Guidelines for writing articles

So you'd like to contribute to the MuseScore 4 handbook – great! We're so happy you're here.

This page contains brief guidelines to get you started with writing articles. Please read this page carefully before editing anything in our handbook. This information is intended to help, but if you're in doubt about anything or have any questions, please join the discussion on the Documentation forum.

Structure - General principles

Each page should explain a single topic more or less completely. If a page feels like it is getting too long, try splitting it into separate pages.

Not every page is identical, but keeping the following in mind can help you structure your page content in a way that's easy to understand for the reader:

Start with an overview

Starting your page with an overview can help introduce a topic before launching into details. Overviews don't usually need a section heading.

Establish a hierarchy

Think about what most users will be trying to achieve, and why they might be coming to the handbook to look for information. Put solutions for the most common tasks towards the top of the page; less commonly needed information can go towards the bottom.

Group information logically

Related concepts should be discussed together. This may sometimes require less-commonly-used features to be discussed alongside more-commonly used ones, but that's okay.

Focus on user tasks, not just UI components

For instance, a section about "Creating custom key signatures" is better than a section called "Using the master palette".

Create a table of contents

Please be sure to enable the "Generate a table of contents" option for all Handbook pages.

Headings

In an effort to ensure consistency of style for community-written pages, we have already provided headings on many pages. Please organize your content within this structure. For pages that lack headings, feel free to create your own in a style similar to that used elsewhere.

For accessibility reasons, headings should never be formatted in regular bold text. All headings need to be formatted as tags with semantic meaning.

All pages start by default with a Heading 1. The first section heading you will enter will therefore always be a Heading 2. Please also don’t skip heading levels (By, for example, adding a heading 4 after a heading 2).

Lastly, try to always start your headings with a verb. E.g. "Adding time signatures", rather than "Time signatures"

Content

The MuseScore handbook broadly contains two main types of information: descriptive material, and goal-oriented instructions.

Descriptive material

This is used to explain different areas of the program. For example,

A Palette is a folder containing musical symbols which can be applied to the score. MuseScore's default palettes contain collections of related symbols, but you can customize palettes to display almost any kind of symbol, line or text.

Descriptive material tends to be longer and more “fleshed out” than goal-oriented instructions, but we still ask that you use simple, plain language wherever you can.

Goal-oriented instructions

These explain how to perform a specific task. The instructions should be as short and direct as possible, generally taking the form of a numbered list. For example,

To create a new palette

1. Open the palettes tab
2. Click Add palettes
3. Click Create custom palette
4. Name your new palette and click Create

Notice that we use bold text for named components of the user interface, including menus. Keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl+S, are rendered with <kbd> tags (see Syntax).

When writing goal-oriented instructions, please:

• Use only numbered lists (no dot points)
• Begin each numbered instruction with a verb
• Write only one task/direction per numbered item

For example, instead of writing this:

1. Open the palettes tab and click Add palettes

Please write this:

1. Open the palettes tab
2. Click Add palettes

Please be sure to include keyboard options for goal-oriented instructions, where such options exist. This is especially important for improving the program's accessibility.

Use of non-written media

The use of non-written media is encouraged as a supplement to written descriptions. This includes:

• Animated GIFs
• Screenshots of relevant parts of the user interface

Creating animated GIFs

Animated GIFs offer many advantages over screenshots and videos in that they expose in the shortest amount of time the sequence of actions required to achieve a particular task. There are lots of tools available for creating GIFs, however we recommend the following workflow to ensure crisp and clear image quality while maintaining as small as possible file size (ideally <2MB per GIF).

• Use only the MuseScore 4 interface, and set its appearance to dark mode with blue highlights (to achieve consistency across the entire handbook)
• Plan and rehearse the mouse clicks and keyboard shortcuts you will use, aiming to demonstrate the required steps in as short as possible time (ideally <10s)
• Use a free tool like gifcap to record the contents of your screen
• Use a free tool like KeyCastr to record keystrokes (where required)
• Only show the amount of UI required demonstrate a particular task

Linking to other pages

It's really helpful to link to other pages in the handbook. You might do this wherever you mention a different part of the user interface, or even when referring back to previous versions of the handbook.

There is a specific process for adding links to other handbook pages, which will allow accurate redirects regardless of the language version being read.

Use the right syntax

[node:######,title="Name of the page you want to link to"]

or, to link to a specific heading within the page:

[node:######,fragment="heading-slug",title="Name of the page you want to link to"]

Link to the page's node number, not the page's URL

To find a page's node number:

1. Open the desired page in your browser
2. Click the "three dots" icon in the top-right of the page
3. Click Edit in the context menu that appears
4. Click on your browser's search bar to read the URL

You will find the page's node number in the URL address visible in this edit screen (yes, it only appears in the edit screen). It will look something like this:

Use a bookmarklet to autogenerate links

You can use the following code snippet and add it as a bookmarklet to your bookmarks. To do this,

1. Select the code snippet
2. Drag it to your browser's bookmark bar

Alternatively, you can add a new bookmark to your browser and replace the bookmark's URL with the code snippet. If you are on a page within the handbook that you want to link to, click on the bookmarklet in your bookmarks and copy the displayed link.

javascript:void function(){prompt("",`[node:${drupalSettings.path.currentPath.replace("node/","")}${document.querySelector("meta[property=\"og:title\"]").content?`,title="${document.querySelector("meta[property=\"og:title\"]").content}"`:""}${window.location.hash?`,fragment="${decodeURIComponent(window.location.hash).replace("#","")}"`:""}]`)}();

Taken from node,title,fragment bookmarklet.

Syntax

The handbook is written in MarkDown with a few permitted HTML tags.

If you're not familiar with MarkDown, it doesn't take long to learn. Get started by reading this page first (a MuseScore account is required to properly view the content on that page, also note that you cannot use Filtered HTML anymore).

Examples for stuff beyond MarkDown

Keys

<kbd><kbd>A</kbd></kbd>, looks like A. (See Writing keyboard shortcuts below.)

Key combinations

<kbd><kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>A</kbd></kbd>, looks like Shift+A. (See Writing keyboard shortcuts below.)

Buttons

<kbd><samp class="button">Advanced Style Properties…</samp></kbd>, looks like Advanced Style Properties…, but this particular form is not used in the MuseScore 4 handbook (instead use bold for text that appears in the program).

Menu entries

__File→Open__, looks like File→Open

Images

<img src="image URL" alt="File name description" width="500px"/>, can be a useful alternative to inline images, where the image width needs to be specified

Writing keyboard shortcuts

Use the <kbd> syntax described above and follow these guidelines:

• For accessibility reasons, always use words instead of symbols for the names of all whitespace keys, arrow keys, and modifier keys.

  • Good: Cmd+Space; Win+Return; Shift+Tab

  • Bad: ⌘+ ; ⊞+⏎; ⇧+↹

• For keys that represent printable characters, the appropriate character should be used (e.g. write $ not Dollar).

• Use common abbreviations like Ctrl, Cmd, Esc, Del, PgDn. Don't abbreviate key names that are not normally abbreviated.

• Except where it matters, prefer Return instead of Enter, and Del instead of Backspace.

• For combinations, write modifier keys in this order: Win+Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Fn+… (Mac: Ctrl+Cmd+Option+Shift+Fn+…).

When in doubt, consult Default keyboard shortcuts for the canonical way to write key names and combinations.

Leaving a revision log message

Finally, whenever you make a change to a page (however big or small!), please leave a concise message that briefly describes the changes you made. For example,

• Added content about xxx
• Added images
• Corrected content
• Added keyboard tags

Leave this information in the Revision log message text field in the right panel of the Edit view for each page:

MuseScore Studio is completely free. Users do not need any PRO or PLUS account subscription service to use Musescore Studio. Musescore Studio 4 is released under the GNU General Public License version 3, see details of GPLv3 on http://www.gnu.org. "Musescore Studio" was previously named "MuseScore", see online announcement.

Additionally, the right to redistribute (the unmodified binary) to friends and students is granted to all - see "you may give any of the versions of MuseScore on musescore.org to other people, or share it internally via a server." on https://musescore.org/en/faq#faq-20204 . To impose an additional service charge or fee legally, read the GPLv3 terms.

To choose the version that best suits the user's need, see the Handbook 3 MuseScore, MuseScore 3, MuseScore 4 chapter.

Windows

Some basic computer knowledge:

1. Learn about your machine's hardware
2. Learn about your machine's software 32-bit and 64-bit Windows
3. Learn How to install programs from online sources on Windows 10

MuseScore Studio 4 related knowledge:

1. Read the Minimum system requirements for Musescore 4 and see if your machine can run it or not.
2. Learn about the new, free of charge, beautifully recorded virtual instrument sounds Muse Sounds for MuseScore Studio 4 created by the company called MuseGroup. MuseScore Studio 4 is already shipped with two other basic playback methods: SoundFonts and VSTi.
3. Learn about the optional Muse Hub software created by the company called MuseGroup, and decide if you need it or not. Simply put: you need Muse Hub if you want Muse Sounds.

One way to download and install MuseScore Studio 4 for Windows is to directly download it from https://musescore.org/en/download

1. Download and double click the downloaded file, see Troubleshooting if required.
2. Read the text carefully and follow the steps

If you are in awe and feeling an urge to give, visit https://musescore.org/en/donate for another surprise.

To uninstall see Uninstall or remove apps and programs in Windows, feel free to leave messages on https://musescore.org/en/forum so that we can improve.

macOS

[Work in progress, please add missing info]

Linux

Also see Troubleshooting

AppImage

Install

The easiest way to install the program is by using an AppImage:

1. Go to the Download→Software page at musescore.org
2. Under Linux→AppImage (recommended), click on the Download (64 bit) link
3. When the download is complete, right-click on the AppImage and select Properties
4. Switch to the Permissions tab
5. The next step varies depending on your file manager:
   • Nautilus-based (Nemo, Files, Caja) : Check the “Allow executing file as program” box.
   • Dolphin: Check the "Is executable" box.
   • Thunar: Check the “Allow this file to run as a program” box.
   • PCManFM: Change the “Execute” option in the drop down list to “Anyone”.
6. Exit the dialog.
7. Right-click inside the directory in which the AppImage is installed and select Open in Terminal
8. In the Terminal type, ./[file name] install (the dot and slash at the beginning are important!)

Steps 7 and 8 ensure that a MuseScore entry appears in the system’s menu and is linked to the new location of the AppImage (/home/[user name]/.local/bin). The correct file associations are also automatically made.

Note: Instead of steps 7 and 8 (above) you can, of course, install using the absolute file path instead. That is:

7. Open the Terminal
8. Type [file path] install

Tip: if you apply copy to the AppImage and press Ctrl+Shift+V in the terminal this will enter the absolute file path of the file that has just been “copied”.

Uninstall

No formal uninstall procedure is needed to remove the installed AppImage. Just delete menu entries and any shortcuts manually, then delete the App itself, and its links (which will be in ~/.local/bin).

Overview

This chapter is a quickstart tutorial suitable for absolute beginners. It demonstrates the most basic workflow. There are also a number of similar learning resources available online, see Getting help.

In this chapter we'll

1. quickly create a new score which has
   • a common predefined instruments setup (template) of your choice,
   • no sharps or flats in the key signature,
   • 4/4 time signature, and
   • 32 measures,
2. add notes and rests and other notation objects,
3. listen to the result,
4. adjust score and notation objects' properties and the number of measures,
5. save the score file in a native file format, so that it is fully editable when reopened in Musescore, and
6. export score data as non-native formats such as PDF, MusicXML, MIDI, so that other applications can utilize it. It is not the recommended way to store a score.

Quickly create a new score

When you open Musescore, no score file is created or opened by default (unless you have changed settings in Preferences:General:Program start). You need to create an empty score and the first thing to consider is adding empty staves using instruments setup. The quickest way is to use a predefined template:

1. Do either one of the following:
   • in the Home: Scores tab, select New score, or click New (bottom right).
   • From the menu, select File→New.
   • Use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+N (Mac: Cmd+N).
2. In the New score dialog that appears, click Create from template, browse templates by Category, or use the search bar to look up a template directly,
3. Click Done to create your new score.

Learn more about instruments and how to add them and their staffs individually in Setting up your score:Instruments.
Learn more about template in Setting up your score:Create from template, and Templates and styles.

Entering score information

For the sake of simplicity, we're skipping these setups and using the default values listed earlier, but you should know that you can either add info such as key signature, time signature and tempo, pickup measure (anacrusis or upbeat measure):

• conveniently in a Additional score information screen while creating a new score (in New score dialog, click Next instead of Done), see the main chapter Setting up your score:Additional score information, or
• by various other methods anytime later on, such as those covered in chapters Keyboard shortcuts, Using the palettes, project properties etc.

Entering notes and rests

A new score is automatically filled with rests. The default note input mode is based on the logic that, when a new note or rest is added by the user, the subsequent notes and rests in that bar adjust their duration (note or rest value) automatically without altering the total number of beats in the bar; this is called overwrite. One way to enter new notes and rests in MuseScore is by using a computer keyboard. It is designed to be similar to typing in a word processor such as Microsoft Word:

1. Press N to enter note input mode. A thin and tall light blue box with a clear blue left edge spanning the whole staff is now visible, indicating note input mode. The box is positioned at the beat position where the note will appear.
2. Type (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) for notes, and type zero (0) for rests.

Note value is specified before typing pitches.

1. Ensure you are in note input mode as explained above.
2. Click on the desired note value in the Note input toolbar, or use keyboard number keys 1 through 7 and the full stop, period, or dot key ..
3. Type pitches as explained above.

You’re now engraving in MuseScore! Learn more about this topic in Entering notes and rests.

Adding items from the palettes

The Palettes panel contains the notation objects most commonly used. The Palettes panel is visible by default, if this is not the case, open it by checking View→Palettes, or pressing keyboard shortcut F9 first. To show the panel, click the Palettes tab on the left side of the screen. The simplest way to add palette items is to:

1. Select an existing object (or range of objects) in your score (e.g. a notehead, clef, measure, etc.)
2. In the Palettes panel, expand a palette by clicking the triangular arrow button
3. Click a palette item

Learn more about this topic in Palettes

Listening to the result

Musescore's notation object interpreter and audio synthesizer provide audio playback. To listen to the score, simply press Space, or use the Play toolbar, see Playback controls.

Dynamics symbols affect instrument playback depending on the sound data used (SoundFonts, Muse Sounds, or VSTi, see MuseScore 3 features not (yet) implemented in MuseScore 4:Velocity controls). When an instrument use SoundFonts such as MS Basic ( as with the default setting, see Mixer chapter ) and no dynamics symbol is added in the score, all notes are played mf (mezzoforte).

When Tempo markings are not present, the playback of passages follows a default pace of 120 crotchet (quarter note) would have been in one minute. This convenient default value is decided by Musescore programmers and may not be the same as 120 (common sense musical) beats per minute.

Making adjustments in Properties Panel

The Properties panel is an upgraded version of the Inspector in other Musescore versions. It shows layout and playback properties of the selected objects or selected characters inside Text object. When nothing is selected, it shows the properties of the score. The Properties panel is visible by default, if this is not the case, open it by checking View→Properties, or pressing F8 first. To show the panel, click the Properties tab on the left side of the screen, see image above.

To show and adjust properties of the score,

1. Click an empty space in the score, outside all staffs.
2. Properties are shown in the Properties panel, adjust them as required.

To show and adjust properties of element(s),

1. Click to select element(s) in the score, each selected element is shown colored either blue, green, orange, or purple depending on the Voice it is assigned to.
2. Properties are shown in the Properties panel, adjust them as required.

To show and adjust properties of selected characters inside a Text object,

1. Click to select a Text element in the score
2. Double click to enter edit mode
3. Drag to select characters, or use Shift and arrow keys
4. Properties are shown in the Properties panel, adjust them as required.

Learn more about this topic in the Selecting elements, the Properties Panel , and the Entering and editing text chapters .

Inserting and deleting measures

To insert measure(s):

1. Click on a measure to select it. The selected measure is shown enclosed in a blue box.
2. In Properties Panel : Measures section, click Insert measures.
3. Select desired number of measures; use the dropdown menu to change the point of insertion.
4. Click the + button

To delete measure(s):

1. Select the unwanted measure(s). Use Shift+click to select a range, see Selecting elements chapter.
2. In Properties Panel : Measures section, click the trash can icon

Learn more about this topic in the main chapter Measures.

Saving your score

Saving the score in a native file format records all of its edits, it is also fully editable when reopened in Musescore. Scores can be saved locally, or to a cloud storage provided free of charge to every registered user. See also Publish to musescore.com and Share on Audio.com chapters.

To save your score locally:

1. Select File→Save
2. In the dialog that appears, select folder and fill in the required info such as file name, click Save or OK

To save your score to the cloud:

1. Select File→Save to Cloud.
2. You may be asked to sign in to your account on musescore.com.
3. Fill in the Name of your score.
4. Set a Visibility. Private means only you may see your score. Unlisted means anyone with the correct link may see your score. Public means anyone may see your score.
5. Press Save.

When saving to the cloud, an additional local copy is created automatically to provide offline editing functionality. A cloud score can be reopened inside the Home: Scores tab, it is marked with a small blue cloud symbol at the top left corner in the preview thumbnail.

Learn more about this topic in the main chapter Opening and saving scores.

Exporting your score

Exporting is not the recommended way to store a score, see "Saving your score" section instead.

Exporting is saving a score in a format that applications other than Musescore can utilize. These non-native formats includes PDF, MusicXML, MIDI etc. To export the full score:

1. Select the Publish tab
2. Click Export
3. Select the file format
4. Click Export

Learn more about this topic in the main chapter File export.

If you’re coming to MuseScore 4 from earlier versions, you’ll notice changes not only to the user interface, but also to many familiar features and ways of doing things. These changes have been designed to improve the user experience while providing much greater functionality. Here's a very quick overview of some of the major changes.

New user interface

MuseScore 4 comes with a sleek new interface. Nearly every part of the application has been completely redesigned to be cleaner and easier to read. You can choose between light, dark and high contrast themes, as well as pick your preferred accent color. Changes to the appearance of the app can be made in Preferences.

Instruments and parts

A new instruments panel allows you to hide, rearrange and customize your instruments without having to leave the score view.

The instruments panel integrates tightly with the process of creating parts, making it much easier to produce custom parts with any combination of available instruments. There’s now also a convenient button in the toolbar that allows you to quickly open any available part.

Inspector

The Inspector from earlier versions of MuseScore is now known as the Properties panel. Every option in this panel has been re-organized and the entire experience has been streamlined. By default, the Properties panel displays multiple useful options, like the ability to show or hide empty staves and various other types of score markings. Whereas previously you needed to select single element types before you could make changes to them, MuseScore 4 always displays relevant settings, regardless of how many different elements you have selected.

New playback and VSTi support

Playback improvements are the single largest change to MuseScore 4. Apart from new sample libraries (Muse Sounds, available as a separate download), there’s now support for VSTi plugins, which can be applied to instruments using the new mixer panel. The mixer also lets you easily switch between VSTi, SoundFonts and the Muse Sounds libraries, while also supporting VST effects. Sounds will now always be saved on a per-score basis, so there is no longer any need for the Synthesizer panel found in MuseScore 3 (this has been removed in MuseScore 4). If you previously used SFZ files for playback in MuseScore 3, we now recommend that you use a free VST sampler, like Sfizz or Sforzando, both of which support SFZ playback.

Engraving improvements

MuseScore 4 features many engraving improvements, some of which will have an effect on the appearance and layout of scores created in earlier versions. The most significant changes affect the placement of beams, slurs and ties, horizontal spacing, and page layout. There are far too many changes to list here, so those interested in learning more about the particularities may wish to read this dedicated document (link forthcoming) that explains and illustrates everything in detail.

An unavoidable consequence of having made such significant engraving improvements is that it will not be possible to open a score in MuseScore 4 from an earlier version of MuseScore and have it look identical.

Cloud storage

When you save a document for the first time, you’ll now be asked whether you want to save your file locally to your computer, or to the cloud. This new option is part of an exciting expansion we are making to services on musescore.com. Learn more about this in Open/Save/Export/Print and Share Scores Online.

Other changes

As you use the program, you’ll find lots of other small but significant changes that have been designed to make the process of composing and notating music just that bit easier. These include:

• An expanded note input toolbar, with one-click access to frequently used elements like tuplets and articulation marks. There’s also a convenient “+” menu where you can quickly add everything from notes and intervals, to frames and text elements.
• Easy-access features in the Properties panel that let you quickly add and remove measures, and show and hide empty staves
• A beautiful new mixer
• Improvements to the time signature properties dialog
• A streamlined experience for setting the language of the app
• A new Learn center for instructional videos on how to get the most from the app

More changes are listed in Upgrading from MuseScore 3.x, including some keyboard shortcuts that are different or entirely new.

Screen readers

MuseScore 4 supports all the major screen readers on each operating system. However, MuseScore's support for JAWS is not currently as good as it is for Narrator or NVDA on Windows.

Speech on Windows

If speech isn't working in MuseScore, try pressing Alt+F to focus the File menu, then press Esc twice to return to where you were in the app, at which point the screen reader should start working again. This tends to be needed if you start the screen reader after MuseScore is already running.

As mentioned above, MuseScore's speech output with JAWS is not currently as complete as it is with Narrator or NVDA.

Speech on macOS

VoiceOver's Quick Nav mode must be turned off while using MuseScore 4. You can toggle Quick Nav on or off by pressing the Left and Right arrow keys simultaneously while VoiceOver is running. It's also possible to disable Quick Nav from within VoiceOver Utility > Commanders.

MuseScore's interface is navigable with the tab cursor as well as with VoiceOver's own cursor. In general it's best to use the tab cursor because this matches the interface on other platforms, hence is what you will find described in most documentation and tutorials. When using the tab cursor, remember to use the arrow keys as well as Tab as described in Navigating the UI. VoiceOver's cursor can be used to reach areas of the application that are not yet accessible to the tab cursor.

Speech on Linux

On Linux it is necessary to start the screen reader running before you launch MuseScore, otherwise accessibility features will be disabled to save system resources (the same is true for all Qt applications on Linux). If you forget to do this, simply exit MuseScore and launch it again, this time with the screen reader running.

Orca is the most feature-complete screen reader available for Linux. Orca is built into the GNOME desktop environment, so it's recommended that Linux users with accessibility needs use a distribution based on GNOME or one of its derivatives.

Keyboard access

Navigating the UI

MuseScore 4's UI (user interface) has a hierarchical system of keyboard navigation, which is different to what you may be used to in other applications, including previous versions of MuseScore. In the new system, you must remember to use the arrow keys in addition to the tab key, because the tab key no longer visits every control. This allows for much faster navigation than the traditional system that uses the tab key for all navigation.

Please note that the UI navigation shortcuts are fixed and cannot be changed, unlike the shortcuts for score navigation, which can be customized in Preferences.

Navigating the score

Navigation within the score (i.e. inside the "Notation view") is much the same as it was in MuseScore 3. The following shortcuts are of particular value to accessibility users:

Other aspects of keyboard navigation are described on pages throughout this handbook. All score navigation and manipulation shortcuts can be customized in Preferences.

Video tutorials

The following accessibility tutorials are designed to get you up and running with MuseScore, using your keyboard and screen reader. They don't cover every aspect of the program, but they should give you a solid foundation that will enable you can take full advantage of the rest of this Handbook.

Menu bar

The Menu bar in MuseScore 4 contains the following menus:

• File: Create a new file, open and save files, import and export various formats, create and edit instrument parts, and print
• Edit: Undo and redo options, copy/cut/paste options, and Find / Go to function
• View: Show or hide various palettes, dialogs, and other workspace elements. Items under the Show submenu adjusts display of non-printing elements:
  • Show invisible: Show/hide elements depending on their Properties panel: Invisible setting. If this option is ticked, invisible elements are shown in the score window as light gray.
  • Show formatting: Show/hide Systems and horizontal spacing: System Breaks or Pages and vertical spacing: Page Breaks symbols.
  • Show frames: Show/hide the dotted outlines of Frames.
  • Show page margins: Show/hide Score size and spacing: Page margins.
  • Show irregular measures: A plus sign or minus sign at the top right of a measure indicates that its duration differs from that set by the time signature.
    
• Add: Add different kinds of score elements; notes, text, measures etc.
• Format: Adjust global and local formatting of the score. Also allows you to stretch or contract the score, load and save score styles, and much more
• Tools: Many useful commands are available here including transpose, exchange voices, slash notation etc.
• Plugins: Manage your plugins
• Help: Access the online handbook, report bugs and give feedback, and restore factory settings

Keyboard users on Windows and Linux can access these menus by holding the Alt key and pressing a certain letter or number key, known as the mnemonic access key, that is displayed with an underline in the name of the menu item you are looking for. For example, press Alt+F for File followed by Alt+A for Save as. The letters 'F' and 'a' are underlined in the UI while the Alt key is held.

On macOS, MuseScore's menus are part of the system-wide menu bar, which you can navigate to by pressing Ctrl+F2.

Home tab

Beneath the main menu are three tabs, the first of which is the Home tab. This tab contains the following sections:

My account

Create a new MuseScore account, or login to your existing account. With an active account, you can get technical assistance and report bugs in the forums at musescore.org. You can also save your files to the cloud on musescore.com.

Scores

This section allows you to set up a new score, or to open an existing one. Learn about creating new scores in Setting up your score.

Plugins

This window displays a list of available plugins. See the chapter on Plugins to learn about managing these useful add-ons.

Learn

This is where video tutorials are hosted. Clicking on any video tutorial opens it on the official MuseScore YouTube channel.

Score tab

This area is where you do most of your work in MuseScore, including adding music notation and listening to the playback of your score. The workspace consists of several regions (numbered according to labels in the below diagram):

1. Parts: The button near the top center of the window opens the Parts dialog, where you can create, edit and delete instrument part scores.
2. Mixer: The button to the right of Parts opens and closes the Mixer panel.
3. Playback toolbar. Located to the right of the mixer icon.
4. Note input toolbar: Extending across the program window, this includes essential notation elements used in score writing. Use it to set the note input duration, toggle accidentals, apply common articulations, enter tuplets, and change between voices.
5. Side bar: The area on the left-hand side of the program window contains various panels such as Palettes, Properties, and Instruments. These can be hidden or displayed as desired.
6. Document/Score window: This area contains your score, and is where notation elements are added, edited, and deleted.
7. Status bar: This runs along the bottom of the window. The left-hand side displays useful information about the score when one or more elements are selected. The right-hand side contains controls for switching between workspaces, selecting concert or written pitch views, and specifying the page display and zoom factor (magnification).

Keyboard users can use the Tab key or F6 to navigate between these UI regions via the keyboard. Within each region, navigation is performed with the arrow keys and Tab.

Almost all panels and toolbars can be un-docked and repositioned according to your project requirements and workflow preferences. Learn more about this in Workspaces.

Publish tab

This tab allows you to view your score without the clutter of the note input toolbar or sidebar panels. There are options to print the score, and to export it in a variety of image, audio and document formats. When your score is finished, you can also publish it to musescore.com.

Context menus

In certain parts of the application, primarily in the Score tab, context menus are available with additional functionality, such as options to copy, edit, customise, delete, or view the properties of whatever item(s) were selected at the time you opened the menu.

Element context menus

Within the score, every element has a context menu. To open the context menu for a particular element, right-click on the element with the mouse, or select the element via the keyboard and press Shift+F10 (some PC keyboards also have a dedicated Menu key near to the right Ctrl key). The exact options available in the context menu can differ depending on the type of element you selected, so it is worth experimenting to find out what options are available for different kinds of elements. For example, when you right-click on an empty region within a measure the resulting context menu contains options for Staff/Part properties and Measure properties. This is currently the only way to get to those options and the dialogs they lead to.

UI context menus

Outside of the score, the presence of a context menu is often indicated by a small button with three dots, or by a settings cog. Press the button to open the menu. Sometimes the button is associated with another item in the vicinity, such as in the Palettes, where there is three-dots button for each palette. In this case you can right-click on the palette name, or select it with the keyboard and press the Shift+F10 or Menu key shortcut, as an alternative to using the three-dots button.

Scrolling

Mouse wheel

• Use the scroll wheel to move the view up and down.
• Use Shift plus the scroll wheel to move the view left and right.

Scrollbars

Scrollbars appear at the right-hand and bottom edges of the score view. Click and drag them to quickly move the score view up and down, or left and right. Scrollbars are usually hidden from view, but can be revealed by hovering over the edge of the score view with your mouse.

Keyboard

You can also scroll the score using the PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End keys on your keyboard. If your keyboard lacks dedicated keys for these functions, most systems will also allow you to access these functions by holding Fn or a similar key, then pressing Up, Down, Left, or Right respectively.

By themselves, PgUp and PgDn scroll one screenful at a time. This may be less than an actual page of your score. If you hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while pressing PgUp or PgDn, it moves a full page at a time.

Element navigation

When a single element is selected in your score, it acts as a cursor. You can change the selection—and thus move the cursor—using common keyboard shortcuts.

The Left and Right keys will move horizontally through your score one note or rest at a time. If you hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while pressing Left or Right, you can navigate a full measure at a time.

To move the cursor vertically through the various notes, voices, and staves in your score, use the shortcuts Alt+Up and Alt+Down (Mac: Option+Up and Option+Down).

You can also use the shortcuts Alt+Left and Alt+Right (Mac: Option+Left and Option+Right) to select elements other than notes or rests. These commands allow you select almost any elements—including articulations, barlines, hairpins, and more—using the keyboard alone.

In addition, Ctrl+Home (Mac: Cmd+Home) will select the first element in your score, and Ctrl+End (Mac: Cmd+End) will select the last element. Again, for keyboards that lack dedicated Home and End keys, most systems provide the alternative of Fn+Left and Fn+Right respectively.

See Default keyboard shortcuts to learn more.

Navigator

The Navigator is a panel that displays thumbnails of score pages. To view or hide the Navigator, click View → Navigator.

The blue bounding box represents the area of the score currently in focus in the score view. Click on the box and drag it to move around your score.

Timeline

A navigation aid that shows instruments and score structure. For details, see Timeline.

Views

You can switch between different views of the score using the pop-up in the right-hand side of the status bar.

Page view

The score is shown as it will appear when printed or exported as a PDF or image file: that is, page by page, with margins. MuseScore applies system (line) and page breaks automatically, according to the settings made in Page settings and Style. In addition, you can apply your own system (line), page or section breaks.

Continuous view (horizontal)

The score is shown as one unbroken system. Even if the starting point is not in view, measure numbers, instrument names, clefs, time and key signatures will always be displayed on the left of the window.

Continuous view (vertical)

The score is shown as a single page with a header but no margins, and with an infinite page height. System (line) breaks are added automatically, according to the settings made in Page settings and Style. In addition, you can apply your own system (line) or section breaks.

Zoom

There are several ways to zoom the score in or out:

Zoom in

Ctrl++ (Mac: Cmd++)
or scroll up with the mouse scroll wheel while holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd).

Zoom out

Ctrl+- (Mac: Cmd+-)
or scroll down with the mouse scroll wheel while holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd).

Status bar zoom controls

To zoom in and out of your score from the Status bar controls:

• Click on the magnifying glass icons in the right-hand area of the status bar
• Click the number field to the right of these icons, then type a custom zoom level
• Choose from one of the preset zoom levels in the pop-up list on the extreme right

Restoring 100% zoom

This restores the zoom to the default (100%) level.

Ctrl+0 (Mac: Cmd+0)

Find/Go to

The Find/Go to panel allows you to speedily navigate to a specific measure, rehearsal mark or page number in the score.

To show the panel:

• Go to Edit → Find, or
• Press Ctrl+F (Mac: Cmd+F).

To hide the panel:

• Click the X (close) button on the left side of the panel, or
• Press Esc while the panel has focus.

Navigating to a numbered measure

Enter the measure number (counting every measure, starting with 1, irrespective of pickup measures, section breaks or manual changes to measure number offsets).

Navigating to a numbered page

Enter the page number using the format pXX (where XX is the page number).

Navigating to a numerical rehearsal mark

Enter the number using the format rXX (where XX is the number of the rehearsal mark).

Navigating to an alphabetic rehearsal mark

Enter the name of the rehearsal mark (the search is not case sensitive).

Pro tip! It is best to avoid naming rehearsal marks with the single letters “R", “r", “P”, “p", or one of these letters with an integer (e.g. “R1” or “p3”), as this can confuse the search algorithm.

Overview

Timeline is a navigation aid that displays at the bottom of the program window, giving you an overview of the instruments and main structural elements measure-by-measure. You can easily move about the score by clicking on a measure or a structural element.

There are four parts to the timeline:

Meta labels

This is found in the top left corner of the timeline. These are the names of the meta rows.

Instrument labels

This is found in the bottom left corner of the timeline. These are the names of the rows in the main grid.

Meta rows

This is found in the top right corner of the timeline. These hold the meta values of the score.

Main grid

This is found in the bottom right corner of the timeline. This holds multiple 'cells' (a specific measure and staff in the score represented as a square)

Meta elements

Meta elements are those found in the score that are not notes, but are still important to the score—such as key signature, time signature, tempo, rehearsal marks, bar lines, and jumps and markers.

Basic interactions

Selecting a measure

To select a measure in the timeline, press the mouse button on the cell. A blue box will appear around the selected cell and the respective measure in the score will be selected. The score view will place the selected measure in view.

Selecting multiple measures

Drag selection

Holding Shift and holding the left mouse button and dragging the mouse over the main grid will create a selection box. Upon releasing the mouse button, all the cells underneath the selection box will be selected, as well as all the measures in the score.

[Shift] selection

If a cell is already selected, holding Shift and selecting another cell in the timeline will stretch the selection to that new cell, similar to how the score does

[Ctrl] selection

If no cells are currently selected, holding Ctrl and selecting a cell will select the entire measure

Clearing a selection

To clear selection, holding Ctrl and clicking anywhere on the grid or the meta rows will clear any current selection.

Meta values selection

Selecting the meta values on the timeline will attempt to select the respective meta values in the score.

Scrolling

Standard scrolling

Scrolling the mouse wheel up or down will move the grid and instrument labels down or up respectively. The meta labels and rows do not move.

[Shift] scrolling

Holding Shift and scrolling the mouse wheel up or down will move the grid and meta rows left or right respectively. The meta labels and instrument labels do not move.

[Alt] scrolling

Holding Alt and scrolling the mouse wheel up or down will move the grid and meta rows left or right respectively, faster than Shift scrolling. The meta labels and instrument labels do not move.

Dragging

To drag the contents of the timeline, hold the left mouse button and move it around.

Labels interaction

Rearranging meta labels

All meta labels besides the measures meta may be rearranged in any way. By moving the mouse cursor onto one of the meta labels, small up and down arrows will appear. Click the left mouse button on the up arrow to swap the meta label with the one above it. Click the left mouse button on the down arrow to swap the meta label with the one below it.

Collapsing the meta labels

In order to hide all the meta labels while keeping all the meta information on the timeline, click the left mouse button on the measures meta to collapse all the currently visible meta rows into one row, where the meta values are staggered in that row. Click the left mouse button again on the measures meta to expand the meta rows.

Hiding instruments

All instruments--hidden or not--will be displayed on the timeline. To start this interaction, the mouse cursor is moved over an instrument label. A small eye will appear on the right side of the label that is open if the instrument is visible on the score, and closed if the instrument is hidden. Click the left mouse button on the eye to toggle between the two options.

Zooming

To zoom in or out of the score, hold Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel up or down respectively (Mac: Cmd + scroll).

Overview

MuseScore 4.1 added a braille panel that displays the current measure in braille music notation. The content is similar to what you get if you export braille via the File menu, but the braille panel updates live as you navigate through the score.

As of MuseScore 4.2, the braille panel can be used to enter notes and some musical symbols using Perkins-style 6-key braille input.

Output to a physical braille display

The contents of the braille panel can be displayed on a braille terminal connected to your computer (e.g. via Bluetooth or USB).

The following limitations apply when using a physical braille display:

• NVDA must be used as the screen reader.
• MuseScore’s braille panel must have keyboard focus.
  • When the score has focus, the braille terminal will just show ordinary status text from the screen reader.
• Braille navigation and 6-key input must be performed with the computer keyboard.
  • Physical buttons on the braille terminal are not used, except to scroll within a measure that is too long to fit on your display.

Please let us know in the Documentation forum if you discover a way to bypass any of these limitations.

Terminology: braille vs. print

On this page, we refer to MuseScore's ordinary stave notation as "print music". This is the traditional music notation that sighted musicians use on paper or electronic devices, and is displayed in the central region of MuseScore's main window, known as the score view.

Braille can also be used on paper, but it's not printed with ink. Instead, it's embossed as raised dots, which blind musicians read by touch. It is common in accessibility circles to use the word "print" to mean non-braille notation.

Viewing braille

To open or close the braille panel

1. Go to Preferences > Braille.
2. Check (or uncheck) the Show braille panel box.

The braille panel appears directly below the score in MuseScore’s main window.

To focus the braille panel

With the braille panel open, press the Tab key while the score has focus. A caret (text cursor) will appear in the braille at the position of whatever element was selected in the score. For example, if a note was selected in the score, the text caret will appear on that note in the braille.

Press Shift+Tab at any time to leave the braille panel and return to the score. The braille panel will remain open so you can navigate to it again with Tab.

Navigating the braille

While the braille panel has focus, you can move the text caret around using the arrow keys. As the caret moves through the braille, the element to the right of the caret becomes selected in the score. If that element is a note, MuseScore will play the sound of the note.

The braille panel only shows one measure at a time, but it shows that measure for all instruments in the score. Each line of braille corresponds to a staff in the print notation, so grand staff instruments like the piano get two lines of braille, and the organ gets three lines.

If a staff has lyrics, these are written on another line of braille immediately below the line corresponding to that staff. If there are multiple lines of lyrics (e.g. for multiple verses), each line of lyrics is written on a separate line in the braille.

Shortcuts for navigation

The following keyboard shortcuts are available for navigating the braille.

Writing braille

Notes and certain musical symbols can be entered in the braille panel using a 6-key method of braille input similar to that of the Perkins Brailler.

Turn braille input mode on or off

While the braille panel has focus, press N to toggle braille input mode on or off.

Constructing a braille cell

While in braille input mode, six letter keys on the computer keyboard are used to represent the six braille dots that make up a single braille cell (⠿).

The keys used are F, D, S for dots 1, 2, 3 down the first column of the cell, and J, K, L for dots 4, 5, 6 down the second column. The Space key is used to represent an empty braille cell (⠀), sometimes referred to as dot 0.

Up to six of these keys can be pressed in combination to construct any pattern of raised dots. For example, to enter a quarter note C, which in braille is ⠹ (i.e. dots 1, 4, 5, 6), press and hold F+J+K+L, then release these keys to confirm the pattern. The keys can be pressed and released in any order, providing at least one key is held at all times, until you have completed the pattern.

When the final key is released, MuseScore reads your braille pattern. If your pattern corresponds to a recognized note or musical symbol then this element is entered directly in the score, not in the braille panel, because print notation is the "ground truth" for MuseScore. Once the element is in the score, the braille panel automatically updates to reflect this change.

Sometimes in music braille, the same information can be expressed in multiple ways. For the sake of consistency, MuseScore always picks the same way regardless of how you entered the notation. Therefore, the braille that appears in the braille panel may not exactly match the pattern(s) you entered with the six keys, though it will have the same meaning.

Entering notes

Basic notes

In braille, eighth notes (quavers) and 128th notes are written as:

Additional dots are added to the above sequences to create other durations:

Hence a quarter note C is ⠹ (dots 1, 4, 5, 6) and is entered with F+J+K+L. This pattern is also used for a 64th note C.

16th notes and smaller

As mentioned above, 16th notes and smaller use the same dot patterns as larger durations. When reading braille, you can work out whether the shorter or longer duration is being specified by looking at the time signature as well as other notes in the measure. However, when writing braille, you need to tell MuseScore which durations you want to use.

By default, MuseScore enters group 1 durations (whole, half, quarter, eighth). To switch to group 2, enter dots 0, 2 (i.e. press Space+D). Nothing will appear in the braille panel, but any notes or rests you write from now on will be in group 2 (16th, 32nd, 64th, 128th). To switch back to group 1 durations, enter dots 0, 1 (i.e. press Space+F).

It's not currently possible to enter durations of 256th and smaller, or breve (double whole) and larger, via the braille panel.

Dotted notes

Braille uses ⠄(dot 3) to represent an augmentation dot, which is added in a new braille cell immediately following a note. No other cells are allowed to come between the note and its augmentation dot.

To create a dotted note in the braille panel, first write the main note duration using the rules above, then follow it with dot 3 (i.e. press S).

For example, a dotted quarter note C is ⠹⠄, which can be stated as dot pattern 1456-3, where the dash means to start a new cell. In terms of keys, this is F+J+K+L, S.

It's not currently possible to enter multiple dot 3s to create double and triple dotted notes via the braille panel.

Octave marks

Octave marks in braille serve a similar purpose to clefs in print music. If you see a note in print, you don't know what pitch it is until you look at the preceding clef. In braille, if you see ⠙ (dots 1, 4, 5) then you know the note is a C, but it could be a C in any octave. To determine the octave, you need to look at the preceeding octave mark (and also at any notes between that octave mark and the current note).

A standard 88-key piano has 7 complete octaves. Starting on the lowest C, which is called C1 in braille as well as in scientific pitch notation, the first complete octave of white notes is C1, D1, E1, F1, G1, A1 and B1. After B1 comes C2, which is the start of the second complete octave. This scheme continues up to the final complete octave, which starts with C7 and ends with B7.

In this system, C4 is middle C, and A4 is "concert A" (i.e. the note that the orchestra tunes to at the start of a performance). Enharmonic spelling is important, so B♯3 sounds the same as C4 despite being notated in a different octave, and C♭4 sounds the same as B3.

Even standard 88-key pianos have a few notes outside the range C1 to B7. Braille refers to the C0 octave as the "sub" octave, and the C8 octave as the "super" octave. These simply double the markings used for the first and seventh octaves.

When specified, octave mark are placed immediately prior to a note. So a middle C quarter note is ⠐⠹, or dots 5-1456, which is entered as K, F+J+K+L. No other cells are allowed to go between the octave mark and the note it belongs to.

Octave marks don't have to be given before every note. Octave marks are only required for the:

• First note on each line of braille.
• First note after a double bar line, number sign, word indicator, and certain other markings.
• Second of two notes separated by a melodic interval of a sixth or more, regardless of their octaves.
• Second of two notes separated by a melodic interval of a fourth or more, only if their octave numbers are different.

Overview

This chapter focuses on Instruments setup and basic score information setup. You should already be familiar with the basic workflow of Musescore covered in the quickstart tutorial Create your first score.

Instruments

An instrument in Musescore is an abstraction that contains the tablature(s) or staff(s) (the most useful aspect, see Page layout concepts: staff), notation styles (clefs, noteheads etc), the musical behaviors (transposition, playable range) and settings related to playback audio created by the Musescore synthesizer.

An Musescore instrument contains staff(s) that can represent a single or multiple real world instrument(s), for example in Beethoven's Symphony No.3, Op.55 First edition published by Cianchettini & Sperati, n.d.[1809] London, the third staff Corni 1 & 2 in Eb represents two French horn players:

To transcribe this, you should add one Musescore instrument "Horn in Eb", and rename it, playback is not affected by naming.

Real world instrument, instrument section, vocals, and choir, are supported in Musescore in several ways:

• A Musescore Instrument that has the same name such as "Piano", "Violin", "Violins (section)", "Strings", "Soprano", "Voice", "Women" and some percussions such as "Timpani", "Concert Bass Drum", "Cymbal" (concert). Similar items might have different playback.
• "Drumset" Musescore instrument, a single item containing "Snare", "Kick Drum", "Bass Drum", "High Tom", "Ride Cymbal" etc. There is no seperate MuseScore Instrument for these. See Drumset customization
• A short SoundFonts brush snare sound is shipped with Musescore, see Mixer.

Use pre-configured template to create a new score, you can also setup instruments in any score (any of its Parts).

MuseScore contains over 500 instruments, see https://musescore.org/en/instruments. To suggest adding a missing instrument, see https://musescore.org/en/contribute.

Choose instruments

When creating a new score, in the New Score dialog, click to open Choose instruments tab. Some methods mentioned in "Changing instruments after score creation" also open this window.

Instruments are filtered by the type/genre shown in the dropdown menu under Family heading on the left. "Common" is selected by default, which displays some of the most common instruments or voices you are likely to need. NOTE: To show all available instruments, you must select "All instruments".

Instruments are grouped into the instrument family they belong to. If you know the instrument/voice you are looking for, you can simply type its name, or part name, in the search bar under Instruments heading . Press the clear button (X) to clear the selection.

Adding instruments

To add an instrument to your score:

1. Double click an instrument under Instruments

or

1. Select an instrument under Instruments
2. Click the → button to add the instrument to your score (Pro tip: double-clicking an instrument name does the same thing).

Staffs on score are arranged according to the order shown under the Your Score heading on the right. The Order … dropdown shows the current staff ordering preset.

Changing order of instruments by making them soloist

Soloist ordering position is a practice on orchestral scores. For example, in the 'Orchestral' ordering practice, soloists are above the strings. Soloist does not mean "only one on score".

Select the style in the Order … dropdown list under the Your Score heading.

To rearrange an instrument (all of its staffs) to soloist position:

1. Select an instrument under Your Score
2. Click the "Make soloist" button.

Changing order of instruments manually

To manually change the order of instruments:

1. Select an instrument under Your Score
2. Click on ↑ or ↓ to change its position

Removing instruments

To delete an instrument from your score:

1. Double click an instrument under Your Score

or

1. Select an instrument under Your Score
2. Click the trash icon

You can also delete multiple instruments at once by first holding down Shift and selecting multiple instruments, then clicking the trash icon.

Create from template

Scores can also be created from pre-configured templates. A template is a complete instrument setup for a particular type of score, ordered and styled according to conventional practice. Templates are organized into categories based on musical style or ensemble configuration.

To create a score from a template:

1. Click Create from template
2. Select a group of templates from the Category panel
3. Choose your desired template from the center panel
4. Click Done

You can also search across all available templates in the search bar.

Visit Templates and styles to learn more templates, including how to create your own for future use.

Additional score information

Click Next in the New score dialog to specify additional information in the Additional score information screen, such as key signature, time signature, tempo, pickup measure (anacrusis or upbeat measure), and the number of measures.

Note that this is one convenient way to add info while creating a new score, but not the only way. There are other methods you can use anytime later on, covered in their respective chapters, such as Keyboard shortcuts, Using the palettes, project properties etc.

Key signature

By default, new scores are created with a key signature containing no sharps or flats (C major). Specify a different key signature by clicking the button under Key signature. Major keys are shown first; minor keys can be displayed by selecting the Minor tab.

Time signature

New scores will be created in 4/4 by default. Change this by clicking the button under Time signature. Change the number of beats per bar using the arrows in the spin box, and change the beat quality from the dropdown menu. You can also select common and cut-common (alla-breve) time signatures in this popup.

Tempo

By default, new scores will play at a tempo of crotchet (quarter note) = 120 beats per minute (bpm). Metronome markings are not automatically included in new scores.

To customize the starting playback tempo, and to show a metronome marking above the uppermost stave:

1. Click the button under Tempo
2. Tick Show tempo marking on my score
3. Select the desired beat value
4. Enter the desired number of beats per minute (20-400) in the text field or use the up and down arrows to scroll through the tempo range.

Learn more about tempo text indications, metronome markings, and playback speed in tempo markings.

Measures

New scores are created with 32 measures and no pickup (anacrusis). To change the starting number of measures in your new score:

1. Click the button under Measures
2. Enter the desired number of measures in the Initial number of measures field

Learn more about Adding and removing measures at any time after score creation.

To start your score with a pickup:

1. Click the button under Measures
2. Tick Create pickup measure
3. Enter the desired number of beats for the pickup in the text field
4. Select the metrical value of the pickup measure from the drop-down menu

You can always create a pickup later. Learn how to do this in Pickup and non-metered measures.

Title and other text

Enter text in the fields at the bottom of the New score dialog, and MuseScore will automatically place it in an appropriate format in your new score. You can enter text labels for the score's:

• Title
• Composer
• Subtitle
• Lyricist
• Copyright

This information also becomes data in the score's project properties (menu File), which you can change at any time.

Once you've finished specifying additional score information, click Done to confirm your selections and create your score.

Changing instruments after score creation

There are three ways to change existing score instruments:

• Use the keyboard shortcut I while in the Score tab
• Click Add from the Instruments panel (If this panel is not yet visible, press F7, or select View → Instruments)
• Click Replace instrument in the Staff/Part properties dialog

This chapter explains music creation on standard staves only, see also tablature and percussion chapters.

Overview

Musescore supports inputting music via a computer keyboard, a mouse, a MIDI keyboard or MuseScore virtual piano keyboard. Using the computer keyboard input method is quick and easy, simply choose a duration, then type the pitch name (A-G) for a note or a 0 (zero) for a rest.

MuseScore supports virtually unlimited undo to revert input mistake. Click the undo button on the far right of the toolbar, or use the standard keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z (Mac: Cmd+Z).

Entering notes

This chapter explains the default input mode, step-time, where notes and rests are entered one at a time. It is based on the logic that, when a new note or rest is added by the user, the subsequent notes and rests adjust their duration ( note value or length ) automatically without affecting the total number of beats in any measures. See also Alternative note input methods chapter.

Selecting a start point

To add a note or rest to the score, start by selecting a location to begin entry. You can use the mouse or the keyboard navigation commands.

Entering note input mode

Next, enter note input mode by pressing the pen icon in the toolbar, or using the keyboard shortcut N. A note input cursor is now visible, it is the thin and tall light blue box spanning the whole staff, its left border line is dark blue. Appearance of note input cursor indicates that Musescore is currently in note input mode. The box is positioned at the time or beat position that the next entered note or rest is being added to.

If you forget to select a starting location first, MuseScore places the cursor at the last input position, or in some other logical place, so be sure the cursor is where you intend.

Once in note input mode, enter notes left to right by first selecting a duration and then entering a pitch or rest. When you are done entering notes in this location and are ready to do something else—for example, entering notes at a different location, adding other markings, or performing other operations like copy and paste—you can leave note input mode by clicking the note input button or pressing N again. You can also press Esc to return to normal mode from note input or any other mode.

Selecting duration

While in note input mode, select a note value for the next note to be entered by:

• Clicking a corresponding note icon in the Note Input toolbar (directly above the score window)

• Entering the keyboard shortcut 1–9 corresponding to the desired duration

  

The keyboard shortcuts are designed to be efficient and easy to remember. The most common note values are eighth, quarter, and half (UK: quaver, crochet, minim) and these are represented by the keys 4, 5, and 6 respectively (the middle row of a numeric keypad). Shorter note values are represented by smaller numbers, longer values by larger numbers. The full list is as follows:

• 64th (hemidemisemiquaver): 1
• 32nd (demisemiquaver): 2
• 16th (semiquaver): 3
• Eighth (quaver): 4
• Quarter (crotchet): 5
• Half (minim): 6
• Whole (semibreve): 7
• Double whole (breve): 8
• Longa: 9
• Dot: . (changes the selection into a dotted note/rest)

Other durations, including double dots and 128th notes, can be selected if you first customize your toolbar and/or define your own keyboard shortcuts.

Note: it is also possible to select duration using a MIDI keyboard, if you set up the keys you wish to use for this in advance.

Selecting pitch

Once you have selected a duration, you can enter pitches using the computer keyboard, mouse, MIDI keyboard, or virtual piano keyboard.

Selecting pitch using the computer keyboard

This is normally the most efficient way to enter notes in MuseScore.

To enter a note of a given pitch using the computer keyboard, simply press the corresponding letter (A–G) on your computer keyboard.

Notes entered in this way will replace any rests or notes that were already present at the cursor location. To add a note to an existing note or chord, press Shift while entering the note. See the section on chords below for more information.

When entering notes by letter name, MuseScore will choose the octave that is closest to the previous note on that staff. This works well for passages that move mostly by steps and small leaps. If you need to change the octave for a larger leap, use Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↑ and Cmd+↓) to raise or lower the pitch of the previously entered note by an octave.

Selecting pitch using the mouse

To enter a note using the mouse, position your mouse on the desired line or space in the staff, then click. The mouse cursor will show you a preview of the note you are about to enter to help you place it accurately.

If any notes already exist at the location where you are entering a new note, the new note will be added above or below it. To replace existing notes instead, press Shift while entering the new note.

It can be difficult to enter notes very far above or below a staff with this method, because MuseScore may interpret clicks far from the intended staff as an attempt to enter notes onto the staff above or below. Instead, try entering the note an octave lower or higher, then raise or lower the pitch by an octave using Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↑ and Cmd+↓).

Note: although one would normally enter notes left to right, the mouse entry method actually allows you to enter a note at any location where there is an existing note or rest to replace.

Selecting pitch using a MIDI keyboard

If you have a MIDI keyboard connected, you can enter notes by simply pressing the corresponding keys.

When playing notes on a MIDI keyboard, they are entered consecutively so long as you release each key fully before pressing the next. If you press a key before releasing the previous key, the new note is added above or below the previous note.

Notes entered via MIDI keyboard that are outside of the current key signature will have accidentals applied automatically, but the spelling of the accidental may not be what you intend. To change the enharmonic spelling of a note, press J.

Selecting pitch using the virtual piano keyboard

You can also input notes using the on-screen Piano keyboard window. To display this, use View→Piano keyboard or press the shortcut P. The window can be closed the same way.

To enter a note of a given pitch, simply click the appropriate piano key with your mouse.

As with the computer keyboard, notes entered in this way replace any existing notes or rests. To create chords instead, press and hold Shift while entering notes.

Note: to resize the keyboard, position the mouse within the window and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while scrolling up or down.

Entering chords

For the purpose of this section, chords are any combinations of multiple notes all starting at the same time, all sharing the same duration, and all sharing a single stem.

If you wish to enter notes that sound together but start at different times, have different durations, or have separate stems, see Voices. Text of the form "Dm7" is a chord symbol, discussed in Chord symbols.

Just as for individual notes, chords can be entered by computer keyboard, mouse, MIDI keyboard, or virtual piano keyboard. Except for MIDI keyboard (where you can play multiple notes at once), the notes are still entered one at a time, but in a way that tells MuseScore to combine them into a chord rather than add them sequentially.

• To add a note to a chord using the computer keyboard, press and hold Shift while entering the note
• To add a note to a chord using the mouse, click the location where you wish to add the note
• To add a note to a chord using a MIDI keyboard, either play all the notes at the same time, or play them one at a time but do not release one key before pressing the next
• To add a note to a chord using the virtual piano keyboard, press and hold Shift while entering the note

When using Shift+A–G to add a note to a chord, the note will be added above any notes already present at the cursor location. You can also specify the note to be added based on the interval above or below the currently-selected note.

• To add an interval above the selected note, use one of the following:
  • From the menu bar, select Add→Intervals and choose an interval from the list;
  • Press Alt+1-9.
• For intervals below the selected note, you will need to apply a custom shortcut of your own (see Preferences).

Entering rests

Rests can be entered using the computer keyboard or mouse. The duration is selected in the same way as for notes (e.g., using the toolbar or keyboard shortcuts 1–9). Then instead of entering a pitch as you would for a note, choose one of the following options.

• From the computer keyboard: press 0 (zero)
• From the note input toolbar: click the rest icon, then click in the score

• Using a mouse: right-click in the score

  

Accidentals

Standard accidentals (flat, natural, sharp, double flat, double sharp) can be entered either by selecting one before entering the pitch it applies to or by adding them to a note already entered.

Selecting an accidental before entering a pitch

To specify an accidental to be applied to the next note entered, you can use the buttons on the Note input toolbar above the score or the corresponding keyboard shortcuts. This can be done either before or after selecting the duration.

The default accidental shortcuts are:

• Flat : -
• Sharp : +
• Natural : =

Unlike selecting duration—which applies to all subsequent notes until you change it—an accidental is applied only to the next note entered. But the usual rules of music notation apply, so if you apply a flat to a given note, any subsequent notes you enter of that same pitch within the same measure will be flatted as well, even though no explicit flat sign will be added in front of them.

Adding an accidental after entering a pitch

Appropriate accidentals are automatically added to a note when you increase or decrease its pitch:

• ↑: move pitch up a semitone (spells with sharps).
• ↓: move pitch down a semitone (spells with flats).

You can also apply an accidental to a note by clicking the appropriate icon in the Accidentals palette. This palette also contains a large number of microtonal and other special accidentals.

Adding courtesy/cautionary accidentals

Although the rules of music notation say that a barline cancels an accidental, and that any note on the same staff line or space in the next measure returns to the pitch indicated by the key signature, it is considered good practice to add a courtesy (also called cautionary) accidental anyhow. These do not change the pitch of the note, so they cannot be added with the ↑ and ↓ keys. However, any of the other methods described above work.

While parentheses or brackets are not required for courtesy accidentals, some editors do choose to use them. To add parentheses or brackets around an accidental, you will need to temporarily leave note input mode, select the accidental, then either use the Properties panel to select a bracket type, or click the parentheses or brackets in the More section of the Accidentals palette.

Note: there are also a set of plugins pre-installed with MuseScore that can automatically add courtesy accidentals as needed.

Ties

A tie is a curved line between two notes of the same pitch, indicating that they are to be played as one combined note. Even though they look similar, ties should not be confused with slurs, which join notes of different pitches and indicate legato articulation.

MuseScore makes it very easy to enter ties. Because ties are always between notes of the same pitch, you do not need to enter the pitch for the second note—just select the duration and enter the tie; MuseScore will add the note automatically. After entering the first note, follow these steps to create the tie:

1. Select the duration for the second note

2. Click the tie button on the toolbar or use the shortcut T

   

The tie command adds the second note and ties it to the first in one step. If the first note you entered is part of a chord, then the tie command actually creates an entire second chord with the same pitches as the first and ties all of the notes.

Tie placement (options)
Up to MuseScore 4.1, the previous default behaviour was to draw ties to single notes 'outside' (connecting the top/bottom of the noteheads) and to draw ties to chords 'inside' (connecting the right and left of noteheads). As from MuseScore 4.2 tie placement can now be configured either way for single notes and chords; the default for new scores is that all ties are drawn 'outside'. As well as a score-wide style setting (in Format > Slurs & ties > Ties), this can be overridden for any given tie (via Properties > Tie placement).

Note: ties normally connect adjacent notes in the same voice, but MuseScore also supports ties between non-adjacent notes and between notes in different voices as described in the section on editing.

See also

• Editing notes and rests
• Voices
• Tuplets
• Alternate note input modes
• Tablature
• Drum notation
• Slash notation
• Noteheads

Overview

A MuseScore voice is a line of music on a staff that has its own rhythm independent of other music on the same staff. Other notation programs may refer to it as a "layer".

"Voice", in a different sense, may also refer to a pitch range in vocal music—soprano, alto, tenor, bass etc. It is important not to mix up the two meanings by assuming, for example, that the four "voices" in an SATB choir are equivalent to MuseScore "voices" 1–4 (see below); that would be to confuse chalk with cheese.

MuseScore allows up to four voices in one staff: Voice 1, Voice 2, Voice 3, and Voice 4. When writing music on a staff, one usually starts in voice 1 then moves on to voice 2. Voices 3 & 4 are less commonly used.

Two voices on the same staff are normally indicated using opposing stems—an upper voice with stems up and a lower voice with stems down:

In a four-part SATB arrangement on two staves, you would use voices 1 & 2 on the top staff for soprano and alto, and voices 1 & 2 on the bottom staff for tenor and bass:

Entering notes and rests in multiple voices

The first step to enter multiple voices is to determine whether you need to write notes as voices in one staff, or spread voices among multiple staffs such as four voices among two staffs of a piano, or among multiple instruments such as four voices on four string instruments. You should consider the design of MuseScore's notation function and your production needs. Do not base your decision merely on academic reasons.

• MuseScore sets stem directions automatically based on the voice used and which voices are used in each measure. In measures where only Voice 1 is used, but no notes or rests are written on Voice 2, Voice 3 or Voice 4, stem directions of notes are determined by pitch; notes above the center line have stems pointing down, while notes below the center line have stems pointing up. Otherwise, the stem directions are determined according to the voice: up for Voice 1 and Voice 3, down for Voice 2 and Voice 4.
• To assign an overriding stem direction setting manually, use the Flip direction button on the toolbar, or the keyboard shortcut X, also see Stems and flags.
• Writing on voice 2 right away may seem correct academically, but MuseScore will create rest symbols in voice 1 automatically which might be redundant in some cases. Popular options in this scenario are to either manually hide rests afterwards (jump to how to) or to simply use voice 1 instead of voice 2.
• It's not yet possible to assign different sounds to individual voices, so you may have to use multiple instruments. For example, you cannot assign a Soprano VSTi to voice 1 and a Tenor VSTi to voice 2, only one or the other.
• Sometimes you must use multiple voices in one staff to create certain visual notation result in MuseScore, even if they aren't different voices musically. For example, in MuseScore, inside one voice, a chord can only be created with notes of the same duration. If constituent notes of a chord have varying durations, you must use separate voices to write them. A list of common similar scenarios can be found on the Handbook 3 Voices page.

Using multiple instruments

If you decide you need to write different voices as notes on different instruments, start by creating multiple instruments using Setting up your score: Changing instruments, then edit clef symbols as required, and then compose on Voice 1 in all of these staffs. A common example is to write four voice SATB open score on four instruments' Voice 1.

To convert separate staffs into one staff containing multiple voices, or to do the opposite, see Implode and explode. A common example is SATB open score <-> short score conversion,

Enter notes and rests in multiple voices in one staff

To enter new notes into a Voice:

1. Select your starting point in the score.
2. Click the pen icon on the toolbar or press N to enter note input mode.
3. Select the desired voice using the toolbar icons or press one of the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Alt+1–Ctrl+Alt+4
4. Enter notes and rests normally as described in Entering notes

You can repeat these steps to enter notes into other voices.

Note: to enter new notes, make sure you are in note input mode before selecting the desired voice, otherwise you will change the voice of any currently-selected elements instead.

Note: the note toolbar only displays voice 1 and 2 icons by default. You can make all voice icons visible using the controls that appear when you click the gear icon on the toolbar. For more information, see the section on customizing the note input toolbar.

Editing notes and rests in multiple voices

Adjusting rests

To make sense notation wise, rests should be used in each existing voice whenever necessary to complete beats of a measure, Musescore creates them automatically. In measures containing multiple voices, rests are automatically added to voices of lower number whenever appropriate. MuseScore also automatically positions rests to avoid overlapping other score elements.

To hide, delete, or adjust the position of these rests to create better layout, use one of the following methods:

Hiding or deleting rests

Rests may be hidden by selecting them and unchecking the Visible box in the Properties panel or using the keyboard shortcut V.

Rests in voices 2-4 may also be deleted by selecting them and pressing Delete. However, this leaves a "hole" in the voice that can be difficult to edit later. To restore missing rests from a voice, you can use the commands in Tools→Voices to exchange the contents of the voice with those of voice 1, which will fill the holes with rests again. You can then use the same command to move the contents of the voices back where they were.

Note: to ensure the correct duration of each measure, voice 1 rests can be hidden, but they cannot be deleted.

Positioning rests

While MuseScore will normally avoid collisions with other voices, it can sometimes be helpful to move rests up or down to create more space or to clarify which voice they apply to.

To move a rest vertically, select it and press Up or Down to move it a staff space at a time.

For more information on manual positioning, see Changing position of elements.

You can also change the default vertical offset between rests and elements in other voices from 1 space to 2 spaces in Format→Style…→Rests

Changing voice of existing notes

Notes originally entered into one voice can be moved into another voice, depending on the situation. For more information, see Changing voice in normal mode.

Combining voices into chords

In cases where the rhythms match, notes originally entered as multiple voices can be combined into chords in a single voice. For more information, see the Implode command.

Separate chords into Voices

To separate a chord written in one voice into separate notes of different voices:

1. • Manually select the notes
   • Press the toolbar button to assign a Voice to selected notes, or use the Ctrl+Alt+1–Ctrl+Alt+4 Keyboard shortcuts.
2. Explode onto an empty stave, and then implode. See Implode and explode

See also

• Instrument Parts (and see Part in the Glosary)
• Editing notes and rests
• Stems and flags
• Positioning of elements
• Implode and explode

Accessing alternative note input methods

In addition to the default step-time note entry method, there are several other methods by which notation can be entered in MuseScore.

To enter these alternative note input methods:

1. Click and hold the Note input button in the Note input toolbar.
2. Select from one of the available note input methods.

Keyboard users can get to the Note input button by pressing Shift+Tab or Shift+F6 a few times from the score. Screen readers will say something like "Note input toolbar: Default (step-time)". Press Space on this button to open a menu that contains all the available note input methods.

Each note input mode can also be activated directly using an assigned keyboard shortcut (See Keyboard shortcuts to learn how to assign these).

Note that the selected note input method remains in effect even when you leave note input mode and will be enabled the next time you enter note input mode. So if you change to the Re-pitch method for a single passage, be sure to change back to the Step time method when you are done.

Rhythm only

The Rhythm note input method allows you to enter durations with a single keypress. This is especially useful for unpitched percussion instruments that use a single sound. In addition, you can combine Rhythm and Re-pitch methods for an efficient workflow in certain circumstances.

1. Select your starting point in the score.
2. Select the Rhythm note input method as described above.
3. Select a duration from the note input toolbar, or use the keyboard shortcuts 1-9, to add a note of the selected duration.
4. Add a dotted duration by pressing . and selecting/typing your desired duration. In this mode, the duration dot is toggled on/off for all subsequently entered durations. It's worth noting that the duration dot needs to be activated prior to entering the note value, rather than afterwards.
5. Enter rests by clicking the rest icon in the note input toolbar and select/type your desired duration. When the desired duration already has been selected (from the previous entered note), pressing 0 will enter the rest. Click the rest button to return to entering notes.
6. Continue pressing duration keys to enter notes with the chosen durations.

By default, notes are entered onto the middle staff line. You can use the cursor keys to change the pitch of the note just entered, and subsequent notes will also be entered using that pitch. You can also use Re-pitch mode to quickly enter pitches for a passage after entering the rhythm.

Re-pitch

The Re-pitch note input method allows you to change the pitches of a sequence of notes while leaving their durations unaltered.

1. Select your starting point in the score.
2. Select the Re-pitch note input method as described above, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+I (Mac: Cmd+Shift+I).
3. Enter pitches using the computer keyboard, MIDI keyboard or virtual piano keyboard. Note: you cannot use the mouse to input notes in the Re-pitch method.

The Re-pitch method can be an extremely efficient way of entering notes in music with repeated rhythmic patterns. Simply copy and paste an existing passage that uses the same rhythm as your new passage, then use re-pitch mode to alter the pitches. The same technique can be used to enter multiple instrumental or vocal parts that share the same rhythm but different pitches.

Real-time

The real-time note input methods basically allow you to perform the piece on a MIDI keyboard (or MuseScore's virtual piano keyboard) and have the notation added for you. However, you should be aware of the following limitations which currently apply:

• You must pre-select the shortest duration you wish to use.
• You cannot enter tuplets in Real-time note input.
• You must enter notes onto a single staff and in a single voice, just as with other note input modes.
• It is not possible to use a computer keyboard for Real-time note input.

These restrictions mean that MuseScore has very little guessing to do when working out how your input should be notated, which helps to keep these methods accurate.

Real-time (metronome)

With the Real-time (metronome) note input method, you play at a fixed tempo indicated by a metronome click. You can adjust the tempo by changing the delay between clicks from the menu: Edit→Preferences...→Note Input (Mac: MuseScore→Preferences...→Note Input).

1. Select your starting position in the score.
2. Select the Real-time (metronome) note input method as described above.
3. Select a duration from the note input toolbar to represent the metronome click.
4. Press and hold a MIDI key or virtual piano key to enter a note of the selected duration.
5. Listen for the metronome clicks—with each click the note grows by the selected duration.
6. Release the key when the note has reached the desired length.

The score stops advancing as soon as you release the key. If you want the score to continue advancing—necessary to enter rests—then you can use the Real-time Advance shortcut to start the metronome. The same action will stop the metronome again.

Real-time (foot pedal)

With the Real-time (foot pedal) note input method, you indicate your input tempo by tapping on a key or pedal. You can play at any speed you like, and it doesn't have to be constant. The default key for setting the tempo (called "Real-time Advance") is Enter on the numeric keypad (Mac: Fn+Return), but it is highly recommended that you change this to a MIDI key or MIDI pedal (see below).

1. Select your starting position in the score.
2. Select the Real-time (foot pedal) note input method as described above.
3. Select a duration from the note input toolbar to represent the metronome click.
4. Press and hold a MIDI key or virtual piano key.
5. Press the "Real-time Advance" shortcut with each press, the note grows by the selected duration.
6. Release the note when it has reached the desired length.

Real-time Advance shortcut

The "Real-time Advance" shortcut is used to start the metronome with the Real-time (metronome) method or to tap beats with the Real-time (foot pedal) method. It is called "Real-time Advance" because it causes the input position to move forward, or "advance", through the score.

The default key for Real-time Advance is Enter on the numeric keypad (Mac: Fn+Return), but it is highly recommended that you assign this to a MIDI key or MIDI pedal via MuseScore's MIDI remote control. The MIDI remote control is available from the menu: Edit→Preferences...→MIDI mappings (Mac: MuseScore→Preferences...→MIDI mappings).

Alternatively, if you have a USB footswitch or computer pedal which can simulate keyboard keys, you could set it to simulate Enter on the numeric keypad.

Insert

Insert note input method allows you to insert and delete notes and rests within measures, automatically shifting subsequent music forward and backward within the measure. The measure duration is automatically updated as you go.

To insert a note:

1. Select your starting position in the score.
2. Select the Insert note input method as described above.
3. Enter a note or rest as you would in Step time mode. Each note is inserted before the current cursor position, and the measure duration is increased to compensate.

When the notes are entered they will be placed just before the selected starting element, which will be highlighted with a square blue marker. The start element and any subsequent notes or rests within the same measure will be shifted forward. You can move the insertion point forward and backward using the arrow keys → or ←, and the new insertion point will then be highlighted.

Alternatively, if you have only one or two notes to insert, you can do this directly with the default Step time note input method. Press Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift) while adding the note by mouse or keyboard shortcut (A-G).

To insert a rest, first insert a note of the desired duration, then press Delete.

To delete a note or rest, use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Delete. The measure duration is decreased to compensate. The shortcut works with both the Step time and Insert note input methods.

Because inserting and notes may cause the measure duration to increase or decrease beyond what is specified by the time signature, a small "+" or "-" sign will be shown above the measure when this happens.

Inserting measures

MuseScore allows you to insert or delete measures in the score using a variety of methods. Measures can be inserted:

• After a selection
• Before a selection
• At the start of the score
• At the end of the score

Measure context menu

To insert one or more measures:

1. Right-click on a blank area of a measure
2. From the context menu, choose Insert measures
3. From the options presented, choose the location where you want the measure(s) inserted
4. Complete the dialog box and press OK.

The Properties panel

To insert one or more measures:

1. Click on a measure
2. Go to the Properties panel
3. Click Insert measures in the Measure section
4. Type the number of measures you wish to insert (or leave it as “1” to insert a single measure)
5. Select where you want the measure(s) to be inserted from the dropdown menu (or leave it as is to insert the new measure(s) after the selection point)
6. Click the + button

This popup remains open until you click another part of the user interface. As such, you can continue pressing the + button as many times as you need to insert further measures.

In addition, you can insert measures from one of two menus:

Note input toolbar

1. Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
2. Click the + button in the Note input toolbar
3. Navigate to Measures
4. Choose where you want the new measure(s) to be inserted

Menu bar

1. Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
2. Click the Add in the Menu bar
3. Navigate to Measures
4. Choose where you want the new measure(s) to be inserted

Inserting measures with keyboard shortcuts

To quickly insert one measure before the selection point:

1. Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
2. Press Ins

Insert more measures before the selection point by repeatedly pressing Ins.

To quickly insert multiple measures before the selection point:

1. Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
2. Press Ctrl+Ins (Mac: ⌘+Ins)
3. Type the number of required measures in the dialog that appears
4. Click OK

To append to the end of your score, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+B (Mac: ⌘+B) for a single measure, or Alt+Shift+B (Mac: Option+Shift+B) for multiple measures.

Add measures to a frame

It is also possible to add measures to a frame in the score:

1. Click on the frame
2. Use one of the methods shown under "Note input toolbar" or "Menu bar", or a keyboard shortcut (above).

Deleting measures

To delete one or more measures using keyboard shortcuts:

1. Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
2. Type Ctrl+Backspace or Ctrl+Del (Mac: ⌘+Backspace or ⌘+Del).

Alternatively,

1. Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
2. Right-click on any measure within the selection
3. Select Delete measures

You can also:

1. Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
2. Go to Tools
3. Select Remove selected range

Remove empty trailing measures

To remove any empty measures at the end of your score:

1. Go to Tools
2. Select Remove empty trailing measures

See also

Other measure-related pages:

• Measure numbering
• Measure and multimeasure rests
• Pickup and non-metered measures
• Measure properties
• Mensural notation and Mensurstrich

Not to be confused with the note input cursor explained in Entering notes and rests : Note Input mode

Select elements on a score for further action such as duplication. Elements currently selected on the score are shown colorized with the Voice each element belongs to, otherwise black by default. Voice 1 blue, Voice 2 green, Voice 3 orange and Voice 4 purple. The color can be changed under Edit→Preferences : Advanced, see Preferences chapter.

The current selection status is shown on the bottom left status bar, it changes whenever the selection is updated by the user. There are four selection status:

• "nothing is selected" status, the status bar shows blank. Press Esc to deselect all, furiously spam the button just to be safe, like all professional accountants do to calculators.
• "single item selection" status, the status bar shows the element's type.
• List Selection status, where multiple individual objects are selected.
• Range Selection status, where Musescore automatically selects useful elements between given beginning and ending time positions across a given set of staves. These elements includes all of the notes, rests, Musescore Texts such as dynamics symbols, Musescore Lines such as pedal etc. System-wide elements such as Tempo, Time signatures, Repeats, Layout breaks are not included in the automatic selection. A blue rectangle surrounding the selection is visible on the score in this status, as shown in image below.

Many common operations such as Copy and paste requires a Range Selection.

Shown below are "single item selection" of a Voice 1 item (top) and "Range Selection" and its status bar (bottom).

Selecting a single element

To select a single element with the mouse, simply click it. Clicking on an element always select it only, except for the measure element. Clicking on the blank space of a measure (inside the measure's five staff lines) to select it also automatically selects multiple objects inside that measure, the result is a Range Selection.

To select a single element with the keyboard, use the cursor keys to navigate to the element. In Normal mode (press keyboard Esc to use this mode), the left and right cursor keys ← → only navigate to the next (or prior) note or rest. Use Alt + cursor keys to navigate through all elements, including all notes, articulation, dynamics, and other markings.

Overlapping elements

[Does not work yet (Musescore 4.2), https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/10225 please help update this paragraph]

When multiple objects occupy the same position on a score and fully overlap each other, such as two notes having same pitch but in different Voices, Ctrl + click on it repeatedly to cycle through the set, until the desired element is selected.

Selecting individual element inside a note

Most commands that operate on a single note requires selecting the notehead, for example, changing the note's pitch. A note is also a collection of elements including notehead, stem, flag, dot, accidental, etc. Each of these items can be selected individually for purpose like fine tuning its layout position.

Different ways of selecting notes in a chord

Multiple notes of a single chord can be selected one by one to create a List Selection. A single chord can also be selected with the time positions it starts and ends at to create a Range Selection.

Many commonly used commands, including Copy and paste, that can be used on a single chord requires a Range Selection of it, as shown in the image above. Besides the method explained in "Creating a Range Selection" section, there is a special quick way to do it for a single chord. First make sure nothing is currently selected (press Esc to be sure) and then Shift+click on any one of the notehead of the chord.

As Range Selection automatically selects base on time positions, notes in other voices may be included unless explicitly excluded, see "Excluding elements from Range Selection" section.

The repeat selection command (R) works on a single chord, either on a Range Selection of it, and when exactly one note of that chord is selected. See Copy and paste: Repeating a selection chapter.

Creating a List Selection

Create a List Selection manually by using mouse clicks, drag select, or by using commands.

Selecting multiple elements manually

To add an object to the selection, or remove one, Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) + click on the object. This converts the selection to List Selection. Measure does not support the addition/removal method. Adding and removing element from a Range Selection also converts it into a List Selection.

Elements positioned outside of the area of any staff lines and does not overlap with other elements, can be selected together using mouse drag select. Shift + click on any blank space (outside of staff lines) and drag the cursor to create a selection box. This creates a List Selection only if no notes or rests are included, otherwise a Range selection using the "starting and end time position method" is created.

Selecting similar elements automatically

To select all elements of a given type in the entire score or in a given staff:

1. Right-click one such element
2. In the resulting menu, click Select→Similar or Select→Similar on this staff as appropriate

To select all elements of a given type between two time positions:

1. Click the first such element
2. Shift+click the last such element

—OR—

1. Create a Range selection
2. Right-click one such element
3. In the resulting menu, click Select→Similar in this range

To create more complex selections of similar elements:

1. (Optional) Create a Range selection
2. Right-click one such element
3. In the resulting menu, click Select→More
4. Check the desired boxes within the resulting dialog (see below)

The options available in the select dialog will depend on the type of element you right-clicked.

The selection options specific to notes are:

• Same notehead: notes with the same notehead group (normal, cross, slash, etc.)
• Same pitch: notes with the same pitch name, accidental, and octave
• Same string: notes with the on the same string (tablature only)
• Same type: notes of the same type (normal, acciaccatura, appoggiatura)
• Same note type: notes of the same duration, not considering presence of dots or tuplets
• Same duration: notes of the same actual duration
• Same note name: notes with the same pitch name and accidental, not considering octave
• Same staff: notes in the same staff
• Same voice: notes in the same voice
• In selection: notes within the current selection
• Same system: notes in the same system

In addition to the type-specific selection options, there are action options at the bottom of the dialog that are common to all element types. These control what happens to the selected elements, and only one of these can be chosen at a time:

• Replace selection: if checked, this action selection replaces an existing selection
• Add to selection: if checked, this action adds elements to an existing selection
• Subtract from selection: if checked, this action removes elements from an existing selection

Creating a Range Selection

A Range selection instructs Musescore to automatically select useful elements between a given beginning and ending time position across a given set of staves.

Range Selection by dragging

Suitable for selections that fit on one screen. Shift + click on any blank space (outside of staff lines) and drag the cursor to create a selection box. Include at least one note or rests to create a Range selection.

Range Selection by clicking

Suitable for selections that span several pages.

1. Click a note or rest that marks a starting / end time position.
2. (Optional) Reposition the score using command explained in navigation chapter.
3. Shift+click another note or rest that marks the other time position.

Range Selection using the keyboard

Using the keyboard alone or primarily:

1. Select the first note or rest using keyboard navigation or by clicking
2. Hold Shift while using keyboard navigation to extend the selection as you navigate

The available commands include:

• Shift+Left and Shift+Right to extend the selection one note or rest at a time
• Shift+Ctrl+Left and Shift+Ctrl+Right to extend the selection one measure at a time (Mac: use Cmd instead of Ctrl)
• Shift+Up and Shift+Down to extend the selection one staff at a time
• Shift+Home and Shift+End to extend to the beginning or end of the system
• Shift+Ctrl+Home and Shift+Ctrl+End to extend to the beginning or end of the score (Mac: use Cmd instead of Ctrl)

Special Range Selections

MuseScore includes some special commands to make command selections:

• Edit→Select all or Ctrl+A (Mac: Cmd+A) to select the entire score
• Edit→Select section to select the current section of the score (everything between the previous and next section breaks)

Excluding elements from a Range Selection

Before executing actions on a Range Selection, it is possible to exclude elements by type. For example, leaving out the lyrics when duplicating notes, rest etc of a phrase; or deleting everything not in voice 1 in a multiple voices passage. To exclude elements of a given type:

1. Open the Selection Filter with View→Selection filter
2. Remove the checkmarks next to any element types you want excluded from the selection

Note that if you exclude voice 1, you will not be able to select any measures that lack content in other voices. So be sure to restore voice 1 after performing the operation for which you are excluding voice 1. For example, if you wish to copy and paste only voice 2, make your range selection, use the Selection Filter to exclude voice 1, use Edit→Copy or Ctrl+C, then restore the checkbox next to voice 1 before attempting to select the destination to paste.

Overview

This chapter discusses the methods to edit music that already exists on a score. The reader should already be familiar with the music input method explained in the Entering notes and rests chapter.

To change notes (pitch, duration, time position, etc) and rests in a score, either use

• the note input mode, or
• the normal mode.

Making changes in note input mode

Enter note input mode by pressing the pen icon in the toolbar, or using the keyboard shortcut N. A note input cursor will then be visible: the thin and tall light blue box spanning the whole staff, whose left border line is dark blue. The presence of the note input cursor indicates that Musescore is currently in note input mode.

In note input mode, use the keyboard arrow keys ← → to move the note input cursor position to the adjacent note or rest in the current staff.

Changing duration in note input mode

There are two commands that alter the duration of an existing note or rest while in note input mode:

• Shift+W increases the duration
• Shift+Q decreases the duration

Both commands will first add or remove a dot if appropriate, then will move to the next larger or smaller note value. So for instance, pressing Shift+W on a quarter note changes it into a dotted quarter, and pressing Shift+W again changes it to a half note.

Changing pitch in note input mode

The commands for changing the pitch of a selected note while in note input mode are:

• ↑ - move pitch up a semitone (spells with sharps)
• ↓ - move pitch down a semitone (spells with flats)
• Alt+Shift+↑ - move pitch up a step diatonically
• Alt+Shift+↓ - move pitch down a step diatonically
• Ctrl+↑ (Mac: Cmd+↑) - move pitch up an octave
• Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↓) - move pitch down an octave

Replacing notes and rests in note input mode

With the default input mode, step-time, notes and rests are entered one at a time. Step-time is based on the logic that, when a new note or rest is added by the user, the subsequent notes and rests adjust their duration (note value or length) automatically, without affecting the total number of beats in any measures.

An analogy would be "replace" or "overwrite" mode in a word processor such as Microsoft Word. To replace a note with a different one, enter the new note directly. The new note automatically overwrites what was there before, with no need to delete the old note first.

To add a new note and move subsequent notes so that they are not overwritten, either:

• Reposition the subsequent notes using cut and paste before entering new notes, or
• Use input mode other than step-time, see Alternative note input methods chapter.

Deleting notes in note input mode

To delete a note and replace it with a rest, simply press Del.

Note: If you instead wish to move subsequent notes earlier to take the place of the deleted note, there is no need to first delete the original note. Simply move the subsequent notes directly using cut and paste.

Moving notes in note input mode

Although for the most part, moving notes to a different time position is done in normal mode, there is one pair of commands that can be used to change the time position of a note or rest in certain cases while in note input. If you have two notes or rests of the same duration and you wish to exchange them while in note input mode, you can use Shift+← or Shift+→ to exchange a note or rest with its neighbor of the same duration.

Making changes in normal mode

Use normal mode by quitting from all other modes.

To quit note input mode if Musescore is currently in it, either press keyboard Esc, or click the note input button, or press N again. The note input cursor should not be visible afterwards. See "Making changes in note input mode" section.

To quit editing mode if Musescore is currently in it, press keyboard Esc. See main chapters Adjusting elements directly and Entering and editing text : Editing text object content.

Except where noted, the methods described below work on either a single selected note or rest, a list selection consisting of multiple notes or rests, or entire range selections. See the page on selections for more information.

Changing duration in normal mode

Changing selected notes to a specific note value

To change the duration of one or more selected notes in normal mode to a specific note value, simply click the appropriate duration icon or use the keyboard shortcuts 1–9.

Increasing or decreasing the duration of a selected note

To increase the duration of a selected note, you can use the Shift+W command as described above. This adds an augmentation dot if one is not already present, or changes to the next longer note value if the note is already dotted. For example, an eighth note will be changed into a dotted eighth note, and a dotted quarter will be changed into a half note. You can also use W to double the duration, thus changing an eighth note into a quarter note directly, or a dotted eighth into a dotted quarter.

The commands Shift+Q and Q perform the opposite operation, decreasing or halving the duration in the same way.

All of these commands work on only a single selected note.

Doubling or halving all note values in a range selection

If you have entered a passage using eighths and sixteenths but wish to double the durations of all notes and rests—thus doubling the duration of the passage itself—see the section on the paste half/double duration commands.

Changing pitch in normal mode

The same commands that work to change pitch in note input also function in normal mode, including single, list, and range selections. These commands are:

• ↑ - move pitch up a semitone (spells with sharps)
• ↓ - move pitch down a semitone (spells with flats)
• Alt+Shift+↑ - move pitch up a step diatonically
• Alt+Shift+↓ - move pitch down a step diatonically
• Ctrl+↑ (Mac: Cmd+↑) - move pitch up an octave
• Ctrl+↓ (Mac: Cmd+↓) - move pitch down an octave

In addition, when in normal mode, the accidental buttons on the Note input toolbar and corresponding keyboard shortcuts will toggle (add or remove) accidentals on any selected notes, thus potentially changing their pitch. The Accidentals palette can also be used to add accidentals to selected notes.

Deleting notes and rests in normal mode

To delete a note and replace it with a rest, simply press Del.

If multiple notes are selected as a list, Del replaces them each by rests individually.

If you select a range, Del replaces the entire passage with the correct rests according to the meter.

Rests cannot normally be deleted, as removing them would leave a measure with fewer beats than it should have. However, see the remove selected range command below for information on how to do this when required. Also, rests in voices 2–4 can be deleted without removing time from a measure.

Removing notes and rests and their associated time

To completely remove selected notes or rests—thus leaving the piece with fewer measures if entire measures are selected, or fewer beats within the measure if a partial measure is selected—use Tools→Remove selected range or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Del (Mac: Cmd+Del).

Adding ties in normal mode

Ties can be added in normal mode, but unlike in note input mode where the tie command automatically adds a note and creates a tie, in normal mode both notes must already exist.

To add a tie in normal mode:

1. Select a note that you wish to tie to the next note of the same pitch
2. Click the tie button or use the shortcut T

This works even if the next note of the same pitch is in a different voice.

If you select multiple notes, MuseScore will start a tie at each of them. You can use the technique to tie entire chords at once.

This technique also allows you to tie notes that are not adjacent, such as to show an arpeggiate-and-hold pattern on piano.

Changing voice in normal mode

A note entered into a given voice may be moved into another voice if this is musically possible, or the contents of two voices may be exchanged.

Moving selected notes into another voice

To move a selection of one or more notes into another voice, either press one of the voice buttons on the toolbar or use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Alt+1–4 (Mac: Cmd+Option+1–4). Notes will be moved to the extent it is possible without compromising the current content of the destination voice.

A note can be moved into another voice if there is currently silence (rests, or nothing at all) in the destination voice at that time position for the duration of the note to be moved. In that case, the note will simply be moved to the new voice.

A note can also be moved into another voice if there is already a note or chord of the same duration starting at that time position. In that case, the note will be combined with the existing note or chord.

Exchanging the contents of two voices

MuseScore can also exchange the contents of any pair of voices. These commands work only on full measures (or multiple measures), not on individual notes.

To exchange the contents of any two voices, use the corresponding command in Tools→Voices:

• Exchange voice 1-2
• Exchange voice 1-3
• Exchange voice 1-4
• Exchange voice 2-3
• Exchange voice 2-4
• Exchange voice 3-4

See also

Entering notes and rests

The cut, copy, and paste commands can be used to reproduce entire passages of music, to move music earlier or later, to copy text or other markings between staves, to exchange the content in different measures, and more.

Accessing the commands

In all cases, the first step is to select what you want to cut or copy.

As with other programs that support cut, copy, and paste, you can access these commands from the Edit menu, from a context menu that appears upon right-click or related gesture (e.g., Ctrl+click, or two-finger tap), or via the standard keyboard shortcuts.

Note: When using the context menu, take care to always right-click on a selected item; if you right-click on an empty space by mistake your selection will be lost!

Copying a Range Selection

As explained in the Selecting Elements chapter, in a Range selection, Musescore automatically selects useful elements between given beginning and ending time positions across a given set of staves. These elements includes all of the notes, rests, Musescore Texts such as dynamics symbols, Musescore Lines such as pedal etc. System-wide elements such as Tempo, Time signatures, Repeats, Layout breaks are not included in the automatic selection, thus are not copied.

Upon pasting onto a destination time position, the copied music replaces all of its existing content, except for its original measure rhythm structure and system-wide elements.

1. Create a Range Selection.
2. (Optional) Use the Selection Filter to exclude other elements of a given type.
3. Use the Copy command from the menu or press Ctrl+C (Mac: Cmd+C)
4. Select the first note or rest of the destination

5. Use the Paste command from the menu or press Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V)

   

Copying a single element or a List Selection

MuseScore also allows copying a single element, or a List Selection of multiple lyrics, chord symbols, dynamics, articulation, or other markings from one place to another, while keeping the content such as notes in the destination intact. Multiple notes List Selection cannot be copied.

MuseScore preserves the relative time positions of the markings based on literal note value distance if possible, measure rhythm is not taken into account. This includes case of copying chord symbols and dynamics. Valid note or rest anchors are required at the destination music when pasting lyrics and articulations.

1. Select a single element (except Measure), or create a List Selection , see Selecting Elements chapter.
2. Use the Copy command from the menu or press Ctrl+C (Mac: Cmd+C)
3. Select the first note or rest of the destination
4. Use the Paste command from the menu or press Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V)

Moving elements

Cut and paste commands can be used to

• move a passage to another staff, such as music on flute to clarinet, or
• shift a passage earlier or later. This method is especially useful as a way to insert or delete a note or rest and also shifts existing notes and rests to create or trim silence.

Measures (their rhythmic structure) cannot be moved, but see Adding and removing measures and Time signatures chapters. When moving List Selection, its elements' relative positions are preserved if possible, see "Copying a List Selection" section.

To move a selection:

1. Select what you want to move
2. Use the Cut command from the menu or press Ctrl+X (Mac: Cmd+X)
3. Select the first note or rest of the destination
4. Use the Paste command from the menu or press Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V)

Swapping a selection with the clipboard

The swap with clipboard command combines two operations into one: (1) First it overwrites a selected part of the score with the contents of the clipboard, just like the paste command; (2) Second, it transfers the overwritten part of the score back to the clipboard, just like the copy command.

It can be used, for example, to swap two equal-length sections of a score, A and B:

1. Select section A
2. Apply the cut command
3. Select section B
4. Apply the swap with clipboard command to paste A over the contents of B while moving the contents of B to the clipboard
5. Select section A again (or just the first note, rest, or measure)
6. Apply the paste command

Like the other commands discussed here, you can access the swap with clipboard command from the menu or via a keyboard shortcut—in this case, it is Ctrl+Shift+X (Mac: Cmd+Shift+X).

Repeating a selection

A common use for copy and paste is to duplicate a given passage (including notes, chords etc) immediately after the original. Use the special repeat selection command to simplify this process.

1. Select a single element on the score, or create a Range Selection, see Selecting Elements chapter.
2. Press R

This does not work on List Selection. It works on a single chord, either on a Range Selection of it, and when exactly one note of that chord is selected. See Selecting Elements chapter. In note input mode, this command repeats the entire chord that contains the current note. This is useful for creating a series of repeated chords.

Copying a Range Selection to multiple staves

If you wish to copy a passage to multiple staves—for instance, to double music of flute with oboes and clarinets—you can use the explode command:

1. Select the passage you wish to copy
2. Extend the selection to include the staves below (e.g., by pressing Shift+↓)
3. Use Tools→Explode

This copies the original selection, assuming it contains only single notes—no chords and no multiple voices. If there are chords or multiple voices, then these are distributed among the remaining staves as described in the section on the explode command.

Paste half/double duration

If you have entered a passage using mostly eighth notes but wish to halve the entire passage to using mostly sixteenth notes, or double it to quarter notes, MuseScore provides a pair of special commands to accomplish this. You can either modify the durations of a selection in place or create a separate copy of the passage with the modified durations. To halve or double the duration of a passage:

1. Select a range to modify
2. Use the copy command
3. If you wish to create a separate copy of the passage with the modified durations, select the destination
4. Use the paste half duration or paste double duration command Ctrl+Shift+Q/W

Duplicating individual elements

Individual elements—even those that are not selected automatically in a Range Selection, like time signatures or voltas—can be selected and then duplicated using a mouse.

1. While pressing Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift), and click and hold on an element
2. Drag it anywhere in the score

3. When you release the mouse button, the selected element is copied to the new location

   

See also

• Selecting elements
• Implode and explode

Overview

Musical symbols and text may be applied to your score using the Palettes panel. MuseScore comes with a set of preset palettes divided into categories—such as Key Signatures and Articulations etc. A basic working set of palettes is visible by default, but more advanced or specialist palettes can also be displayed if required.

You can add, delete, edit and rearrange items inside any palette, as well as create and customize your own palettes.

This chapter shows you how to display palettes, search for items, and how to apply palette symbols to your score. Customizing the palettes area is dealt with later in Palettes (Customization).

Accessing the palettes panel

The Palettes panel is normally displayed on the left sidebar of the main window. There are three tabs displayed at the top of the sidebar: Palettes, Instruments, and Properties. If one of the other tabs is currently being displayed in the sidebar, click the Palettes tab to display the palettes instead.

You can open and close the Palettes panel using View→Palettes or the keyboard shortcut F9. If all of the panels in the sidebar are closed, the sidebar itself closes as well, allowing more room for the score display.

Like most other panels within MuseScore, the Palettes can also be undocked to function as a separate window.

Adding palette items to your score

To add a palette item to your score, first open the appropriate palette if it is not already open, by clicking its title or the arrow icon to the left. The items in that palette will be displayed in a grid.

in general, to apply palette items to your score, you can either select the target elements in the score and then click the palette item, or drag the item from the palette to a target element. See the section on searching and navigating below for information on applying palette items via the keyboard.

Items applied to individual score elements

Many palette items—for example, articulations, dynamics, and most other text—can be applied to individual notes, rests, or other score elements. When using drag and drop, be sure to drag the palette item onto a specific score element, and do not release until the target element highlights to indicate it can accept the palette item.

It is usually more efficient, however, to select the target elements in your score first and then click the palette item. This is especially true if you wish to apply the same palette item to multiple score elements, since this method allows you can apply the palette item to multiple score elements at once.

To apply a palette to one or more score elements:

1. Select the elements you wish to apply the palette item to (single, list, or range selection)
2. Click the palette item

The palette item will normally be added to each of the selected elements. Note that with a range selected, when clicking a palette item representing text (including dynamics and tempo markings), the item will be added to the first element in the range only. System text (including tempo markings) will be applied to the top staff only; other text will be applied to the first selected element of each selected staff.

Items applied to ranges

Palette items such as hairpins, slurs, ottavas, and pedal markings are applied to a range rather than a single note or rest. The process for adding them is the same:

1. Select the range of elements you wish to apply the palette item to
2. Click the palette item

Items applied to full measures

Certain palette items such as barlines, time signatures, voltas, and layout breaks are normally applied to a measure as a whole—or a range of measures—instead of a specific note or rest. The process for adding these to the score is the same as for other palette items:

1. Select the measure or range of measures you wish to apply the palette item to
2. Click the palette item

Expanding and collapsing palettes

A palette can be opened (expanded) or closed (collapsed) individually by clicking on the title bars or the icon to the left of the title. In addition, you can expand or collapse all palettes at once, or let MuseScore close palettes automatically. To access these options, click the ... button at the top of the palette window to popup the palettes menu.

• Single-click to open a Palette: controls whether palettes are opened by single or double click
• Open only one Palette at a time: if checked, then whenever you open a palette, any already-open palettes are automatically closed
• Collapse all Palettes: immediately close all open palettes
• Expand all Palettes: immediately open all palettes

Searching and navigating the palettes

You can also search and navigate the palettes using your keyboard instead of a mouse.

Search

To search for palette elements by name, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F9 (Mac: Cmd+F9), or click the magnifying glass icon at the top of the Palettes panel.

This will display a search box. As you type characters into the box, MuseScore will display any matching palette items.

To close the search box, click the "X" icon.

Navigation

The palettes are completely accessible by keyboard. The search facility described above is one method you can use to start the process, but you can also focus the keyboard on the Palettes panel by using Shift+F6 to move focus to the sidebar.

Once focus is on the palette panel, the ↑ and ↓ keys will move through the various individual palettes. You can then open and close a palette by pressing Enter. To access the elements with a palette, press → to access the palette, then ↑ and ↓ to move through the elements on the palette. Pressing Enter will apply element in the same way as clicking it.

Accessing more palette items

Some palettes also contain additional elements that are not displayed by default. To access those, click the More button at the bottom right of the palette.

You can add any of these additional items to the main part of the palette by simply dragging. For more information, see Palettes under Customization.

Adding more palettes

The palettes that are shown by default are the ones most users will need often. But MuseScore provides additional palettes that you may also find useful.

To access these extra palettes:

• Click the Add Palettes button at the top of the Palettes panel.

  

This will display a list of palettes you can add to your Palettes panel. To add any palette, click the + button next to the palette name.

Added palettes appear at the top of the panel. To reorder them simply drag them into position.

You can also create an empty custom palette that can be filled later with your own choice of elements.

• Clicking the Create custom palette button, see Palettes (Customization).

The Master palette

The Master palette is MuseScore’s repository of all musical symbols; it also provide an alternative pathway for creating custom key signatures and custom time signatures.

To display the Master palette, use the keyboard shortcut Shift+F9, or from the menu select View→Master palette.

The Master palette window is divided into categories matching the names of the default palettes (whether displayed or hidden) in the Palettes panel; in fact, the contents of each small palette are drawn from the corresponding section of the Master. The exception is the Symbols category of the Master palette which contains items not found in the Palettes panel.

Items can be applied to the score from the Master palette in the same way as from the small palettes; however, aside from applying items from the Symbols section, it is usually better to do so from the Palettes panel.

Items found in all sections of the Master palette window, except "Symbols", are functional in that they have an effect on the score: Key and Time signatures, for example. However, items from the Symbols palette are non-functional—that is, they are for display only.

See also, the chapter on Other symbols.

See also

• Palettes (Customization) for information about customizing the palettes panel.
• Other symbols for information about the Symbols palette.
• Working with images for information about how to add images to your score.

The Properties panel shows layout and playback properties of the selected objects or selected characters inside Text object. When nothing is selected, it shows the properties of the score. It is an upgraded version of Inspector, it has the functionality of Text toolbar, see Entering and editing text chapter, and musescore 3 handbook Inspector , and Text editing chapters.

The Editing of the musescore 4 Handbook has also been changed. Properties customization is now explained in a different way than in Musescore 3 Handbook. They are explained inside a respective chapter that is most relevant. This chapter only discusses the panel, and the properties common to multiple objects. (To editors: feel free to move content to a most relevant chapter, if the property is not common to multiple objects)

Accessing the Properties panel

1. Open the Score tab
2. Press the default keyboard shortcut F8; or click on the Properties tab on the left side of the screen.

Properties for the score

Score properties are saved to score file (*.mscz). It is not to be confused with Workspaces.

When nothing is selected, the Properties panel shows the properties of the score.

Under the Show subheading,

• Invisible hides/shows invisible objects in a score
• Frames hides/shows Frames
• Formatting hides/shows formatting elements added from the layout palette
• Page margins hides/shows the page margin

Under the Score appearance subheading,

• Empty staves hides/shows staves that contain no notated music within a system. This setting mirrors the Hide empty staves within systems settings in the Style dialog.
• Page settings opens the Page settings dialog. Same as Format→Page Settings. See Templates and styles.
• Style settings opens the Style dialog. Same as Format→Style. See Templates and styles.

Properties for objects

When one or more objects are currently selected, the Properties panel shows the layout and playback properties common to all of them. Under Notation section, press any of the [Object Type] buttons to narrow items presented to that object type only.

Some settings common to most objects:

• Visible: Click this box to hide/unhide selected elements, or use the keyboard shortcut V. Use this feature to hide elements so they don't appear in your exported or printed score. This can be useful when, for example, applying tempo marks or dynamics solely to affect playback in MuseScore.
• Auto-place: Usually checked by default, this feature positions the selected object according to MuseScore's vertical and horizontal collision avoidance algorithms. Uncheck Auto-place to have more control over the positioning of certain elements. Learn more about this feature in Positioning elements.
• Cue size: This feature is used to create small cue notes: i.e. notes provided to assist the performer by indicating what another ensemble/orchestra member is playing at the same time. Checking the box makes any selected notes smaller, including their stems and any attached beams.
• Play: When checked, this property allows playback of the selected element. Uncheck Play to silence the element.

Inside the Playback tab

Playback feature of dynamics symbols is under active development, it may change drastically among software versions. Information provided here is valid for Musescore 4.2 beta (November 2023). It could be outdated at the time of reading. Please help update this chapter.

Under the Playback button, the playback properties is shown, if the selected elements have them.

• Velocity:
  • Only notes have Velocity property, its effect on playback is not the same as in musescore 3.
  • This property has no effect on instruments using MuseSound, see Mixer : Sound and Velocity controls.
  • The valid range is from 1 to 127. The default value is 64, regardless of dynamics symbol affecting the note. Inputting 0 automatically converts to 64. [please provide numeric details of how sound level works now, as many Musescore 3 users would find it useful]
  • Dynamics symbols no longer have Velocity property. Dynamics symbols and hairpins no longer change timbre/dynamic/loudness solely through manipulation of MIDI Velocity values. See also Dynamics chapter.
• Tuning:
  • Only notes have Tuning property. The concert pitch default 440Hz and adjustment existed in Musescore 3's Synthesizer has been removed, see Tuning controls. To use tuning value in Hertz / Hz unit to change Tuning properties which use cent as the unit, use the formula on tuning in musescore 4 .
  • They affects pitch on instruments using Soundfont [this bullet point is a work in progress, please improve this bullet point with VST and Musesounds info]

Inside the Appearance tab

• Leading space: This changes the leading space of selected elements: i.e. the space in front of the element. The leading space adjustment is applied across all staves, so that notes at the same time position remain aligned.
• Measure width:: This changes the width of the measure as a proportion of the original width: e.g. 1.5 = one-and-a-half times the default width.
• Minimum distance: This is used by the auto-place collision avoidance algorithm and applies only to elements that are applied above/below the staff by default, such as staff text, dynamics, fingerings, lines etc. It sets the minimum distance (in sp.) of the selected objects from other elements that are closer to the staff, or the staff itself.
• Offset: When newly applied, elements assume a default position. The horizontal/vertical offsets give you a more precise way of positioning an element than dragging it or moving with the keyboard arrows.
• Snap to grid: This feature allows you to constrain drag operations to increments of a desired distance. First you need to check the Snap to grid box, then press Configure grid and set the desired horizontal/vertical step distances. Switch Snap to grid on/off as required by checking/unchecking the box.
• Under the Arrange subheading, the four buttons control how overlapping elements are drawn:
  • Forwards moves the selected element in front of the next element
  • Backwards moves the selected element behind the next element
  • To front moves the selected element in front of all other elements.
  • To back moves the selected element behind all other elements, including the staff lines.
• Color: Click on this button to change the color of selected element(s). Choose a preset or custom color, or create your own by clicking the + button. This is stored for future reference in the list of custom colors to the right.

Properties for characters inside Text objects

When Text object(s) are selected (the object, not the characters), the Properties panel shows the formatting settings of the Text object. Editing these properties changes the object, it may change all of the characters inside.

When character(s) inside a Text object are selected, the Properties panel shows the formatting settings of the characters. Editing these properties only changes the selected characters. See Formatting text chapter.

Saving and restoring default values

See the main chapter Templates and styles.

Under the ellipsis menu button (three dots menu button) adjacent to a property, there are two buttons:

• Reset : removes the specific property, in effect resets the property to the default value.
• Save as default style for this score : Does these:
  • Assigns the property value to the coresponding one in the style profile used by this object currently, found under Format→Style. See Templates and styles.
  • And then clears the property value specific to this object.
  • The result is that this object does not have the specific property anymore, but it uses the value in the style profile, which is the same value, because it is being assigned just now. All objects using that style profile across the score is affected.

This chapter explains methods to fine tune the literal positioning of elements on a score for layout purpose. The more common musical editing methods are explained in Entering and editing text, and Editing notes and rests chapters.

Changing the position of elements

To fine tune the literal positioning of elements on a score, either

• Drag it, see also Snap to grid chapter, or
• Select element(s) on a score, adjust their Offset property, see Properties panel chapter. or

• Use Edit mode.

  To enter Edit mode, either

  • Right-click → Edit element on an element on a score, or
  • Select an element on a score, use the keyboard shortcut F2, or
  • Select an element on a score, use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+E (Mac: ⌥+Shift+E)

  Then, in Edit mode, press the keyboard arrows ← → ↑ ↓ to move the object in step of 0.5 sp, or

• Edit it directly, this method does not work on notes, rests, and elements added from "Master palette : Symbols" (see Other symbols chapter). Select element(s) on a score, press the keyboard arrow keys ← → ↑ ↓ to move in small steps (0.1 sp). In combination with Ctrl (Mac: ⌘), they are moved in large steps (1 sp).

Read more about spatium (sp.) in Page layout concepts chapter.

Changing the shape of elements

To change the shape of elements such as slurs and ties after adding them to the score:

1. Click on the slur or tie to be adjusted
2. Click and drag the adjustment handles that appear around the element (N.b. red letters in the below diagram are for reference only)
   

Note that:

• Handles B, C, and D change the shape of the curve at that point
• Handles A end E adjust the element's length (This can also be achieved by pressing Shift+←/→ to move the ends one chord/rest at a time)
• Handle F repositions the whole line without changing its shape or length

If you wish to change the note to which a slur or tie is connected, the recommended method is to use the keyboard shortcuts described above (Shift+←/→). This is the most efficient way of changing both the visual and playback range of notes encompassed by a slur or tie.

Anchors

Some types of item – dynamics, hairpins, tempo text, pedal marks – do not have to be attached directly to notes or rests, but can also be attached to rhythmic positions within a duration. We call these anchors.

In general, items cannot be added directly to an anchor point within a duration, but must be added to a note or rest and then moved into the required position. The keyboard shortcuts to move between anchor points are Shift+←/→ (the same shortcuts that move other types of item between notes). The anchor positions are stored in the file as real rhythmic positions, so items will stay in the correct place when the score reformats.

If you select an 'anchorable' item and press Shift, you will see a visualisation of the available anchors in that measure, which look slices alternating between dark and lighter shades. The colour is determined by the voice to which the item is assigned (purple for all voices, blue for voice 1, green for voice 2, etc.) Each slice represents a rhythmic subdivision to which you can anchor the item.

Moving between anchors

To move an item between anchors, hold Shift and press ← or →:

With lines (hairpins, pedal markings), both ends can be moved independently.

By default, the subdivisions shown are half of the beat as determined by the time signature (so, in this example, half of the quarter beat, i.e. eighth notes). However, anchors will also be shown for notes on other staves which are at rhythmic positions that fall outside of these subdivisions, which means you can align an item to notes on other staves, whatever their position:

Moving dynamics to the 'end of duration' position

By using Shift+Alt+←/→, you can step not just between rhythmic subdivisions but also the end of each of those subdivisions. This is a special position; for a dynamic, the end of one duration is not the same as the start of the following one (which may have its own dynamic – or may be a rest.) This is most commonly encountered in something like this form:

To input the dynamics in this example:

1. Add a f dynamic to the note
2. Add a hairpin to the note; it will end on the rest
3. Add a p dynamic to the hairpin (which will put it at the endpoint of the hairpin, i.e. on the rest), or directly onto the rest
4. Select the dynamic and press Shift+Alt+←, which will move the dynamic to the end of the last subdivision of the previous note

Note that hairpins cannot be moved to an 'end of duration' position; if there is no dynamic, then the distinction is meaningless. Therefore, the dynamic should be moved, and any hairpins will follow.

For clarity, when moving hairpins or other lines, the subdivisions that the item spans are shaded darker so you can see the range it spans:

Working with lines

See also the main chapter Other lines.

Changing the range of a line

To change the start and end points of a line:

1. Select the line to reveal its adjustment handles
   
2. Press Shift+←/→ to move the end of the line one step at a time (a step = one note/rest, or one measure—depending on the line type).
   • Note: You can click or use Tab to move the focus between handles when adjusting. Focus on the left handle to move the beginning of the line.
3. Fine-tune the position of handles using the keyboard arrows ←/→ if required. Note that this does not affect the playback range of the line.

As with slurs and ties, it is recommended to use Shift when adjusting line length with the arrow keys to ensure that the playback range also adjusts accordingly.

Creating diagonal lines

Although lines are horizontal by default, they can be set at any angle simply by dragging the start or end adjustment handles; or by selecting a start/end handle and using the Up/Down keyboard arrows.

Editing text of Text line objects

To edit the displayed text of Text line objects ( such as "system text line", "staff text line", and "barré line", see Entering and editing text):

1. Select a text line element
2. Go to the Properties panel
3. Open the Text tab in the Text line section
4. Edit these fields
   • Beginning text
   • Text when continuing to a new system: the text to display if the object spans more than one system (page layout concept), see Page layout concepts chapter.

See also

• Other lines: Line properties
• Positioning of elements

Opening a part

MuseScore 4 automatically creates a separate (default) part for every instrument in your score.

To open all parts at once:

1. Click Parts in the toolbar (This will open the Parts dialog)
2. Click Open all

To open an individual part:

1. Click Parts in the toolbar
2. Click a part to select it
3. Click Open selected

You can also select specific parts to open at once. Do this by holding Control (Mac: ⌘) while selecting the parts you’d like to open, then click Open selected. You can also select a range of contiguous parts by clicking the first and holding Shift while clicking the last.

Closing a part

Click the X close button in a part tab to close a part.

Note that changes you make to a part will be saved with that part and retrievable the next time you open it from the Parts dialog.

Creating custom parts

The Parts dialog is tightly integrated with the new Instruments panel. This integration makes it easy for you to create parts with any combination of instruments from your score.

There are two ways to customize parts in MuseScore 4: using the default (i.e. ready-made) parts to reveal other instruments, and creating entirely new parts.

Reveal instruments in default parts

As we’ve already seen, MuseScore 4 automatically creates a new (default) part for every instrument in your score. All you have to do is open the part from the Parts dialog.

In fact, each default part already contains all of the instruments in your score – they’re simply hidden from view (except, of course, the chosen part instrument).

This means you can “reveal” other instruments within any of the default parts. To do this:

1. Open a part (as described above)
2. Select the Instruments panel
3. Click the eye icon next to another instrument

This instrument will now be visible in the chosen part.

This makes creating custom parts an incredibly flexible process. Revealing or hiding other instruments is completely non-destructive, meaning you can customize every instrument in every part, and hide or show only what you want to reveal to different players (or for different musical projects) without having to create entirely new parts each time.

Create a new part

MuseScore 4 does of course give you the option to create a completely "blank" part from scratch, allowing you complete customization control. To do this:

1. Click Parts in the toolbar to open the Parts dialog
2. Click Create new part
3. Give your new part a name
4. Click Open selected

Your new part will now be open in the Score tab, but it will appear to contain no instruments. To add instruments to this part:

1. Go to the Instruments panel
2. Click the "eye" icon next to each instrument you’d like to appear in your part

Choose which voices appear in each part

Sometimes it will be necessary to create individual parts from staves that contain multiple voices. You might, for example, want to extract separate parts for orchestral players who share a staff in the main score (E.g. Flute I and Flute II). Or you might wish to create individual vocal parts from choral scores where, for example, four voices are notated across two staves.

You'll need to first create (see above) or duplicate (see below) a part. To then select which voices will appear in a part:

1. Open a part (see above)
2. Go to the Instruments panel
3. Expand an instrument by clicking on the triangular dropdown icon
4. Click the settings icon next to the staff name
5. Select which voice(s) you want to appear in your part by ticking/un-ticking the checkboxes under Voices visible in the score

Applying styles to parts

Style settings for a wide range of engraving elements can be applied specifically to parts without affecting the main score.

To change style settings for a specific part:

1. Ensure a part has been opened and is currently selected in the Score tab
2. Go to Format → Style...
3. Make your desired style settings changes (applicable changes will be visible in the score in real time)
4. Click OK to confirm your changes

Changes you make in this dialog will affect only the part selected in the Score tab. If you want changes to affect all parts (but not the main score), select Apply to all parts before clicking OK.

Learn more about saving and loading default style settings in Templates and styles.

Managing synchronisation of score and parts

(This section describes features that are new or considerably enhanced in MuseScore 4.2.)

When you make changes to the content of the score - adding or deleting an item, or changing pitches and durations of notes, for example - these changes are always reflected in the parts, and vice versa.

However, just as you can apply different styles to score and parts, you may want the properties (position, style/appearance) of certain items to differ between score and parts. Therefore:

• When you change any property of an item in a part, that change will not be reflected in the score and the item will be marked as 'desynchronised' from the score, if it is not already;
• When you change any property of an item in the score, that change will be reflected in the part, unless that item is already desynchronised.

When an item in a part is desynchronised, its colour when selected changes to orange and, according on which properties have been changed, the toggles which appear in the Properties panel under Score and part synchronisation will switch off:

Position refers to offset, leading space, minimum distance, autoplace, direction (up/down, above/below), alignment, and a few other properties specific to certain types. Style/appearance is, essentially, all other properties.

If you have made changes to an item in the part but wish to resynchronise that item with the score, you can turn these toggles back on to reset those properties to match the score.

Text items have a third toggle, Text, which allows you to control synchronisation of the content and formatting of a text item. Unlike other properties, this must be manually switched off before you make changes to a text item in a part which you do not want to be reflected in the score.

Excluding items from parts or score

In some cases you may wish certain items to be in the score but not to appear in the parts at all, or to appear in a part but not in the score. This is not the same as simply making the item invisible, as invisible items sometimes affect the layout.

This option is available for frames, clef changes, ottava lines, staff text and system text. In the case of clefs and ottavas, excluding these items from one view will cause the notes there to be repositioned accordingly.

To exclude an item from parts:

1. Select the item in the score
2. Open Properties
3. Under Score and part synchronisation, check Exclude from parts

To exclude an item from the score:

1. Select the item in the part
2. Open Properties
3. Under Score and part synchronisation, check Exclude from score

Renaming, duplicating and deleting parts

This all takes place in the Parts dialog (accessible from the Parts button in the toolbar).

Simply click the "three dots" menu icon next to a selected part to reveal its options. Note that only newly created parts (created by clicking the Create new part button) can be deleted. All parts can be duplicated or renamed.

To duplicate any part:

1. Select a part in the Parts dialog
2. Click the "three dots" menu icon for the selected part
3. Select Duplicate from the context menu that appears
4. Enter a new name for the part (or leave the default name as is)
5. Hit Enter, or click anywhere in the Parts dialog

To rename any part:

1. Select a part in the Parts dialog
2. Click the "three dots" menu icon for the selected part
3. Select Rename from the context menu that appears
4. Type your new part name
5. Hit Enter to confirm the new name

Note you can also double click on any part in the Parts dialog to rename it.

To delete a newly created part:

1. Select a newly created part in the Parts dialog
2. Click the "three dots" menu icon for the selected part
3. Select Delete from the context menu that appears

When a part is deleted, its tab in the Score tab (if already opened) will be closed. Any customizations made to that part will also be lost. The part will also no longer appear in the Parts dialog.

Exporting and printing parts

To export parts:

1. Click File → Export... (alternatively, select the Publish tab and click Export...)
2. Check the box next to the part(s) you want to export, or click Select all to choose all parts at once
3. Select whether to export all parts combined in one file, or leave the default export setting as each part to a separate file
4. Click Export...
5. Select your destination file and name your score in your operating system's Export dialog
6. Click Save

Parts will be exported in the PDF format by default. To change the export format, select your preferred format from the dropdown menu in Export settings. You can export your parts in a range of image and audio formats, as well as the braille format for compatible printers. For more information, see File Export.

To print parts:

1. Ensure the part you wish to print is selected in the Score tab
2. Click File → Print
3. Use your operating system's print dialog to print the selected part

Note that parts can currently only be printed one at a time.

Navigation

Page navigation

Score navigation

Note input

General

Duration

Pitch

Tablature

Selecting

Editing

General

Duration

Pitch

Notation

Manual adjustment

Text

General

Formatting

Lyrics

Chord symbols, Roman numeral analysis, Nashville numbers, figured bass

Other score elements

Score setup and formatting

File Operations

User interface

Playback

Overview

Readers should already know the concept of Musescore instrument, and usage of Add or remove Instrument window explained in Setting up score chapter. This chapter discusses the new Instruments panel feature in MuseScore 4 that manages

• instrument setup of the score file (a function that Add or remove Instrument window also offer);
• staff setup of the score file, eg. adding and configuring a new Treble staff;
• visibility and playback setting of each instrument (all of its staffs) of the the currently opened "Full score" or "Part"; and
• visibility of each staff of the the currently opened "Full score" or "Part".

Read more about "Full score" and "Part" in Parts chapter.

Adding and ordering instruments

Accessing the Instruments panel

Open the Instruments panel by clicking on the Instruments tab on the left side of the screen:

Adding instruments

Click Add (or just press i). This will open the Instruments dialog (see Choose instruments for more information).

Deleting instruments

To delete an instrument from the score, select the instrument and click the Trash can icon, or press Delete.

Changing the order of instruments

Select any instrument and use the ↑ or ↓ buttons to change its position in the score. Alternatively, you can drag the instrument up/down using the mouse.

Instrument settings

Hiding/showing instruments

To toggle the visibility of one instrument (all of its staves)

1. Open "Full score" or a "Part", see Parts chapter.
2. Click the Eye icon next to an instrument label.

Hiding is not deleting. Hiding an instrument disables all its staffs' playback. This feature is useful in combination with Musescore's Part feature, see Parts chapter. This allows for example the creation of alternative instruments or different printing versions for different performers; or isolation of sections of a larger score for orchestra without deleting anything.

Renaming instruments

1. Click the Cogwheel icon
2. Edit the name, it is the same as editing Long instrument name in Staff/Part properties. Leave blank if required.

Replacing instruments

To replace an instrument in the Instruments panel:

1. Click the Cogwheel icon to the right of the instrument name
2. In the popup that appears, click Replace instrument
3. Select your desired replacement instrument in the dialog that appears
4. Click OK

Adding and configuring staves

The Instruments panel can also be used to add staves to an existing instrument and configure some of their basic properties.

To add a staff to an existing instrument

1. If there are no staves visible under the instrument label, click the small black triangle to the left of the label to reveal them
2. Click Add staff
3. Click the Cogwheel icon of the newly-added staff, and adjust "Staff type", if required. More on Staff type, see the Staff type template in Staff/Part properties chapter.

Added staves share the same instrument but their notation can be edited independently. Amongst other things, they can be used to create staff/tablature for stringed-instrument players (e.g. guitar, banjo, ukulele etc.).

To add a linked staff to an existing instrument

Certain notational objects on one staff can be made to automatically appear on other staves if they are linked together. Linked staves can be used to create staff/tablature for stringed-instrument players (guitar, banjo, ukulele etc.).

To create a linked staff:

1. If there are no staves visible under the instrument label, click the triangular "show more" icon next to the label
2. Click the Cogwheel icon next to the staff label (E.g. "Treble clef")
3. Click Create a linked staff
4. Click the Cogwheel icon of the newly-added staff, and adjust Staff type, if required. More on Staff type, see the Staff type template in Staff/Part properties chapter.

Configuring a staff

1. Click on the Cogwheel icon next to a staff label (E.g. "Treble clef")
2. Change as required:
   • Staff type: See Staff type template in Staff/Part properties chapter.
   • Small staff: Reduce the size of the staff. Adjust size setting in Format→Style…→Sizes.
   • Hide any measures that do not contain notation: See Cutaway in Showing staves only where needed chapter.

Learn more about staff customization in Staff/part properties.

Hiding a staff but keeping its playback

1. (Mandatory) Click on a staff label (E.g. "Treble clef"), but not its instrument.
2. Click its Eye icon.

Hiding is not deleting.

See also "Hiding/showing instruments" section that explains how to hide an instrument, hiding an instrument disables all its staffs' playback.

Deleting instruments and staves

Note: On score that uses Musescore's Parts feature, deleting a staff deletes it in "Full score" and all "Part" that features it. See also the alternative "hide" commands in "Hiding/showing instruments" and "Hiding a staff but keeping its playback" sections.

To delete an instrument and all of its staffs:

2. Click on the instrument label
3. Click the Trash can icon at the top of the instruments panel, or press Delete.

To delete a staff from an instrument:

1. If there are no staves visible under the instrument label, click the small black triangle to the left of the label to reveal them
2. Click on the staff label
3. Click the Trash can icon at the top of the instruments panel, or press Delete.
   

By default, a score will show all measures of all staves on all pages throughout the score, whether they contain notes or not. However, you may wish to have certain staves appear only on systems where they are needed. You may even wish to have a staff appear or disappear mid-system. MuseScore provides a number of controls for this purpose, this chapter explains them.

To hide certain instrument everywhere on a score, use Choose instruments dialog (shortcut key i), Instruments panel on the left (a new feature in MuseScore 4), and the Parts toolbar button on the top instead.

Hiding empty staff along one system (all its measures along that system)

Omission of empty staves is a common practice found in printed ensemble scores. When a staff along one system (the page layout concept) contains no notations, the staff (all its bars along that system) are hidden.

Hiding all empty staves

To configure the current score to automatically hide any of its staves on systems where the staff is empty:

1. Ensure that nothing in your score is selected (press Esc if necessary).
2. Go to the Properties panel.
3. Click the icon next to Empty staves.

Alternatively, you can enable the Hide empty staves within systems option in Format→Style→Score.

MuseScore will normally continue to show all staves on the first system, in accordance with common convention. If you would like to force MuseScore to hide empty staves on the first system as well, disable the Don't hide empty staves in first system option in the dialog. You can also control whether or not brackets are shown if, for example, only a single instrument from a section is playing, via the Show brackets when spanning a single staff option.

Excluding specific staves from being hidden

The score-wide setting explained above affects all staffs on a score. There is also an individual setting for each staff (that contains a clef) that overrides the score-wide setting:

1. Right-click a staff.
2. Click Staff/Part properties.
3. In the resulting dialog, set Hide when empty option

In a score where score-wide setting Hide empty staves within systems option is enabled,

• To specify that one staff should not be hidden when empty, set its Hide when empty option to Never.
• The default hiding behavior treat each staff independently. For instruments that use two or more staves (like piano, organ, and harp), you may wish to specify that a staff should be shown even if it is empty. For example, in a piano concerto score's piano solo passage where only the piano treble clef staff has notes, it is common to show the bass clef staff even if it is empty. To do this, set the Hide when empty option to Instrument for each of the staves. For the above example, set the option of the bass clef staff.
• To remove individual staff setting and revert to use score-wide setting, set its Hide when empty option to Auto.

Temporary staves

The score-wide setting explained above affects all staffs on a score. There is also an individual setting for each staff (that contains a clef) that overrides the score-wide setting:

1. Right-click a staff.
2. Click Staff/Part properties.
3. In the resulting dialog, set Hide when empty option

In a score where all staffs are shown everywhere (score-wide setting Hide empty staves within systems option is disabled), there may nonetheless be one or two special staves that you wish to only show where needed. For example, this might be a solo part in an ensemble score, or a bass staff in a lead sheet. To set one staff to hide when empty without assigning a score-wide staff hiding setting, set its Hide when empty option to Always.

Choosing the staff to show when all staffs in a system are empty

In a score that contains a system where all staffs of all visible instruments are completely empty, the top staff is shown by default. To specify the staff to display:

1. Right-click a staff.
2. Click Staff/Part properties.
3. In the resulting dialog, enable the "Do not hide if system is empty" option.

This setting may be useful when using Musescore Parts function. This setting is unrelated to all other staff hiding settings covered in this chapter.

Hiding empty measure

Cutaway staves

Film scores and other contemporary scores often use a style of notation where individual measures are hidden when empty. These are sometimes called cutaway scores.

To use this style on one staff in MuseScore:

1. Right-click a staff.
2. Select Staff/Part properties.
3. In the resulting dialog, set Hide when empty to Always.
4. Enable the Cutaway option.

The Cutaway option alone does not change vertical layout, the staff's vertical space is reserved in all systems as if invisible.

If you wish all staves to be displayed in cutaway score style, you can replace step 3 with score-wide setting explained above. However, you still need to set the Cutaway option for each staff individually. You can speed up this process by using the arrow buttons in the Staff/Part Properties dialog:

1. Set the Cutaway option for the top staff.
2. Press the Apply button.
3. Press the ↓ button to move to the next staff.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have gone through all staves.

Ossia

An ossia is a special type of cutaway staff in which a given musical passage is notated using a small staff above the normal staff, such as to show an alternate interpretation.

These can be created in MuseScore using a combination of features:

1. Add a staff as described in Adding and configuring staves.
2. Select and delete or otherwise adjust any automatically added bracket.
3. Enter the desired notation.
4. Right-click the staff.
5. Select Staff/Part properties.
6. In the resulting dialog, set Hide when empty to Always.
7. Enable the Cutaway and Small options.
8. Press OK.

If you wish to hear the ossia playback instead of the normal staff, select the corresponding measures on the normal staff and uncheck the Play setting on the Properties panel. Do the same for the ossia staff if you would rather hear the normal staff playback.

Depending on the look you desire, you might also want to hide the initial or final barline for the passage. To do this, select the barline and press V or uncheck the Visible option in the Properties panel.

You may also wish to decrease the distance between the ossia and the normal staff. To do this, use a Staff spacer fixed down from the Layout palette.

Other invisible measures

MuseScore also allows you to make individual measures invisible on any given staff, whether empty or not.

To set a measure to be invisible on a given staff:

1. Right-click the measure.
2. Select Measure properties.
3. Disable the Visible checkbox for the staff or staves in which you wish the measure to be set invisible.

Note: you cannot make a measure invisible on all staves—it must remain visible on at least one.

Implode

The Implode command allows you to do either of the following:

• Combine the notation of several voices in the same staff into one voice
• Combine notation from several staves into separate voices in one staff.

Combine notes from multiple voices in a single staff into one voice

1. Select a range of measures in a single staff.
2. From the menu bar, select Tools→Implode.

All selected notes in the staff are now displayed in voice 1.

Combine notes from multiple staves into multiple voices on a single staff

1. Ensure that there is only one voice in each staff to be imploded;
2. Select a range of measures in the top staff and extend this selection downwards to include up to 4 staffs.
3. From the menu bar, select Tools→Implode.

The notation initially in the upper staff will now be in voice 1, that from the staff below in voice 2, and so on.

Explode

Explode allows you to do either of the following:

• Copy a passage of single notes, in a single staff, into one or more staves below.
• Transform the chords of a selected passage of music, in a single staff, into their constituent notes on one or more staves below.

Copy passage of single notes to multiple staves

1. Ensure that the passage is in voice 1 (there should be no notes or rests in other voices).
2. Select the desired range of measures
3. Extend the selection downwards through as many staves as you wish to copy to.
4. From the menu bar, select Tools→Explode.

The passage in the top staff is copied to each of the selected staves below.

Separate a passage of chords into its constituent notes

In this case the chords in a selected passage of music are separated into their constituent notes as follows:

• If the passage is all in voice 1, the top note of the chord is retained on the top staff, while the lower notes are moved to subsequent staves.
• If the passage contains multiple voices, voice 1 notes are retained on the top staff, while other voices are moved to subsequent staves.
• All exploded notes end up in voice 1.

1. Ensure that there are enough empty staves underneath the source staff to receive the exploded notes. Create extra staves if necessary using the Instruments panel.
2. Choose one of two options:
   • Select a range of measures in the source staff: this allows all notes to be exploded if there are enough staves available.
   • Select a range of measures that includes both the source staff and also extends downwards to include one or more destination staves: This limits the number of exploded notes/voices to the number of selected staves.
3. From the menu bar, select Tools→Explode.

Notes: (1) If the selection is all in voice 1, MuseScore will discard the lowest note(s) of any chord that contains more notes than the number of staves in the selection. (2) If the selection is all in voice 1, and If a given chord has fewer notes than the number of destination staves, then notes will be duplicated as needed so that every staff receives a note. (3) Any existing music in the destination staves is overwritten. (4) If you select a partial measure, the explode command will automatically expand it to a full measure.

Adding an instrument change

When a musician is required to double on a different instrument for a section of a piece, the instruction to switch instruments is generally placed above the staff at the beginning of that section. A return to the primary instrument is handled in the same manner.

In MuseScore, the instruction to change to a different instrument is handled by the Change Instrument text element, which is found in the Text Palette. This text element is different from Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text in that it is linked to playback, allowing for a change in sound to the new instrument.

To add an instrument change:

1. Click on a note or rest to select the start point for the change
2. Click on the Change instr. palette item in the Text Palette
3. Choose which instrument you wish to change to in the Select instrument dialog that appears
4. Click OK

The instruction to change to the new instrument will appear above the selected insertion point in the score.

Working with instrument changes

Removing an instrument change

To remove an instrument change, click once on a Change instrument text element to select it, and press either Del or Backspace.

Re-labelling an instrument change

You can re-label any Change instrument text element in the score by double-clicking on it and entering new text. This will not affect the playback sound of the new instrument.

Instrument changes in the mixer

Playback sounds for instrument changes are reflected in the Mixer as separate channel strips stacked to the right of the primary instrument channel strip. These instruments are labelled in parentheses. You can change the assigned playback library, apply effects, adjust the volume, and mute, solo, and pan these channel strips just as you would any other instrument channel strip. For more information, see the Mixer.

Changing staff type

Changing to a different instrument may necessitate the use of different key signatures, clefs, and even staff type. Learn more about changing staff type in Staff type change.

To change one staff everywhere on a score change Staff type or template instead. Staff types and templates supported by Musescore are covered in Staff/Part properties chapter.

You can change the appearance of a staff starting from certain point on a score by adding a "Staff type change" element to a measure, and adjusting its properties in the Properties panel. This can be used when changing between pitched and unpitched staves or for various experimental notation effects.

Adding a staff type change

1. Select a measure in the score and, in the Layout palette
2. Click the "Staff type change" symbol to add it to your score

Alternatively, you can drag the symbol from the palette to a measure in your score.

Setting staff properties

When you alter a "Staff type change" property in the Properties panel, the new value takes precedence over the value shown in the global Staff/Part properties dialog. Only those property values in Staff/Part properties that cannot be changed for the "Staff type change" will be valid throughout the score.

The properties that can be altered for the "Staff type change" in the Properties panel are:

Cue size
Use the Small staff size that is defined for the score

Offset
Displace the staff vertically

Scale
Change the size of the staff using a custom percentage

Number of lines
Change the number of lines making up the staff

Line distance
Change the distance between two staff lines

Step offset
Offset the notes on the staff relative

Invisible staff lines
Toggle visibility of the staff lines

Staff line color
Set the color of the staff lines

Notehead scheme
Specify alternate noteheads such as pitch names or shape note

Stemless
Toggle display of note stems

Show barlines
Toggle display of barlines

Show ledger lines
Toggle display of ledger lines

Generate clefs
Toggle display of clefs

Generate time signatures
Toggle display of time signatures

Generate key signatures
Toggle display of key signatures

Overview

Warning: the word "Part" mentioned in this chapter and the window heading is is currently a wrong use of wording in Musescore 4 due to be updated (a outdated data from Musescore 3). Inside this chapter, the word means Musescore Instrument, but note that everywhere else inside this handbook and Musescore 4, it means Parts (the feature to create different versions of the same score)

The Staff / Part Properties dialog allows you to change display properties of one Staff and the properties of the Musescore Instrument it belongs to. To open the dialog:

• Right-click onto either an empty area in a staff, or the instrument name, and select Staff / Part Properties….

Clicking on Navigation arrows ↑ and ↓ buttons at the bottom left will cancel any unsaved changes and switch to edit the previous or next staff.

There are four different types of staff:

1a. Standard staff I. A pitched staff used for most instruments except fretted, plucked-string ones.
1b. Standard staff II. A pitched staff containing a fretted, plucked-string instrument, with options to set the number of instrument strings and tuning.
2. Tablature staff. A staff containing a fretted, plucked-string instrument, which displays music as a series of fret-marks on strings. Also contains options to set the number of instrument strings and tuning.
3. Percussion staff. A pitched staff for percussion instruments.

four instruments shown above are examples of the four staff types respectively. Download this testing score file MS4-1-1 Staffstypes.mscz

For each type, there are pre-defined Template to choose from in the Advanced Style Properties (Edit Staff Type) window

Replacing an instrument also changes staff types but may create unreasonable result and wrong playback. For example, replacing Piano (a standard staff, type 1a) with Drumset (percussion staff, type 3).

Staff properties

The top section of the dialog allows you to adjust many aspects of the appearance of an individual staff. The following options are common to all types of staves:

First column:

• Style group: Display the staff Types. Type 1a and type 1b as Standard , type 2 as Tablature , type 3 as Percussion.
• Lines: The number of lines making up the staff. For tablature, this number usually matches the number of strings in the String Data dialog (exceptions being the Baroque Lute, Theorbo etc. which have more strings than lines).
• Line Distance: The distance between two staff lines of the current staff. Changes rarely needed. See how to change the scaling of all staffs in Page layout concepts chapter.
• Extra distance above staff: Increases or decreases the distance between the selected staff and the one above in all systems.
  Note: (1) This setting does not apply to the top staff of a system, which is controlled by the minimum/maximum system distance (see Formatting). (2) To adjust the spacing above just one staff line in a particular system, see Fitting systems on a page: Spacers.
• Scale: Changes the size of the current staff and all associated elements as a percentage. See how to change the scaling of all staffs in Page layout concepts chapter.

Second column:

• Hide when empty: Staff level setting for empty staff hiding along one system, see Showing staves only where needed chapter.
• Show clef: Whether the staff clef will be shown.
• Show time signature: Whether the staff time signature(s) will be shown or not.
• Show barlines: Whether the staff barlines will be shown.
• Hide system barline: Show/hide barline at left-hand edge of the staff.
• Merge matching rests: Check if you want matching rests in different voices to be merged rather than separate.

Third column:

• Do not hide if system is empty: Designate as the staff to show when all staffs in a system are empty, see Showing staves only where needed : Choosing the staff to show when all staffs in a system are empty chapter.
• Small staff: Create a reduced-size staff. You can set the default from the menu in Format→Style…→Sizes.
• Invisible staff lines: Make staff lines invisible.
• Staff line color: Use a color picker to change the color of the staff lines.
• Cutaway: Setting for hiding empty measures, see Showing staves only where needed : Hiding empty measure chapter.
• Advanced style properties: (see below)

Advanced style properties

Clicking on Advanced Style Properties… opens the Edit Staff Type window, the properties available vary depending on staff type.

Advanced Style Properties: common to all four staff types

First row: Lines, Line Distance: duplicated UI for the exact same property as above
Second row: Show clef, Show time signature, Show barlines: duplicated UI for the exact same property as above
At the bottom of the window:
- Template dropbox
Assigning a template changes the number of lines (type 3 percussion staff) or switch staff types altogether (type 1a, type 1b and type 2). To apply a template:
1. Make a selection from the drop-down list labeled “Template”;
2. Press < Reset to Template;
3. Press OK to accept the changes and exit the dialog (or Cancel to cancel the operation).

Advanced Style Properties: settings for standard and percussion staff (Type 1a, type 1b and type 3)

Third row:

• Show key signature, Show ledger lines: Option to turn the display of these elements ON or OFF.
• Stemless: If checked, staff notes will have no stem, hook or beam.

Advanced Style Properties: settings for standard staff (Type 1a, type 1b)

• Notehead scheme: See Notehead scheme.

Advanced Style Properties: settings for tablature staff (Type 2)

• Upside down: If not checked, the top tablature line will refer to the highest string, and the bottom tablature line to the lowest string (this is the most common option). If checked, the top tablature line refers to the lowest string, and the bottom tablature line to the highest line (e.g. Italian-style lute tablatures).
• Preview: A window at the bottom displays a short section of a specimen score as it would look with the current properties applied.

Under Fret Marks tab:

Fret marks are the numbers or letters used to indicate the location of notes on the fingerboard. The following group of properties define the appearance of fret marks:

• Font: The font used to draw fret marks. A selection of eight fonts are provided supporting all the necessary symbols in 8 different styles—both modern and historic..
• Size: Font size of fret marks in typographic points. Built-in fonts usually look good at a size of 9-10pt.
• Vertical offset: MuseScore tries to place symbols in a sensible way and you do not usually need to alter this value (set to 0) for built-in fonts. If the font has symbols not aligned on the base line (or in some other way MuseScore does not expect), this property allows you to move fret-marks up (negative offsets) or down (positive offsets) for better vertical positioning. Values are in sp.
• Marks are: Select from using Numbers (“1”, “2”…) or Letters (“a”, “b”…) as fret marks. When letters are used, the letter “j” is skipped and “k” is used for the 9th fret.
• Marks are drawn: Choice of placing fretmarks On lines or Above lines.
• Lines are: Choice of Continuous (lines pass through fret marks) or Broken (a small space appears in the line where the fretmark is displayed).
• Show back-tied fret marks: If unchecked, only the first note in a series of tied notes is displayed. If ticked, all notes in the tied series are displayed.
• Show fingering in tablature: Check to allow the display of fingering symbols applied from a palette.

Under Note Values tab: properties define the appearance of the symbols indicating note values

• Font: The font used to draw the value symbols. Currently 5 fonts are provided supporting all the necessary symbols in 5 different styles (modern, Italian tablature, French tablature, French baroque (headless), French baroque). Used only with the Note symbols option.
• Size: Font size, in typographic points. Built-in fonts usually look good at a size of 15pt. Used only with the Note symbols option.
• Vertical offset: Applies only when Note symbols is selected (see below). Use negative offset values to raise the note value symbols, positive values to lower them.
• Shown as:
  • None: No note value will be drawn (as in the examples above)
  • Note symbols: Symbols in the shape of notes will be drawn above the staff. When this option is selected, symbols are drawn only when the note value changes, without being repeated (by default) for a sequence of notes all of the same value.
  • Stems and beams: Note stems and beams (or hooks) will be drawn. Values are indicated for each note, using the same typographic mechanics as for a regular staff; all commands of the standard Beam Palette can be applied to these beams too.
• Repeat: If several notes in sequence have the same duration, you can specify if and where to repeat the same note symbol. i.e. Never / At new system / At new measure /Always.
  Note: This option is only available if “Shown as: Note symbols” is selected (see above).
• Stem style:
  • Beside staff: Stems are drawn as fixed height lines above/below the staff.
  • Through staff: Stems run through the staff to reach the fret marks.
    Note: This option is only available when “Shown as: Stems and Beams” is selected (see above).
• Stem position:
  • Above: Stems and beams are drawn above the staff.
  • Below: Stems and beams are drawn below the staff.
    Note: This option is only available when “Shown as: Stems and Beams” and “Stem style: Beside staff” is selected (see above).
• Half notes: None / As short stems / As slashed stems.
  Note: This option is only available when “Shown as: Stems and Beams and “Stem style: Beside staff” is selected (see above).
• Show rests; Whether note symbols should be used to indicate also the rests; when used for rests, note symbols are drawn at a slightly lower position. Used only with the Note symbols option.

Part properties

Warning: The wording "Part" used in the heading is a misnomer as of Musescore 4.1.1

Instrument

The name of the instrument is shown here. To change the instrument,

• Click on Replace instrument and make a choice from the "Select Instrument" dialog. This replaces the instrument that this staff belongs to and changes all staffs this instrument has. It changes playback, staff name, and staff transposition etc. The Staff Type change may be unreasonable and create wrong playback.

Names

• Long instrument name: Name displayed to the left of the staff in the first system of the score or section.
• Short instrument name: Name displayed to the left of the staff in subsequent systems of the score.

Usable pitch range

• Amateur: Notes outside the amateur range are colored olive green / dark yellow in the score.
• Professional: Notes outside the professional range are colored red in the score.

Note: To disable out-of-range coloration of notes, from the menu, select Edit→Preferences… (Mac: MuseScore→Preferences…), click on the “Note Input” tab, and uncheck “Color notes outside of usable pitch range.”

Transposition

Set the octave, and up/down interval to ensure that transposing instruments are notated correctly. This is automatically done by the program for most instruments.

For transposing instruments an additional option is shown: "Prefer sharps or flats for transposed key signatures". There are three options:

• Default: Let MuseScore decide
• Flats: Prefer flats
• Sharps: Prefer sharps

Part Properties: settings for plucked strings only (Type 1b and type 2)

In addition to those listed above, staves of fretted, plucked-string instruments (Type 1b and type 2) have a few extra options at the bottom part of the window,

• Number of strings: Displays the number of instrument strings.
• Edit String Data…: This button opens a dialog box which allows you to set the number and tuning of strings. See Change tuning.

Brackets/braces are used to connect multiple staves of one instrument (e.g. a piano's grand staff) or of a group of instruments (e.g. 2 x violins, viola and cello in string section) within a system. See Page layout concepts : system chapter.

Brackets/braces are automatically applied when a score is created in the New Score dialog. You can easily change them if the default is not what you want (see below).

To add brackets and curly braces, use Brackets palette.

Adding brackets

To add a bracket or brace to all systems:

1. Click on the first measure of the staff where you want the bracket/brace to start, hold Shift and click on the measure where you want the bracket/brace to end.
2. Click the desired bracket icon in the "Brackets" palette.

Alternatively:

1. Select the start measure, and click the bracket into place from the "Brackets" palette.
2. Select the bracket, click on the adjustment handle and drag it down to the desired position. It will snap into place.

Nested brackets can also be applied using these methods, applying the innermost first and ending with the outermost. The order can be edited subsequently using the "Column" property (see below)

Editing brackets

If you select a bracket/brace, you can edit its properties in the Properties panel (sidebar).

• Column: Moves the bracket inwards/outwards.
• Span: Extends or retracts the end of the bracket/brace.

Changing bracket type

• Select the bracket/brace in the score to be changed, then click on a new bracket/brace from the "Brackets" palette.

Changing bracket span

Use one of the following methods:

• Select the bracket, click on the adjustment handle, and drag it to the desired position.
• Select the bracket, click on the adjustment handle, and press Shift+↑/↓ to move it from staff to staff.
• Alter "Span" in the Properties panel.

Deleting brackets

• To delete a bracket/brace, select it and press Del.

Customizing bracket appearance

Brackets/Braces also have a few global properties which can be adjusted from the Style menu:

• Adjust thickness and distance from the staff in Format→Style→System.
• Adjust distance above/below in Format→Style→Page→Enable vertical justification of staves.

Overview

Time signatures are applied to the score from the "Time Signatures" palette.

Setting the initial time signature for your score

This is done from page 2 of the New Score dialog.

Adding a time signature change to your score

Use any of the following methods:

• Select an existing time signature, measure, note or rest in the score, and click a time signature in a palette.
• Drag and drop a time signature from a palette onto a space in a measure, or onto an existing time signature.

Deleting a time signature

• To delete a time signature in the score, select it and press Del.

Controlling the visibility of time signatures

To hide/show time signatures on a particular staff:

1. Right-click on the staff and choose "Staff/Part properties";
2. Uncheck/Check "Show time signature".

To disable/enable all courtesy time signatures (at the end of systems):

1. From the menu bar, select Format→Style→Page.
2. Uncheck/Check "Create courtesy time signatures".

To hide or show an individual courtesy time signature:

1. Select the parent time signature;
2. In the Time signature section of the Properties panel, uncheck/check "Show courtesy time signature".

Creating a custom time signature

1. In the Time Signatures palette, click on More, then, in the supplementary palette, click on the “Create Time Signature” button;
2. In Value enter the Numerator, Denominator, and Text (the latter is optional, when you need the display to be different from the actual time signature);
3. Adjust the note beaming in the Beam Groups section (see Beam groups (below)
4. Press Add to transfer the newly-created time signature to the Time Signatures palette.

You can also do the same thing from the Master Palette (Shift+F9).

Adding a local time signature for a single staff

In certain cases a score may show staves with different time signatures running at the same time. For example, in the following (J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variation no. 26):

The global time signature is 3/4, but the time signature of the upper staff has been set independently to 18/16.

To set a local time signature for just one staff:

• Hold down Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) and drag and drop a time signature from a palette onto an empty measure.

Resizing a time signature

1. Select a time signature
2. In the Time signature section of the Properties panel, adjust the horizontal and vertical Scale values.

Time signature properties

To open the Time signature properties dialog use one of the following:

• Right-click on a time signature and from the context menu select "Time signature properties".
• Select a time signature, then click on Time signature properties in the "Time signature" section of the Properties panel.

Appearance

This part of the dialog allows you to adjust the nominal appearance of the signature without affecting its underlying rhythmic value.

• Text: Insert the nominal numerator and denominator that you wish to appear on the score.

Alternatively, you can make a selection from a range of time signature symbols below.

Beam Groups

See the Beams chapter.

Time signature style

There are a few global style properties for time signatures (see Format→Style).

• Create courtesy time signatures: Found in the Clefs, key & time signatures section. Check or uncheck to turn on or off.
• Clef to time signature / Key signature to time signature / Barline to time signature / Time signature to barline / Time signature to first note: Found in the Measure section. Allows you to set spacing for various aspects of time signature layout.

Stem direction

Default stem direction

MuseScore aligns the stems of voice 1 notes according to the conventions of music theory. By contrast, voice 2 and voice 4 stems point downwards by default, while voice 3 stems point upwards. Voice 1 stems automatically flip upwards in the presence of voice 2 or 4 notes.

Flipping stem direction

1. Select either the notehead, stem or attached beam (if any)
2. Use any of the following methods:
   • Press X
   • Click on the "Flip direction" icon in the Note input toolbar
   • Select a stem direction from the Stem tab in the Properties panel

This action will flip any attached beam as well.

Changing stem length

1. Select the stem
2. Use one of the following methods:
   • Press ↑/↓ to extend or shorten the stem
   • Change Length in the Properties panel

Creating stemless notes

To hide the stems of individual notes:

1. Select one or more noteheads
2. Go to the Properties panel
3. Select the Stem tab
4. Select the checkbox next to Stemless

To hide all stems in an instrument part:

1. Right-click on the staff and select Staff/Part properties
2. Click on Advanced style properties
3. Select the checkbox next to Stemless

Stem and flag properties

Properties specific to stems and flags can be edited from the Stem tab in the Note section of the Properties panel:

• Stemless removes the stem (and associated beams) from the selected note(s)
• Stem direction:
  • Auto determines the direction of the stem according to the voice of the selected note(s)
  • Up and Down override the default stem direction
• Flag style sets the appearance of flags for the entire score to either traditional (default) or straight
• Thickness determines the stem's width
• Length determines the stem's length
• Stem offset can be used to move the stem in a horizontal and/or vertical direction

Stem and flag style

Global settings for Stem thickness and Flag style may also be set in Format→Style→Notes.

See also

Beams

Overview

A beam is a line connecting consecutive notes to indicate rhythmic grouping of eighth or shorter notes (Wikipedia). You can change control the presence or absence of beams between notes as well as their appearance.

Controlling which notes are beamed

The default beaming of notes is determined by properties of the time signature. You can edit those defaults and thus affect the beaming of all notes within that time signature, and you can also override the beaming of individual notes to differ from the time signature defaults.

Setting the default beaming for a time signature

See the main chapter Time signatures

Each time signature has a set of beaming defaults that control the beaming of all notes in that time signature. Since you will normally want the beaming consistent throughout the score, this is usually the place to start when altering the beaming. To edit the defaults for a given time signature, use the Time signature properties dialog.

Accessing Time signature properties

1. Select a time signature within the score
2. Click the Time signature properties button in the Properties panel
3. Edit the Beam Groups section as explained below

You can also access this dialog by right-clicking a time signature.

Note: the settings made in this dialog are per score and also per staff. To apply changes to other staves within the same score, you can Ctrl+Shift+drag the time signature to another staff, which acts similarly to adding it from the palette. To make a customized time signature available to other scores, Ctrl+Shift+drag it back to the palette.

Beam groups

To change the beaming of a note of a given duration on a given beat, click the corresponding note in the Beam groups section to toggle the beam into that note on or off. That is, if you click a note that is currently beamed to the previous note, that will break the beam, and if you click a note that is not currently beamed to the previous note, that will join them. You can also drag one of the Beam selector icons to any given note to set its beaming as explained further below.

If you select the Also change shorter notes option, then changes made to any given note will affect notes on the same beat of shorter durations as well.

Click Reset to remove all changes made since this dialog was opened. Note that this button does not reset settings back to the original defaults from the palette. To revert all changes made since the time signature was added, use the palette to replace the time signature.

Overriding the default beaming for a specific note

The time signature properties control the default beaming for notes in your score, but you can override those defaults on a note-by-note basis, such as to have one measure beamed differently from another. This can be useful when writing certain rhythms that might be more readable beamed in a non-standard manner, or in cases where the options available in Time signature properties are insufficient to create the defaults you want. It is also the only way to create beams over rests.

Beam properties are set on the notes themselves. To change the beam between two notes, you will normally start by selecting the second of the two notes, as most of the beam properties control the beam into a note. Note that these properties can be set from the Properties panel or the Beam properties palette, but this discussion will focus on the Properties panel.

To change the beaming of a given note:

1. Select the note
2. Select the Beam tab in the Note section of the Properties panel

3. Select one of the icons to set the appropriate property

   

From left to right, the available properties are:

• Auto: resets the beaming of the note to the time signature default behavior
• No beam: breaks any beams into or out of the selected note
• Break beam left: breaks any beam into the selected note
• Break inner beams (8th): breaks all but one beam into the selected note (for notes that would otherwise have two or more beams)
• Break inner beams (16th): breaks all but two beams into the selected note (for notes that would otherwise have three or more beams)
• Join beams: joins a beam from the previous note into the selected note (unless the previous note is set to No beam)

Beaming over rests

To extend a beam over a rest:

1. Select the rest
2. Apply the Join beams or Break beam left property

Beaming over barlines

To extend a beam across a barline:

1. Select the first note or rest after the barline
2. Apply the Join beams property

Controlling the appearance of beams

While breaking and joining beams is a function of the individual notes, the actual appearance of the beam can be controlled by selecting either the beam itself or any of the notes it joins. Thus, to set these properties, you can either:

1. Select a note that is currently beamed
2. Select the Beam tab within the Note section of the Properties panel

or

1. Select the beam itself

Either way, at that point, you will see the options to control the appearance of the beam.

Feathered beams

The buttons in the Feather beams section of the Properties panel can be used to indicate gradual slowing down or speeding up of the joined notes (note this is not supported in playback). These options only apply to 16th and shorter durations using multiple beams.

• None: reset the beam to standard (non-feathered) appearance
• Decelarate: feather the beams to fan inward to indicate a gradual slowing down
• Accelerate: feather the beams to fan outward to indicate a gradual speeding up

Beam angle

The angle of a beam can be edited directly by selecting it and moving the handles by dragging or using the cursor keys. But you can also use the settings in the Properties panel. You may need to click the More button first to display this section.

The two settings here correspond to the left and right handles on the beam and allow you to set the height of either side of the beam independently.

You can also force a beam to be horizontal by enabling the Force horizontal property.

Beam style

A few global properties of beams can be set from Format→Style→Beams:

• Beam distance: Set the vertical distance from one beam to the next.
• Beam thickness: Set the thickness of all beams.
• Broken beam minimum length : Set the minimum length of broken beams such as those used in dotted rhythms.
• Flatten all beams: Check to make all note beams horizontal, regardless of context.

See also

• How to add a beam over a rest
• Using the palettes

Overview

Standard music notation normally follows a set of conventions designed to facilitate the reading of rhythm. The basic idea is to group notes in ways that clarify which notes belong to which beat. Rules include:

• sixteenth notes should be beamed in a way that clarifies each beat
• eighth notes should be beamed in a way that clarifies each group of two beats
• longer notes that start off the beat should be broken up with ties to clarify each beat or group of two beats

A full discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of this Handbook, but for more information, see this handout.

Here is an example of a rhythm written incorrectly and then correctly:

MuseScore can correct many of these cases automatically.

Regrouping rhythms

To regroup rhythms according to the common conventions of standard music notation:

1. Select the passage you wish to regroup.
2. From the main menu, select Tools→Regroup rhythms.

The rhythm itself is not changed—only the notation of it.

See also

• Notation Rules: Rhythm

Creating tuplets

A tuplet is any group of notes that divide the beat in a way other than what is normally permitted by the time signature. Triplets consisting of three eighth notes in one beat are the most familiar type of tuplet.

Simple tuplets

A simple tuplet such as the triplet shown above can be entered in note input mode or in normal mode.

In note input mode

1. Navigate to the note/rest (or blank measure) where you want the tuplet to start.
2. Select a final duration for the whole tuplet group (e.g. for an eighth note triplet, this will be a quarter note—keyboard shortcut 5).
3. Use one of the following commands:
   • Press the keyboard shortcut for the required tuplet: i.e. Ctrl+3 for a triplet; Ctrl+4 for quadruplet … and so on, up to Ctrl+9 for a nonuplet. (Mac: Cmd+3 … Cmd+9);
   • From the menu, choose Add→Tuplets…, then select the required tuplet.
   • From the note input toolbar, click on the Tuplet icon and select from the dropdown.

The note or rest is automatically divided for you and an appropriate annotation is applied.

4. Enter the desired series of notes/rests.

In normal mode

1. Select a note or rest that specifies the full duration of the desired tuplet group. You may need to create this in the score beforehand. Thus, if you want an eighth note triplet you need to select a quarter note/rest.
2. Use one of the following commands:
   • Press the keyboard shortcut for the required tuplet: i.e. Ctrl+3 for a triplet; Ctrl+4for quadruplet … and so on, up to Ctrl+9 for a nonuplet. (Mac: Cmd+3 … Cmd+9).
   • From the menu, choose Add→Tuplets…, then select the required tuplet.
   • From the note input toolbar, click on the Tuplet icon, and select from the dropdown.

The note or rest is automatically divided for you and an appropriate annotation is applied.

3. Enter the desired series of notes/rests.

Consecutive tuplets

If you need to input a series of tuplets, and don't want to continually repeat the tuplet command, you can select the notes of the first tuplet and press R (Repeat) as many times as needed; then move subsequent notes into position using keyboard arrows, retyping or re-pitch mode.

Custom tuplets

More complex tuplets can be created as follows:

1. In note input mode, select a note duration equaling the total duration of the tuplet; or, if in normal mode, select a note or rest of the desired overall duration.
2. Open the Create Tuplet dialog from either the menu (Add→Tuplets…→ Other…), or by clicking on the tuplet icon (note input toolbar).
   
3. In the Ratio field, specify the desired number ratio of the tuplet.
4. Set Number and Bracket to get the required tuplet display.
5. Press OK to close the dialog.
6. Enter the desired series of notes and rests.

Nested tuplets

Tuplets can be nested within other tuplets.

To create a nested tuplet:

1. Create the outer tuplet as described above.
2. While entering the individual notes, create inner tuplets in the same way (select the total notated duration for the inner tuplet, then use one of the tuplet commands to divide it appropriately).

Changing the display of tuplets

You can choose to display or hide a tuplet number or bracket, change its orientation, or adjust line thickness. See Tuplet properties (below) for details.

Tuplet properties

The display of selected tuplets can be changed in the Tuplet section of the Properties panel.

Direction: Whether the tuplet indication appears above or below the staff. Available settings are "Auto", "above" (↑) or "below" (↓).
Number type: Affects the numerical display. Choice of "Number", "Ratio" or "None".
Bracket type: Sets bracket display. Settings are "Auto", "bracket", or "no bracket".
Line thickness: The thickness of the tuplet bracket, if displayed.

Tuplet style

See Templates and styles

Values of the "Style for tuplets" can be edited in Format→Style→Tuplets.
Values of the "Style for text inside tuplets" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Tuplet

"Style for tuplets" contains

The settings include:

• Properties
  • Direction
  • Number type
  • Bracket type
• Brackets
  • Bracket thickness
  • Bracket hook height
• Vertical distance from notes
  • Maximum slope
  • Vertical distance from stem
  • Vertical distance from notehead
  • Avoid staves
• Horizontal distance from notes
  • Distance before stem of first note
  • Distance before head of first note
  • Distance after stem of last note
  • Distance after head of last note

A full range of common barlines is contained in the Barlines palette.

Adding double and other special barlines

Changing barline type for all staves

1. Select one or more barlines in a staff ;
2. Click on the desired barline in the palette.

Alternatively, you can drag a barline from the palette onto a barline in the score.

Changes are applied automatically to all barlines at the same point in the score.

Changing barline type for a single staff

1. Select one or more barlines in the score;
2. Hold Ctrl then click on the desired barline in the palette.

Alternatively, you can hold Ctrl and drag a barline from the palette onto a barline in the score.

Only barlines in the one staff are affected.

Adding mid-measure barlines

1. Select one or more notes.
2. Click on a barline in the palette.

This will add a "barline" in front of each selected note. The barline is for visual purposes and does not factor into any measure operations.

If you wish to divide a measure, inserting a real barline in the process, see Splitting a measure.

Changing barline length

Here we are concerned with the vertical extension of barlines in order to link staves together, or their reduction to create partial barlines.

Extending all barlines in a staff

1. Select a barline on the "start" staff;
2. Use either of the following:
   • Drag the end handle downwards until it meets the destination staff. This method is the best for extending barlines through multiple staves.
   • Select the edit handle and press ↓.
   • Check the "Span to next staff" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel; then click Set as staff default
3. Repeat if required for subsequent staves.

The barline snaps into place, and all other barlines in that staff follow.

Extending selected barlines in a staff

1. Select one or more barlines (and their counterparts in the staves below if there are more than two staffs to join).
2. Check the "Span to next staff" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel.

Creating partial barlines

Partial barlines can be easily created by adjusting "Span from" and "Span to" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel.

Creating barlines between staves only (Mensurstrich)

See Working with Mensurstrich.

Barline properties

You can edit properties specific to barlines in the Barlines section of the Properties panel:

Style: Used to change selected barlines to one in the dropdown list.
Span to next staff: Check this to make selected barlines extend to the staff beneath.
Span from/to: used to set the vertical start and end points of one or more selected barlines.
Set as staff default: Applies the changes made in Span to next staff and Span from/to to all barlines in the staff.
Span presets: Applies the selected preset to one or more selected barlines in the score.

Barline style

Selected properties for all barlines in the score can be changed in Format→Style→Barlines:

See also

• Fixed Measure Widths for a workaround to ensure barlines are aligned vertically between systems.
• Repeat signs

Showing and hiding measure numbers

Showing measure numbers automatically

By default, MuseScore shows measure numbers at the start of each system except the first one in a section. Numbering starts at the first complete measure in a section.

if you wish to change measure numbering: