Key signatures (key change) not being added

• Jun 2, 2015 - 05:49

I am ready to pull my hair out trying to fix this piece that was scanned from a pdf. I'm manually fixing the issues. Where a key signature appears in the music, I am able to click it and change it if I want to. But in the spots where there should be a key change and I need to add in a different key signature, the software won't let me! I'm on a Macbook Pro, using Musescore 2.01. I try to drag and drop the new key signature into a measure, and nothing happens. I've tried command+drag and drop, nothing. I've tried in note adding mode, and not in that mode. I've even tried opening a brand new blank piece of music, and trying to change the key of one of the measures there...nothing. The only time I can edit a key signature is if there's already one there.

How do I fix this? It's a complicated piece that involves a lot of key changes, and I'm stuck if I'm not able to do that.

Comments

• Jun 2, 2015 - 06:37

I do not know if I understand it (I do not speak English), try holding down Ctrl as you drag the Key Signature from the palette.
Welcome!

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• Jun 2, 2015 - 07:33

Drag the keysig into a measure, find en empty spot there, the measure needs to change color before you drop the keysig. Zoom in, if needed.

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• Jun 2, 2015 - 14:45

That's the problem... Holding down any keys while dragging (I've tried a variety of them) does nothing, and the blank measure never changes color either. Have tried waiting longer, hovering over different spots, etc. :(

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• Jun 2, 2015 - 15:39

You shouldn't normally need to hold any keys. Using Ctrl would be needed only if you are writing polytonal music and need different keys signatures for different instruments (not just different transpositions; MuseScore handles that automatically).

It should be extremely easy to drag a new key signature to a measure. You don't have to be pareticularly accurate about where you position the mouse - anywhere between the barlines should do. As soon as the mouses cross the barline into the measure, the entire column of measure should light up:

key-drop.png

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• Jun 2, 2015 - 16:08

I don't know the specifics of Macs, but on most computers, you need to double-click in order to initiate a drag. Also, hmm, you are dragging from the Palette, not trying to drag a key signature from some other place in the score, right? The latter won't work.

Hard to imagine how anything could have gone wrong with the installation that would have this effect. But you can always try to revert to factory settings (see Handbook, search for "Revert"). That will be more effective than a re-install, which does not overwrite settings.

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• Jun 2, 2015 - 16:43

On a Mac, you would simply click, hold, and drag from the palette onto a measure. (It's also possible to click on an existing key signature and change it by double-clicking on a key in the palette.) Double-clicking to initiate a drag would not be any different from simply dragging. But, as Marc said, dragging a key signature that's already in the score from one place to another won't work.

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• Jun 2, 2015 - 17:05

Yeah, actually, it's been long enough since I used a mouse, I forgot that single click is usually sufficient on Windows / Linux as well. But double *tap* on a touchpad is common. I don't know, I rarely think about it. But it's possible something about the process is different here.

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