Stem direction style
Hello,
My #1 manual timesuck is going through each line of my scores note by note to conform my middle-note stem directions to Gould (i.e. contextual stem direction, usually flipping stems up). Musescore's "auto" direction conforms to what I believe is the more traditional style, but as many style guides go the other way (and because one of them is Gould), this seems ripe for either a preference setting that would change the Auto stem direction rules to a different convention, or for a style panel that would allow the user to specify direction rules themselves—or some combination thereof.
[Sidebar: the pain of the manual flipping task lies partly in the fact that stem direction is hidden under the Stem menu in the Properties panel, and has no keyboard shortcut. When using the arrow keys to move through notes (→, click, →, click etc.) there's no problem, but as soon as I → to a rest, I lose my place in the Properties panel (which switches to the rest), and when I get to the next note I have to click back in again. Obviously not everything can live at the top level of Properties and have keyboard shortcuts, but there are I have two or three regular tasks Iike this that require repeatedly opening a submenu and/or scrolling to the same hidden item. These are where global style settings are so helpful—hence this feature request!]
[Sidebar 2: the fact that THIS is my #1 pain point just highlights how marvelously feature-rich Musescore is these days. I spend several hours a day using this software and am in awe.]
Thank you,
D
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Comments
Request this on GitHub
Have you tried this?
Right click on a note.
Then Select > More... > Same pitch > OK
Once all are selected, type the letter x.
In reply to Have you tried this? Right… by Jm6stringer
Or, if it's not a particular pitch, use some combination of left and right arrow, Ctrl+left and right arrow, and Alt+left, right, up, and down arrows to move through the score. Each time you hit a note that needs flipping, x is the keyboard shortcut (a jm6stringer pointed out above). Once you learn your way around the different arrow key combinations for moving. you can do this as fast as you can press the keys.
The trick of Alt+left or right arrow is one I only learned recently and can be really useful. It cycles through EVERY element in the score: bar lines, dynamics, slurs and ties, etc.
In reply to Or, if it's not a particular… by TheHutch
Thanks both, the x keyboard shortcut does help a good amount. (I wonder why this isn't indexed in the shortcut assignment dialog? I looked it up there but obviously should have checked the manual.) This solves for the multiple clicks back into the properties panel.
I'm still going to file the feature request—this is still a manual and error prone task, and as I work primarily with Renaissance choral music I do a lot of transposition, which requires the whole task to be redone in every part.
In reply to Thanks both, the x keyboard… by Daniel Pickens-Jones
It is in the shortcut dialog (at Edit / Preferences / Shortcut, in case you are thinking of a different dialog than I am). By default, the "Flip direction" command has the shortcut of X. (Search for "flip".)
In reply to It is in the shortcut dialog… by TheHutch
That explains it—I searched for "stem" and then "change," which aren't indexed. Thanks!
In reply to Thanks both, the x keyboard… by Daniel Pickens-Jones
You wrote:
...the x keyboard shortcut does help a good amount.
Yes, it's a 'flip' shortcut which works on other than stems. It can flip text from top of staff to bottom and vice versa; also flip articulations, chord symbols, fretboard diagrams, etc.
FWIW:
Earlier you wrote:
...stem direction is hidden under the Stem menu in the Properties panel...
That happens when you click on a notehead. Clicking on the actual stem of a note (the stem turns blue when selected) activates the Stem menu in the Properties panel - so not hidden as much.
Add the flip stem direction icon to the tool bar. Click the gear on the right of the tool bar to do this.
If you are entering note one by one, flip as you go along.
If you are doing this just because Gould says so, remember conventions change every so often. Flip the stems because it makes the music easier to read. That won't always be the case. And "easier to read" isn't going to be the same for each musician. They will figure it out weather you flip all the stems or not. Music isn't about rigid adherence to some standard. Of course, there needs to be a certain amount of uniformity.
In reply to Add the flip stem direction… by bobjp
To be clear: the flip stem direction icon is displayed in the toolbar by default, and its shortcut (X) in the tooltip (so, no need to go to the cogwheel drop-down list, unless you want to hide the icon from your toolbar!) :)