request independent lyric placement per staff
I would like to be able to set lyric placement (above or below) independently per staff. My reason for wanting this feature pertains to when I write for accordion and voice. Accordion left hand notation is particular in the sense that text markings are used for chords. Left hand has single bass buttons as well as chord buttons, so in accordion notation notes with no markings indicate single bass notes, and notes with markings indicate which chord button (note) and chord type (marking). The Musescore 3.0 file I uploaded is an excerpt where you can see how accordion left hand is notated. For this I use lyric entry, with placement set as above (via Format - Style... - Lyrics). Now I'm aware that my excerpt shows Bb trumpet as a melody instrument, but if it were a vocal line with lyrics, then I would like to be able to place lyric placement below melody notes, as standard practice. Would I be able to use lyric placement above for left hand accordion chord markings, as well as lyric placement below for a vocal melody line? Thank you for your input.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Add One - excerpt.mscz | 12.13 KB |
Comments
Since these aren't lyrics, I would recommend not using lyrics for this. As of 3.0.2, you can use Alt+Right while entering other text to get similar navigation. I'd recommend using staff text or some other element type instead.
In reply to Since these aren't lyrics, I… by Marc Sabatella
Hi Marc, thanks for the suggestion. Can you better explain the Alt+Right navigation? I'm interpreting what you're saying as that once I put a staff text associated with a note, I can stay in text mode and navigate to the next note using Alt+Right. However I'm not able to do this. This would be awesome as my workflow would be just like lyric mode - stay in text and go note to note: instead of clicking on a note, clicking staff text, clicking in the text box to write text, and then doing these 3 steps again for each note.
While editing a text element (don't hit Esc when finished), press Alt+Right, and you can then immediately enter new text on the next note, same as Space (or Alt+right) does while entering lyrics. So there would be no more advantage to misusing lyrics for things that are not actually lyrics any more.
This assumes you have the current version of MuseScore - 3.0.2.
In reply to While editing a text element… by Marc Sabatella
Hi Marc, thanks again. Ok, so I tried that and Alt+Right is still not taking me to the next note element (I'm not pressing Esc, I'm staying in text edit mode using Staff Text). I'm using version 3.02.20666, rev. 8ca4d2c on Mac. To test, I tried the Alt+Right in Lyrics mode (which I didn't know about by the way, I was always using Space and Shift+Space), and that works.
For Mac it is probably Option instead of Alt? Or maybe something with Fn. The same shortcut should alsowork while note in text edit mode, just to navigate through the score. It won't just go note by note but will also visit text and other markings.
In reply to For Mac it is probably… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks Marc, I've been playing around and haven't figured out the key combination yet. I'll keep at it. But the fact that Alt+Right worked in Lyric mode and isn't working for text elements makes me wonder if the software mod didn't quite make it to Mac. I'll keep playing around and let you know. Thank you so much for your time.
In reply to Thanks Marc, I've been… by HotChocolateJazz
I got it! There was no combination working. Then I decided to browse Preferences and discovered the Shortcuts tab. There I noticed there were no shortcuts defined for Accessibility: Next element and Accessibility: Previous element. So I defined Alt (same thing as Option) + Right and Alt+Left respectively. Now it works great!
In reply to I got it! There was no… by HotChocolateJazz
I'd also like to add one more thing. Using Staff Text is way better, not just for the reason you gave me (unintended use of Lyrics), but this text edit mode adapts to vertical element position instead of fixed vertical height; thus respecting usual aesthetic for left hand chord notation. I attached an image file to show a standard example. Thank you very much for your time Marc!
In reply to For Mac it is probably… by Marc Sabatella
Hello Marc! I know this is an old post, but I have one more question on the same topic. Is it possible to set up a second Staff Text input with its own properties? I'll explain: I've been using Staff Text for all my accordion left hand chord indications, as discussed earlier. My favorite settings (and hence saved in my own style template) use the sans serif Gill font for my text annotations. However, explicitly for left hand accordion chord annotations, it is traditional to indicate with a serif font, and so I'm using Edwin. I'd like to have the regular Staff Text button go to my regular Gill font settings, but would like to dedicate a separate Staff Text button for my left hand chord text indications using Edwin. Is this possible? Thanks a lot for your time.
Hi Marc, it's ok. I realized that for now I'll have to use the selection tool to make my font modifications in one pass with the Inspector. I was hoping to set up another Staff Text tool in a custom palette with different font attributes, so when I know I'm doing my left hand chord annotations I'd click on that instead. But I'll wait and see if something like that gets implemented in the future. I've noticed there's been previous discussions on this subject.
You can can use the "User" text styles to allow some staff texts to use standard style and others use your custom one. You can also add one of these to a custom palette, by ctrl+shift+dragging it there. But no way to define a specific shortcut for that. If you're not otherwise using Expression text, though, you could use that for one or the other, and it has a shortcut Ctrl+E. You might also consider adding this as fingering, which you can define a shortcut for in Edit / Preferences / Shortcuts. I recommend asking for help on the Support forum and attaching an example, that way others who do accordion music can weigh in with what they find most useful as well.
In reply to You can can use the "User"… by Marc Sabatella
Hello Marc, thank you for your valuable input! I've discovered some wonderful things. First, on how to add items from the score to a custom palette. I use Mac and found out it's command+shift+dragging. At first I added to my custom palette M, m, 7 and d elements (the 4 chord type indicators for accordion) set in my desired text stlyle. But then I realized I could just add a staff text element in my score that I indicated as 'Chord Text' in my desired text style. Then when I add that element to my custom palette, it works exactly like the way I use the standard Staff Text! This is great and is exactly what I was looking to do. In the very beginning, I was trying to command+shift+drag my user text style from the Format->Style->Text Styles menu into my custom palette without luck of course. So - I'm very happy with the solution. It's precisely what I was looking for. I prefer not touching Expression Text, and even less fingering text.