Can Anyone Help My Lack Of Formall Training
I'm largely self-taught so there's some pretty large gaps in my musical knowledge.
Anyway, I have a piece that consists of 4 sections. Section 2 is a repeat of section 1 EXCEPT that in the 4th bar a crotchet on the final beat is replaced by 2 quavers. I don't want to write the section out again and change bar 4 even though that's very easy with Musescore. What I want to do is use the normal repeat marks at the end of section 1 and have two versions of bar 4 with some sort of annotation that one is played 1st time through and the other is played 2nd time through.
I thought of using the normal voltas for alternate endings but I'm not sure if this is correct. Alternatively I could write out both bars and put a simple text instruction above them to indicate 1st time/2nd time. I'm curious however, as to whether there is a correct way of doing this.
Thanks
Comments
The voltas - commonly known as 1st ending and 2nd ending - are correct. Put the "Start Repeat" bar line (thick line, thin line, two dots) at the beginning of section 1. At the end of section 1, put the "End Repeat" bar line (two dots, thin line, thick line) and the "Prima Volta" - the 1st ending sign - over the last measure. After that write your different measure that ends the section, and put the "Seconda Volta" - the 2nd ending sign - over that measure and continue writing.
During playback, MuseScore will recognize the repeat and the voltas, so it will play the 1st ending the first time through, but skip it and play the 2nd ending the second time through.
More information about Volta
Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately I didn't explain myself very well. The section concerned is 16 bars long. The difference is in bar 4 so it's not the last bar that is different but one in the "body" of the section. 1st time through bar 4 ends with a crotchet and 2nd time through it ends with 2 quavers. The 1st 3 bars and bars 5 - 16 are the same both times.
I guess another way of asking the question is : "Can I use a Volta bracket in the middle of a section or are they exclusively for use at the end?"
By the way, I'm not concerned about Musescore being able to play it back correctly, just the "rule" for a printed score
In reply to Thanks for the responses. by fatwarry
Try just copying , select measure(ctrl c) each measure and pasteing (ctrl v) the next 16 measures and then go back and making the small changes you need in each measure.
In reply to Thanks for the responses. by fatwarry
Yeah, I would try gray's method. I don't believe voltas can be put in the middle of a phrase like that. The only way you could use a first and second ending would be to have the first ending volta extend from measure 4-16, which, while it's possible, is not really standard. I would just copy/paste the 16 measures from the first section into the second section and make the small changes.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I don't want to copy section 1 and alter the affected bar as it will mean the score spills onto a 2nd page & I'd prefer it to remain on a single page. What I've done already is have two separate versions of bar 4 and use a text note to indicate 1st time/2nd time. In the absence of a proper formal method I think I'll stick with that.
Thanks again
In reply to Thanks for the suggestions. I by fatwarry
It's sometimes done to use two voices and make one of the two smaller in this case. Especially if there are different lyrics.