Layout and formatting options for the score can be accessed mainly from the Layout and Style menus.
This section lists the main commands and dialogs affecting score layout. Other formatting options are covered in either Layout menu or Style menu below (for text, see Text styles and properties).
From the Layout menu:
Page Settings: Adjust the overall dimensions of your score such as page size, page margins, and scaling.
Increase Stretch/Decrease Stretch: Adjust the score spacing by stretching or squashing selected measures.
From the Style menu:
Score Style: Set overall score details, such as music font, display of multi-measure rests, and whether to hide empty staves.
Page Style: Adjust staff and system spacing, score and lyric margins etc.
Measure Style: Set the measure spacing, which affects the number of measures per line.
Sizes: Set the default size of "small" and grace notes, small staves and small clefs.
Other commands:
Add/Remove line breaks: Set the number of measures per system.
Breaks and spacers: Apply line, page or section breaks. You can also add extra space between particular systems or staves where needed.
See Page settings.
The Reset command restores all selected score elements to their default position. It also restores the default directions of note stems and beams. To apply:
Increase or decrease the horizontal spacing of notes within selected measures. To apply:
See also Measure Properties: Layout stretch. This allows you to set the stretch more precisely.
To reset stretch to the default spacing of 1:
To restore beams to the mode defined in the local time signatures:
See also Beams.
As of version 2.1, this option corrects note ties, durations and beaming so that they are grouped according to standard music notation practice. For example:
Before:
After:
Any notes that are tied and are the same length as a dotted note will be changed to the dotted note with two limitations. (i) Only the last note of a group of tied notes will have a single dot. Notes with more than one dot are not produced using this option. (ii) Dotted notes will not span from one group of beamed notes to another unless their duration is the same as all of the beam groups it covers. Any notes with more than one dot will be regrouped according to the above rules.
To apply:
Note: This is an experimental feature and there are known bugs. Articulations and ornaments are deleted and some pitches respelt. Ties across barlines may be lost on UNDO.
To open the Score dialog: from the menu, select Style→General...→Score.
This dialog allows you to set global properties, such as the music font, display of multimeasure rests, whether or not to hide empty staves, "swing" playback etc.
Musical text font: Choice of display in Emmentaler, Bravura, Gonville or MuseJazz fonts.
Display in concert pitch: Tick this option to display the score at concert pitch. If unticked the score is displayed at written pitch.
Create multimeasure rests: Tick to display multimeasure rests.
Hide empty staves: This option saves space by hiding those staves in a system which consist of only empty measures. Used for condensed scores.
Don't hide empty staves in first system: Always display staves in first system even if they consist of empty measures.
Display note values across measure bar: A feature useful for notating early music. See Unbarred notation.
Hide instrument name if there is only one instrument: You don't usually need to display the instrument name in this case.
Swing setting: The default is off. Choice of swung eighth or sixteenth notes.
See also, Swing
To open the Page dialog: from the menu, select Style→General...→Page.
This dialog allows you to adjust the space above and below systems, staves, lyrics, and vertical frames; and between the score and the top/bottom page margins. You can also control the display of key signatures, time signatures and clefs.
Note: To alter the space above one particular staff see Extra distance above staff (Staff properties).
Ticking the following boxes, allows the display of courtesy elements at the end of systems:
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Header, Footer, Numbers.
You can show the content of a score's meta tags (see Score information) or show page numbers in a header or footer for your score. To create a header or footer for a score with linked parts, make sure the main score is in the active tab. To create a header or footer for an individual part, that part needs to be the active tab.
If you hover with your mouse over the Header or Footer text region, a list of macros will appear, showing their meaning, as well as the existing meta tags and their content.
You can create different Headers and Footers for even and odd pages, such as putting page numbers on the right for odd-numbered pages and on the left for even-numbered pages.
You can also edit whether and how often measure numbers appear.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→ System.
This dialog allows you to:
See also Brackets.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Barlines.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Notes.
This page can also be accessed direct from the score by right-clicking on any note and selecting "Style…" Here you can adjust the distance and thickness of note-related objects (stems, ledger lines, dots, accidentals). Changing these would be unusual.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Clefs.
You can choose between Serif and Standard clef for your tablature sheet.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Arpeggios.
Here you can change the thickness, spacing and hook height of the following arpeggio and strum symbols:
Changes to these properties would be unusual.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Beams.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Slurs/Ties.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Sizes.
Sets the proportional size of "small" and grace notes, as well as small staves and clefs. Changing this would be unusual.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Hairpins, Volta, Ottava.
The button returns the setting to the original value.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Pedal, Trill.
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Chord Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams.
This section allows you to adjust the format and positioning of chord symbols and Fretboard diagrams.
Appearance: Chose a default chord symbol style—Standard, Jazz or Custom.
Note Spelling: Chose the spelling convention for chord symbols and whether to use capital or small letters.
Positioning:
Capo: Enter the number of the capo position at which you want to display substitute chords, in brackets, for all chord symbols in the score.
Fretboard diagrams:
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Figured Bass.
Options about figured bass font, style and alignment.
See also Figured bass
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Articulations, Ornaments.
Position of articulation with respect to the notes and staves
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Accidentals.
Options about naturals at key signature changes
Open from the menu: Style→General...→Tuplets.
By pressing the Apply button you can see how the changes you have made in the dialogs affect the score without closing the window. Press OK to save your changes to the score and close the window.
When in a part tab while changing layout and formatting, you can use the Apply to all Parts button to apply all changes (either in Layout→Page Settings.... or Style→General...) to apply the new settings to all parts in just one click.
It is easy to transfer a complete set of styles (all General Style settings, all text styles, and page settings) from one score to the other using the Save/Load Style functions.
To save a customized style:
*.mss
files.Note: You can also define a preferred style for scores and parts in the Score section of MuseScore's Preferences.
To load a customized style:
All existing styles in the score should update automatically.
Style → General → Measure allows you to adjust the distance between various items within measures.
If you change a measure style property (see image above), MuseScore automatically adjusts the score to maintain the correct spacing between notes and rests according to best music engraving practice. It will also correctly reposition any elements attached to notes or rests, such as fingerings, dynamics, lines etc.
All settings related to measure width and note spacing are minimum values. Measures are automatically stretched, if necessary, to maintain existing page margins.
All the properties listed below use the staff space (abbreviated to "sp") as the basic unit of measurement. See Page settings: Scaling for more details.
Minimum measure width
Sets the minimum horizontal length of measures. In measures containing very little content (e.g., a single whole note or whole measure rest), the measure will only shrink as far as this minimum.
Spacing (1=tight)
Condenses or expands the space after notes or rests. This setting thus affects not only space between notes but also between the last note and the ending barline. For the space between the beginning of the measure and the first note or rest, see Barline to note distance (below).
Note: Changes to an individual measure's Stretch (under Layout → Increase Stretch, Decrease Stretch) are calculated after, and proportional to, the global Spacing setting.
Barline to note distance
Sets the distance between the barline which begins a measure and the first note or rest in that measure. For the initial measures of systems, which start with clefs instead of barlines, use Clef/key right margin (below).
Barline to grace note distance
Sets the distance between a barline and a grace note that occurs before the first actual note in a measure (independently of the "Barline to note distance" setting).
Barline to accidental distance
Sets the distance between a barline and an accidental placed before the first note in a measure (independently of the "Barline to note distance" setting).
Note to barline distance
(To be added).
Minimum note distance
Specifies the smallest amount of space MuseScore will allow after each note (depending on other factors, more space may be allowed).
Clef left margin
Sets the distance between the very beginning of each line and the clef. (This option is rarely needed.)
Key signature left margin
Sets the distance between the key signature and the clef preceding it.
Time signature left margin
Sets the distance between the time signature and the key signature or clef preceding it.
Clef/key right margin
Sets the distance between the material at the beginning of each line (such as the clef and key signature) and the first note or rest of the first measure on the line. (Note that, although not named in the option, if a time signature is present, it is the element from which the spacing begins.)
Clef to barline distance
Sets the distance between a barline and a clef change preceding it.
Multi-measure rest margin
Sets the distance between a multi-measure rest and the barlines on either side.
Staff line thickness
Sets the thickness of the lines of the staff, which allows you to make the staff thicker and darker, if you need greater visibility on your printouts.
Page settings allows you to adjust the overall dimensions of your score such as page size, page margins, and scaling. It is one of the main layout tools in MuseScore—along with the options available from Style→General...
To open the Page settings dialog: from the menu, select Layout → Page Settings....
Here you can select the paper format, either by standard name (e.g., Letter or A4), or by specifying the height and width in either mm or inches (use the radio buttons to choose which unit of measurement to use). The initial default page size depends on your localization—in the United States, Letter size paper is standard.
You can also choose to format your music in Landscape or Portrait orientation using the radio buttons. Prior to version 2.1 unchecking Landscape enabled Portrait format. You can optionally use Two sided layout (i.e., book format, with mirror left and right margins for even and odd pages—see below).
The Even Page Margins and Odd Page Margins settings allow you to define the printable area of your pages. Aside from changing the margins around the music on the page, other settings, such as the positions of headers and footers, are calculated relative to the margins defined here.
If the "Two sided" checkbox under "Page Size" is selected, you can set margins differently for mirroring odd and even pages. Otherwise, only one set of margins can be modified, but will apply to all pages.
To display page margins in your score on screen (though not in print), go to View→Show Page Margins.
The Scaling property allows you to increase or decrease the size of your score.
In MuseScore, the sizes of score elements, such as note heads, note stems, accidentals, clefs etc., are defined in terms of a unit of measurement called a staff space (abbreviated to "sp"). One staff space is equal to the space between two lines of a music staff (or one-quarter the size of the full five-line staff).
As you change the "Staff space" setting (under Scaling), all score elements follow suit and thus correct proportions are maintained. The exception is Text in which you can set an absolute value, independent of "Scaling."
Note: Changing the "Scaling" does not always change the number of systems per page, because system distance can vary between limits set under "Min system distance" and "Max system distance" (see Style→General...→Page).
Sets the number of the first page of the particular score. Page numbers below 1 won't get printed—e.g., setting the first page number to -1 would result in the first and second page showing no page number, and page number 1 appearing on the third page.
The Apply to all Parts button is available when modifying a part, rather than the main score (see Part extraction). If you change the page settings of one part and want the rest of the parts to have the same settings, this button will apply the change to all parts in one go.
The Breaks & Spacers palette in the Advanced workspace contains the following non-printing symbols:
The first three symbols are called breaks; the blue up and down arrows are known as spacers.
A break can be applied to either a measure or a frame. There are three types:
Notes: (1) Blue break symbols are visible on the screen, but do not appear on printouts. (2) To add (or remove) system breaks over all or part of the score, see Add/Remove system breaks. (3) To split a measure, see Measure operations: Split and join.
Breaks can be added using either (1) a keyboard shortcut; or (2) a break symbol from a palette.
To add a System (Line) break or a Page break only:
Note: If you select a measure range, the break will be applied before and after the selection.
Any break can be added from a workspace palette:
Note: If you select a measure range, the break will be applied before and after the selection.
To add a break to a frame, use one of the following options:
To reposition a break:
Use one of the following options:
See also: Add / Remove system breaks.
A Section break, as the name suggests, is used to create separate sections within a score. Like a system break, it forces the next measure or frame to begin a new system, and can also be used in association with a page break if required. A section break could be used, for example, to divide a piece into separate movements.
Each section can have its own measure numbering independent of the rest of the score. By default, the first measure of a section is numbered "1" (see image below), though like the first measure of the score itelf, the number is not displayed unless configured in the measure properties dialog. The same dialog can be used to change the numbering according to your preference.
If you change Time signature or Key signature at the beginning of the new section, there will be no courtesy signature at the end of the previous section. See example below:
When you play back the score, the program adds a short pause between each section. In addition, the first end repeat barline in a section always sends the playback cursor to the beginning of the section, so a start repeat barline is optional.
Right click a Section break and select Section Break Properties... to specify:
A Spacer looks like a blue UP or DOWN arrow and is used to add extra space above or below a system (it cannot be applied to a frame).
Use either of the following options:
Blue spacer symbols are visible on the screen, but do not appear on printouts.
Note: Spacers are designed for local adjustments only. If you wish to adjust the space between staves across the whole score, use the settings in Style → General... → Page instead.
To adjust the height of a spacer, chose one of these options:
A Frame is a rectangular container for empty space, text or pictures in the score. It can be one of three types:
A horizontal frame is used to create a break in a system. For example, you can:
See Create a Frame (below).
Use one of the following methods:
Notes: (1) "Left Gap" and "Right Gap" are currently unused (version 2.x); (2) It is possible to create a 'Negative-width' horizontal frame, by dragging the edit-handle back over the left border of the frame. However, this is not a standard feature and once editing is finished you cannot reselect the frame.
To add text:
To add an image:
A vertical frame can be inserted above a system or appended to the last system. It can contain one or more text objects and/or images. The height is adjustable and the width equals the system width.
It can be used, for example, to:
See Create a Frame (below).
Use one of the following methods:
Selecting the frame allows you to adjust various parameters in the Inspector:
Top Gap: Adjusts distance between frame and element above (negative values not currently supported).
Bottom Gap: Adjusts distance between frame and element below (Negative values can be entered).
Height: Adjusts height of the frame.
Left Margin: Moves left-aligned text objects to the right.
Right Margin: Moves right-aligned text objects to the left.
Top margin: Moves top-aligned text objects downwards (see also Style → General... → Page).
Bottom Margin: Moves bottom-aligned text objects upwards (see also Style → General... → Page).
To add text:
To add an image:
You can create as many objects as you like within a frame. Their positions can be adjusted independently by dragging or, more accurately, by altering the offset values in the Inspector. To format text objects, see Text editing and Text styles and properties.
The horizontal frame is automatically left-aligned and fills the entire vertical frame. To right-align it:
A vertical frame is automatically created at the beginning of a score, showing the title, subtitle, composer, lyricist etc., when you fill in the information fields provided on page 1 of the New Score Wizard.
If the score does not have a vertical frame at the beginning, you can create one as follows:
A Text frame looks like a vertical frame, but is specialised for text input: one text object is allowed per frame. The height automatically expands to fit the content and there is no height adjustment handle.
A text frame can be used, for example, to:
See Create a Frame (below).
Selecting the frame allows you to adjust various parameters in the Inspector:
Top Gap: Adjusts distance between frame and element above (negative values not currently supported).
Bottom Gap: Adjusts distance between frame and element below (negative values can be entered).
Height: Not applicable to text frames.
Left Margin: Moves left-aligned text objects to the right.
Right Margin: Moves right-aligned text objects to the left.
Top margin: Moves top-aligned text objects downwards.
Bottom Margin: Moves bottom-aligned text upwards.
Chose one of the following options:
Select the frame and press Del.
Line, page or section breaks can be applied to frames as well as measures. Use one of two methods:
You can use Images to illustrate scores, or to add symbols that are not included in the standard palettes. MuseScore supports the following formats:
Use one of the following options:
To modify the width/height of an image, double-click it and drag any of the handles. If you want to adjust width or height separately, untick "Lock aspect ratio" first in the Inspector.
You can adjust the position of an image by simply dragging it.
MuseScore's image capture feature allows you to save a snapshot of any part of the score window. PNG, PDF and SVG formats are supported.
Right-click on the selection rectangle to open the Image Capture menu. Select the desired option:
You can save the image in either PNG (default), SVG or PDF format.
Right-clicking on the selection rectangle opens the Image Capture menu:
While dragging an element:
Snap to grid is a feature which allows you to drag an element in precise steps—useful for exact positioning.
To enable snap to grid, select an element and click one or both of the snap to grid buttons, located to the right of the horizontal and vertical offset fields in the Inspector. You can then drag the element in steps equal to the grid spacing. The default value is 0.5 sp.
To change the grid spacing: