How can I move notes from one staff to another?
New to Musescore. The MIDI file that I want to edit has 3 staff doublets (6 staffs) after editing out the unneeded ones. I'd like to combine the score to only the melody line - ideally to one treble staff. I've learned how to delete notes and to change a note on the bass clef to treble but some needed notes are on a staff other than the one that I'd like to read from. How do I move notes from one staff to another and maintain the melody - or can I?
Reference to an appropriate tutorial is fine. I appreciate your help.
Comments
It sounds like you want to move notes from staff 3 to staff 1 for example. Unless you want all of the notes from both staves 1 & 3 together, it will be easiest to simply reenter the notes on staff 1. If you attach an example, it will be easier to explain what to do in your situations. There are some shortcuts, but which one to use relies on knowing how you want the notes combined.
In reply to It sounds like you want to… by mike320
I can of course delete notes from staves and re-enter them on the first staff. I can work with your suggestion to " all of the notes from both staves 1 & 3 together" and then delete what I don't want (but I don't know how). But with the excellent utility in MuseScore I'm thinking that there may be an easier way that being new I don't know about. I'm willing to learn from online resources if someone can direct me to the proper place.
I'm used to working with other programs like Word. Excel, graphics, etc where you can cut-and-paste information. That would be easiest, but if there's a way to do that in MusScore I haven't found it. So I'm hoping for help using an alternate routine.
I've attached a graphic that I hope will make my objectives more clear.
In reply to I can of course delete notes… by lbeck02
Check https://musescore.org/en/node/12345, this is for MuseScore 2, but still works and might help here
Or try https://musescore.org/en/handbook/tools#implode
In reply to I can of course delete notes… by lbeck02
For #2 in your picture you don't have notes in voice 2 of staff 1 or notes in voice 1 where you want to copy from. This means you can use the selection filter (press F6) and leave the voices you want to copy checked. You will see that only the things that are selected will have a different color that black. You can then paste the notes into the first staff and the voice 1 notes will not be affected since you won't copy voice 1 if you follow my directions. Remember to check all in the filter selector when you're done.
For #3, if you want to get rid of the notes in staff 1, then copy or cut from staff 3 and paste to staff 1 without using the selection filter and the paste will replace what's there.
In reply to I can of course delete notes… by lbeck02
MuseScore has cut and paste too, same shortcuts Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V as any other program. But, music is more complex than text, it has attributes like time position and duration that letters and words don't have, so there are some things that are more complicated. If you post your actual score rather than just a picture, we can help better. But I'm guessing from the picture that the notes you want to copy are in different voices, and it appears the destination staff already has notes in those same voices at those same time positions, so probably you'll need to change voices around too. Again, if you attach the actual score and describe the desired final result in more detail, we can understand and assist better.
In reply to MuseScore has cut and paste… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks Marc. I've ordered your 2.0 book from Amazon and look forward to learning/using MuseScore. I'm not familiar with the publishing world but I hope that you get some royalties.
The free software is exactly what I've been looking for. Now I'll learn (hopefully) how to use it efficiently. I'll probably wait to get the book before I further burden the MuseScore community with questions.
Thanks to you and MuseScore for your help to those of us playing with music notation and wanting score that can be modified and printed.
In reply to Thanks Marc. I've ordered… by lbeck02
Don't worry about burdening the community. Everyone here answers questions because they want to.
In reply to Don't worry about burdening… by mike320
😊👌
In reply to Thanks Marc. I've ordered… by lbeck02
Thanks! Do note that the book is pretty outdated by now, but most of the basic information still applies even if there is a ton of new stuff that isn't covered. The rest, though, is in the Handbook you can find on this site or via the Help menu within the program.
In reply to Thanks! Do note that the… by Marc Sabatella
Yes. I noticed the copyright date of 2015 and more importantly the major change from 2.1 to 3.*. Still, I've now spent probably 5-6 hours stumbling through the program and still having some problems. Having the reference - as old as it may be - is a good cost/benefit choice for me. The program isn't TOTALLY intuitive, though I suspect that it is the best that developers can do given the nuances of music score.
If something in the book doesn't perform as expected I'll go to the online Handbook and if necessary post a question on this forum. I've found the forum quick and helpful.
In reply to Yes. I noticed the… by lbeck02
You wrote:
... I'll go to the online Handbook...
While you wait for Amazon, and besides reading the obvious handbook basics... e.g., how to enter notes, etc.
Here are two topics which account for a great number of forum questions:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/voices
especially the caveat: "There is no need to use (MuseScore) voices 3 and 4 unless there are more than two parts in the same staff."
and:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/layout-and-formatting#style-page
especially for the nomenclature used in the image displayed.
Also, that the crucial key to understanding page formatting is to appreciate the (capricious to some) difference between "staff" and "system", especially as it relates to a score for a solo instrument written on a single staff (like, for instance, a flute).
Regards, and welcome aboard.