Alter Note Pitch Before Entry

• Jun 10, 2014 - 07:46

I would very much like to be able to sharpen or flatten a note before I hear it. To explain, while entering notes via computer keyboard in C, if I want an f#, I type f and hit the up arrow. This causes me to hear both f and f#. I proof note pitches by listening as I type so hearing notes on that are not in the music I'm transcribing is a deal-breaker for me and is the single reason I haven't adopted Musescore as my main typesetting programme.

I have searched for a solution / workaround to this and haven't found one. If one exists, please do let me know.

If this feature isn't present, it could be implemented in the following ways:

  • Allow a combined key stroke to alter the pitch of the following note. As someone that uses the numeric keypad for durations, Ctrl + 4 for sharp, Ctrl + 5 for flat and Ctrl + 6 for natural would be ideal (or some close combinations);
  • Assign keys to sharp, flat and natural for the following note as per Sibelius;
  • Put a setting in preferences that applies the up / down arrows to the following note rather than the preceding note.

Other than that I look forward to the day when I can say, 'Musescore - wouldn't use anything else!'


Comments

I also would like to see this feature. It comes as standard in Sibelius and makes sense for anyone that prefers a computer keyboard to a piano-style keyboard.

It is also the reason why I would not consider making MuseScore my go-to application for typesetting.

In reply to by allingray

No special instructions required, just press the accidental button on the toolbar then enter the note. Or if you prefer to use keyboard instead of clicking the icon, just go to Edit / Preferences / Shortcuts to define shortcuts for these buttons (they are trying to find because it's the actual flat sign, not the word flat, so search for "note input").

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Thank you Marc.

It took me a bit of time to work that out but I now see that it works very well, thank you. I think I'll pull out my old Sibelius shortcuts sheet and see if I can configure MuseScore so that my fingers remember where they were.

For anyone that likes to try it, I have my notes on a keypad under my left hand A=z, B=x, C=c, D=a, E=s, F=d, G=w with note durations, sharps, flats and articulations on the numeric keypad. A full list (from my Sibelius days) is below.

Comments and discussions welcome.

Sibelius Keypad Changes


Notes
A - z
B - x
C - c
D - a
E - s
F - d
G - w

Frees Up

b
e
f
g

Cancels

z (Symbol)
x (Flip)
s (Slur)

Replace these with

e (Slur) (was s)
f (Flip) (was x)
g (Symbol) (was z)
b (Show staff names and bar numbers)

___________________________________________________-

Adding Notes to chords
A - Shift + z
B - Shift + x
C - Shift + c
D - Shift + a
E - Shift + s
F - Shift + d
G - Shift + w

Frees Up

Shift + b
Shift + e
Shift + f
Shift + g

Cancels
Shift+S (Slur flipped)

Replace This With
Shift + e (Flipped slur) (was shift + s)

Add
Alt + f (filter expression text)
Alt + g (filter hairpins (cresc. / dim. lines))
Alt + q (filter lyrics)

Remaining Free

Shift + b

___________________________________________________-

Adding Intervals

Create Triplet - Ctrl + Num 1
Add 2nd - Ctrl + Num 2
Add 3rd - Ctrl + Num 3
Add 4th - Ctrl + Num 4
Add 5th - Ctrl + Num 5
Add 6th - Ctrl + Num 6
Add 7th - Ctrl + Num 7
Add Octave - Ctrl + Num 8

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Cheers. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. When I used Sibelius a lot, I liked keyboard input but found typing A for A, B for B etc. very clunky. I don't typeset much these days other than the occasional replacement orchestral part but if I do get back into it, I'll be sure to post my configurations for others to try.

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