Adding staves
Is it possible to add a new staff to an existing score? This was a simple thing in the old software I used before (Noteworthy Composer) but I cannot find a way to do it in Musescore. It seems you have to know at the outset exactly how many staves you might need?!
For context I have created a choral arrangement that is presently unaccompanied, but now I want to add a piano accompaniment
Comments
Handbook to the rescue?
See https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/working-instruments
In reply to Handbook to the rescue? See… by Jojo-Schmitz
Thanks but I've already looked at that and can't make much sense of it. I don't think I fully understand the concept of 'instruments' in Musescore. I want to add a new instrument (piano) to an existing choral score
In reply to Thanks but I've already… by byfordjoy
What about https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/working-instruments#add-instruments don't you understand?
In reply to What about https://musescore… by Jojo-Schmitz
For some reason I don't see the instruments panel at all (see screenshot)
![Screenshot 2024-01-15 135101.JPG]( "Screenshot 2024-01-15 135101.JPG")
. But the other poster has told me I can press 'i' and that worked, so I'm sorted thanks.
In reply to Thanks but I've already… by byfordjoy
Press 'i' and add a piano. That's all.
What is difficult to understand about the concept of instruments? To be honest, I don't understand where you see a problem.
Each staff represents an instrument. This can be notes for a singer, a piano, a trumpet or any other of probably far more than 100 instruments in MuseScore. And a score usually consists of several instruments.
You choose them according to the instrumentation of a group or band. You usually do this when you create the score, but it's just as easy to add more instruments later and write notes for them.
In reply to Press 'i' and add a piano… by HildeK
Thank you so much.
I can't believe it was a simple as that. For some reason I don't have the 'instruments' tab, but the keyboard work around 'i' worked a treat. Now I will no longer have to start again and copy/past each line when I want to add a stave!!
In reply to Thank you so much. I can't… by byfordjoy
To clarify, there are two different screens:
1. To see the Instruments panel (as a tab in the same space as the Properties panel and the Palettes panel), choose: View > Instruments
2. There is a shortcut F7 to show and hide the Instruments panel.
3. To add an instrument to your score, you click the Add button on the Instruments panel. This pops up the Add or remove instruments screen.
4. There is a separate shortcut i which immediately shows the pop-up screen Add or remove instruments, even if the Instruments panel is not currently visible.
In reply to Thank you so much. I can't… by byfordjoy
The key 'i' is not even a workaround, but one of the predefined keyboard shortcuts!
See all here: https://musescore.org/sites/musescore.org/files/2023-05/MuseScore4-Keyb…
It is advisable to learn the few that you need frequently.