Chanted lyrics
When singing psalms or other chants, sometimes the piano accompaniment has a sustained note or chord until the last 2 or 3 words are sung, and then the piano and the vocalist play and sing the same 2 or 3 notes. The typical notation for the held notes is a double whole note, but it’s going to vary from line to line. Is there a way to assign how many beats that note has, or do you have to use the appropriate notes?
Also, a typical psalm will have a refrain that has a time signature, but the verses are chanted freely. What’s the best way to accomplish that?
Comments
For multiple lyrics on one note, use Ctrl+space. For non-metered music, see https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/pickup-and-non-metered-measures
In reply to For multiple lyrics on one… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks for the reply. I already have the multiple lyric words on one note figured out. I’m wondering which note to use. The standard that I see is to use a double whole note in printed music. Obviously the accompaniest will go into a holding pattern on those notes for the vocalist to finish each line. It may or may not be 8 beats. I’ll check out your link, and see if the answer to the question I asked is there.