Lyric hyphens between systems

• Dec 1, 2018 - 13:29

I've been using MuseScore 2 for a year and now create all my scores using it. Marc Sabatella's excellent book "Mastering MusicScore" is the only book in my library which I have bought twice (paperback and Kindle editions). That said, there is one thing I'd like to do which I can't. If you have a lyric word which extends across 2 systems, is it possible to set MuseScore to add a hyphen on the second system? At the moment, I completely finish the score, then add hyphens manually using stave text (it doesn't take long to do). A small thing, I know - it's probably in there somewhere.

Comments

• Dec 1, 2018 - 13:46

Sorry I don't get it, can you show a sample score (and please nor just a picture of it)?
It might be as easy as hitting - until you reach the 2nd system

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• Dec 1, 2018 - 16:23

Sorry to have not made myself completely clear! Here's a simple file to illustrate what I'm talking about. I want a hyphen before the "lem" in measure 4, which would just be a repeat of the one in measure 3, but would clarify that "lem" is part of "problem". Hyphens.mscz

Attachment Size
Hyphens.mscz 4.59 KB

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• Dec 1, 2018 - 19:29

That's quite the compliment, thanks!

Ctrl+hyphen is indeed a good way to go for this. I don't have my copy of "Behind Bars" handy, not sure what she recommends for this case? Maybe it should be done automatically? I know we did something very specific for melisma continuation lines (eg, "_" at the *end* of a word) to make sure they continue - see #3961: Melisma line over system break. Odd that no one seemed to have mentioned hyphens in that context. Maybe this just isn't commonly done? I see other programs an option to generate them automatically, but it defaults to off. Probably we should consider the same.

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• Dec 1, 2018 - 22:47

Hi Marc,
I think that Finale has the option to include the courtesy hyphens at the start of a new system, but defaults to "off". I was just interested to see whether anyone else had the same requirement and how they solved it. By the way, I see that the "Mastering MuseScore" is published in French as well! I'll email the Principal of the local music school here in Brittany and let him know about it. I now use MuseScore for everything, unless I'm revising an old Finale music file!

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• Dec 1, 2018 - 23:37

I agree.

Adding the extra dash is tricky, though: the second System has no LyricsLineSegment at all.

At the current point in time, I’d be happy with a logic like, if a syllabic end is on the first ChordRest of a System, draw a dash at some fixed distance (2sp seems to look well) before it.

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