Entering dotted rhythms
Dotted notes are usually followed by a shorter note, that completes the beat. E.g. a dotted 1/8th is usually followed by a 1/16th. When entering dotted rhythms with the computer keyboard, this is usually a lot of typing and makes entering slow.
Capella solved this in an intelligent way. If you press the comma instead of the dot you get the dotted note and the duration of the next note entered is half of what was set before.
E.g. if you want to enter a dotted 1/8th C plus a 1/16th A, and then another 1/8th C you have to press these keys now in Musescore:
4 dot C 3 A 4 C
With the "comma" Feature, this would be
4 comma C A C
which saves 2 keypresses and a lot of time, if you have many such dotted Patterns.
Comments
First idea:
For an improved workflow probably, and if you really have a repeat of the same kind of patterns, it is to copy-paste (or R key, depending on the context) one - the pattern- or more measures, and then use the Re-pitch mode: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/replace-pitches-without-changing-rhyt…
In reply to First idea: For an improved by cadiz1
I used re-pitching already, but found it to be even slower in most cases, than just entering the notes from scratch.
unfortunalty the comma can't get used as a shortcut. See #63301: Comma as a shortcut won't get saved and #59051: Alt+, does not work for custom shortcut (works at first, reset on program restart)
In reply to unfortunalty the comma can't by Jojo-Schmitz
Well, the comma is just the hot-key used in Capella; I don't care whether it is comma or another key - I just would like to have this intelligent prediction of the duration of the next note after a dotted one. I think it would even make sense to implement this as default behavior after a dotted note. Then no new hot-key would be required.
I feel your pain on this one, as I do a lot of that sort of note entry. The fastest way I've found to do it is to use a numerical keypad in combination with a small midi keyboard. With one hand on each, it can go quite quickly once you get used to it. As has been mentioned, you can also use copy/paste once you've created a few bars, then go back and repitch them as needed.
All that said, it would be a nice plus to have a keyboard shortcut to predict the next duration based on an established pattern, so I'll add my +1 to your request.
One way of entering a run of such notes more quickly is to enter straight eighths and then go back to the first note and press the . (dot) key on your keyboard (assuming you have the dot key set up for this) and then skip through the others using the right-arrow key. and pressing the dot on 1st, 3rd, 5th notes etc.
In reply to One way of entering a run of by underquark
This is a very neat trick, underquark; Iets all remember it. For longer sequences probably faster than a "comma".
In reply to One way of entering a run of by underquark
Thanks for this hint. I wasn't aware of this option. This helps a lot.
Anyway - if this automatic choice of the duration of the next note after a dotted one would be the default behavior right when entering the note after a dotted one, it would be even faster - as it wouldn't require "post-processing". And there would be no need for a new hot-key (comma or whatever) for it.
Thanks again!
In reply to Thanks for this hint. I by Gerhard Petrowitsch
While it's true this would be faster for long sequences of repeating rhythms, it isn't necessary true in general - not all dotted quarters are followed by eighths, not all dotted eighths followed by sixteenths, etc. So for the cases where you are *not* dealing with a repeated sequeance, there potentially would be extra work, and potential for confusion dealing with the inconsistency: dotted duration would be the only ones that don't "stick". So I'm not crazy about the idea of removing the current method in favor of one specifically optimized for one case at the expense of others and of consistency.
Another possibility is to have a different oft-requested command: a shortcut that adds a dot to most recently entered note. If that new command did this, but then also changed the selected duration to correspond, this could kill two birds with one stone. That is, if ":" (colon) were the shortcut, typing "5 C : D" would result in dotted quarter C followed by eighth note D. This idea is borrowed from the text-based music representation language ABC, which has a similar construct "C > D".
In reply to While it's true this would be by Marc Sabatella
Wouldn't that be "5 C : 4 D"?
In reply to Wouldn't that be "5 C : 4 D"? by Isaac Weiss
No, see my comment above: "If that new command did this, but then also changed the selected duration to correspond, this could kill two birds with one stone." That is, I am proposing the possibility that this new comamnd would *not only* lengthen the selected (most recently entered) note, but would *also* change the current selected duration accordingly. So, after entering "5 C", you have a quarter note C. After entering ":", it changes the C to a dotted quarter but *also* changes the current selected duration to eighth note, so that then typing "D" enters an eighth note D. At that point, for consistency it is probably best if the currentl selected duration *remains* eighth note.
FWIW, I could see people wishing it went back to quarter so you just keep entering a long sequence as 5 C : D E : F G : A without needing to even reselect the quarter note duration. But that requires a more fundamental change: MuseScore would need to somehow keep track of the state of *how* it got where it is, so that typing "D" with eighth note selected does something different depending on whether that eighth note was selected manually (by entering "4") or whether it was engaged automatically as a result of the ":". Just describing it makes my head spin a little, especially as I consider what happens if you then want to add notes to the chord or in another voice instead of continuing the sequence. So I won't go that far.
In reply to No, see my comment above: "If by Marc Sabatella
Or maybe the smartest solution would come along with the halve/double durations command, if/when that's finally implemented; an after-the-fact tool to change even to dotted rhythms.
I think I would also find this useful.
the colon ( : ) doesn't do anything on my installation
nonsense - I'm sorry - please ignore this post