Key Change problem

• Oct 25, 2021 - 20:40

Hi All,

Can anyone help.

I am working on a piece of music in Eb major. At the half way point there is a key change to F major. Using Musescore I have transposed to F major and the new key signature of oneb flat appears at the beginning of the next bar. But that's all!

At the point of change I would have expected to see three accidentals - two natural signs (to indicate the cancellation of the Ab and the Eb and then the Bb of F major.

In the past when introducing key changes, I have always found that Mthe usescore consistently produces the correct format: a double bar line; cancellation of unnecessary accidentals and then the new signature . But, in this instance, changing from Eb to F , things are different.

I hope I'm not being petty, but I really need to present my score professionally. So, if anyone can advise me how to solve this particular problem - i.e. to achieve a change point where a double bar line is followed by A natural, E natural and then Bb, I'd be very grateful. To date I've tried everything to get around the problem, but no success.

Sincerely,

Vegetatis.

Comments

• Oct 25, 2021 - 21:19

For the double bar, simply select the measure that precedes the change and use the barlines palette.
To cancel changes, go to Format, style, accidentals and choose the desired option.
According to Elaine Gould, in contemporary practice in change, only the new signature is used, without the need for cancellations. Thus, the traditional procedure (with cancellations) is not necessarily more professional, just more traditional (old).
I am a professional musician for almos 40 years. For me the contemporary practice is better by far. Cancellations just confuse the player.
However, this is between you and your customer.

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• Oct 25, 2021 - 22:14

Hi, Thanks for the comment. I knew about the palette avenue but didn't know about the contemporary practice. I'm fairly new to Musescore and, as I'm approaching my eightieth year, I'm more attuned to the traditional approach.
That said, I can only raise the issue of consistency. If Musescore can follow traditional practice in (most) other cases, why can't it follow it in this case?
But anyway, thanks for the reference to Elaine Gould. I'll follow it up.

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• Oct 25, 2021 - 22:53

I think you might be confusing two different use of the word "traditional" here. MuseScore does follow "traditional" approaches, if by that you mean, approaches consistently followed by most publishers over the past century or two. In other words, anything that was done in 1871 years ago that is still done today, is done in MsueScore. However, things that were done differently in 1871 as compared to today, MuseScore favors how it is done today, because if you are going to get your music published, it's going to need to look professional and up to the standards used by publishers of 2021, not the publishers of 1871.

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• Oct 26, 2021 - 08:53

Hi Marc,
As you see, I followed the very helpful advice above and all now OK.

But thank you for your comment and I take the point. I'm learning all the time and now I'm aware of current practice in respect of key change, My next step is to decide whether or not to use that approach in my work. I probably will. Thank you.

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• Oct 26, 2021 - 14:50

@vegetatis...
Earlier you wrote:
I knew about the palette avenue but didn't know about the contemporary practice. I'm fairly new to Musescore and, as I'm approaching my eightieth year, I'm more attuned to the traditional approach.

On the lighter side, check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvyoKdW-Big

Going back even further...
Imagine the ruckus caused when all those medieval music scribes had to abandon traditional neumatic and/or mensural notation and embrace Guido d'Arezzo's innovatiions.
Ah... those were the days! (Now I feel a song coming on... :-)

.

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• Oct 26, 2021 - 15:29

A superb video and I'm grateful for having access to it. Historically, the monks weren't too bad either. For some reason this reminds me of Elgar's wife who, when they were skint, decided to save on the cost of her husband's manuscript paper by copying out staves on to blank paper. I suppose that five-sectioned pens were available in those days.

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• Oct 27, 2021 - 08:51

You'd have to ask the people who sell them. I would have thought that drips are inevitable. I mentioned it only as a fact that they still exist for dedicated hand engravers and calligraphers. I suspect they are used more for decorative work than for day-to-day music scoring,

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• Oct 26, 2021 - 19:29

...copying out staves onto blank paper.

Ha!
That was my very first use of MuseScoret - well over a decade ago - to print blank manuscript paper and then hand-write lead sheets. Back then my computer, printer, monitor, etc. cost over $1200 USD; MuseScore, no cost.
Today, I just found out about 5-nibbed pens... oh well.
(Anyway, perhaps useful as a backup strategy... so thanks... ;-)

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