Figured Bass Duration Selection

• Jul 3, 2018 - 21:03

Using MuseScore 2.3.0 on a MacBook Pro -- no numeric keypad....

I am trying to change the duration of a figured bass notation as per https://musescore.org/en/handbook/figured-bass which says to use control-number. E.g, ctrl-4 will make the group into an eighth note (quaver) despite the duration of the note it is attached to. But MuseScore is completely ignoring me when I try making these changes.

Is it possible that since I'm using a Mac with no numeric keypad I need a different combination of keystrokes -- e.g., fn-cntrl-4 or something like that? I tried everything I could think of, with combinations of shift, fn, cntl, option/alt and command.

Anyone have any ideas? Does this feature work for others?


Comments

Not a Mac user myself, but: AFAIK, you should use Cmd in Mac in all cases where you should use Ctrl in Windows and Linux. I.e. try Cmd + 4 instead of Ctrl + 4.

Not a Mac user either, but I always used the key pad, which you don't have. I just tried it with the main keybaord and ctrl+# set the duration of the figured bass. I'm not sure what's going on. This isn't a shortcut that can be changed in preferences.

I always hate suggesting this, but try to revert to factory settings to see if it fixes it so you can use cmd+#. (# is an actual number not the # key)

In reply to by lpoleshuck

I entered the number (in my test the number 6) under a half note. I then pressed ctrl+5 to make the duration a 1/4 note, I then entered 6 with a 4 under it and pressed ctrl+4 to set the duration to an 1/8 note. All worked as expected.

I never tried to change the duration of an existing figured bass until you asked the question. It worked. Note that the existing figured bass needs to be in edit mode, usually done by double clicking the existing figured bass. You cannot simply select it and press cmd+4 to change the duration.

In reply to by lpoleshuck

There's really no such thing as the "duration of a figure"; ctrl-(or cmd)-number is a way to get from a figure to a place a certain amount of music-time downscore to enter another figure; 4 = "an eighth-note from this figure". It is the notion of "duration of figure" which is confusing you.
I use figured bass left and right on the Mac daily if you have questions (sitemail).

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.