Using insert mode
Insert mode can be a really useful tool for some purposes. It basically allows notes to be inserted and the bar extends indefinitely. This can be a very good way to set up phrases for working into new compositions.
There are some "gotchas" though.
- If the notes are then copied and pasted into another part of the score, they will almost certainly be forced into a 4/4 bar pattern, or the time signature of the current section. If the section being pasted into is in 3/4 then the free format notes will be in 3/4, and so on. It may be preferred to keep them as free format with extended length bars for a while.
However this is not necessarily disastrous - and there are work arounds.
The easiest fix if this has happened - and the copied notes are now in 4/4 - is to select the bars containing the pasted in notes, then using the Tools->Bar-> Join Selected Measures option from the top menu. This will now give just one bar with more notes similar to - though perhaps not the same as - the original long bar. This should work for all time signatures - though I've not checked all possibilities!
- The second problem - which is the one I really want to know about here - is "how do I delete notes from a bar with inserted notes?". Deleting the notes works - but simply replaces them by rests. What is really wanted is a remove note and shorten the bar by the deleted note length option, so that the timing conforms to what is imagined.
That is something I don't know how to do - yet! Somebody help, please!
Comments
I may have found the answer myself. This is unfortunately one of those areas in MuseScore where there is a lack of knowledge or clarity, and I notice that someone else [NOT ME] tried to ask a similar question a while back, and was then considered to be RANTING. I won't do anything like that here - right now.
The problem is that there is a Delete command - which is usualy just the Delete key. There is also a Remove command which not only removes the selected note or range of notes, but also modifies the timing. Thus Deleting a minim [US half note] simply replaces the minim by a minim rest - or equivalent, while Removing a minim not only deletes it, but shortens the bar by 2 beats. Bars which remain extended - relative to the current time signature will be notated with a "+" sign, while if the deletion results in fewer beats than the current time signature indicated, there will be a "-" sign put over the end of the measure, to indicate a shorter bar.
Just to make things slightly more complicated, the Remove command is equivalent to CTRL-DEL in Windows systems, but in MacOS it is usually CMD-DEL.
I think this solves the issue.
Indeed, Ctrl+Delete (which I think is one of the few commands that actually works as such on macOS with or without replacing Ctrl with Cmd) is the way to remove beats from a measure, or measures from a score, whether using insert mode or not. The command is called "remove selected range". Be forewarned that on macOS specifically, there is a so-far-unsolved (because no one has been able to come up with steps to reproduce it relibaly) where every once in a while for no obvious reason, the command stops working, and then you need to restart MuseScore. If you ever encounter this and figure out steps to reproduce it, definitely let us know!
Something else you should find very useful in conjunction with your of insert mode is this recently-developed plugin - https://musescore.org/en/project/duration-editor. It allows you to change note durations and subsequent notes are moved earlier or later as appropriate. So unless you literally entered too many notes and now need to remove one, you won't actually need the "remove selected range" command this plugin is all you'd need to turn a string of quarter notes into some other rhythm.
In reply to Indeed, Ctrl+Delete (which I… by Marc Sabatella
Is there a way to turn off Insert mode once you've activated it in a measure? I went into Insert mode to test it out, but now I can't stop notes from being inserted (in other words, extra beats in the measure). I don't want to delete the whole measure, I just want to have that measure go back into the default Step Time mode.
In reply to Is there a way to turn off… by maddrecm
Well, select again the Default (Step Time): https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/alternative-note-input-methods#Acce…
EDIT: It's also possible to create a shortcut, simply define it as you wish in Edit / Preferences / Shortcuts.
In reply to . by cadiz1
Thanks for the reply. But, the issue was that I couldn't get the measure to work in Step Time after got into Insert mode. No matter how often I selected the default, Step Time, the note entry mode seemed to remain Insert - i.e., inserting extra notes and a "+" still at the end of the measure. I didn't try creating a shortcut. That might work.
Actually, the solution I came up with was to go into Measure Properties. There it would give me both Nominal beats and Actual beats, and I would just change the Actual beats back to match the Nominal. That reverted the measure to the number of beats of the given meter signature and removed the "+".
It seems that, once you go into Insert mode and start inputting notes, the number of Actual beats increases and won't go back until you go into Measure Properties. This makes sense in a way. But, if you accidentally got into Insert mode (as I did), it's kinda hard to figure out how to get out of that.
In reply to Thanks for the reply. But,… by maddrecm
To clear up any possible confusion: returning to the default method (Step time) via the toolbar or a shortcut works perfectly. But it's true that if, by mistake when using Insert mode, you've entered e.g. 7 quarter notes instead of 4 (for a 4/4 time signature), this return to the default method won't magically erase the three already entered extra quarter notes
As you've seen, you'll need to reduce the number of beats, return to the nominal duration (4/4) via Measure Properties. Alternatively, without going in Measure properties: Select the extra notes (and rests if there is) and press Ctrl/Cmd + Del
In reply to Is there a way to turn off… by maddrecm
I had to search to find out how to do this in MU4. In MU3 simply go to the "N" at the top left of the window, and click until a drop down menu appears. That will show allowable input modes.
There is a similar way in MU4 - which I found by watching a bit of Marc Sabatella's video on "Alternative Input Methods" in his video course on MuseScore 4. Again look at the top left of the window. You should see a pattern of 6 dots. Next to that there is an icon. If it's a pencil, then you are in note input mode. It may be showing something else. Click on that for a second or two, and as in MU3 a drop down menu should appear. If the icon shows a pencil, then you are already in Note Input mode. If it shows a quarter note/crotchet with a + sign, then you are in Insert mode.
There are also icons for : Rhythm only (not pitch), Re-pitch existing notes, Real time (metronome) and Real time (foot pedal) accessible by the drop down menu. Mostly you will probably ignore those.
Sometimes the input setting changes and that can be confusing - it happened to me recently - and every time I tried to enter notes the length of measures increased.
You may also be able to change some of this by modifiying the Preferences file or changing some of the Shortcuts - but that can be system dependent. I suspect the easiest way is to be aware of the icons at the top left of your screen, and the drop down menu.
There may be a few more subtleties to get to grips with, but basically I'd suggest looking for the drop down menu first.
See also the image of the drop down menu.
![Input modes.jpg]( "Input modes.jpg")
I have found this to be useful, but there does seem to be a snag. This is perhaps partly because of user unawareness, but there may be other factors. It would be highly desirable to know whether the "inserted" note is going to follow the current position, or be before it. Due to the combinations of key codes, the following possibilities can happen:
Option 2 is great for free format bars - but sometimes things get tricky and I find that I'm getting behaviours corresponding to 1 or 3. Sometimes one does want to put new notes in between existing notes. Something about the way that MuseScore operates seems to make this difficult - I don't believe it's just due to the user getting it wrong. When it works it's really helpful, but when it doesn't it's a real nuisance and sems to require a lot of extra key strokes to sort out.
In reply to I have found this to be… by dave2020X
"Sometimes one does want to put new notes in between existing notes"
Doable with the plugin.
Insert a rest (with Shift + click on desired rest/note value), then enter the new note.
In reply to "Sometimes one does want to… by cadiz1
Which plugin?
I don't normally use the mouse to point at note length values - preferring to use the number shortcuts.
I can just about get the final effect if I faff around for a minute or two - but that's no good. I really want to just be able to think of a note and put it in either before or after the current note, or even replace it. I don't want to have to spend seconds or minutes inserting or deleting notes or rests in order to get the correct sequence of note pitches.
In reply to Which plugin? I don't… by dave2020X
What plugin? Well, the link was given to you in this same thread and comment: https://musescore.org/en/node/326267#comment-1103324
So, this one: https://musescore.org/en/project/duration-editor
"I don't normally use the mouse to point at note length values - preferring to use the number shortcuts."
I understand. This plugin is already a good step forward.
It remains to be seen if (and when) it will be implemented natively in the program one day ? Which would make it possible to do without the use of the mouse, I suppose.
In the meantime, you will have to adapt :)
In reply to I have found this to be… by dave2020X
If you are not in input mode (any of them) then pressing a letter changes the pitch of the currently selected note and pressing a number changes its duration. If the duration is longer than previously, it will overwrite notes that followed it; if shorter, it will add rests to complete the duration. [Several days later] My mistake, it does not add rests to complete the duration. Instead it shortens the note following to the length required to fill the space. For example, you have two quarter notes--an A and a B--and you select the A. press 5, . (period). The quarter note A will be replaced by a dotted quarter note A. This takes up half the time of the quarter note B, which will be turned into an eighth note B to complete the total space of the original two quarters.
When you are in "Step Time" input mode (pencil icon) and there are notes already at that place, the first note entered replaces the highlit note. Once that first note is entered the last note entered is highlit, but a light-colored cursor is on the next note: the note about to be replaced by the next note entered.
When you are in "Insert" input mode (quarter note with plus sign icon), notes (pitches and durations) entered are entered before the selected (currently highlit) note.
Experiment with these to learn how to use them most successfully for YOUR needs.