at a time. Just cut the whole passage then use Edit / Paste Half Duration. Way faster and easier than what you are proposing.
In reply to Thanks Marc. I currently… by odelphi231
"The major limitation is that once you cut, where do you paste? Let's say you cut two notes, now where do you paste them? You need to somehow MOVE other notes out of the way in order to paste those cut notes."
Look into using the "Swap" command.