Pickup measure numbering
I just noticed this 'Note' in the handbook section on pickup measures:
Note: By convention, measure numbering starts at the first complete measure. MuseScore does not do this by default but you can accomplish this manually by checking "Exclude from measure count" in the Measure Properties dialog.
It says the developers are well-aware of what the convention is, but have chosen do not honor it. I found the checkbox that allows me to turn off this behavior for only one measure. If it doesn't not currently exist, I would like to request a means for having the checkbox default to ON.
It is common in both pop and classical music to have pickup measures, so this would be a greatly appreciated, labor saving fix!
Comments
@ tpgettys wrote> I would like to request a means for having the checkbox ["Exclude from measure count" in the Measure Properties dialog] default to ON.
+ 1
Certainly for the initial pickup in a piece!
In reply to @ tpgettys wrote> I would… by scorster
If you add the pickup using the New Score dialog, when you create the score, that pickup is added with the box checked. If you create a partial measure manually, from the Measure Properties dialog, it defaults to not checked. (Try it and see!)
In my (never humble :-) opinion, this is the correct choice. By convention, slightly more than half of all incomplete measures should be numbered.
However, in the case of creating a matched pair of incomplete measures with the Split command (as per https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/pickup-and-non-metered-measures#spl…), I would certainly prefer if it would mark the second of the pair to "Exclude from measure count". By convention, when pairs of incomplete measures exist like this, the first is numbered and the second is not.
The "slightly more than half" is because there are unusual situations where an incomplete measure is not paired with another to create a full measure. These are most commonly numbered. The example I thought of off the top of my head is in bluegrass: a half measure moves the downbeat and makes the song "crooked". I'm sure there are other examples.