Copy and Pasting selected items
Is there a way to do the following:
Select all piano fingerings within a specific range of measures (not necessarily on the same system), then paste to another range (not necessarily the same notes.)?
In Finale, I can do this by using filters, wherein I tell it to only paste, in this case, articulations—but it can be anything: notes, slurs, hairpins, etc.
I don't see a way to do this in MuseScore, but I'm still very new to the program.
Comments
Fingerings are connected to notes so the notes must go with them. This is true of most of the things in MuseScore you mentioned.
In reply to Fingerings are connected to… by mike320
Right, they're connected, but the question is, can they be copied SEPARATELY from the notes, the pasted/connected to another set of notes. You can do this in Finale and Notion—with just about any item connected to notes. You should be able to do it in MuseScore. It's pretty common, for example, to paste dynamics from one section to another, even if those dynamics are attached to notes.
In reply to Right, they're connected,… by saltp
Ok, I'll answer it in one word, No. These items are connected to notes and can only be copied with the notes.
I don't understand how copying articulation or fingerings from one rhythm to another would work. I've never used Sibelius or Finale.
In reply to Ok, I'll answer it in one… by mike320
I don't use Sibelius, but it's simple in Finale. Right-click on edit filter, chose the items to copy, then paste. So if you chose articulations and text expression (e.g. dynamics) it would only paste those items. Of course, if the rhythms aren't the same, it will have to approximate. But it works very well and easily. I guess I'll make this a feature request. I like a LOT about MuseScore, but it's missing some high-end features. But maybe that's the point since it's free.
In reply to Just FYI, here's how it's… by saltp
The current attitude is that the powers that be don't want to hear, "That's OK because it's free." This doesn't mean every feature request will be filled so go ahead and see what happens.
Actually do a search for an existing feature request first.
In reply to The current attitude is that… by mike320
Good points, Mike. I'll search for it. From a UI experience, the "powers" have done a fantastic job, so I don't get the feeling they're the types to use the "free" excuse.
To be clear, though: in MuseScore, articulations can be copied in this way. Just select them (e.g., click one, Shift+click another to select all in that range, or use right-click Select menu, etc), then Ctlr+C to copy, then click the destination, Ctrl+V to paste. No filter needed. Same for chord symbols, lyrics, dynamics. Each of these are special cased to do what the consensus believed the expected results would be if the rhythm don't match. But there is no special code for fingerings. It's possible, we'd just need to develop a similar consensus for how different rhythms should be handle, also things like what if there is a two-note chord in the source but a four-note in the destination, etc.
In reply to To be clear, though: in… by Marc Sabatella
Marc, I must be doing something wrong because that's exactly what I tried. I select a range of fingerings and they're highlighted. I paste to a different region with the same rhythm. Nothing happens. To be clear, I'm using a Mac, so it's Command-C, Command-V, but obviously, that shouldn't make a difference. Also to be clear, I'm having other weird issues. Example: I save a shortcut, then when I reopen, it doesn't work. So maybe there's some issue with my OS (10.15)?
In reply to Marc, I must be doing… by saltp
Marc said you can do this with articulations and some other things but not with fingerings.
In reply to Marc said you can do this… by mike320
Oh...you're right. :-| My bad. I'm so used to thinking of fingerings being articulations because that's where they are placed in Finale which I've been using for 25 years. Obvious fingerings AREN'T actually articulations, but that's another issue. I have to get used to the MuseScore nomenclature.
In reply to Oh...you're right. :-| My… by saltp
Understood. I suggest that you go ahead an enter a specific request for fingerings so there will be a place for discussion on how to handle some of the issues unique to fingerings. Submit request at https://musescore.org/en/node/add/project_issue?pid=1236 with a severity of S5 - Suggestion.
In reply to Understood. I suggest that… by mike320
Will do. Thanks for your patience while I learn this new app. I wouldn't bother complaining if I didn't like it so much...
In reply to Will do. Thanks for your… by saltp
I'm one of the biggest complainers at times.
In reply to I'm one of the biggest… by mike320
Well, we complainers help make the program better!
In reply to Well, we complainers help… by saltp
Yes. That's what I was implying. I help people here because I like the program and want others to enjoy it also.
In reply to Yes. That's what I was… by mike320
Yeah, I've got to say, I've been blown away by it. I wasn't expecting such a rich, deep application. I originally downloaded it so I could upload stuff to the site, but I'm finding myself using it more and more as my regular notation app. The automatic vertical positioning when you put in various items is the best I've seen anywhere.
In reply to Yeah, I've got to say, I've… by saltp
The programmers are quite responsive to the feedback from users. The auto placement that you speak of started with its problems but good feedback has led to its improvement though there is honestly a few improvements that can still be made.
In reply to The programmers are quite… by mike320
So good to hear the developers are responsive to feedback. @Marc: I'll come up with and post some thoughts on how I think fingering specifically should be handled, based on my experience with Finale and other apps. In general, I really like the way you can ADD fingering in MuseScore—being able to hit the space bar and go to the next note is great and intuitive. Thanks!
In reply to Oh...you're right. :-| My… by saltp
Indeed, fingerings are not articulations :-).
Beyond the fact that they mean different things, there is also an important internal distinction: articulations refer to a whole chord at a time, fingerings are per-note. That's not some arbitrary MuseScore-imposed distinction, but how notation works. That is, C-E-G on one stem for piano takes only a single staccato and it is always assumed to apply to all three notes, but you'd need to add three separate fingerings to be clear about that. If you added only one, people would probably have to assume you meant that finger to apply to one of those three notes only and other fingers and notes needed to fend for themselves :-)
Anyhow, that's why the code deals with articulations and other elements where you don't have that additional complication, but doesn't deal with fingering. I would guess that if we had a really clear understanding of exactly how this should work in the various different scenarios - not just multiple notes in a chord, but also multiple voices, etc - it wouldn't be too hard to implement.
BTW, the ability to add fingering by just hitting space to move to the next note etc is something we didn't have for the longest time because it seemed it would be hard. Then one day it suddenly occurred to us how this could be implemented pretty easily, and then it was done the next day more or less. Sometimes we get lucky that way.
In reply to Indeed, fingerings are not… by Marc Sabatella
Yeah, I always thought it was a little weird that Finale put fingerings under articulations. My impression with a lot of things they've done is they add things willy nilly to a basically modal (program design, not musically) that was useful in the days of floppy disks, but is sometimes awkward by today's standards.
Having said that, their approach to entering fingerings is fairly elegant: you enter them by pressing the finger number while clicking on the note. If you enter multiple fingerings for the same note, it stacks them in order (e.g., 1,3,5). It doesn't seem to recognize whether you're in the right or left hand, so the order may be wrong,. However, if you select all the fingerings over one chord, then. hit "F", it flips the order. It's pretty well done.
Your method of entering individual fingerings is faster, less cumbersome for sure. For chords, I've just been hitting return and entering additional fingerings below the first one. Not ideal, but it works. You make a good point that, unlike articulations, fingerings apply to individual notes within a chord. I suppose a way of handling that would be some combination of your method and Finale's. You could hold down a number key while clicking on an individual note within a chord, but still use the spacebar mode for non-chordal notes. If you use the spacebar mode on a chord, the algorithm could interpret a lower finger in the RH to be applied to lower notes, etc. OR something like that.
I love the story of how you came up with the spacebar method. Very funny.
In reply to Yeah, I always thought it… by saltp
Don't hit Return for fingering on chords, this doesn't do the right thing at all. It enters multiple fingerings on one note, not separate fingerings for each note. The spacing won't be right, they won't update as you add/remove notes from the chord, you won't be able to adjust or edit them individually, etc. Just hit space, it knows to move to the next note in the chord, same as you would to move to the next note/chord.
In reply to Don't hit Return for… by Marc Sabatella
Ah, even better. Thanks, Marc!