Add chord text above all other staves
Hi, I'm trying to add guitar chords. I want them above the vocal line, but the chords are tied to the notes in the piano stave and when I press Ctrl-K the chord text appears above the piano stave but below the vocal stave. If I try and drag it up, it just increases the white space between the vocal and piano staves but the chord text remains below the vocal stave.
How can I get the chord symbol to appear above all the staves?
Comments
Add the chord symbols to the vocal staff instead of the piano staff.
In reply to Add the chord symbols to the… by AndreasKågedal
The chord rhythm doesn't match the vocal. For example, there's no vocal on the intro so no notes to tie the chord to.
Do I need to create fake notes on the vocal stave then make them invisible? That strikes me as a bizarre solution to what must be a very common issue!
In reply to The chord rhythm doesn't… by wanstronian
No you actually do not add the chord symbols to notes. As long as you attach them to "beats" it is straight forward. use space to skip to the next "beat": Here is the full description:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/chord-symbols#commands
In reply to No you actually do not add… by AndreasKågedal
Thanks, that works apart from the Ctrl+1-7 doesn't move the cursor.
In reply to Thanks, that works apart… by wanstronian
Indeed, that's a known bug being worked on for a future update. But space and semicolon work fine.
In reply to Indeed, that's a known bug… by Marc Sabatella
Is it? Didn't find it on GitHub
In reply to Is it? Didn't find it on… by Jojo-Schmitz
See https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/14916, also a few other issues closed as duplicates. There is already a fix in master, but, it breaks Ctrl+Left/Right. I'd have loved to see this looked at for 4.0.2, but it's been deemed too risky.
In reply to The chord rhythm doesn't… by wanstronian
Or use Ctrl 1-7 for advancing the cursor 1/64th to 1/1
EDIT: after entering the first chord symbol
In reply to Or use Ctrl 1-7 for… by elsewhere
That doesn't appear to work. It just puts a "4" (for example) into the chord text!
In reply to That doesn't appear to work… by wanstronian
What Operating System, what language setting and keyboard layout?
In reply to What Operating System, what… by Jojo-Schmitz
Windows 10, UK English
In reply to Windows 10, UK English by wanstronian
Confirmed, Windows 11, German QWERTY
In reply to Windows 10, UK English by wanstronian
Please report this on GitHub
In reply to Please report this on GitHub by Jojo-Schmitz
FWIW: It works for me. I’m on Windows 10, Dutch AZERTY keyboard, MU3.6.2
And it should work according to:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/all-keyboard-shortcuts
section chord symbols/Advance cursor: duration
In reply to FWIW: It works for me. I’m… by elsewhere
Yes, in 3.6.2 it works, in 4.0.1x it does not, being documented to work doesn't make it work ;-)
In reply to Yes, in 3.6.2 it works, in 4… by Jojo-Schmitz
Report raised (#345411)
In reply to Report raised (#345411) by wanstronian
Or #345411: Ctrl+[1-7] no longer works for moving cursor in chord symbols
In reply to Report raised (#345411) by wanstronian
I hope they release the fix soon, because files saved from MS4 aren't readable in MS3. So I can't even revert to a previous version of the software to get this to work, unless I build the entire score again from scratch. I simply can't finish the job.
Not good, MuseScore. Not good.
In reply to I hope they release the fix… by wanstronian
See https://musescore.org/en/node/345394 for (limited) ways to open your MU4 file in MU 3.6
In reply to I hope they release the fix… by wanstronian
No need to rebuild from scratch; you can export to MusicXMl if you need to work on this score in MuseScore 3 for some reason. But as noted, space and semicolon work perfectly, so really, nothing should stop you from using MsueScore 4 here unless I am missing something. If you really need to try to show chords about fractional beats on a staff that doesn't contain anything on that beat (not a good idea in most cases, as there won't be a frame of references for people to understand what fraction of the beat you mean), you can meanwhile add voice 2 rests then delete them.
In reply to No need to rebuild from… by Marc Sabatella
The chord text will align to notes on the piano staffs, but I want the chord text to be above the vocal staff, which is pretty standard practice on all the keyboard/vocal sheet music I've seen! If I hit Ctrl-k on the piano notes, the chords align ok, but appear between the piano and vocal staffs - too much clutter. Using space and colon will align to the major beats, but chords don't only change on major beats.
I'll try an export to MusicXML though as you suggest - I hadn't seen that option. Thanks!
In reply to The chord text will align to… by wanstronian
As I said though, it’s going to be hard to read if the chords are not on beats and don’t align with the staff directly below - it’s hard to mentally align the chords with a staff further down if it’s anything more complex than simple bests. But if you require those mid beat chords for some specific measures, the method I mentioned with voice rests works perfectly and takes only a few extra moments.