Navigating from a rest to the next?

• Dec 24, 2016 - 13:33

Hi,

Is there a feature in Musescore that allows me to jump between elements based on their type or features? I was looking for a way to navigate quickly from a rest to the next when processing a sheet layout, because I need to hide most of them.

If not, I think I'll make a feature request. Mainly, jumping from the rest or a note to the next would come in handy. I probably do want to aggregate other similar jumps into it. Can you think of other similar navigating techniques that you would need? How would you use them?


Comments

There's no way to navigate to the next rest because normally that wouldn't be an interesting thing to need to do. The rests that need to be hidden can normally be hidden as you enter them, for instance. But if you some special reason to need to hide all rests in a given passage after having already entered them (perhaps the file was imported?), you can do this more directly - select the range, hit the Rests button in the Inspector. You can also use the Selection Filter and/or the right click menu to select by voice etc.

Not sure why you'd want to do this in general though - even in a multiple-voice context, most rests are musically necessary. If you attach the score you are having trouble with and describe what you are actually to accomplish and why, most likely we can show you an efficient way to do it.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Oh, okay, I'll have an eye to those features. Thank you!

I was mashing together two-stave transcription of J.S. Bach's BWV 1001 for violin. I wanted to do that, because violin scores are exclusively written on one stave. For this task, I needed two voices, that are essentially the same instrument. Thus, the rests on one voice were almost always really not rests, because the other voice was still playing. That's why I needed to get rid of almost all of them.

I can imagine that a person could do a similar task when composing, using two voices for same instrument. The rests are needed when penning down the initial composition, but when finalizing the layout, they're clutter.

In reply to by AlQuzMar

I wonder if you are trying to use that piano transcription by Leopold Godowsky. The one good thing that might be said about that edition is that he states openly up front that it was 'very freely transcribed'.

If you want to produce a proper violin part for this sonata, the <b>Bach-Geselleschaft edition</b> is available on IMSLP as well, and although it contains differences to Bach's autograph manuscript, it is a lot closer to what Bach intended than any piano transcription. It should also be easier for you to work from.

You will need more than two voices for this piece, BTW; there are many triple and quadruple stops in this piece and although some of them could be notated on a single stem, the complexity of the music--especially the fugue movement--is such that you'll need to use separate voices for each note of multiple stops in many places.

You are correct in thinking that many of the rests in the secondary voices constitute unwanted clutter and should be made invisible, but some of them do need to be shown. If you're not certain which ones those are, use the Breitköpf und Hartel edition as a guide, and check with an experienced violinist who specialises in this period.

In reply to by Recorder485

Thanks for the pointers. Yes, I checked the IMSLP, and those are playable. I would love to have a good quality print of this though, where I could make my own annotations. The one I'm using is found here in Musescore libraries. I actually commented on it already. Link: BWV 1001 Violin Sonata No.1 in G minor, transcibed by verits99

To me it seemed two voices are adequate for violin. To make it clear, I play violin, not piano, so I only want the score for violin. Now that I'm reading the one you linked, I'm not that certain any more. I see now how the rests are used to indicate the duration of the voices, visually marking the end of the multiple stops. Technically, they're not required to be there, but they may indeed be helpful. Then again, their use is not consisten in this regard. Do you think that is the main reason the rests that aren't necessarily required are there, and do you see some other reasons they're marked down, instead of leaving the note duration to be read only from the note itself?

This work is not anything I really need to do, so I'm well off with those on IMSLP. I want to learn the software, because some of the scores on Petrucci library are really bad scans. I probably do want to make some of my own.

I'll check those editions that you pointed out. My plan was to use the Musescore script for reference, and annotate it as I learn by listening, and reading the score, in a cyclical process. Reading some expert advice will be helpful, no doubt about that.

I really do love this piece and want to be able to play it. It will be a challenge, I hope I'll have the patience for it.

In reply to by AlQuzMar

This is indeed one of the great pieces for Baroque violinists, and you are to be commended for attempting it. As for having a good quality print of this work, I suggest you make your own, using MuseScore, and working from Bach's original manuscript of the piece, which you can see <b>here</b> .

Many other editions--including the one you used to create your present score--contain errors or unjustified editorial changes. Even if it seems difficult at first view, it's best to work from the authoritative source. Remember that violinists of that period were expected to sightread from manuscripts like this. ;o)

In reply to by Recorder485

Woah, original! Would never have found that by myself, awesome! Sight-reading that is totally over the top for me, I think I need like at least a month or two to learn that.

For some unknown reason I can not see other pages of the sonata in that link, which restricts me to the first movement. The site functions quite badly. But I got the first one at least!

Thank you for the cheers. I know they say it's one of the most difficult pieces ever written for violin. I'm not sure I'm buying that.

In reply to by Recorder485

Hey thanks for the sources, this keeps getting more awesome with every reply.

BWV 1004's third movement seems a bit tricky, that's a fact. If I'm gonna do 1001 in a decent time, I'll do that too. If not, then I think I need to do some etudes first, eh. Mount Everest of violin they say.

In reply to by Isaac Weiss

Yes, I guess I forgot to paste the link- I know I copied it. oops! At some point after my current projects I'll go back and revise this piece. I'm not a violinist, so I've never even attempted to play this and I wasn't familiar with it when I transcribed it. I heard it is supposed to be Bach's best work so I had to check it out.

In reply to by AlQuzMar

For some unknown reason I can not see other pages of the sonata in that link, which restricts me to the first movement. The site functions quite badly. But I got the first one at least!

I've got a bit more time today to help you navigate through the Berliner Staatsbibliothek's digital database. It's actually a very functional site and offers free downloads of material the library has already digitised, but it helps to know a few words of basic German as some of the icons used aren't that obvious.

When you open the link I posted to BWV 1001, you'll see the image of the MS itself on the right of the screen, with a nav-bar on the left. Above that there is a row of icons, and on the left and right of the screen you should see arrows in small circles.

Clicking the arrow on the right takes you to the next page; clicking the arrow on the left takes you back to the previous page. When you scroll with the mousewheel, the image zooms in and out; if you want to move the image in the viewer window, you have to click, hold, and drag the image, much as you do with a Google-map image.

The default display In the nav-bar on the left is the list of individual works in the MS. So if, for instance, you want to skip to the first page of the Partita No. 2 in d minor (which includes the Chaconne I mentioned in my second post), look down that list and click on Partiten; vl; d-moll; BWV 1004. (When you hover the cursor over that link, you'll get a preview thumbnail popup, btw.) That will take you to the first page ('seite' in German) of that piece; the Chaconne is the last movement, and you can get there either by using the arrows, or by clicking on the page numbers in the row above the image (the Chaconne starts on page 28, btw).

There are two ways to download the file. One way is to look in the toolbar for the 'wrench' icon (on the right end of the row), and click on that. The nav-bar will change to give you a number of download format options. I suggest you use the last one, PDF, unless you have a special reason to use one of the other formats. The other way is to click on the second icon from the left in the toolbar. That will open the original nav-bar to full-page width, and show individual download links for each section of the collection.

This library is--as are most German state and university libraries in general--extremely generous in furnishing digital images of their holdings free-of-charge to anyone who requests them. Many major British and U.S. 'public' libraries charge hefty fees for sharing their holdings, and take weeks or months to process requests. (Contrariwise, most university music libraries in the U.S. are very cooperative and will scan on request and furnish digital files at no charge (or at very low prices).

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