TWO RESTS FOR TWO VOICES?

• Oct 19, 2024 - 13:48

When I am using MuseScore 4 and I have two voices I find that there are
two rests instead of one rest for both parts. I used Finale (before) and it
always had one rest when using two voices. Is the double rests acceptable?
If not how can I delete one and still have two rests in the parts?


Comments

Musescore always has a separate rest for each voice. You only need different voices if the notes are to have different durations and therefore the rests are also of different lengths.
The rests of voices 2-4 can be deleted. Select a rest, select all similar ones and press DEL. All rests are selected but those of voice 1 remain.
However, it is better to make them invisible.

If you look In staff properties there is a "Merge matching rests" option. Default is off.

Are double rests acceptable? Yes, sometimes, sometimes no. If you are writing counterpoint, you probably want the separate rests, if not, probably not. But having them separate while editing is useful as it is difficult to select one particular rest from a merged pair. Merge them when you have finished editing but before you start tweaking the formatting

See also this Github issue for more discussion on this topic. https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/24983

In reply to by SteveBlower

Due to the issues that SteveBlower mentioned, I usually hide rather than delete the Voice 2 rests. When you hide the Voice 2 rest, the Voice 1 rest moves into the space where they would be had you deleted or merged the two rests. But the Voice 2 rest remains easily accessible if you need to modify it later. (And, while you can delete them later, I don't.)

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