PLEASE NOTE: This page was copied from the equivalent page in the MuseScore 3 Handbook. If you find an option that no longer works in MuseScore 4, please report it on GitHub and add a note next to that option on this page. If the option was intentionally removed from MuseScore 4 then please delete it from this page.

MSCORE(1) — General Commands Manual Page

NAME

mscore, MuseScore4 — MuseScore 4 sheet music editor

SYNOPSIS

You can launch MuseScore from the command line by typing

• mscore [options] [filename …] (Mac and Linux/BSD/Unix)
• musescore [options] [filename …] (Linux/BSD/Unix)
• mscore4portable [options] [filename …] (Linux AppImage)
• MuseScore4.exe [options] [filename …] (Windows)

[options] and [filename] are optional. For this to work the MuseScore executable must be in %PATH% (Windows) resp. $PATH (Mac and Linux). If it is not, see Revert to factory settings for detailed instructions on how and where to find and execute the MuseScore executable from the command line on the various supported platforms.

A more detailed synopsis follows:

mscore [-deFfhIiLmnOPRstvw]
[-b | --bitrate bitrate]
[-c | --config-folder pathname]
[-D | --monitor-resolution DPI]
[-d | --debug]
[-E | --install-extension extension file]
[-e | --experimental]
[-F | --factory-settings]
[-f | --force]
[-h | -? | --help]
[-I | --dump-midi-in]
[-i | --load-icons]
[-j | --job file.json]
[-L | --layout-debug]
[-M | --midi-operations file]
[-m | --no-midi]
[-n | --new-score]
[-O | --dump-midi-out]
[-o | --export-to file]
[-P | --export-score-parts]
[-p | --plugin name]
[-R | --revert-settings]
[-r | --image-resolution DPI]
[-S | --style style]
[-s | --no-synthesizer]
[-T | --trim-image margin]
[-t | --test-mode]
[-v | --version]
[-w | --no-webview]
[-x | --gui-scaling factor]
[--diff]
[--long-version]
[--no-fallback-font]
[--raw-diff]
[--run-test-script]
[--score-media]
[--score-meta]
[--highlight-config]
[--score-parts]
[--score-parts-pdf]
[--score-transpose]
[--sound-profile]
[--source-update]
[--template-mode]
[file ...]

DESCRIPTION

MuseScore is a Free and Open Source WYSIWYG cross-platform multi-lingual music composition and notation software, released under the GNU General Public Licence (GPLv3).

Running mscore without any extra options launches the full graphical MuseScore program and opens any files specified on the command line.

The options are as follows:

-b | --bitrate bitrate

Set MP3 output bitrate in kbit/s

-c | --config-folder pathname

Override configuration and settings directory

-D | --monitor-resolution DPI

Specify monitor resolution (override autodetection)

-d | --debug

Start MuseScore in debug mode

-E | --install-extension extension file

Install an extension file; soundfonts are loaded by default unless -e is also specified

-e | --experimental

Enable experimental features, such as layers

-F | --factory-settings

Use only the standard built-in presets (“factory settings”) and delete user preferences; compare with the -R option (see also Revert to factory settings)

-f | --force

Ignore score corruption and version mismatch warnings in “converter mode”

-h | -? | --help

Display an overview of invocation instructions (doesn’t work on Windows)

-I | --dump-midi-in

Display all MIDI input on the console

-i | --load-icons

Load icons from the filesystem; useful if you want to edit the MuseScore icons and preview the changes

-j | --job file.json

Process a conversion job (see EXAMPLES below)

-L | --layout-debug

Start MuseScore in layout debug mode

-M | --midi-operations file

Specify MIDI import operations file (see EXAMPLES below)

-m | --no-midi

Disable MIDI input

-n | --new-score

Start with the New Score wizard regardless whether it’s enabled or disabled in the user preferences

-O | --dump-midi-out

Display all MIDI output on the console

-o | --export-to file

Export the given (or currently opened) file to the specified output file. The file type depends on the extension of the filename given. This option switches to “converter mode” and avoids the graphical user interface.

-P | --export-score-parts

When converting to PDF with the -o option, append each part’s pages to the created PDF file. If the score has no parts, all default parts will temporarily be generated automatically.

-p | --plugin name

Execute the named plugin

-R | --revert-settings

Use only the standard built-in presets (“factory settings”) but do not delete user preferences; compare with the -F option

-r | --image-resolution DPI

Set image resolution for conversion to PNG files. Default: 300 DPI (actually, the value of “Resolution” of the PNG option group in the Export tab of the preferences)

-S | --style style

Load a style file first; useful for use with the -o option

-s | --no-synthesizer

Disable the integrated software synthesizer

-T | --trim-image margin

Trim exported PNG and SVG images to remove whitespace surrounding the score. The specified margin, in pixels, will be retained (use 0 for a tightly cropped image). When exporting to SVG, this option only works with single-page scores.

-t | --test-mode

Set test mode flag for all files, includes --template-mode

-v | --version

Display the name and version of the application without starting the graphical user interface (doesn’t work on Windows)

-w | --no-webview

Disable the web view component in the Start Center

-x | --gui-scaling factor

Scale the score display and other GUI elements by the specified factor; intended for use with high-resolution displays

--diff

Print a conditioned diff between the given scores

--long-version

Display the full name, version and git revision of the application without starting the graphical user interface (doesn’t work on Windows)

--no-fallback-font

Don’t use Bravura as fallback musical font

--raw-diff

Print a raw diff between the given scores

--run-test-script

Run script tests listed in the command line arguments

--score-media

Export all media (except MP3) for a given score as a single JSON document to stdout

--highlight-config

Set highlight to svg, generated from a given score

--score-meta

Export score metadata to JSON document and print it to stdout

--score-parts

Generate parts data for the given score and save them to separate mscz files

--score-parts-pdf

Generate parts data for the given score and export it as a single JSON document to stdout

--score-transpose

Transpose the given score and export the data to a single JSON file, print it to stdout

--sound-profile sound-profile

Use with '-o .mp3' or with '-j ', override the sound profile in the given score(s).
Possible values: "MuseScore Basic", "Muse Sounds"

--source-update

Update the source in the given score

--template-mode

Save files in template mode (e.g. without page sizes)

MuseScore also supports the automatic Qt command line options.

Batch conversion job JSON format

The argument to the -j option must be the pathname of a file comprised of a valid JSON document honoring the following specification:

• The top-level element must be a JSONArray, which may be empty.

• Each array element must be a JSONObject with the following keys:

  • in: Value is the name of the input file (score to convert), as JSONString.
  • plugin: Value is the filename of a plugin (with the .qml extension), which will be read from either the global or per-user plugin path and executed before the conversion output happens, as JSONString. Optional, but at least one of plugin and out must be given.
  • out: Value is the conversion output target, as defined below. Optional, but at least one of plugin and out must be given.

• The conversion output target may be a filename (with extension, which decided the format to convert to), as JSONString.

• The conversion output target may be a JSONArray of filenames as JSONString, as above, which will cause the score to be written to multiple output files (in multiple output formats) sequentially, without being closed, re-opened and re-processed in between.

• If the conversion output target is a JSONArray, one or more of its elements may also be, each, a JSONArray of two JSONStrings (called first and second half in the following description). This will cause part extraction: for each such two-tuple, all extant parts of the score will be saved individually, with filenames being composed by concatenating the first half, the name (title) of the part, and the second half. The resulting string must be a valid filename (with extension, determining the output format). If a score has no parts (excerpts) defined, this will be silently ignored without error.

• Valid file extensions for output are:

  flac

  Free Lossless Audio Codec (compressed audio)

  metajson

  various score metadata (JSON)

  mid

  standard MIDI file

  midi

  standard MIDI file

  mlog

  internal file sanity check log (JSON)

  mp3

  MPEG Layer III (lossy compressed audio)

  mpos

  measure positions (XML)

  mscx

  uncompressed MuseScore file

  mscz

  compressed MuseScore file

  musicxml

  uncompressed MusicXML file

  mxl

  compressed MusicXML file

  ogg

  OGG Vorbis (lossy compressed audio)

  pdf

  portable document file (print)

  png

  portable network graphics (image) — Individual files, one per score page, with a hyphen-minus followed by the page number placed before the file extension, will be generated.

  spos

  segment positions (XML)

  svg

  scalable vector graphics (image)

  wav

  RIFF Waveform (uncompressed audio)

  xml

  uncompressed MusicXML file

See below for an example.

ENVIRONMENT

SKIP_LIBJACK

Set this (the value does not matter) to skip initialization of the JACK Audio Connection Kit library, in case it causes trouble.

XDG_CONFIG_HOME

User configuration location; defaults to ~/.config if unset.

XDG_DATA_HOME

User data location; defaults to ~/.local/share if unset.

Note that MuseScore also supports the normal Qt environment variables such as QT_QPA_GENERIC_PLUGINS, QT_QPA_PLATFORM, QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME, QT_QPA_PLATFORM_PLUGIN_PATH, QT_STYLE_OVERRIDE, DISPLAY, etc.

FILES

/usr/share/mscore-4.0/ contains the application support data (demos, instruments, localization, system-wide plugins, soundfonts, styles, chords, templates and wallpapers). In the Debian packages, system-wide soundfonts are installed into /usr/share/sounds/sf2/, /usr/share/sounds/sf3/ or /usr/share/sounds/sfz/, respectively, instead.

The per-user data (extensions, plugins, soundfonts, styles, templates) and files (images, scores) are normally installed into subdirectories under ~/MuseScore4/ but may be changed in the configuration. Note that snapshot, alpha and beta versions use MuseScore4Development instead of MuseScore4 in all of these paths.

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/MuseScore/MuseScore4.ini contains the user preferences, list of recently used files and their locations, window sizes and positions, etc. See above for development version paths.

$XDG_DATA_HOME/data/MuseScore/MuseScore4/ contains updated localization files downloaded from within the program, plugin information, cached scores, credentials for the musescore.com community site, session information, synthesizer settings, custom key and time signatures and shortcuts. See above for development version paths.

EXAMPLES

Convert a score to PDF from the command line

mscore -o 'My Score.pdf' 'My Score.mscz'

Run a batch job converting multiple documents

mscore -j job.json

This requires assumes a file job.json exists in the current working directory with content similar to the following:

[
    {
        "in": "MyScore1.mscz",
        "out": "MyScore1.pdf"
    },
    {
        "in": "MyScore2.mscz",
        "plugin": "colornotes.qml",
        "out": [
            "MyScore2-notecolors.pdf",
            "MyScore2-notecolors.svg"
        ]
    },
    {
        "in": "MyScore3.mscz",
        "out": [
            "MyScore3.pdf",
            "MyScore3.musicxml",
            "MyScore3.mid",
            [
                "MyScore3 (",
                " part).pdf"
            ]
        ]
    }
]

If MyScore3.mscz contains excerpts (instrumental parts) then the syntax above would cause files like “MyScore3 (Violin part).pdf” to be generated alongside the conductor’s PDF and MusicXML files, as well as a MIDI file with the full orchestral sound. If MyScore3.mscz has no excerpts defined then only the conductor’s PDF, MusicXML, and orchestral MIDI files will be generated, while the request for part PDFs is silently ignored.

MIDI import operations

The attached midi_import_options.xml is a sample MIDI import operations file for the -M option.

DIAGNOSTICS

The mscore utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

SEE ALSO

fluidsynth(1), midicsv(1), timidity(1), qtoptions(7)

https://musescore.org/handbook

Online Handbook, full user manual

https://musescore.org/forum

Support Forum

https://musescore.org/en/node/278582

Reverting to factory settings (troubleshooting)

https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues

Project Issue Tracker — Please check first to if the bug you’re encountering has already been reported. If you just need help with something, then please use the support forum instead.

http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qguiapplication.html#supported-command-line-optio…

Documentation of automatic Qt command line options

STANDARDS

MuseScore attempts to implement the following standards:

• MusicXML 3.1 (score interchange format)
• SF2 (SoundFont 2.01)
• SF3 (SoundFont with OGG Vorbis-compressed samples)
• SFZ (Sforzato soundfont)
• SMuFL (Standard Music Font Layout 1.20)

HISTORY

MuseScore was split off the MusE sequencer in 2002 and has since become the foremost Open Source notation software.

AUTHORS

MuseScore is developed by MuseScore BVBA and others.

This manual page was written by mirabilos <tg@debian.org>.

CAVEATS

The automatic Qt command line options are removed from the argument vector before the application has a chance at option processing; this means that an invocation like mscore -S -reverse has no chance at working because the -reverse is removed by Qt first.

BUGS

• MuseScore Studio does not honor /etc/papersize.

• Probably some more; check the project’s bug tracker (cf. SEE ALSO).

Keyboard Map

Click on image for full resolution. Or use this Print Friendly PDF version

Navigation

Page navigation

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Zoom in	Ctrl+=	Cmd+=
Zoom out	Ctrl+-	Cmd+-
Zoom to 100%	Ctrl+0	Cmd+0
Go to first element in score	Ctrl+Home	Cmd+Fn+Left
Go to last element in score	Ctrl+End	Cmd+Fn+Right
Jump to next screen	PgUp	Fn+Up
Jump to previous screen	PgDn	Fn+Down
Jump to top of first page	Home	Fn+Left
Jump to bottom of last page	End	Fn+Right
Jump to next page	Ctrl+PgUp	Cmd+Fn+Up
Jump to previous page	Ctrl+PgDn	Cmd+Fn+Down
Find / Go to	Ctrl+F	Cmd+F
Accessibility: get location	Shift+L	Shift+L
Show/hide timeline	F12	Fn+F12

Score navigation

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Select next chord	Right	Right
Select previous chord	Left	Left
Go to next measure	Ctrl+Right	Cmd+Right
Go to previous measure	Ctrl+Left	Cmd+Left
Select next element in score	Alt+Right	Option+Right
Select previous element in score	Alt+Left	Option+Left
Select next in-staff element	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right	Cmd+Option+Shift+Right
Select previous in-staff element	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left	Cmd+Option+Shift+Left
Select note/rest above	Alt+Up	Option+Up
Select note/rest below	Alt+Down	Option+Down
Select top note in chord	Ctrl+Alt+Up	Cmd+Option+Up
Select bottom note in chord	Ctrl+Alt+Down	Cmd+Option+Down

Note input

General

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Note input: toggle note input mode	N	N
Note input: toggle 're-pitch existing notes' mode	Ctrl+Shift+I	Cmd+Shift+I
Note input: toggle 'insert' mode	Ctrl+I	Cmd+I
Show/hide piano keyboard	P	P
Use voice 1	Ctrl+Alt+1	Cmd+Option+1
Use voice 2	Ctrl+Alt+2	Cmd+Option+2
Use voice 3	Ctrl+Alt+3	Cmd+Option+3
Use voice 4	Ctrl+Alt+4	Cmd+Option+4

Duration

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Set duration	1 – 9	1 – 9
Set duration: 64th note	1	1
Set duration: 32nd note	2	2
Set duration: 16th note	3	3
Set duration: 8th note	4	4
Set duration: quarter note	5	5
Set duration: half note	6	6
Set duration: whole note	7	7
Set duration: double whole note	8	8
Set duration: longa	9	9
Toggle duration dot	.	.
Enter tuplet	Ctrl+2 – Ctrl+9	Cmd+2 – Cmd+9
Enter tuplet: duplet	Ctrl+2	Cmd+2
Enter tuplet: triplet	Ctrl+3	Cmd+3
Enter tuplet: quadruplet	Ctrl+4	Cmd+4
Enter tuplet: quintuplet	Ctrl+5	Cmd+5
Enter tuplet: sextuplet	Ctrl+6	Cmd+6
Enter tuplet: septuplet	Ctrl+7	Cmd+7
Enter tuplet: octuplet	Ctrl+8	Cmd+8
Enter tuplet: nonuplet	Ctrl+9	Cmd+9
Add tied note	T	T
Halve selected duration	Q	Q
Double selected duration	W	W
Halve selected duration (includes dotted values)	Shift+Q	Shift+Q
Double select duration (includes dotted values)	Shift+W	Shift+W
Insert full measure rest	Ctrl+Shift+Del	Cmd+Shift+Del

Pitch

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Enter note	A – G	A – G
Enter note A	A	A
Enter note B	B	B
Enter note C	C	C
Enter note D	D	D
Enter note E	E	E
Enter note F	F	F
Enter note G	G	G
Add note to chord	Shift+A – Shift+G	Shift+A – Shift+G
Add note A to chord	Shift+A	Shift+A
Add note B to chord	Shift+B	Shift+B
Add note C to chord	Shift+C	Shift+C
Add note D to chord	Shift+D	Shift+D
Add note E to chord	Shift+E	Shift+E
Add note F to chord	Shift+F	Shift+F
Add note G to chord	Shift+G	Shift+G
Enter interval	Alt+1 – Alt+9	Option+1 – Option+9
Enter interval: unison	Alt+1	Option+1
Enter interval: second above	Alt+2	Option+2
Enter interval: third above	Alt+3	Option+3
Enter interval: fourth above	Alt+4	Option+4
Enter interval: fifth above	Alt+5	Option+5
Enter interval: sixth above	Alt+6	Option+6
Enter interval: seventh above	Alt+7	Option+7
Enter interval: octave above	Alt+8	Option+8
Enter interval: ninth above	Alt+9	Option+9
Toggle accidental: flat	-	-
Toggle accidental: natural	=	=
Toggle accidental: sharp	+	+
Enter rest	0	0
Add grace note: acciaccatura	/	/

Tablature

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Set duration (TAB)	Shift+0 – Shift+9	Shift+0 – Shift+9
Set duration: 128th note (TAB)	Shift+0	Shift+0
Set duration: 64th note (TAB)	Shift+1	Shift+1
Set duration: 32nd note (TAB)	Shift+2	Shift+2
Set duration: 16th note (TAB)	Shift+3	Shift+3
Set duration: 8th note (TAB)	Shift+4	Shift+4
Set duration: quarter note (TAB)	Shift+5	Shift+5
Set duration: half note (TAB)	Shift+6	Shift+6
Set duration: whole note (TAB)	Shift+7	Shift+7
Enter TAB: fret	0 – 9	0 – 9
Enter TAB: fret	A – K	A – K
Enter TAB: fret 0	0	0
Enter TAB: fret 1	1	1
Enter TAB: fret 2	2	2
Enter TAB: fret 3	3	3
Enter TAB: fret 4	4	4
Enter TAB: fret 5	5	5
Enter TAB: fret 6	6	6
Enter TAB: fret 7	7	7
Enter TAB: fret 8	8	8
Enter TAB: fret 9	9	9
Enter TAB: fret 0	A	A
Enter TAB: fret 1	B	B
Enter TAB: fret 2	C	C
Enter TAB: fret 3	D	D
Enter TAB: fret 4	E	E
Enter TAB: fret 5	F	F
Enter TAB: fret 6	G	G
Enter TAB: fret 7	H	H
Enter TAB: fret 8	J	J
Enter TAB: fret 9	K	K
Go to string above (TAB)	Up	Up
Go to string below (TAB)	Down	Down
Toggle ghost note	Shift+X	Shift+X

Selecting

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Select all	Ctrl+A	Cmd+A
Add to selection: previous note/rest	Shift+Left	Shift+Left
Add to selection: next note/rest	Shift+Right	Shift+Right
Add to selection: staff above	Shift+Up	Shift+Up
Add to selection: staff below	Shift+Down	Shift+Down
Select to beginning of measure	Ctrl+Shift+Left	Cmd+Shift+Left
Select to end of measure	Ctrl+Shift+Right	Cmd+Shift+Right
Select to beginning of line	Shift+Home	Shift+Fn+Left
Select to end of line	Shift+End	Shift+Fn+Right
Select to beginning of score	Ctrl+Shift+Home	Cmd+Shift+Fn+Left
Select to end of score	Ctrl+Shift+End	Cmd+Shift+Fn+Right

Editing

General

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Escape	Esc	Esc
Undo	Ctrl+Z	Cmd+Z
Redo	Ctrl+Shift+Z	Cmd+Shift+Z
Copy	Ctrl+C	Cmd+C
Cut	Ctrl+X	Cmd+X
Paste	Ctrl+V	Cmd+V
Copy/paste: swap with clipboard	Ctrl+Shift+X	Cmd+Shift+X
Repeat selection	R	R
Insert one measure before selection	Ins	Ins
Insert measures before selection	Ctrl+Ins	Cmd+Ins
Insert one measure at end of score	Ctrl+B	Cmd+B
Insert measures at end of score	Alt+Shift+B	Option+Shift+B
Delete	Del	Del
Delete selected measures	Ctrl+Del	Cmd+Del
Show/hide properties	F8	Fn+F8
Edit element	F2	Fn+F2
Move chord/rest left	Shift+Left	Shift+Left
Move chord/rest right	Shift+Right	Shift+Right

Duration

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Set duration	1 – 9	1 – 9
Enter tuplet	Ctrl+2 – Ctrl+9	Cmd+2 – Cmd+9
Add tied note	T	T
Halve selected duration	Q	Q
Double select duration	W	W
Halve selected duration (includes dotted values)	Shift+Q	Shift+Q
Double selected duration (includes dotted values)	Shift+W	Shift+W
Paste half duration	Ctrl+Shift+Q	Cmd+Shift+Q (prior to 4.2) Ctrl+Shift+Q (as of 4.2)
Paste double duration	Ctrl+Shift+W	Crrl+Shift+W (prior to 4.2) Crrl+Shift+W (as of 4.2)
Insert full measure rest	Ctrl+Shift+Del	Cmd+Shift+Del

Pitch

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Toggle accidental: flat	-	-
Toggle accidental: natural	=	=
Toggle accidental: sharp	+	+
Move pitch/selection up	Up	Up
Move pitch/selection down	Down	Down
Move pitch up an octave	Ctrl+Up	Cmd+Up
Move pitch down an octave	Ctrl+Down	Cmd+Down
Move pitch up diatonically	Alt+Shift+Up	Option+Shift+Up
Move pitch down diatonically	Alt+Shift+Down	Option+Shift+Down
Change enharmonic spelling (concert and written pitch)	J	J
Change enharmonic spelling (current pitch only)	Ctrl+J	Cmd+J
Move note to higher string (TAB)	Ctrl+Up	Cmd+Up
Move note to lower string (TAB)	Ctrl+Down	Cmd+Down
Toggle ghost note (TAB)	Shift+X	Shift+X

Notation

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Flip direction	X	X
Mirror notehead	Shift+X	Shift+X
Use voice 1	Ctrl+Alt+1	Cmd+Option+1
Use voice 2	Ctrl+Alt+2	Cmd+Option+2
Use voice 3	Ctrl+Alt+3	Cmd+Option+3
Use voice 4	Ctrl+Alt+4	Cmd+Option+4
Move selected note/rest to staff above	Ctrl+Shift+Up	Cmd+Shift+Up
Move selected note/rest to staff below	Ctrl+Shift+Down	Cmd+Shift+Down
Toggle multimeasure rest (prior to 4.4)	M	M
Toggle multimeasure rest (as of 4.4)	Ctrl+Shift+M	Cmd+Shift+M

Manual adjustment

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Move text left	Left	Left
Move text right	Right	Right
Move text left quickly	Ctrl+Left	Cmd+Left
Move text right quickly	Ctrl+Right	Cmd+Right
Move selection up	Up	Up
Move selection down	Down	Down
Move selection up quickly	Ctrl+Up	Cmd+Up
Move selection down quickly	Ctrl+Down	Cmd+Down

Text

General

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Add text: staff text	Ctrl+T	Cmd+T
Add text: expression text	Ctrl+E	Cmd+E
Add text: system text	Ctrl+Shift+T	Cmd+Shift+T
Add text: tempo marking	Alt+Shift+T	Option+Shift+T
Add text: rehearsal mark	Ctrl+M	Cmd+M
Insert special characters	Shift+F2	Shift+Fn+F2

Formatting

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Format text: bold face	Ctrl+B	Cmd+B
Format text: italic	Ctrl+I	Cmd+I
Format text: underline	Ctrl+U	Cmd+U
Insert flat	Ctrl+Shift+B	Cmd+Shift+B
Insert natural	Ctrl+Shift+H	Cmd+Shift+H
Insert sharp	Ctrl+Shift+#	Cmd+Shift+#
Insert dynamics p	Ctrl+Shift+P	Cmd+Shift+P
Insert dynamics m	Ctrl+Shift+M	Cmd+Shift+M
Insert dynamics f	Ctrl+Shift+F	Cmd+Shift+F
Insert dynamics n	Ctrl+Shift+N	Cmd+Shift+N
Insert dynamics r	Ctrl+Shift+R	Cmd+Shift+R
Insert dynamics s	Ctrl+Shift+S	Cmd+Shift+S
Insert dynamics z	Ctrl+Shift+Z	Cmd+Shift+Z

Lyrics

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Add text: lyrics	Ctrl+L	Cmd+L
Go to next syllable	Space	Space
Go to previous syllable	Shift+Space	Shift+Space
Lyrics: enter hyphen	-	-
Lyrics: enter melisma	_	_
Add lyric verse	Return	Return
Go to next lyric verse	Down	Down
Go to previous lyric verse	Up	Up

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

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Add text: chord symbol	Ctrl+K	Cmd+K
Add text: figured bass	Ctrl+G	Cmd+G
Next text element	Space	Space
Previous text element	Shift+Space	Shift+Space
Advance cursor: next beat	;	;
Advance cursor: previous beat	Shift+;	Shift+;
Advance cursor: duration	Ctrl+1 – Ctrl+9	Cmd+1 – Cmd+9

Other score elements

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Show/hide palettes	F9	Fn+F9
Search palettes	Ctrl+F9	Cmd+Fn+F9
Open master palette	Shift+F9	Shift+Fn+F9
Add slur	S	S
Add articulation: accent	Shift+V	Shift+V
Add articulation: marcato	Shift+O	Shift+O
Add articulation: staccato	Shift+S	Shift+S
Add articulation: tenuto	Shift+N	Shift+N
Add hairpin: crescendo	<	<
Add hairpin: decrescendo	>	>
Add parentheses to element	(	(

Score setup and formatting

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Add/remove instruments	I	I
Open instruments dialog	F7	Fn+F7
Toggle visibility of elements	V	V
Decrease layout stretch	{	{
Increase layout stretch	}	}
Add/remove system break	Return	Return
Add/remove page break	Ctrl+Return	Cmd+Return
Reset shapes and positions	Ctrl+R	Cmd+R

File Operations

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
New	Ctrl+N	Cmd+N
Open	Ctrl+O	Cmd+O
Close	Ctrl+W	Cmd+W
Save	Ctrl+S	Cmd+S
Save as	Ctrl+Shift+S	Cmd+Shift+S
Print	Ctrl+P	Cmd+P
Quit	Ctrl+Q	Cmd+Q

User interface

Playback

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Play	Space	Space
Show/hide mixer	F10	Fn+F10

Accessibility

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Next UI group	Tab	Tab
Previous UI group	Shift+Tab	Shift+Tab
Next UI pane/window	F6	Fn+F6
Previous UI pane/window	Shift+F6	Shift+Fn+F6

Other

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Multiinstances	Ctrl+F3	Cmd+Fn+F3
Full screen	F11	Fn+F11

Muse Drumline (MDL2) is a free Muse Sounds library available for MuseScore Studio. It’s the successor to MuseScore Drumline (MDL1), an optional extension for MuseScore 3.

If you open a MuseScore 3 score in MuseScore Studio, a dialog appears informing you about changes to the appearance of your score. Starting in MuseScore Studio 4.4, this dialog now includes a checkbox to enable our new notation and sound mapping for MDL percussion.

This checkbox must be checked in order for marching percussion instruments from MDL1 to sound correct during playback with MS Basic and Muse Sounds. The checkbox has no effect on other instruments besides the ones from MDL1.

Sound mapping

MDL2 and MS Basic use a particular set of MIDI pitches to represent percussion sounds. This means scores created with MDL2 are compatible with MS Basic, and vice versa.

However, MDL1 used a different set of MIDI pitches to represent percussion sounds, so when opening a score that contains notes for MDL1 instruments, it’s necessary to convert these to the MDL2 pitches, otherwise playback would sound wrong (you might hear a rimshot instead of a roll, for example).

Some sounds from MDL1 don’t have an exact match in MDL2. In a few cases, multiple MDL1 pitches are mapped to a single pitch in MDL2. This means some percussion notes that looked and sounded different in MuseScore 3 might now look and sound the same as each other in MuseScore Studio.

Conversion to the new pitch mapping is a one-way process, and it must be done when you first open the score in MuseScore 4. As always, if you’re not ready to fully commit to the new version, we recommend that you save the score as a new file, leaving the original file from MuseScore 3 unmodified.

Notation

In addition to some previously distinct notes now looking the same as each other, the conversion process also applies a new drumset definition to MDL1 percussion instruments. This further alters the notation of these instruments, changing the shapes of some noteheads and making them appear lower or higher on the staff.

Unlike the pitch mapping, which is fixed, the drumset notation changes can be freely altered via the Edit Drumset dialog after the score is loaded.

Overview

Keyboard Shortcuts

See All keyboard shortcuts for MuseScore 4. Here are the common ones that have changed or are entirely new:

Action	MuseScore 3	MuseScore 4
Add tied note	+	T
Next Measure (Chord Symbol Entry)	Tab	Ctrl/Cmd+→
Previous Measure (Chord Symbol Entry)	Shift+Tab	Ctrl/Cmd+←
Toggle accidental: flat	None	-
Toggle accidental: natural	None	=
Toggle accidental: sharp	None	+
Edit element	Alt+Shift+E	F2 or Alt+Shift+E
Insert special characters...	F2	Shift+F2
Jump to next UI pane	None	F6 or ` (backtick / grave accent)
Jump to previous UI pane	None	Shift+F6 or Shift+`
Show / hide selection filter	F6	None

Other changes

• What used to be the Inspector in MuseScore 3 is the Properties tab in MuseScore 4.
• The tool to switch between page view and continuous view is now at the bottom right of the MuseScore window.
• Same for the Zoom control.
• Same for the Concert pitch toggle.
• To (temporarily) change the playback speed you now need to undock the Play Panel.
• The "Toggle MIDI" button now is behind the Play Panel's cog wheel.
• Fermata is now in the Breaths & Pauses palette
• Hiding an instrument now mutes it by default. However, you can now hide the individual staves of the instrument, which is more flexible.
• The Text tool is now in the Text Properties, partly 'hidden' behind the __More__ botton.

Missing Features

Due to the nature of the upgrade some features previously present in MuseScore 3 have not (yet) been included. See this page in the developers' handbook for a listing of those items.

Listed below are technicial terms and musical terms, which are frequently used in MuseScore or in the Handbook. Links to relevant handbook chapter are provided. To help musicians who are capable of reading a notation but do not know its proper name, image is provided. This chapter does not aim to be a dictionary of all musical notations, see External links.

The differences between American English and British English are marked with "(AE)" and "(BE)", respectively. Editors and translators of this chapter should add the individual entry for each term.

A

Acciaccatura

A short grace note which appears as a small note with a stroke through the stem. Musescore creates a quick playback, the playback duration is not affected by duration of the parent note.

Accidental

An accidental is a sign appearing in front of a note that raises or lowers its pitch. See Entering notes and rests:Accidentals. chapter. Musescore creates playback for common accidentals only, they includes sharps, flats, naturals, double sharps, double flats, and triple flats. To create microtonal accidentals such as quarter tone, see Tuning systems, microtonal notation system, and playback Chapter.

Ambitus

Note (or vocal) range used in a staff. Used particularly in early music. See Ambitus chapter.

Anacrusis (mostly BE)

See Pickup measure.

Anchor

The point of attachment to the score of objects such as Text and Lines: When the object is dragged, the anchor appears as small brown circle connected to the object by a dotted line. Depending on the object selected, its anchor may be attached to either (a) a note (e.g. fingering), (b) a staff line (e.g. staff text), or (c) a barline (e.g. repeats).

Appoggiatura

A long grace note which takes value from its associated note. Musescore creates playback as such. It is acceptable to execute written appoggiatura as acciaccatura nowadays but Musescore does not create such playback. Appoggiatura's functions include: passing tone, anticipation, struck suspension, and escape tone.

Arpeggio

An arpeggio tells the performer to break up the chord into the constituent notes, playing them separately and one after the other. The arrow arpeggio symbol indicates the direction in which the player should play the notes of the chord. See Arpeggios and glissandi chapter.

Articulation

A marking or symbol indicating how a note should be played, usually by altering the length of a note or shaping its attack and decay. See Articulation chapter.

B

Bar (BE)

See measure.

Barline

Vertical line through a staff, staves, or a full system that separates measures. See Barline chapter.

Beam

Notes with a duration of an eighth or shorter either carry a flag or a beam. Beams are used for grouping notes. See also French Beam. See Beam chapter.

BPM

A tempo displaying unit only used inside Musescore's Play toolbar. BPM is the amount of quarter notes would have been within one minute. It is not the number used in metronome tempo markings on a score. See Playback controls chapter.

Breve, or Brevis

A double whole note or breve is a note that has the duration of two whole notes.

C

Caesura

A caesura (//) is a brief, silent pause. Time is not counted for this period, and music resumes when the director signals. See Breaths and pauses chapter.

Capo (text)

A text to indicate the setting of the transposing device used on an instrument. See Capo playback (MS 4.0.2 and before) and Applying capos chapter. Not to be confused with Da capo (D.C.).

Cent

An interval equal to one hundredth of a semitone, used by Tuning property of a note. See Properties panel chapter.

Chord

1. A group of two or more notes sounding together.

2. In Musescore, only notes sounding together that have same duration inside one Musescore Voice constitute a chord. To select a chord in MuseScore, press Shift and click on a note. See Working with multiple voices chapter.

3. In Musescore, a chord symbol. See Chord symbols chapter.

Clef

A musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a →staff. See Clefs chapter. See also courtesy clef.

Coda

1. A passage that brings a piece (or a movement) to an end.

2. The navigation marker which resembles a set of crosshairs. It is used where the exit from a repeated section is within that section rather than at the end. See also segno sign. See Jumps and markers chapter.

Concert pitch

1. The sounding, or real pitch of a note—as opposed to the written pitch. See Working with transposing instruments chapter.

2. A score viewing mode in Musescore, see Concert pitch box in the status bar chapter.

3. The frequency of A4.

Courtesy clef

A reduced-size clef applied to the end of a system indicating a clef change at the start of the next system. See Clefs chapter.

Cross-staff notation

A musical phrase extending across two neighboring staffs: e.g. bass staff and treble staff.

To create notation where the two stems are at opposite sides of the beam, as shown above, see Cross-staff notation chapter.

To create notation where the stems are on the same side of the beam, as shown above, see How to span a chord or stem over two staves chapter.

Crotchet (BE)

See Quarter note.

D

Da capo (D.C.)

A directive to repeat the previous part of music. See Jumps and markers chapter. Not to be confused with capo (text).

Dead note

See ghost note.

Demisemiquaver (BE)

A thirty-second note.

Double Flat

A double flat (♭♭ or 𝄫) is a sign that indicates that the pitch of a note has to be lowered two semitones.

Double Sharp

A double sharp (♯♯ or 𝄪) is a sign that indicates that the pitch of a note has to be raised two semitones.

Duplet

See tuplet.

Dynamic, dynamics, dynamic symbol, dynamics symbol

A symbol indicating the relative loudness of a note or phrase of music—such as mf (mezzoforte), p (piano), f (forte) etc., starting at that note. See Dynamic chapter.

E

Edit mode, text edit mode

Used to edit adjust literal layout position and content of Text, contrast with normal mode and note input mode. See Adjusting elements directly and Entering and editing text : Editing text object content chapters.

Eighth note

A note whose duration is an eighth of a whole note (semibreve). Same as a quaver (BE).

Endecalineo

Endecalineo or endecagram, the stave for Solfège. See Solmisation (tutorial for MuseScore 3, pending update)

Endings

See volta.

Enharmonic notes

Notes that sound the same pitch but are written differently. Example: G♯ and A♭ are enharmonic notes. To quickly switch between enharmonic spellings, press J. See Entering notes and rests chapter.

Explode

A feature that allows the user to split (or explode) the chords in a passage of music in a single staff into their constituent notes or voices. See Implode and explode chapter. See also implode.

F

Flag

See beam.

Flat

Sign (♭) that indicates that the pitch of a note has to be lowered one semitone, see accidentals and key signature.

French Beam

Beams where the stems only extend to the first beam, but don't intersect all the way through. To create use the French Beams plugin.

G

Ghost note

In music, notably in jazz, a ghost note (or a dead, muted, silenced or false note) is a musical note with a rhythmic value, but no discernible pitch when played. Musescore supports crosshead (cross notehead), diamond notehead(the small diamond same as musescore 3), slash/diamond notehead (new in musescore 4), and adding brackets (parentheses) to a note, see Noteheads chapter.

Grace note

Grace notes appear as small notes in front of a normal-sized main note. See acciaccatura and appoggiatura. See Grace note chapter.

Grand Staff (AE)

Great Stave (BE)

An instrument with two or more staves, featuring treble and bass clefs, used to notate music for keyboard instruments and the harp, in MuseScore: Any number of Staves connected by a curly brace.

H

Half Note

A note whose duration is half of a whole note (semibreve). Same as a minim (BE).

Hemidemisemiquaver (BE)

A sixty-fourth note.

I

Implode

A feature allowing the user to combine voices from separate staves onto one staff. See Implode and explode chapter. This is similar to, but not exactly, score reduction (wikipedia). See also explode.

Interval

The difference in pitch between two notes, expressed in terms of the scale degree (e.g. major second, minor third, perfect fifth etc.). See Degree (Music) (Wikipedia).

Interleaved

A term used to describe two interlocking, oppositely-beamed sets of notes. To create, use the voice function and the beam palette. See Interleaved beam directions

Instrument

1. Musescore Instrument, see Setting up your score chapter.

2. Real world instrument

Irregular measure marker

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. See The user interface and Measure properties chapters.

J

Jump

Jump objects are notations such as "D.S. al Coda", found in the "Repeats & Jumps" palette. See Jumps and markers chapter.

K

Key Signature

Set of sharps or flats at the beginning of the staves. It gives an idea about the tonality and avoids repeating those signs all along the staff. A key signature with B flat means F major or D minor tonality. See Key Signature chapter.

L

Legato

Legato is a play style which involves playing the notes in a slurred manner. Legato may be written as text or shown through the use of slurs.

Local time signature

The time signature on a single staff when different from the overall score time signature. See Adding a local time signature for a single staff.

Longa

A longa is a quadruple whole note.

Ledger Line (AE)

Leger Line (BE)

Line(s) that are added with and for notes above or below the staff.

Line

Musescore Lines, a type of objects capable of attaching (anchoring) to a horizontal continuous range of more than two notes or rests, or vertical collection of notes (chord). See Other lines chapter.

M

Measure (AE)

A segment of time defined by a given number of beats. Dividing music into measures provides regular reference points to pinpoint locations within a piece of music. Same as bar (BE).

Measure repeat sign

A measure repeat sign looks like a "percentage" symbol having the two circles filled, or a slash with a dot at each side. See Measure and multi-measure repeats chapter.

Metronome mark

A kind of tempo marking. See Tempo markings.

Minim (BE)

See Half note.

Multimeasure rest

See Measure rests and multimeasure rests chapter.

N

Natural

A natural (♮) is a sign that cancels a previous alteration on notes of the same pitch, see →accidentals and →key signature.

Normal mode

The operating mode of MuseScore outside note input mode or edit mode: press Esc to enter it. In Normal mode you can navigate through the score, select and move elements, adjust Inspector properties, and alter the pitches of existing notes.

Note input mode

The program mode used for entering music notation, contrast with normal mode and edit mode. Enter it by pressing N or clicking on the pen icon in the note input toolbar. See Entering notes and rests chapter.

O

Operating System (OS)

Underlying software that controls and manages the hardware and other software on a computer. Popular OSes are Microsoft Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux.

Ossia

An alternative passage which may be played instead of the original passage (from the Italian for "alternatively", meaning "or be it"). See Ossia chapter.

P

Part

1. Musescore's automatic staff extraction function, see Parts.

2. A single melody line in a polyphonic musical composition. MuseScore 4 never uses this definition, but there is a similar feature Voice.

3. Instrument(s) or their staves. MuseScore 4.1.1 uses this definition only on the window title and one subheading in "Staff/Part Properties".

Pickup Measure (mostly AE, also known as an Anacrusis (mostly BE) or Upbeat)

Incomplete first measure of a piece or a section of a piece of music. See Measure duration, Create new score: Pickup measure, and Measure properties:Exclude from measure count chapters. May or may not be compensated for at the end of the score or section.

Properties

1. Settings of an individual object on a score in Musescore, contrast with style (profile).

2. Musescore's panel, see Properties panel chapter.

Q

Quadruplet

See tuplet.

Quarter note

A note whose duration is a quarter of a whole note (semibreve). Same as a crotchet (BE).

Quaver (BE)

See eighth note.

Quintuplet

See tuplet.

R

Respell Pitches

Change accidental used on a note but keep note's pitch. See Entering notes and rests:Accidentals chapter.

Rest

A musical symbol that indicates silence. See Entering notes and rests chapter.

Re-pitch mode

One of the note input modes. Alternative note input methods: Re-pitch mode

S

Score

1. In MuseScore support forums and the MuseScore Handbook, score generally refers to a computer file with the suffix .mscz - and to its visual representation on a computer screen as well as its audio playback.

2. In some chapters of the MuseScore Handbook, score means the layout and formatting of "Full score" or one particular Musescore part. See Musescore Part.

3. In other contexts (for example the IMSLP score-sharing website at https://imslp.org), a score generally refers either to a PDF file of the sheet music for a specific work or to an actual paper copy of the sheet music.

Section

In MuseScore, a region of the score between section breaks; also from the start of a score to the first section break, and from the last section break to the end of the score.

Segno

A navigation marker. See Jumps and markers chapter.

Semibreve (BE)

A whole note (AE). It lasts a whole measure in 4/4 time.

Semiquaver (BE)

A sixteenth note.

Semihemidemisemiquaver (Quasihemidemisemiquaver) (BE)

A hundred and twenty eighth note.

Sextuplet

See tuplet.

SF2

A virtual instrument format developed by E-mu Systems and Creative Labs. See SoundFonts.

SF3

An invention of Werner Schweer, the Musescore developer (source). This format supports sound sample compression. See SoundFonts.

Shared note head

A single notehead with two beams—one up, one down. Especially common in guitar music, for example. See Noteheads

Sharp

Sign (♯) that indicates that the pitch of a note has to be raised one semitone , see accidentals and key signature.

Slash (slash chord, slash notehead)

Indicates strum. See Slash chord (Wikipedia).

Slash notation

A form of music notation using slash marks placed on or above/below the staff to indicate the rhythm of an accompaniment: often found in association with chord symbols. There are two types: (1) Slash notation consists of a rhythm slash on each beat: the exact interpretation is left to the player (see Fill with slashes); (2) Rhythmic slash notation indicates the precise rhythm for the accompaniment (see Toggle rhythmic slash notation).

Slur

A curved line over or under two or more notes, meaning that the notes will be played smooth and connected (legato). See Slur chapter. A slur is not a tie.

Solmisation

see Endecalineo

SoundFont

A virtual instrument format supported by MuseScore. A SoundFont is a special type of file (extension .sf2, or .sf3 if compressed) containing sound samples of one or more musical instruments. In effect, a virtual synthesizer which acts as a sound source for MIDI files. MuseScore 4 comes with its own native soundfont, MS Basic. See SoundFont chapter.

Spatium (plural: Spatia) / Space / Staff Space / sp. (abbr./unit)

A unit of measurement, see Page layout concepts.

Staff / Staffs

A set of lines and spaces, each representing a pitch, on which music is written. In period music notation (before 11th century) the staff may have any number of lines.

Staff Space

See Spatium (above).

Stave / Staves (BE)

See Staff (above).

Step-time input

MuseScore's default note input mode. See Entering notes and rests chapter.

Style

The profile that contains settings in MuseScore, contrast with Properties. See Templates and styles chapter.

System

Set of staves to be read simultaneously in a score. See Page layout concepts chapter.
See also Operating System (OS).

System divider

Separates systems on the same page. Can be switched on for the score in Format→Style→System, see Formatting chapter. Also available in master palette, see Other symbols chapter.

T

Text

A Musescore Text object is an object that contains individual characters that can be entered and removed by using (typing on) a computer keyboard. See Entering and editing text chapter.

Tie

A curved line between two adjacent notes of the same pitch to indicate a single note of combined duration. See Tie chapter. A tie is not a slur.

• Quarter note + Tie + Quarter note = Half note
• Quarter note + Tie + Eighth note = Dotted Quarter note
• Quarter note + Tie + Eighth note + Tie + 16th note = Double Dotted Quarter note

Transposition

The act of moving the pitches of one or more notes up or down by a constant interval. See Transposition chapter. There may be several reasons for transposing a piece, for example:

1. The tune is too low or too high for a singer. In this case the whole orchestra will have to be transposed as well—easily done using MuseScore.
2. The part is written for a particular instrument but needs to be played by a different one.
3. The score is written for an orchestra and you want to hear what the individual instruments sound like. This requires changing the transposing instrument parts to concert pitch.
4. A darker or a more brilliant sound is desired.

Triplet

See tuplet.

Tuplet

A tuplet divides its next higher note value by a number of notes other than given by the time signature. See Tuplet chapter. For example a triplet divides the next higher note value into three parts, rather than two. Tuplets may be: triplets, duplets, quintuplets, and other.

U

Upbeat

See pickup measure.

V

Velocity

A property of objects inside Musescore that controls how loudly note(s) are played, see musescore 3 handbook Loudness of a note chapter. Velocity property of notes are edited using Properties panel: Playback tab, see Properties panel chapter.

Voice

1. In Musescore, voice is a software feature, you can use up to 4 voices per staff, see Working with multiple voices, also see staff.

2. The musical term "voice" refers to a musical line or part which can have its own rhythm. MuseScore does not have a feature to implement the exact same idea, if the voice feature does not suit your need, try adding separate instruments instead.

Volta

In a repeated section of music, it is common for the last few measures of the section to differ. Markings called voltas are used to indicate how the section is to be ended each time. These markings are often referred to simply as endings. See Volta chapter.

W

Written pitch

Transposing instruments (such as the clarinet, French horn, trumpet etc.) are notated at a different pitch (and key signature) to how they sound. The notated pitch is called the written pitch. Contrast with concert pitch. See Staff / Part properties chapter.

External links

• http://www.robertcarney.net/musical-terms-definitions.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_symbols