Delete a note or move it
I am trying to simply delete a note but the program refuses to do so seemingly because it will no longer contain 4 beats in the measure. Also trying to change a quarter note to a half note. Is there a way to turn off the automatic adjustments and just let me do this manually?
Comments
Short answer: No.
MuseScore (and all other scorewriter programs) are based upon a defined number of beats per measure. When you delete a note, it is therefore replaced by a rest of equivalent duration. When you change a half note to a quarter note, the extra beat is transformed into a rest.
However, it is the USER who defines the number of beats in each measure, either by specifying a particular time signature or by modifying the properties of an individual measure to contain fewer (or more) beats than the time signature normally contains. You can even change the time signature itself at every individual measure, if that is what you need to do.
To change the time signature, click-and-hold on the new one you want and drag it to the measure in question. To modify the properties of a specific measure, right-click on the measure, and select 'measure properties' from the drop-down. In the pop-up which will appear, change the number of beats (and if necessary the basic unit of time) to match what you want to do.
In reply to Short answer: No… by Recorder485
Thanks for your response. I was hoping to simply change notes and move them without changing the time signature or measures--the way I would with a pencil and eraser. I can do the counting myself.
In reply to Thanks for your response. I… by brianfirst
Then you might be better off using copy and paste.
MuseScore doesn't know how many of the subsequent notes you wish to move (only the verse you're working on, all of them, only this measure, only this instrument or all of them?) so it chose the way of affecting as little as possible.
1. Select the region to move earlier in time
2. Cut it
3. click on the new starting position (in your case the note to be removed/overwritten)
4. Paste
Note that, especially during composing, more people have requested a more free-flowing way of inputting musical ideas. If you do a search on "Scratchpad"-mode you'll find some of those topics; all that is required is finding a developer with the time and skill to contribute (and preferably maintain) this…
It helps to not think of what MuseScore is doing as "automatic adjustments". Actually, quite the contrary - it is leaving the remaining notes in exactly the time position they started in. If your goal is to move some unspecified number of notes (only you can possibly know how many) earlier in time, simply do so directly, via cut and paste. No need to delete anything first - just paste the notes you want moved earlier into their new location. Similarly if you want some unspecified number of notes moved later in time after changing a note from quarter to half.