Articulations and ornaments

A comprehensive set of symbols can be found in the Articulations and Ornaments palette in the Advanced workspace:

There is also an abbreviated version in the Basic workspace.

Articulations

Articulations are the symbols added to the score to show how a note or chord is to be played. The principal symbols in this group are:

• Fermatas
• Staccato
• Mezzo-staccato / Portato
• Staccatissimo
• Tenuto
• Sforzato
• Marcato

Specialist articulations are also included for bowed and plucked strings, wind instruments etc.

Ornaments

Ornaments include:

• Mordents, Inverted Mordents, Pralltrillers
• Trills
• Turns
• Bends

Note: Appoggiaturas and acciaccaturas can be found in the Grace Notes palette.

Add articulation/ornament

Use either of the following methods:

• Select a note or a range of notes, then double-click a symbol in a palette.
• Drag a symbol from a palette onto a notehead.

Add accidental to an ornament

To apply an accidental to an existing ornament, such as a trill:

1. Select the note to which the ornament is attached;
2. Open the Symbols section of the Master palette;
3. Search for and apply the desired accidental to the score (small accidentals can be found using the search term "figured bass");
4. Drag the accidental into position (or reposition using keyboard shortcuts or the Inspector).

Add fermata to a barline

A fermata can be applied directly to a barline by selecting the barline and double-clicking the fermata from a palette. This does not affect playback though.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Toggle Staccato: Shift+S
• Toggle Tenuto: Shift+N
• Toggle Sforzato (accent): Shift+V
• Toggle Marcato: Shift+O
• Add Acciaccatura (grace note): /

Keyboard shortcuts can be customized in MuseScore's Preferences.

Adjust position

Immediately after adding an articulation or ornament from a palette, the symbol is automatically selected: It can then be moved up or down from the keyboard as follows:

• Press up/down arrow keys for fine positioning (0.1 sp at a time);
• Press Ctrl+↑ or Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↑ or Cmd+↓) for larger vertical adjustments (1 sp at a time).
• To flip a symbol to the other side of the note (where applicable), select it and press X.

To enable adjustments in all directions from the keyboard:

1. Double click on the symbol to enter Edit mode, or click on it and press Ctrl+E (Mac: Cmd+E) , or right-click on the symbol and select "Edit element";
2. Press arrow keys for fine positioning (0.1 sp at a time); or press Ctrl+Arrow (Mac: Cmd+Arrow) for larger adjustments (1 sp at a time).

You can also change the horizontal and vertical offset values in the Inspector. To position more than one symbol at a time, select the desired symbols and adjust the offset values in the Inspector.

Note: The symbol can also be repositioned by clicking and dragging, but for more precise control, use the methods above.

Articulation properties

Most properties of articulations/ornaments can be edited from the Inspector. Other properties (i.e. direction and anchor position) can also be accessed by right-clicking on the symbol and selecting Articulation Properties….

You can also make global adjustments to all existing and subsequently-applied articulations by selecting Style… → General… → Articulations, Ornaments.

See also

• Grace notes

External links

• Ornaments at Wikipedia