Mastering MuseScore PDF

Mastering
MuseScore
Marc Sabatella
with
Thomas Bonte, Nicolas Froment, and Werner Schweer
MuseScore BVBA
Copyright © 2015 Marc Sabatella
Published by MuseScore BVBA
ISBN 1-5086-2168-3
Inquiries and feedback: [email protected]

Chapter :
Foreword
Marc joined the MuseScore community back when version 0.9.6 was the
state of the art. His presence immediately stood out as he was challenging
MuseScore’s capabilities to the limits and posting about his findings in the
MuseScore forums. Soon he started to dabble with the MuseScore source code,
scratching his own itch as we say in open source world.
I got to know him better when we started to communicate via the online
#musescore chat channel. While I helped him to learn about MuseScore’s code
architecture, he, on his turn, shared his knowledge on music theory. These daily
and nightly conversations continued over the span of several years and resulted
in countless small and large improvements in the MuseScore software. It is
without question that without Marc’s involvement, MuseScore would not be
what it is today.
While I have personally learned a great deal from Marc, he has also helped
hundreds of people through the MuseScore forum by answering their questions,
whether these were beginner or more advanced questions. As a result he
accumulated know-how on all the typical barriers in each stage of the
MuseScore learning curve and it is now all bundled in this book.
I know MuseScore inside out and I very much enjoyed reading this book.
I’m sure you will enjoy the book as much as I have.
Nicolas Froment @lasconic

MuseScore CTO
Contents
Foreword
I Getting Started
1 Introduction
What Is MuseScore?
History of MuseScore
About This Book
Acknowledgements
2 Finding Your Way Around
Start Center
Main Window
Main Menu
Toolbars
Score Window
Palettes
Inspector
Status Bar
Optional Windows
Navigator
Selection Filter
Master Palette
Piano Keyboard
Mixer
Play Panel
Synthesizer
Accessibility
3 Your First Score
Entering Notes
Entering Lyrics
Completing Note Input
Cleanup
Playback
Moving On
II Note Entry and Editing
4 Creating a New Score
Template Selection
Instrument Selection
Adding instruments to your score
Modifying the list of instruments in your score
Adding a staff to an instrument in your score
Adding a linked staff to an instrument in your score
Key Signature and Tempo
Time Signature and Measures
5 Entering Notes and Rests
Selecting Duration
Selecting duration using the mouse
Selecting duration using the computer keyboard
Selecting duration using a MIDI keyboard
Entering Notes
Entering notes using the mouse
Entering notes using the computer keyboard
Entering notes using the Piano Keyboard
Entering notes using a MIDI keyboard
Accidentals
Ordinary accidentals
Courtesy accidentals
Chords
Entering chords using the mouse
Entering chords using the computer keyboard
Entering chords using the Piano Keyboard
Entering chords using a MIDI keyboard
Ties
Entering Rests
Entering rests using the computer keyboard
Entering rests using the mouse
Entering rests using a MIDI keyboard
Tuplets
Creating triplets
Creating other tuplets
Multiple Voices
Note entry in multiple voices
Layout with multiple voices
Hiding and deleting unneeded rests
Grace Notes
Entering grace notes
Multiple grace notes
Cross-Staff Notation
Rhythm Input Mode
Automatic Real-time Note Input Mode
Manual Real-time Note Input Mode
Shortcuts
6 Navigation
Page Navigation
Zoom settings
Scrolling through your score
Paging through your score
The Find command
Navigator
Page and Continuous View
Cursor Navigation
Cursor types
Horizontal navigation
Vertical navigation
Shortcuts
7 Making Selections
Single Selection
List Selection
Range Selection
Using the mouse
Using the keyboard
Selecting notes or rests in a range
Selection Filter
8 Editing
Basic Concepts
Undo
Replace versus insert
Making Changes in Note Input Mode
Changing pitch
Adding and removing notes
Changing duration
Changing time position
Regrouping rhythms
Re-Pitch mode
Making Changes in Normal Mode
Changing pitch using the mouse
Respell pitches
Changing the duration of a note or rest
Moving notes between voices
Copy, Cut, and Paste
Duplicating a selection using copy and paste
Duplicating a selection using the Repeat command
Moving a selection with cut and paste
Exchanging selections using Swap with Clipboard
Manual Adjustments
Dragging with the mouse
Nudging with the keyboard
Using the Inspector
Flipping direction
Changing shape
Reset
Changing Appearance and Behavior
Global note and rest settings
Individual note and rest properties
Common Tasks
To control beaming
To customize noteheads
To merge unisons
Shortcuts
9 Measure Operations
Adding and Removing Measures
Appending measures to the end of the score
Inserting measures at any point in the score
Deleting measures
Barlines
Double bars, repeat bars, and other barline styles
Extending barlines through staves
Changing barline length
Mid-measure barlines
Measure Numbering
Controlling which measures are numbered
Controlling the position and font of measure numbers
Overriding the numbering of specific measures
Multimeasure Rests
Toggling display of multimeasure rests
Breaking a multimeasure rest
Splitting and Joining Measures
Global measure settings
Individual measure properties
Individual barline properties
Common Tasks
To make a measure narrower or wider
To change the number of measures on a system
III Other Score Elements
10 Clefs
Initial Clef
Clef Changes
Global clef settings
Individual clef properties
Common Tasks
To suppress courtesy clef changes
To suppress clefs at the start of each system
Shortcuts
11 Key Signatures
Initial Key Signature
Key Signature Changes
Global key signature settings
Individual key signature properties
Common Tasks
To control the display of courtesy key signatures
To control the display of key signatures at the start of each system
To control the display of naturals in key signatures
To add an open (atonal) key signature
To create a custom key signature
12 Time Signatures
Initial Time Signature
Time Signature Changes
Custom Time Signatures
Global time signature settings
Individual time signature properties
Common Tasks
To control the display of courtesy time signatures
To change actual duration of a measure
To create a local time signature
Setting the default beaming
13 Text
Staff Text
Creating staff text
Playback: changing instrument sound
System Text
Creating system text
Playback: swing
Tempo Markings
Creating a tempo marking
Playback
Rehearsal Marks
Creating a rehearsal mark
Resequencing rehearsal marks
Title, Subtitle, Composer, Lyricist
Header and Footer
Frame Text
Creating frame text
Editing Text
Navigation and selection
Entering special characters
Text Formatting
Text style
Text properties
Text toolbar
14 Lyrics
Entering Lyrics
Hyphenation
Extenders
Verses
Copy and paste
Editing Lyrics
Global lyrics settings
Alignment
Common Tasks
To move lyrics to avoid notes below the staff
To create lyrics above the staff
15 Chord Symbols
Entering Chord Symbols
Chord Symbol Syntax
Flats and sharps
Chord quality
Special keywords
Extensions and alterations
Alternate bass notes
Note names
Parenthesized chords
Capo chords
Global chord symbol settings
Common Tasks
To use jazz chord symbol formatting
To enter substitute chord symbols
16 Lines
Placing Lines
Editing Lines
Line Types
Text lines
Ottava
Global line settings
Individual line properties
Shortcuts
17 Repeats
Repeat Barlines
Playback
Mid-Measure Repeats
Voltas (Endings)
Placing a volta
Extending a volta
Changing the ending number
D.C., D.S., Segno, Coda, Fine
Playback
Measure Repeat
Global repeat settings
Individual repeat properties
18 Dynamics
Dynamics Text Markings
Hairpins (Crescendo and Diminuendo)
Global dynamics settings
Individual dynamics properties
19 Fretboard Diagrams
Creating a Fretboard Diagram
Fret marks
Open and unused string indicators
Barré chords
Chord symbols
20 Figured Bass
Entering Figured Bass
Figured Bass Syntax
Digits
Accidentals
Combined shapes
Duration
Global figured bass settings
21 Articulations and Other Symbols
Articulations
Placing articulations
Editing articulations
Playback
Slurs
Placing slurs
Editing slurs
Cross staff slurs
Ornaments
Placing ornaments
Editing ornaments
Playback
Pedal Markings
Placing pedal markings
Editing pedal markings
Pedal change markings
Pedal release markings
Other pedal types
Fingering
Placing a fingering
Editing a fingering
Breaths and Pauses
Placing a breath or pause
Playback
Tremolo and Rolls
Placing a tremolo or roll on individual notes
Placing a tremolo between two notes
Arpeggios
Placing an arpeggio
Editing an arpeggio
back
Glissandi
Playback
Falls, Doits, Scoops, Plops, and Slides
Guitar Bends
Bends
Tremolo bar markings
Playback
Ambitus
Bagpipe Embellishments
Miscellaneous Symbols
Other symbols
Graphics
Global settings
Individual properties
IV Staves and Layout
22 Staves and Instruments
Adding, Removing, and Reordering Instruments and Staves
Splitting a Single Staff into a Grand Staff
Grouping Staves
Brackets
Extending barlines
Hiding Staves
Creating a condensed score
Creating a staff for playback only
Changing the Instrument and Sound for a Staff
Changing instrument for an entire staff
Changing playback sounds only for an entire staff
Changing instrument for a staff mid-score
Changing between sound variants for a single instrument
Global staff settings
Individual staff and instrument properties
23 Transposition
Transposing a Selection
Transposing Instruments
Switching between written and concert pitch
Changing the transposition for a staff
Changing the enharmonic spelling of a note
24 Percussion
Drum Notation
Percussion Staves
Drum Input Mode
Selecting duration
Entering notes
Editing a drumset definition
Saving and loading drumset definitions
General MIDI
25 Tablature
Tablature Notation
String and fret
Rhythm
Tablature Staves
Adding a tablature staff
Adding a linked tablature staff
Converting an existing staff into a tablature staff
Tablature Input Mode
Selecting duration
String
Fret
Chords
Navigation
Ghost Notes
Rests
Multiple voices
Extra bass strings
Editing Tablature
Making changes in TAB input mode
Making changes in Normal mode
Tablature staff types
String data
26 Alternative Notation
Slash Notation
Fill With Slashes
Rhythmic Slash Notation
Shape Note Music
Early Music
Mensuration
Ambitus
Figured Bass
Tablature
Modified Stave Notation
27 Other Editing Tools
Explode
Exploding from chords
Exploding from multiple voices
Implode
Imploding from separate staves
Imploding from multiple voices
28 Parts
Creating Parts
Working With Parts
Changes that are linked
Changes that are not linked
Global part settings
Individual part properties
29 Page Layout
Page Size and Margins
Music Size
System, Page, and Section Breaks
System breaks
Page breaks
Section breaks
Horizontal Spacing
Changing the default horizontal spacing for the score
Overriding the default horizontal spacing for selected measures
Last system fill
Horizontal Frames
Adding space to the left of a system
Adding space between measures within a system
Adding space to the right of a system
Vertical Spacing
Staff spacing
System spacing
Effect of lyrics on vertical spacing
Vertical Frames
V Working with MuseScore
30 Playback and Audio Output
Playback Controls
Play mode
Looping
Mixer
Synthesizer
Soundfont
Effects
Tuning
Exporting Audio
Exporting MIDI
MIDI Output
31 Printing and Graphic Output
Printing
Exporting PDF or Graphics
Image Capture
32 File Operations
Folders
Opening Scores
Saving Scores
Sharing Scores
Creating Templates
Creating Albums
Creating an album
Printing an album
Creating a joined score from an album
Supported File Formats
Importing from other file formats
PDF
MIDI
Exporting to other file formats
33 Customization
Extensions
User Interface
Toolbars
Windows
Language
Palettes
Workspaces
Adding, removing, and arranging palettes
Customizing palette contents
Style
Plugins
Pre-installed plugins
Downloading plugins
Enabling and disabling plugins
Using plugins
Preferences
General
Canvas
Note Input
Score
I/O
Import
Export
Shortcuts
Update
Index
Part I:
Getting Started
Chapter 1:
Introduction
What Is MuseScore?
MuseScore is a free and open source application for creating and playing music
scores. It runs on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, and it has been translated into
over 50 different languages. MuseScore can be used to create everything from
simple lead sheets to piano music to guitar tablature to arrangements for jazz and
rock bands, choirs, and full orchestras. MuseScore provides almost all of the
features of the expensive proprietary notation programs, but with none of the
cost, and with a user interface that emphasizes simplicity.
MuseScore is also a community of users. The support site musescore.org

provides help forums, the free online Handbook, tutorial videos and other
documentation, an issue tracker, and much more. The community site
musescore.com allows people to share their scores online, browse for new scores
to enjoy, and discuss music in general. There are also companion apps available
for mobile devices to make it even easier to take advantage of the scores shared
on musescore.com.
By putting so many powerful capabilities into the hands of so many people,
MuseScore is revolutionizing the field of music notation. It has been
downloaded millions of times and is being used by countless individual
musicians and composers as well as by schools and universities throughout the
world.
Before we go on and start exploring the many features of MuseScore, I would

like to take a moment to give you a little back story.
History of MuseScore
The project began in the early 2000’s as an offshoot of the MusE sequencer that
Werner Schweer was developing for Linux. He started to try to add a notation
option to MusE itself, but he soon realized that music notation was better suited
to a separate application, and thus MuseScore was conceived. It continued to be
developed on Linux only at first, but soon Nicolas Froment joined the team,
fixing bugs and helping to port the code to Windows and Mac OS. MuseScore
uses the free and open source Qt libraries to help the application run on multiple
platforms with a consistent look and feel. The third core member of the team,
Thomas Bonte, is responsible for the development of the musescore.org and
musescore.com websites and community. Thanks to the open source nature of
the product, there are over one hundred people – including this author – who
have also contributed to the development of MuseScore.
MuseScore became increasingly full-featured and stable over the years, and
finally the first official release – MuseScore 1.0 – was made available in
February of 2011. This was followed by 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 over the course of the
next two years, mostly just fixing bugs and adding a few small improvements.
Even before the release of MuseScore 1.0, however, MuseScore 2.0 was already
in development. The team realized that what they were undertaking was
monumental enough in scope that it would be quite some time before it was
ready, so the 1.X series included very little of the work that was being done for
2.0. The work on the 2.0 version was made available via a series of experimental
nightly builds, mostly used just by the developers and a few hard core early
adopters interested in helping test the code.
By August of 2014, work on MuseScore 2.0 had reached a point with regard to
features and stability where a beta release became feasible, and the new version
started to see wider exposure. Based on the extraordinarily enthusiastic response,
development focused on responding to the feedback received and the issues
reported, and the product moved quickly toward release. Meanwhile, work on
this book was proceeding in tandem with the development of the application
itself. MuseScore 2.0 was released in March of 2015, and this book was
published a couple of months later. Regular point releases have followed since.
The current version of MuseScore as of this writing is 2.3, which provides a
number of new features, bug fixes, and other improvements over the original 2.0
release.
In late 2017, MuseScore became part of the Ultimate Guitar family. The
software itself will continue to be developed as it always has and will remain
free and open source. But you can expect improvements to the online
communities – including the ability to share and download scores of copyrighted
works, as Ultimate Guitar is developing agreements with major publishers to
allow this. Also, I have been named the Director of Education for MuseScore,
and we are planning a variety of new educational initiatives. It is an exciting
time for MuseScore!
About This Book
Although there is a free Handbook (Help / Online Handbook, or

https://musescore.org/en/handbook) available for MuseScore that covers
most of its features, this book is designed to be a more comprehensive guide that
should prove invaluable for those wishing to truly master MuseScore. It is
divided into five main parts:
Getting Started – quick introduction to the program

Note Entry and Editing – everything you need to know about notes and rests
(the main elements in almost every score)
Other Score Elements – clefs, key and time signatures, dynamics, lyrics,
articulations, etc.
Staves, Parts, and Layout – organizing the staves of your score
Working with MuseScore – playback, printing, customization, etc.
Because MuseScore provides such a wealth of free online

documentation, you may be wondering why anyone would want to buy
this book. One reason is simply to support the development of the
software. Since MuseScore itself is free, sales of this book help to fund
the team who makes it possible for everyone to enjoy MuseScore. But I
hope you will also find the information in this book complete and clear
enough that it helps you get even more out of MuseScore than you
thought possible!
This book is available in both printed and electronic versions. Please

support me and the MuseScore team by purchasing this book from
official sources only (e.g., Amazon, the Kindle store). If you should
somehow find yourself in possession of an unauthorized copy of this
book and are finding it valuable, consider purchasing it legitimately, or
even just making a donation to MuseScore directly via musescore.org.
If you have questions about MuseScore, the best place to ask is on the forums on
musescore.org, which you can access directly from MuseScore via Help / Ask for
Help. You can also find more resources on the community website
musescore.com. If you have comments you would like to share about this book
itself, you may contact me at [email protected].
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank David Bolton, Nicolas Froment, Tony Mountifield, Steven
Otto, Joachim Schmitz, Mark Stanton, and Isaac Weiss for their feedback on this
book. Between them, they caught many errors I am very happy to have had the
opportunity to correct. Also, thanks to Xavier Bertels for the original cover
design.
I and all MuseScore users are deeply indebted to Werner Schweer for creating
this amazing software, and to Nicolas Froment and Thomas Bonte for all they
have done to make MuseScore the success it is. I would also like to express my
personal gratitude to them for encouraging me to write this book, and to the
Ultimate Guitar team for their continuing support.
It would be impossible to adequately acknowledge everyone who has

contributed to the development of MuseScore and its community. The best I can
do is encourage you to join us on musescore.com and musescore.org and see for
yourself just how many people are passionate about MuseScore, and if you are
interested, get more involved yourself!
Chapter 2:
Finding Your Way Around
MuseScore enables you to easily create beautiful sheet music. The design of the
interface incorporates many concepts that should be familiar from word
processing, graphic design, or other programs you may have used. A large score
window is the central focus of the interface, and there are also menus, toolbars,
palettes, and other windows that contain controls for creating scores. Music can
be entered using the mouse, computer keyboard, an on-screen piano keyboard, or
a separate MIDI keyboard or other controller. MuseScore can play back your
score using a built-in synthesizer or by integrating with other programs on your
computer.
The user interface is designed to present controls for all of these facilities in an
intuitive and uncluttered manner. But the sheer number of features supported by
MuseScore means that a quick tour is in order. In this chapter, I will introduce
you to the different areas of the MuseScore user interface, so that if in
subsequent chapters I refer to the Inspector or some other window or toolbar,
you will know how to find it.
MuseScore runs on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, and it works

similarly on all three platforms. However, there are some details of the
user interface that are system-dependent. For instance, menus are
arranged differently on Mac OS than other systems because of the way
application menus are integrated with the Apple menu. Also, keyboard
shortcuts that involve the Ctrl key replace this with Cmd on Mac OS,
and shortcuts that involve Alt replace this with Option. On systems with
only a single mouse button, the right-click operation might be replaced
by Ctrl+click or a two-finger tap. Users of keyboard layouts other than
the US-standard QWERTY layout may find a few shortcuts work
differently than described as well. Keyboard shortcuts can be customized
as discussed in Shortcuts in the chapter on Customization.
Start Center
The first window you will see when MuseScore starts up is the Start Center. You
can also display this at any time using the menu command View / Start Center or
the keyboard shortcut F4.
The left side of this window displays options to create a new score and to open
an existing score, as well as thumbnails of your most recent scores. See the
chapters on Creating a New Score and File Operations for more information.
When you first start MuseScore, the Start Center includes a sample Getting
Started score that you may find useful as you first learn MuseScore. This is no
longer shown once you have started using MuseScore to create your own scores,
but you can bring it back at any time if you clear your recent scores list via File /
Open Recent / Clear Recent Files.
The right side of the Start Center window displays an Online Community page,
drawn from content on the score sharing web site musescore.com and other
sources. It allows you to find scores online that you can download and open in
MuseScore.
Open or create a score, or press the Close button, to proceed to the main
window.
Main Window
The main window in MuseScore is divided into a number of separate areas –

toolbars, panes, secondary windows, etc. Most of these areas can be displayed or
hidden via the View menu and/or keyboard shortcuts. You can also dock and
undock some of them by simply dragging them away from their default location.
In the case of the toolbars, you can also right-click an empty area of the toolbar
area to customize which specific toolbars are displayed. When windows are
docked within the main window, you can drag the divider between panes to
resize them. See the chapter on Customization for more information.
Main Menu
At the top of the main window is a menu bar. This works just like other menus
you are accustomed to in other programs.
There are also context menus that appear when you right-click various elements
in your score.
Toolbars
The toolbar area is located just below the main menu.
This toolbar area contains several distinct toolbars that can be enabled or
disabled by right-clicking an empty area and checking or unchecking the
corresponding options in the context menu that appears, or via View / Toolbars.
The toolbars are:
File Operations – standard controls like open and save (see File Operations and
Printing and Graphic Output)
Playback Controls – playback controls like rewind and play (see Playback and
Audio Output)
Concert Pitch – control to transpose a score between written and sounding pitch
(see Transposition)
Image Capture – control to capture a region of your score as an image (see
Printing and Graphic Output)
Note Input – controls to enter notes and rests (see Entering Notes and Rests)
Score Window
The score window is the main document area within MuseScore. The score you
are working on is displayed here.
Any time you are working within the main window but the keyboard
focus is in the Inspector or somewhere else other than the score window,
the Esc key will return focus to the score window.
A score can be displayed in either of two views – Page View or Continuous View.
You can select between using a control in the File Operations toolbar. See
Navigation for more information.
In Page View, you see a view of the whole page, or as much of it as will fit given
your current zoom setting (also selected on the File Operations toolbar).
In Continuous View, you see a horizontally scrolling view.
Tabs
You can have several scores open at once. MuseScore displays tabs for each
open score at the top of the score window. In addition, if the current score
contains linked parts (see Parts), then a tab for each part is displayed underneath
the main tab for the score.
You can switch between scores using the shortcut Ctrl+Tab. You can also drag
and drop to reorder tabs.
Documents Side by Side & Documents Stacked

Not only can you have several scores open at once, but you can also view two
scores at once – or, just as importantly, two different views of the same score.
You can enable a side by side view using View / Documents Side By Side.
You can also enable a stacked view using View / Documents Stacked
Palettes
The Palettes are found at the left side of the main window. The Palettes contain
most of the markings that you will need for your score, beyond the actual notes
and rests.
Note that the image above shows only a subset of the available palettes.
Depending on your screen size and configuration, you may need to
scroll to see the rest.
By default, MuseScore displays a Basic workspace containing only a

minimal subset of the available palettes, and several of the palettes
similarly contain only a subset of the available elements. If you are
reading this book, however, I am assuming that you are probably
interested in more than just the basics. I recommend you take a moment
right now to change to the Advanced workspace using the control at the
bottom of the Palettes area.
You can also customize palettes, adding new elements to existing
palettes, rearranging them, or creating new palettes entirely. This is
discussed further in the chapter on Customization.
The individual palettes within the Palettes window can be expanded and
collapsed independently by simply clicking on their names. If you right-click the
title bar of the Palettes window, a context menu appears with the option Single
Palette. With this option disabled (the default), you can have multiple palettes
open at once.
If you enable this option, then opening one palette will automatically close
whichever palette was previously open.
There are generally two different ways to add items from the palette to your
score. Items can be added by dragging the icon from the palette to a specific
element in your score – typically a note or a measure. When using drag and
drop, take care to drop when the target highlights.
However, a much more efficient way to add palette items is to first select one or
more elements in your score, then double-click the palette icon. This is normally
equivalent to dragging the palette item to each of the selected elements.
Certain element types have special handling to allow you to apply a palette item
to a selected range as a whole rather than to each individual element. These
cases will be discussed as they come up.
The Palettes window can be enabled and disabled using View / Palettes or the
keyboard shortcut F9. It is resizable and can be undocked if desired.
Inspector
The Inspector is normally displayed on the right side of the main window.
The Inspector displays and allows you to alter many of the properties of the
elements in your score. The contents of the Inspector vary according to what
type of element is selected.
You can enable or disable the Inspector using View / Inspector or the keyboard
shortcut F8. It is resizable and can be undocked if desired.
Status Bar
The status bar at the bottom of the main window displays information about the
currently selected element as well as information about the current mode.
Optional Windows
In addition to dialog boxes that are used for specific tasks, MuseScore provides a
few more windows that you can display if you wish to access the controls they
provide.
Navigator
You can enable the Navigator using View / Navigator or the keyboard shortcut
F12. It is displayed at the bottom of the main window and is resizable but cannot
be undocked.
The Navigator gives you a thumbnail view of your entire score and shows you
which portion of the score is currently in view within the score window. For
more information, see Navigation.
Selection Filter
You can enable the Selection Filter using View / Selection Filter or the keyboard
shortcut F6. It is displayed on the left side of the main window and can be
resized or undocked if desired.
The Selection Filter allows you to control which element types are selected
when making range selections. It is resizable and can be undocked. For more
information, see Making Selections.
Master Palette
You can enable the Master Palette using View / Master Palette or the keyboard
shortcut Shift+F9. It is a separate window.
The Master Palette contains all of the markings supported by MuseScore and
includes one section labeled Symbols that contains hundreds of symbols that do
not appear on any of the standard palettes by default but can be added to your
score directly from the Master Palette. In addition, the Time Signatures and Key
Signatures sections allow you to define custom time and key signatures
respectively. See Key Signatures, Time Signatures, and Articulations and Other
Symbols.
Piano Keyboard
You can enable the Piano Keyboard using View / Piano Keyboard or the
keyboard shortcut P. It is displayed at the bottom of the main screen and can be
resized or undocked if desired.
The Piano Keyboard can be used during note input as an alternative to entering
notes using the mouse, the computer keyboard, or a MIDI keyboard. See
Entering Notes and Rests. It can also display music as it is played.
Mixer
You can display the Mixer using View / Mixer or the keyboard shortcut F10. It is
a separate window.
You can use the Mixer to select specific instrument sounds for playback (see
Staves and Instruments) as well as to control the relative volume, pan, and
effects settings for the different instruments (see Playback and Audio Output).
Play Panel
You can display the Play Panel using View / Play Panel or the keyboard shortcut
F11. It is a separate window.
The Play Panel contains additional playback controls, including count-in,
metronome, loop controls, etc. See Playback and Audio Output.
Although the Play Panel contains a slider marked Tempo, this is not the
way to set the overall tempo for a score. Tempo markings should
normally be placed directly on the score from the Tempo palette. See
Tempo Markings in the chapter on Text. The Tempo slider in the Play
Panel is for temporary overrides to the tempo, such as if you wish to
play the score more slowly for practice purposes.
Synthesizer
You can display the Synthesizer using View / Synthesizer. It is a separate window.
The Synthesizer controls the soundfonts and effects used by MuseScore for
playback. See Playback and Audio Output.
Accessibility
MuseScore strives to be as accessible as possible. While the Palettes and a few

other controls are not keyboard-friendly – so creating a score from scratch will
be a challenge for a blind user – most of the rest of the user interface is fully
accessible and provides screenreader feedback using NVDA. A blind musician
can use MuseScore as a score reader and converter, with some limited ability to
edit scores.
While a full discussion of the accessibility features of MuseScore is beyond the

scope of this book, interested users should consult the Accessibility section of
the documentation in Help / Online Handbook for the latest information.
Chapter 3:
Your First Score
In this chapter, I will walk you through the creation of a very simple score via a
“paint-by-numbers” type of approach. That is, I do not provide much in the way
of explaining how things work here. Instead, I simply tell you what to do, and
refer you to other relevant chapters where you can learn more.
The score we are creating is for a song many of us will remember from
childhood.
For this demonstration, we will start with the empty score that MuseScore
normally displays on start up. If you have already closed this and need to create
a new score, go to File / New to create one, then follow the prompts from there.
See Creating a New Score for more information.
Entering Notes
The first thing we will do is enter the notes for the first half of the song. To do
this, click somewhere within the first measure, then click the button on the
toolbar or use the keyboard shortcut N. This places MuseScore into Note input
mode. You can then begin entering the notes as follows:
1. Click the button on the toolbar, or use the keyboard shortcut 5

2. Type the letter name or click in the staff to enter the first note: E
This is what you should see:

Click or press 5, then type E
If you enter notes by typing the letter names – which is usually the most efficient
method – MuseScore tries to guess which octave you want based on the previous
notes you have entered. However, since you had not entered any notes yet, its
guess in this case is not what we wanted. Press Ctrl+Down (Mac: Cmd+Down)
to drop the note down an octave.

Press Ctrl+Down
From here on out, MuseScore should be able to figure out the octave correctly.
You may now continue entering the rest of the notes for the first measure: D, C,
D. Since they are all quarter notes (crotchets), you do not need to specify this
again – the duration already selected remains in effect. Just enter the notes, either
by typing or by clicking in the staff.

Type D C D
Notice that the cursor moves on to the next measure automatically.
If you make a mistake at any point in this demonstration, the easiest

thing to do for now is use the Undo command. You can use the
button on the toolbar or the standard keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z (Mac:
Cmd+Z). While in Note input mode, the Backspace key functions as an
Undo command as well. For more information on how to make
corrections or other changes to music you have already entered, see
Editing.
Continue entering notes into the second measure. The first two notes are quarter
notes (crotchets), so you can enter them immediately, but the last note is a half
note (minim). You will need to click the button on the toolbar or use the
keyboard shortcut 6 before entering the last note.

Type E E 6 E
The next measure is very similar. But since we now have the half note duration
selected, we need to switch back to the quarter note.

Type 5 D D 6 D
Enter the fourth measure in a similar manner.

Type 5 E G 6 G
At this point, leave Note input mode by pressing Esc (or pressing N, or clicking
the button on the toolbar) so we can turn our attention to the lyrics.
See Entering Notes and Rests for much more on note input.
Entering Lyrics
Now that we have the notes for the first four measures, we will turn our attention
to the lyrics. Press Esc to be sure you are no longer in Note input mode. Click
the first note and press Ctrl+L to enter Lyrics edit mode. You can then start
typing the lyrics normally, using a hyphen (-) to separate the syllables of “Ma-
ry” and typing a space (Space) between words.

Type “Ma-ry had a”
If you make a mistake while entering lyrics, you may notice that
Backspace returns to its usual function of deleting the character to the
left of the cursor, and Undo is not active at all. But you can press
Shift+Space to back up to the previous syllable.
The next three measures are entered just as easily – type “lit-tle lamb, lit-tle
lamb, lit-tle lamb.”
Press Esc once you get this far to leave Lyrics edit mode.
See Lyrics for more on entering lyrics.
Completing Note Input
The next two measures are so similar to the first two that I will use this as an
opportunity to show how copy and paste works.
First, click an empty spot in the first measure to select it. A blue rectangle
appears around the measure, showing that is selected. Then Shift+click an empty
spot in the second measure to extend the selection to encompass it as well.

Shift+click
For more on making selections, see Making Selections.
Once you have selected the region, press the standard shortcut Ctrl+C (Mac:
Cmd+C) to copy the selection to the clipboard.
To paste this selection to the second line of the song, click the rest in measure
five, then press the standard shortcut Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V) to paste the
contents of the clipboard to that location.

Press Ctrl+V
For more on copy and paste, see Editing.
If you compare what we have now to what we want, you will see it is not quite
right. The second measure of the pasted selection (measure six) should contain
four quarter notes, not two quarter notes and a half note. We need to change the
half note into a quarter. To do this, click the half note and then click the
button or use the keyboard shortcut 5.

Press 5
We can now continue entering the rest of the song. Click the quarter rest that
appears at the end of the measure and press N to enter Note input mode. You can
then enter more notes.

Type E D D E D
We will use a dotted half for the last note. Dots are part of the duration of a note,
so we will select this before entering the note itself. Click or use the
keyboard shortcut 6 to set the duration to half note, then click the or use the
keyboard shortcut . to specify that you want a dotted half note. Then enter the
final note.

Type 6 . C
You can now press Esc to leave Note input mode.
Next, enter the remaining lyrics. Click the first note without lyrics (the last note
of measure seven), press Ctrl+L, and type the remaining lyrics.
Press Esc again to leave Lyrics edit mode.
Cleanup
Our song is almost finished! We need to delete the extra measures we do not
need. To do this, click the first empty measure (measure 9), then Shift+click the
last measure of the piece or press Shift+Ctrl+End to select the rest of the
measures. Press Ctrl+Delete (Mac: Cmd+Delete) to delete these measures from
the score. Note that pressing Delete alone deletes the contents of selected
measures, but we need to delete the measures themselves. See Editing and
Measure Operations for more information.
Finally, we should enter the title and composer information. If you started from
the default empty score, double-click the placeholder title and type the actual
name of this song. If you created the empty score yourself using File / New and
did not enter a title at that time, you can give it a title now using Add / Text /
Title.
More is known about the authorship of this song than you might realize, so we
will enter this information now as well. Double-click the text “Composer” and
replace it with “Lowell Mason”. Then go to Add / Text / Lyricist and enter “Sarah
Josepha Hale”. See Text for more information on the text editing and formatting
capabilities of MuseScore. See Wikipedia for more information on the origin of
the song!
Playback
Although we could have done this at any point to listen to the work in progress –
and perhaps you did so even without being told – we can now listen to our song.
Click the button on the toolbar or press Space to hear the playback. It is not
very impressive to hear, of course, since this is just a simple melody. But as you
enter or download more complex scores, MuseScore will play those as well, and
it can create fairly realistic renditions of orchestras, jazz combos, rock bands,
and much more. See Playback and Audio Output for more information.
Moving On
Before we leave this demonstration, you may wish to save the song. Go to File /
Save or use the standard keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S, then choose a folder and
specify a file name for your song. MuseScore uses the file extension .mscz for
the scores you create.
MuseScore can, of course, create much more complex scores than this one –
scores with as many instruments as you care to write for, with as many measures
as you like, and with just about anything you might wish to include in terms of
time signatures, key signatures, articulations, chord symbols, and many other
types of markings. So let us move on now and learn about all that MuseScore
can do!
Part II:
Note Entry and Editing
Chapter 4:
Creating a New Score
The first thing you will probably want to do with MuseScore is start making
music, and the first step is creating a score. To create a new score, either click
the Create New Score icon in the Start Center if that is currently being displayed,
or go to File / New or use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+N (Mac: Cmd+N). This
brings up the Create New Score wizard.
In the first screen of this wizard, you can enter title, subtitle, composer, lyricist,
and copyright information for your score. By the way, if you leave any of these
fields blank, you can add them later, using Add / Text for the first four fields or
File / Score Properties for copyright.
Template Selection
After entering the basic information about your score, hit Next to move to the
next screen, which is where you will begin setting up your score.
Here, you can select from a collection of preconfigured scores of various types
such as solo piano, concert band, SATB choir, lead sheet, rock band, as well as
any custom templates you created and saved to your Templates folder (see the
section on Creating Templates in the chapter on File Operations). The templates
are grouped into categories for easy navigation, and a search box at the top of the
window can also help you find what you are looking for easily.
A template defines defaults for almost everything in your score. Most

significantly, it defines the list of instruments included in your score, but it also
defines page size and margins, staff size and spacing, fonts, and most other score
settings.
If you prefer to start from scratch rather than using a template, the Choose
Instruments option allows you to select the specific instruments you wish to
write for, using default settings for page size etc.
Instrument Selection
If you select the Choose Instruments option in the first screen of the Create New
Score wizard, then you are presented with the next screen, which enables you to
select and order the instruments in your score.
Adding instruments to your score
On the left is a list of all the instruments supported by MuseScore, grouped

according to family (e.g., woodwind, brass, keyboards). To add a staff for
trombone, for example, click Brass to open that group, then double-click
Trombone, or click Trombone then press Add .
By default, MuseScore shows only the most common instruments for each
family. The full list of instruments supported by MuseScore is much longer. If
you wish to add an instrument not on the list of Common instruments, you can
display the full list by selecting All instruments from the drop-down menu at the
top of the instrument list. There are also selections for jazz, orchestra, marching
band, early music, and other genres, so if one of those seems appropriate, you
may try selecting it in that drop-down menu to restrict the list to just the
instruments common in that world.
You can also use the search box at the bottom of the list to find an instrument if
you are not sure how it is classified. For instance, if you wish to write for
dulcimer but do not know what category MuseScore has it in, just start typing
that name into the search box, and MuseScore will automatically display any
matching instruments in the list above.
If an instrument you wish to write for is not included in the list anywhere, do not
worry. You can just add a similar instrument and later edit the properties for that
staff to change the name, transposition, playable range, and any other relevant
attributes to suit your needs. See the chapter on Staves and Instruments for more
information.
Modifying the list of instruments in your score
By default, MuseScore displays the instruments in the order you added them, but
you can reorder them as you see fit. Simply select an instrument and press either
Up or Down to move it higher or lower in the list.
You can also remove any instruments you added mistakenly, using the Remove
button.
Adding a staff to an instrument in your score
Instruments like the piano are normally written on two staves, and MuseScore
knows this. When you add piano as an instrument, you will see the two staves
listed. Most other instruments use only a single staff by default. But if you wish
to add a second (or third) staff to any given instrument, select a staff and then
click Add Staff to add a new staff below the selected one.
Adding a linked staff to an instrument in your score
Plucked stringed instruments like the guitar can be notated in standard notation
or in tablature. You can include both types of staves in the same score, and you
can link them so that entering or editing notes on one staff automatically updates
the other.
To create linked staves, first add the instrument normally, then click its staff and
press Add Linked Staff. A linked staff is added and defaults to the same staff
type (e.g., standard notation or tablature) as the staff it is linked to. However,
you can change the staff type using the drop-down menu.
It is possible to customize most aspects of an instrument definition – its
transposition, its clef, its staff type, and more – after score creation. See Staves
and Instruments for more information.
Key Signature and Tempo
Once you have selected a template or set up your instrument and staff list, press
Next to continue to the next screen of the wizard. This takes you to a screen
where you can select the initial key signature and tempo marking for your score.
The key signatures are shown as they appear in treble clef, but even if that is not
the clef you are most familiar with, it should be obvious which keys are which
by the number of flats or sharps. You can also hover your mouse over one of the
key signatures to display a tooltip.
The Tempo checkbox controls whether an initial tempo marking is displayed on

your score, and if enabled, you can select the initial tempo using the spin box
below.
Time Signature and Measures
When you are finished with the key signature and tempo screen, the Next button
takes you to the final screen, where you can select the initial time signature and
number of measures in your score.
The time signature can be specified using numbers or using the “cut time” or
“common time” symbols.
The pickup measure section enables you to specify the length of a pickup
(anacrusis) using time signature notation. If you want a half beat pickup, check
the Pickup Measure box and set the length to 1/8.
The final setting in this dialog enables you to specify the number of measures in
the piece. As the hint in the dialog says, you can add or remove measures later if
necessary.
When you are done with all settings, hit Finish and your score is created with
the instruments, key signature, tempo, time signature, pickup, and length you
specified. You are now ready to start entering notes!
Chapter 5:
Entering Notes and Rests
Note entry is the most used feature of any notation program, so it is important to
be comfortable with how it works. I would also recommend practicing along
with the examples in this chapter. You will probably spend more time entering
notes and rests than doing anything else in MuseScore, so you should understand
the process as well as possible. The note entry system in MuseScore is very
efficient, but if you are accustomed to other notation programs, it may take some
time to adjust to the differences.
Notes and rests are added to a score via the aptly-named Note input mode. To
enter Note input mode, hit the Esc key if necessary to make sure you are not in
some other input or editing mode, click the score where you would like to start
entering notes, and then click the icon at the left edge of the note input
toolbar.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut N to enter Note input mode, or the menu
Notes / Note Input.
You can leave Note input mode the same way you got in – using the toolbar icon
or the keyboard shortcut. Pressing the Esc key also works to return you to
Normal mode from Note input or any other mode.
Once you are in Note input mode, you can start entering notes and rests into your
score. MuseScore provides several different methods for doing this:
Clicking on a staff using your mouse

Typing using your computer keyboard
Using the built-in Piano Keyboard
Using a MIDI keyboard
These methods all work the same basic way. First you select the duration, and
then you enter the notes or rests. The selected duration remains in effect until
you change it, enabling you to quickly enter a whole series of notes and rests of
the same duration.
There are actually several different Note input modes that will be
discussed in this chapter. The default is Step-time note input mode, and
that is what we will focus on. In Step-time note input mode, notes are
entered one at a time by first selecting the duration and then the pitch, as
mentioned above. MuseScore also supports a mode (see Rhythm Input
Mode) in which you first enter durations for an entire passage and then
go back and enter pitches, as well as two modes (see Automatic Real-
time Note Input Mode and Manual Real-time Note Input Mode) in which
you can play music in time on a MIDI device and have MuseScore
transcribe it for you. Although we cover the other modes at the end of
this chapter, we focus mostly on Step-time note input mode in this book,
and the concepts you learn about in this mode will apply to the other
modes as well.
When switching between note input modes, the note input button on the
toolbar will change from to a different icon depending on which of
the note input modes you have selected. This icon will be highlighted
when you are actually in the selected note input mode, as shown above.
You will also see an indication in the status bar at the bottom of the
screen, and a special note input cursor (a blue box) will appear to
indicate where notes or rests will be entered.
Selecting Duration
As with many actions in MuseScore, you can select a duration by clicking with
your mouse or by typing on your computer keyboard.
In this book, I often describe how to do things via the mouse first. But
do yourself a favor and learn to use the keyboard shortcuts that I also
describe where appropriate. These can be much more efficient.
Selecting duration using the mouse
To select a duration using your mouse, simply click the icon on the note input
toolbar. The icon highlights to indicate it has been selected.
Notice that as you hover your mouse pointer over an icon, the name of the note
value and the keyboard shortcut appear in a tooltip, as shown above.
Even if you are planning to enter a rest rather than a note, you will still
use the duration icons with pictures of notes on them. The process of
entering rests is described in Entering Rests below.
Also, notice that the icon for eighth note (quaver) shows a single note
with a flag rather than beamed notes. You will use this same icon for all
eighth notes (quavers); MuseScore handles the beaming automatically.
You can customize the default beaming as explained in the section
Setting the default beaming in the chapter on Time Signatures, and you
can also override it on a note-by-note basis as explained in the section on
To control beaming in the chapter on Editing.
To add a dot to the selected duration, click the dot icon after selecting the basic
note value. The note value icon and dot icons will both remain highlighted.
Clicking the dot again will unselect it. Changing note values will also unselect
the dot. This is normally just as you would want. For instance, after entering a
dotted quarter note, the next note you enter is likely to be an eighth note, with no
dot. There is also a double dot icon on the toolbar that acts the same way.
Selecting duration using the computer keyboard
To select a duration using your computer keyboard, press the key corresponding
to the desired note value.
When you press a duration shortcut key, the corresponding icon on the toolbar is
automatically selected.
You can see which keys correspond to which note values by hovering your
mouse pointer over an icon. But the keys are laid out in a straightforward way
that is very simple to learn. The numbers 4, 5, and 6 correspond to the
commonly used note values of eighth note (quaver), quarter note (crotchet), and
half note (minim). Memorize that, and you can figure out anything else from
there.
To add a dot to the selected duration, press the keyboard shortcut .. Like the
corresponding toolbar icon, the shortcut acts as a toggle.
There is no keyboard shortcut for double dot by default, as double dots are less
common and in fact are actively discouraged by some publishers. But as with
many commands in MuseScore, it is possible to define your own shortcut via
Edit / Preferences / Shortcuts. For that matter, you can even define a shortcut for
a triple dot, even though there is no icon for this on the toolbar. See the section
on Shortcuts in the chapter on Customization for more.
Selecting duration using a MIDI keyboard
If you have a MIDI keyboard, you can configure it so that particular keys will
select durations rather than enter notes. For more information on how to set this
up, see the section on Note Input in the chapter on Customization.
Entering Notes
Once you have entered Note input mode and selected a duration, you can start
entering notes. As mentioned previously, MuseScore supports several different
methods for doing this. The duration you selected will remain in effect until you
change it.
To enter notes using your mouse, click where you want the note to appear. A
note of the currently selected duration will appear at that location.

Click
The note you place will honor the current key signature and any previous
accidentals in the measure. Thus, if the key signature or a previous accidental
indicates that a C really means C♯, then a C♯ will actually be added when you
click a line or space corresponding to C. The same is true when adding notes via
your computer keyboard. That is to say, when you add a note by clicking or
typing, it will not appear with an accidental, but it will honor the key signature
and any previous accidentals in the measure.

Click
To add accidentals, see the section Accidentals.
Be careful to position the mouse pointer accurately both vertically (correct staff
line or space) and horizontally (correct time position), as MuseScore will attempt
to add the note at the position where you click. You may find it helps to zoom in
on the score a little more than you might otherwise to make it easier to place the
pointer precisely. You can zoom by holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while using the
mouse scroll wheel or by using the drop-down menu in the toolbar.
Regardless of the zoom setting, it can be difficult to add notes that are several
ledger lines above or below a given staff, as MuseScore may think you are trying
to add a note to a different staff. To work around this, enter the note anywhere
you can, then move the note up or down as appropriate. MuseScore provides a
variety of keyboard commands that can move the most recently entered note.
Perhaps the most useful in this context are Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down (Mac:
Cmd+Up and Cmd+Down), which move the note up or down an octave. So to
enter a note an octave below middle C, you could first enter the middle C and
then press Ctrl+Down.

Press Ctrl+Down
Other useful shortcuts include Alt+Shift+Up and Alt+Shift+Down, which

change the pitch of the most recently entered note diatonically by step (e.g., from
C to D in the key of C, skipping C♯). See the chapter on Editing for more
information on altering the pitch of a note once it has been entered.
You may notice some notes you enter are colored red or dark yellow (a
dull green). This is how MuseScore informs you that the notes you have
entered are outside the actual range of the instrument (red), or at least
difficult for amateurs to produce (dark yellow).

See the chapter Staves and Instruments for information on customizing

when these warnings are displayed.
To enter notes using your computer keyboard, simply press the letter name A - G
corresponding to the pitch you want. The note will be entered at the cursor
position and the cursor will then move to the right, just as when typing ordinary
text. For example, by typing C, you can enter a C:

Type C
Keyboard input can be very efficient – you can enter notes as fast as you can
type. Remember, after selecting the duration, you can then enter a whole series
of notes that all have that same duration. The example below shows how you
would enter the first few notes of Mary Had A Little Lamb once you are in Note
input mode.
When entering notes by typing their letter names, MuseScore chooses the closest
octave for each note. This makes entering melodies consisting of steps and small
leaps easy, but it means there is an extra step required to enter larger leaps. For
instance, in the example above, after entering the E in the last measure, typing G
entered the G above that, since it is closest. Small leaps are more common than
large ones, so this is usually a good thing. But if you want to leap down to the G
below the E, you will need to lower its pitch an octave using Ctrl+Down.

Press Ctrl+Down
See Editing for more information on commands to alter pitches
If you move your mouse around the score while in Note input mode, you
will see that a “shadow” notehead reflecting the note value you have
selected follows the mouse pointer. For instance, when you select a half
note (minim) as the duration, MuseScore displays the appropriate
notehead as you move the mouse pointer.
However, I recommend moving the mouse pointer out of the way – even
off the page – while entering notes using the computer keyboard, MIDI,
or the Piano Keyboard. The note input cursor, not the mouse pointer, is
what will determine where notes are entered using these forms of input.
The shadow note just gets in the way when not using the mouse.
Entering notes using the Piano Keyboard
To use the Piano Keyboard, first enable it if necessary via View / Piano
Keyboard (keyboard shortcut P).
After selecting a duration you can simply click a note on the piano keyboard to
enter it. One advantage to this method is that you can easily enter notes in any
octave with no extra steps required. Another is that you can enter notes with
accidentals directly by simply playing a note that would require one. MuseScore
automatically figures out which notes need accidentals, and it will guess the
proper spelling based on the key.

See the section on Accidentals for more information.
You can resize the Piano Keyboard by using Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) plus the mouse
scroll wheel.
Entering notes using a MIDI keyboard
To enter notes using a MIDI keyboard, first make sure it is plugged in to your
computer. Restart MuseScore after plugging in the keyboard in order for
MuseScore to recognize it.
Once your MIDI keyboard is connected and recognized, you can use it just like
the Piano Keyboard – select a duration, then and play the keys corresponding to
the notes you want. Note that you cannot simply play in rhythm and have
MuseScore figure out the note values. You still have to tell MuseScore the
duration of each note before entering it. But in addition to the advantages MIDI
input shares with the Piano Keyboard (entering notes in any octave, entering
notes with accidentals), a MIDI keyboard enables you to enter a whole chord at
once (see Chords below). You can also configure particular keys to select
duration or perform other tasks that would normally require you to click or type.
For more information, see the section on Note Input in the chapter on
Customization.
Accidentals
Accidentals include all sharps, flats, naturals, double sharps, double flats, and
microtonal adjustment symbols placed in front of individual notes (as opposed to
flats and sharps that are part of the key signature). An ordinary accidental has the
effect of changing the pitch of a note from what would be expected according to
the key signature and/or any previous accidentals in the measure. There are also
courtesy accidentals that simply serve as a reminder of the pitch after a previous
change; these do not actually alter the pitch. MuseScore supports both types of
accidental.
As mentioned above, when entering notes using the mouse or computer

keyboard, accidentals are never added at first. So if you wish to add an
accidental to a note, you need to add it after entering the note. Although
accidentals are added automatically as needed when entering notes via the Piano
Keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, you may need to correct the spelling sometimes.
This can be done by pressing the J key, as we will see shortly.
Ordinary accidentals
To add an ordinary accidental to the most recently added note, you can click the
appropriate icon on the note input toolbar.
You can also use the Up or Down keys to raise or lower the pitch, which causes
MuseScore to calculate and add the necessary accidental for you.

Click or press Down
In general, the Up key spells accidentals with sharps whereas Down spells with
flats. However, MuseScore will always prefer a spelling that is in the key. So for
instance, you are not able to enter an A♭ in the key of E by entering an A then
pressing Down – it will automatically be respelled as G♯ because that is in the
key. You can enter the A♭ directly using the toolbar, but you can also change a
G♯ into an A♭ by pressing J to change the spelling of the note. See Changing
pitch in the chapter on Editing for more information.

Press J
You can also use the icons in the Accidentals palette, which gives you
access to various microtonal accidentals as well.
As with most palette icons, you apply one either by double-clicking it or

by dragging from the palette to any desired note in the score. Adding an
accidental via the palette has the same effect as adding one via the
toolbar.
After adding an accidental, it remains in effect for notes you enter in the rest of
the measure, in accordance with standard rules of notation. You only need to
enter an accidental where you actually want one to appear in your score.
So if your score is in C major, and you enter an F♯ followed by an F on that

same line or space later in the measure, it is automatically understood to be an
F♯. It will be displayed with no accidental because the previous accidental
remains in effect. If you wish to enter an F♮, enter the F (which will be
understood at first to be F♯) and then use the icon on the toolbar to explicitly
change it to F♮.

Click or press Down
Courtesy accidentals
The rules of notation say that an accidental lasts only until the end of the current
measure, so a note altered by an accidental in one measure returns to normal in
the next. However, it is considered good practice to add “courtesy” (aka
“cautionary” or “reminder”) accidentals where there is any chance of confusion.
For example, in the following passage, the F♯ carries through to the end of the
first measure but is canceled by the barline, so the F in the second measure is F♮.
It would be easy for a human musician to miss this when reading, however. The
standard recommendation is to add an explicit courtesy natural sign on the F in
the second measure even though it is not technically required. Courtesy
accidentals can be added using the appropriate icon on the toolbar or on the
palette. So in this case, you would click the icon after entering the F in the
second measure to add an explicit accidental.

Click
This natural sign has no actual effect on the music – that F was already an F♮
because the barline cancels the previous sharp. But the courtesy accidental
greatly reduces the likelihood of reading errors. The Up and Down keys cannot
be used to create courtesy accidentals. But you can define keyboard shortcuts for
the toolbar accidentals as described in Shortcuts in the chapter on Customization.
Some people like to use parentheses around courtesy accidentals to avoid

possible confusion. If you wish to add parentheses around an accidental, you can
apply them from the Accidentals palette, but you need to leave Note input mode
to do it or else the parentheses will be added to the note rather than the
accidental. Once you are back in Normal mode, click the accidental and then
double-click the parentheses icon in the palette.

Double-click ()
You can also use the Has bracket property in the Inspector to add parentheses to
an accidental.
The difference in effect between using the arrow keys for accidentals
versus using the toolbar or palette icons can sometimes be confusing, but
it need not be if you keep this distinction in mind:
The arrow keys always change the pitch of a note, whether that produces
an explicit accidental or not. The toolbar and palette icons always add an
explicit accidental to a note, whether that changes the pitch of the note
or not. For this reason, I normally think of the arrow keys as the best
way to create regular accidentals, and I use the icons only for courtesy
accidentals. But you can use these commands however you like as you
long as you keep the basic distinction in mind: arrow keys always
change pitch, icons always add explicit accidentals.
Chords
A chord is normally defined as multiple notes that share a single stem. Internally,
MuseScore treats all notes as chords – a single note is just a chord of one note.
This will become more relevant when we look at the various properties you can
set in the Inspector, where some properties belong to the note and others to the
chord.
In this section, when I use the word ”chord,” I am describing how to add
multiple notes that share a single stem. By the way, it is also possible to have
multiple notes that sound at the same time but do not share a stem. This is
described below in the section Multiple Voices.
To create a chord in MuseScore using any of the available input methods except
MIDI, start by adding the first note normally. You can then enter additional notes
onto that same chord as described below. For MIDI input, you can actually enter
the whole chord at once.
Entering chords using the mouse
To add notes to a chord using your mouse, simply position your mouse pointer
and then click.

Click
When building chords using this method, you can add notes in any order.
Entering chords using the computer keyboard
To add notes to a chord using your computer keyboard, hold Shift while typing
the letter name for note to add it to the current chord.

Type Shift+G
When you press Shift plus a letter, MuseScore normally builds the chord from
the bottom up. You may need to use Ctrl+Down – or occasionally Ctrl+Up –
after adding a note, to change the octave.
MuseScore provides other useful keyboard shortcuts that can be used to build
chords. Instead of specifying additional notes by letter name, you can build
chords by interval. Alt plus a number adds the corresponding interval above the
chord. So you could also create the above examples by typing C Alt+5 (since G
is a fifth above C).
MuseScore also has commands to build a chord top down rather than
bottom up, but there are no keyboard shortcuts defined for these
commands by default. In previous releases of MuseScore, Shift plus a
number would perform this function, but these shortcuts conflict with
the note duration shortcuts on keyboards that require Shift just to access
the numbers. If these keys are available on your keyboard, they make a
natural choice for these commands (Enter second below et al). See
Shortcuts in the chapter on Customization for information on how to
customize your keyboard shortcuts.
Another shortcut that comes in handy when entering chords is R, for repeat.
When used in Note input mode, this repeats the current note or chord. For
example, you might type G Alt+3 Alt+3 Alt+3 to enter a G dominant seventh
chord, but after that you can simply press R to repeat the entire chord.

Type R
Entering chords using the Piano Keyboard
You can add a note to a chord using the Piano Keyboard by pressing Shift while
clicking the note you would like to add.
Entering chords using a MIDI keyboard
To enter chords using a MIDI keyboard, simply play the chord. As long as you
hold all the notes at the same time, they will be entered as a single chord.
Ties
Like many other elements in MuseScore, ties can be created by clicking or by

typing. The process is similar either way:
1. Enter first note normally

2. Select duration for second note
3. Enter the tie
You can enter the tie by clicking the icon on the toolbar or by typing the
keyboard shortcut +. Either way, a new note is entered at the same pitch as the
first and the two are tied automatically.

Type 5 +
This also works for chords. After entering the first chord, the tie command will
automatically enter new notes at the same pitches and tie them all.

Type 5 +
MuseScore can create ties across barlines automatically where necessary. For
instance, say you are on beat 4 of a 4/4 measure with the half note (minim)
selected as the duration. If you try to enter a note, MuseScore will automatically
enter a quarter note (crotchet) on beat 4 tied to another on beat 1 of the next
measure.

Type 6 C
A tie is used to connect two notes of the same pitch, to denote that the
duration of the first is to be extended by that of the second. Do not
confuse ties with slurs, which look similar but which connect multiple
notes of different pitches, to indicate that they are to be played smoothly.
See Slurs in the chapter on Articulations and Other Symbols for more
information.
Entering Rests
Rests are entered much like notes: first you select the duration, then you enter
the rests. You select the duration exactly as you do for notes, and in fact, once
you have selected a duration, you can enter any number of notes and rests as
long as they all have the same duration. However, while entering rests via the
computer keyboard works much like entering notes, entering rests using the
mouse works a little differently.
Entering rests using the computer keyboard
To enter rests using your computer keyboard, first select the duration as usual,
then use the shortcut 0 to enter a rest at the current cursor position. This is just
like how you enter notes, except instead of typing a letter A - G, you use the
number 0.

Type 5 0
Entering rests using the mouse
To enter rests using your mouse, after selecting the duration you must also press
the icon on the toolbar before clicking in the score. This icon will be
highlighted along with the duration and will remain highlighted and in effect
until you toggle it off or change durations.
Notice that the icon displays a collage of different rests, but do not be fooled –
you will use this same icon to enter any type of rest. The duration icons tell you
the value of the rest you are about to enter. The mouse pointer also shows you an
image of the rest that will be entered. Clicking in the score enters a rest of the
currently selected duration.

Click
Entering rests using a MIDI keyboard
To enter rests using a MIDI keyboard, see Note Input in the chapter on
Customization for more information. Basically, you will configure a key of your
choice to enter a rest rather than the note it would normally add.
Measures start off by default with a full measure rest, so you do not need
to enter whole rests for empty measures. As you enter notes into a
measure, they “steal” time from that default rest, so that full measure
rest is replaced by rests representing the amount of time left in the
measure. This happens automatically, but you still normally need to
enter rests manually when you want them anywhere else within a
measure.
Tuplets
A tuplet is a grouping of notes that divides the beat into a different number of
equal divisions than is usual for the time signature. This includes a division of
the beat into three or five equal parts in a simple meter like 4/4, or a division of
the beat into two or four equal parts in a compound meter like 6/8. You can even
have tuplets nested within other tuplets. MuseScore supports almost any kind of
tuplet you can think of.
Creating triplets
You can enter basic triplets as follows:
1. Select the duration representing the total length of the triplet

2. Press Ctrl+3 (Mac: Cmd+3) or use Notes / Tuplet / Triplet to divide that
length into thirds
3. Enter notes or rests normally
So to create an eighth note triplet – three eighth notes (quavers) in the space of
one beat – you would first select the quarter note (crotchet) as the total duration
by clicking or pressing 5, then create the triplet by pressing Ctrl+3.

Press 5 Ctrl+3
Then you can enter the notes.

Type C D E
Or, for quarter note triplets – three quarter notes (crotchets) in the space of two
beats – you would first select the half note (minim) as the duration by clicking
or pressing 6, then create the triplet by pressing Ctrl+3.

Press 6 Ctrl+3
Once you have created a tuplet, you can enter other arrangements of notes within
it. For example, a common variation on the triplet is a quarter note taking the
space of the first two eighths followed by an eighth. To enter this, create the
triplet normally with 5 Ctrl+3, then enter a quarter note followed by an eighth
by typing 5 C 4 D.

Type 5 C 4 D
Creating other tuplets
The same process applies for other more complex tuplets: first select the
duration corresponding to the total length of the tuplet, then press Ctrl (Mac:
Cmd) plus the key corresponding to the number of equal parts you want that
duration divided into, or use the Notes / Tuplets menu.
So to enter a tuplet consisting of four quarter notes in the space of three beats,
first select the dotted half as the duration, then press Ctrl+4.

Press 6 . Ctrl+4
As shown in the example at the top of this section, you can create nested tuplets
(tuplets within tuplets). The inner tuplet is entered the same way as the outer:
select total duration, then Ctrl plus the number of equal units into which you
wish to divide that duration.

Press Ctrl+3
If you need the duration divided into more than nine equal parts, or to create
other more complex tuplets, you can use Notes / Tuplets / Other to bring up a
dialog box with more options.
As you can see, this dialog lets you control whether the tuplet is displayed with a
simple number with a ratio, or with no numeric indication, and also whether a
bracket is used or not. The example below was created using the settings shown
above.
The meaning of the various options in this dialog is as follows:
Number
Number – display tuplet with a number (eg, 3)
Relation – display tuplet with a ratio (eg, 3:2)
Nothing – display tuplet with no number or ratio
Bracket
Auto bracket – display tuplet with no bracket for simple beamed tuplets,
with bracket for more complex tuplets
Bracket – display tuplet with bracket
Nothing – display tuplet with no bracket
The appearance of tuplets can also be customized as described in Changing

Appearance and Behavior in the chapter Editing.
Multiple Voices
When you want to have two different rhythms at the same time in the same staff,
use multiple voices. Do not be fooled by the name – this is not something that
applies only to vocal music. In fact, it is at least as common in piano and guitar
music. For example, in the following excerpt, notice how the notes with stems
up form one distinct part with its own rhythm, while the notes with stems down
form another.
To accomplish this in MuseScore, you need to enter the notes as separate voices.
Note entry in multiple voices
MuseScore supports up to four voices per staff, numbered 1–4. By default, all
notes you enter are in voice 1, and stem direction is handled automatically
according to the usual conventions of music notation. But MuseScore
automatically adjusts stem directions for any measure that contains notes in
multiple voices: voices 1 and 3 point up, 2 and 4 point down. So the previous
example would be created by entering the upstem notes in voice 1 and the
downstem notes in voice 2.
To enter notes into a specific voice, click the appropriate voice icon on the note
input toolbar after entering Note input mode but before entering the notes, or use
the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt (Mac: Cmd+Alt) plus the number. The icon
stays highlighted as shown above, and the note input cursor changes color
accordingly.

Press Ctrl+Alt+2
The general procedure for entering notes in multiple voices is as follows:
1. Press N if necessary to enter Note input mode

2. Enter the notes for voice 1
3. Navigate back to start point
4. Press Ctrl+Alt+2 to change to voice 2
5. Enter the notes for voice 2
The stem and rest positions adjust automatically for voice 1 as soon you start
entering notes into voice 2.

Type 4 C
Layout with multiple voices
MuseScore handles most potential collisions between notes and rests in different
voices correctly, adjusting positions of elements according to standard
conventions of music notation.
Depending on what is going on in the music, it might be necessary to override

the default positions of notes, stems, or rests. For more information on how to do
this, see Changing Appearance and Behavior in the chapter on Editing.
This is especially likely when using more than two voices in the same staff. As
mentioned above, MuseScore supports four voices per staff. They all work the
same way: while in Note input mode, navigate to the desired location, change to
the desired voice, and start entering notes. Voice 3 defaults to stems up, voice 4
to stems down. Of course, this means that it may be hard to distinguish voices 1
and 3 because they both have the same direction, and the same for voices 2 and
4. This is an inherent difficulty with music notation, and it is up to you to figure
out how you want the music to look. Sometimes you can solve these problems
by deliberately pointing stems in the “wrong” direction for the voice. Other
times you may choose to nudge a note slightly to the left or right to avoid
colliding with another note in a different voice.
It is usually best to deal with these issues after initial note entry.
Hiding and deleting unneeded rests
In most cases, multiple voices are used consistently throughout the measure.
Even if a voice rests for part of a measure, as in the first measure of the above
example, it is usually best to show the rests. Occasionally you may encounter
situations where this is unnecessary, however. In these cases, the best thing to do
is to enter the part with the rests but then hide them. Rests, like notes and indeed
most score elements, can be hidden after entry by pressing V or by unchecking
Visible in the Inspector (see Changing Appearance and Behavior in the chapter
on Editing). Invisible elements remain in a grayed-out state when viewing your
score on your computer screen, so you can still work with them. But they will
not print or appear when exporting your score to PDF or any other graphic
format. You can also delete rests in voices other than 1, but this leaves “holes” in
the score that can cause problems if you wish to later edit the measure, so I
recommend hiding the rests instead.
In the example below, the eighth notes on beat 4 in the following are the only
things that you need to see in voice 2, so you can safely hide the leading rests in
that voice.
Grace Notes
Grace notes are small notes attached to a main note that are played as ornaments.
MuseScore supports a variety of grace note types, including acciaccaturas (a
grace note with a slash through the stem, intended to be played very fast) and
appoggiaturas (a grace note without the slash, intended to take half the value of
the main note). Grace notes are normally placed before the main note to which
they apply, but MuseScore also supports grace notes placed after the main note
(used for trill endings, for example).
MuseScore respects the difference between acciaccaturas and

appoggiaturas during playback, so use the proper type.
Entering grace notes
Grace notes are added using the Grace Notes palette.

If you do not see all of the grace notes shown here and miss them, be sure to
select the Advanced workspace in the menu at the bottom of the palettes.
To add a grace note, first enter the main note to which the grace note should be
attached, then double-click one of the icons on the Grace Note palette (or drag it
from the palette to the note). This creates a grace note of the same pitch as the
main note.

Double-click
Once you have added the grace note, you can use the arrow keys to move it up or
down.

Press Down
This process is the same regardless of the type of grace note being added.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut / to enter an acciaccatura. Shortcuts for
the other grace notes are not defined by default, but you can define them
yourself as described in Shortcuts in the chapter on Customization.
To add the slur often used to connect a grace note to the main, press the
keyboard shortcut S after entering the grace note. See Slurs in the chapter on
Articulations and Other Symbols for more information.
Multiple grace notes
To add multiple grace notes to the same main note, you can add grace notes to
the main note one at a time. Subsequent grace notes are added the same way as
the first: via drag and drop, by double-clicking a palette icon, or using keyboard
shortcut.

Double-click
You can form chords of grace notes in the same manner as for regular notes –
press Shift plus a letter to add the specified pitch or Alt plus a number to add the
specified interval.

Press Shift+6
Cross-Staff Notation
In piano music, we sometimes see a group of notes on one staff that logically
belong to another. This is commonly done to avoid ledger lines or to show which
hand should play which notes in an independent musical voice.
To create this cross-staff notation in MuseScore, enter the notes on the staff they
that they logically belong to, but then press Ctrl+Shift+Up or
Ctrl+Shift+Down (Mac: Cmd+Shift+Up or Cmd+Shift+Down) to move the
notes to the staff above or below, respectively.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Down
If you wish to move a small number of notes, doing this one note at a time in
Note input mode is fine. But to move an entire passage to another staff, you are
probably better off entering the notes normally first, then leaving Note input
mode and selecting and moving them all at once, as described in the chapters
Making Selections and Editing.
When using cross-staff notation with beamed notes, you may wish to adjust the
position of the beam. For more information on how to do this, see Changing
Appearance and Behavior in the chapter Editing.
Rhythm Input Mode
As discussed previously, MuseScore supports several different note input modes.

Up until now we have been looking at Step-time note input mode, in which you
enter notes one at a time by selecting a duration and then a pitch. Now we will
turn our attention to the Rhythm input mode, in which you can enter durations
for a series of notes and then go back and enter the pitches.
To invoke the Rhythm input mode, select it using the drop-down menu next to
the note input button. The icon for the note input button will change to reflect the
selected mode.
To enter notes in this mode, simply click one of the duration buttons or press one
of the duration shortcuts. A note of that duration will immediately be entered on
the middle of the staff – you do not need to specify a pitch. You can enter as
many notes in a row this way as you like.

Press 5 4 4 6
To enter rests, click the button or press 0. Now, instead of entering notes,
clicking or pressing a duration button or key will enter a rest. To switch back to
entering notes, just click or press 0 again.

Press 5 0 5 4 0 . 5
In the example above, I entered a dotted quarter by selecting the dot first and
then pressing 5. The dot will stay selected until you turn it off again. So, to enter
a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth, you must select the dot, enter the eighth,
unselect the dot, then enter the sixteenth.

Press . 4 . 3
Ties need to be entered in two stages. After entering the note, enter the duration
you wish to tie to, which will actually add a second note. Then hit the left cursor
key twice to move back to the first note and press the tie button to tie the two
notes.

Press 4 Left Left +
Tuplets also require you to first enter an actual note representing the full duration
of the tuplet, then cursor back and divide it as desired.

Press 5 Left Ctrl+3
Once you have entered the rhythms for a passage using this method, you can
then enter the pitches using Re-pitch mode. See the section on Re-Pitch mode in
the chapter on Editing for more information.
Automatic Real-time Note Input Mode
MuseScore provides a limited form of real-time MIDI input via two additional
note input modes. In this section, we will look at the Automatic real-time note
input mode, in which you can simply play in time along with a metronome and
MuseScore will transcribe both your pitches and your rhythms.
It should be noted that there are difficulties inherent in trying to

transcribe music from MIDI performance. For one thing, even in step-
time input, MIDI does not convey information about how to spell
accidentals, so programs have to guess if you want to spell a note as C♯
or D♭. But when trying to transcribe music in real-time, programs also
have to make guesses regarding rhythms – it is unlikely you will be
playing notes precisely on the desired beats and for the desired
durations.
The real-time note input modes provided by MuseScore attempt to

simplify the rhythm problem by having you select the shortest duration
you wish to use and by disallowing tuplets. While this is not a perfect
solution, it does allow you to focus more on entering the music and less
on how accurately you play your rhythms.
To invoke the Automatic real-time note input mode, select it using the drop-
down menu next to the note input button. The icon for the note input button will
change to reflect the selected mode.
After entering this mode, select the duration corresponding to the shortest note
you wish to enter. You can then press the Enter key on the numeric keypad to
start the metronome.
You can customize the command used to start the metronome by setting
the MIDI remote control for Real-time advance and/or the keyboard
shortcut for Move the cursor forward in real-time input mode. You can
also customize the speed of the metronome via the Delay between notes
in automatic Real-time mode setting in Edit / Preferences / Note Input.
See the sections on Note Input and Shortcuts in the chapter on
Customization for more information.
Once the metronome is started, you can play your MIDI device in time and
MuseScore will attempt to transcribe the rhythms. As you hold down a note, you
will see that MuseScore uses ties to increase the length of the note.

Play C for three beats
Rhythms will be respelled according to standard rules of notation when you

complete the measure.

Play D for one beat
When you are done with a given passage, you can stop the metronome the same
way you started it, or you can exit Automatic real-time note input mode.
You do not actually have to start the metronome in order to use this
mode. Simply by playing a note on your MIDI device, the metronome
will automatically advance for as long you hold the note, allowing you
to enter notes of any desired duration. The metronome will stop when
you release the note, allowing you to enter the next note when you are
ready, or to enter a rest manually. For some people, this hybrid between
real-time and step-time entry could be a very natural and efficient way of
working. But the Manual real-time note input mode discussed below
may be an even better choice for this type of usage.
Manual Real-time Note Input Mode
The Manual real-time note input mode is similar to Automatic real-time, except
that the metronome does not advance automatically. Instead, it depends on you
to give the command to advance the metronome beat by beat. By default the
command to advance the metronome is the Enter key on the numeric keyboard,
but I strongly encourage you to customize this to accept a MIDI foot pedal as
described in the section on Note Input in the chapter on Customization. Then you
can simply tap your foot to control the tempo. You can tap as fast or slow as you
like, allowing you to work quickly in simple passages and more carefully in
complex ones.
To invoke the Manual real-time note input mode, select it using the drop-down
menu next to the note input button. The icon for the note input button will
change to reflect the selected mode.
After entering this mode, select the shortest duration as with the Automatic real-
time note input mode, and then begin entering notes, advancing the metronome
as you go by tapping the appropriate key or using the pedal (assuming you have
set this up).
It is important to note that the duration you select is the amount by which the
metronome advances. So, with quarter note selected as the duration, three taps
equals three quarter notes.

Press 5, play and hold C, tap pedal three times, release note
However, with eighth note selected as the duration, then three taps equals three
eighth notes.

Press 4, play and hold C, tap pedal three times, release note
To enter rests, simply advance the metronome without playing a note.

Press 4, play C, tap, release C, play D, tap, release D, tap, play E, tap, release E
Shortcuts
Note entry using the keyboard can be extremely efficient if you take advantage
of the shortcuts. Here is a list of the shortcuts we have covered in this chapter.
1 - 9 – select duration
. – toggle augmentation dot
A - G – enter pitch
0 – enter rest
Up – raise pitch a semitone
Down – lower pitch a semitone
Ctrl+Up – raise pitch an octave
Ctrl+Down – lower pitch an octave
Alt+Shift+Up – raise pitch a step diatonically
Alt+Shift+Down – lower pitch a step diatonically
J – change enharmonic spelling
Shift plus letter (A - G) – add note to chord
Alt plus number (1 - 9) – add interval above to chord
+ – create tie
Ctrl+2 - Ctrl+9 – create tuplet
Ctrl+Alt+1 - Ctrl+Alt+4 – switch to specified voice
/ – add acciaccatura (grace note)
Ctrl+Shift+Up – move note or rest to previous staff of instrument
Ctrl+Shift+Down – move note or rest to next staff of instrument
Remember, on Mac OS, you need to substitute Cmd for Ctrl and
Option for Alt.
Chapter 6:
Navigation
MuseScore provides many ways of moving around your score. Most of these
work in both Note input mode as well as Normal mode, although there are a few
differences that I will discuss as we come to them.
Page Navigation
MuseScore can handle scores that are arbitrarily large – hundreds of measures or
more. Clearly, these will not normally fit on screen all at once. And even for
scores of a single page, unless you reduce the zoom level, the entire page will
not usually fit. So you will need ways of moving the page within the visible
window and of moving from page to page. In this section, I will present a
number of different navigation controls provided by MuseScore.
While editing and during playback, the score normally scrolls

automatically to track your current location. You can disable this by
disabling the (Pan score automatically) button on the toolbar. This
allows you to keep the score focused in one location or to scroll
manually instead.
Zoom settings
MuseScore normally displays your score at 100% scale, which should

approximate the actual size at which your score will print (although this may
depend in part on your monitor resolution). You can zoom in or out using the
drop-down menu on the toolbar.
You can also use the Ctrl key with your mouse wheel (or equivalent touch
gesture) to zoom the score in and out, or the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl++ and
Ctrl+- (Mac: Cmd++ and Cmd+-). To quickly reset to 100%, you can use the
shortcut Ctrl+0 (Mac: Cmd+0).
Scrolling through your score
The easiest way to scroll through your score is using your mouse wheel. Up and
down motions scroll the score vertically; to scroll horizontally, use the mouse
wheel in conjunction with Shift.
If you just need to move the score by a small amount, you might find it simpler
to reposition the score by dragging it. Just click on an empty area of the page and
drag in any direction.

Drag down
Dragging is one of the few navigation operations that does not work in
Note input mode. That is because clicking on the page in order to drag it
will result in a note being entered!
Paging through your score
MuseScore responds to the page navigation keys on most keyboards as follows:
Home – go to beginning to score

End – go to end of score
PgUp – go to previous page
PgDn – go to next page
Some keyboards lack these keys, but they usually provide an equivalent shortcut.
Consult the documentation for your keyboard to learn more.
The Find command

If there is a specific place in the score you wish to view, you can go directly to
any given measure number, page number, or rehearsal mark using the menu
command Edit / Find or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F (Mac: Cmd+F). This will
display a search box at the bottom of the screen.
Into this box, you can type a measure number (e.g., “43”), a page number
preceded by the letter “P” (e.g., “p7”), a rehearsal letter (e.g., “H”), or a
rehearsal number preceded by the letter ”R” (e.g., “r5” ). MuseScore will
reposition your view to that location.
Navigator
If your score is more than a page or two long, you might find it useful to work
with a thumbnail view of it. MuseScore provides such a tool, called the
Navigator. To enable (or disable) the Navigator, go to View / Navigator or use
the keyboard shortcut F12. The Navigator includes a thumbnail of each page in
your score and displays a blue rectangle that represents the portion of the score is
currently in view.
As the name implies, this is not just a picture of the score – you can use it to
navigate through your score. Simply drag the blue rectangle around and the
score will move with it.
You can resize the navigator pane by dragging its upper border.
By default, MuseScore starts in Page View, which displays your music on screen
the way it will appear on a printed page. Multiple pages are displayed in a
horizontal column, which is a natural way to display scores for large ensembles
that have only a single system per page.
If you prefer multiple pages to be displayed in a vertical column instead, you can
enable the Vertical option in Edit / Preferences / Canvas / Scroll Pages.
Regardless of which page scrolling option you choose, you may find that during
note input, the system breaks can be disorienting as the cursor wraps around
from line to line. It can be more convenient to do note input in Continuous View,
which presents your score in one long horizontal strip. To switch views, use the
drop-down menu in the toolbar.
Cursor Navigation
The controls discussed above allow you to position the score within the window.
MuseScore also provides commands to move a cursor through the score, whether
note by note, measure by measure, or staff by staff. These commands can be
invaluable in editing, in making selections, and even in simply browsing your
score.
Cursor types
Before we continue, I would like to clarify what I mean by “cursor” here.
You have probably already noticed that while you are in Note input mode,
MuseScore uses a blue box as a cursor to highlight the position at which the next
note will be entered. You may have also noticed that as you enter notes and rests,
the most recently entered note or rest is colored blue. This is actually indicating
the note is “selected,” in the same way that this means for copy and paste or
other commands that work on selections. And indeed, this is what allows
commands like Up, which raises the pitch of the most recently entered note, to
work. MuseScore is not actually keeping track of what note you entered most
recently and remembering this as you move the cursor. This command – like
most commands in MuseScore – operates on a selection, regardless of how that
selection was made. We will learn how to take advantage of this in the chapter
Editing.
So, immediately after entering a note or rest, the note or rest you just entered is
selected, but the note input cursor moves on to the next position at which you
can enter a note. As you enter music, the note input cursor thus stays one step
ahead of the selection. When you use any of the navigation commands discussed
in this chapter while in Note input mode, both the note input cursor and the
selection move together in sync.
Although the examples thus far have shown the selected note and the
note input cursor in blue, in fact the color depends on what voice you are
in. See Multiple Voices in the chapter on Entering Notes and Rests for
more information on voices.
When not in Note input mode, there is no cursor in the usual sense. However, a
note, rest, or other element might be selected. And the currently-selected element
– which is colored blue (or according to its voice) – serves as a cursor of sorts. In
particular, when not in Note input mode, the navigation commands discussed in
this section actually change what element is selected. So as you use the
navigation commands, the effect of watching the selection change is pretty much
the same as if there were an actual cursor. I use the term “cursor” for
convenience, so I can say that (for example) the Right moves the cursor right,
rather than saying that it “changes the selection from whatever note is currently
selected to the next note to the right.”
Because the “cursor” in Normal mode is really just a selection, you can
move it anywhere you like by simply clicking in the score. But this will
not work in Note input mode. Clicking while in Note input mode will
add a note where you click! Use only the keyboard for navigation while
in Note input mode.
Horizontal navigation
Horizontal navigation commands move the cursor through a single staff, moving
forward or backward in time position.
The Right and Left keys move the cursor note by note:

Press Left
Ctrl+Right and Ctrl+Left (Mac: Cmd+Right and Cmd+Left) move the cursor
measure by measure:

Press Ctrl+Right
Both of these commands ignore clefs, key signatures, and other elements – they
only navigate through notes and rests. Should you wish to navigate through other
elements as well, use the commands Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right and
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left (Mac: Cmd+Option+Shift+Right and
Cmd+Option+Shift+Left).

Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left
These commands can be invaluable if you are visually impaired and are
using MuseScore with a screenreader. By navigating in this fashion, and
with the screenreader reading the contents of the status bar, you can read
a score element by element and gain a complete understanding of it. If
these are commands you would plan to use a lot, you might consider
customizing the keyboard shortcuts as described in Shortcuts in the
chapter on Customization.
Vertical navigation
Vertical navigation commands move the cursor through the notes heard at a
single point in time, moving through notes of a chord, between voices, or to
different staves.
Alt+Up and Alt+Down move the cursor up and down through the individual
notes of a chord.

Press Alt+Down
If you run off either end of the chord in a multi-staff score, Alt+Up and
Alt+Down will move to the previous or next voice or staff.

Press Alt+Down
There is also a command to move to the voice or staff without first
moving through the notes of the current chord, but there is no shortcut
set up for it by default. If you decide this is a useful command, you can
create a shortcut for it as described in Shortcuts in the chapter
Customization.
Ctrl+Alt+Up and Ctrl+Alt+Down (Mac: Cmd+Option+Up and

Cmd+Option+Down) move the cursor up and down to the top and bottom notes
of a chord.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Down
Shortcuts
We have learned a lot of keyboard shortcuts in this chapter; here is a summary.
Ctrl++ – zoom in
Ctrl+- – zoom out
Home – go to beginning to score
End – go to end of score
PgUp – go to previous page
PgDn – go to next page
Ctrl+F – go to measure, page, or rehearsal mark
Left – move cursor to previous note/rest
Right – move cursor to next note/rest
Ctrl+Left – move cursor to previous measure
Ctrl+Right – move cursor to next measure
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left – move cursor to previous element
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right – move cursor to next element
Alt+Up – move cursor up to next higher note in chord, previous voice, or
previous staff
Alt+Down – move cursor down to next lower note in chord, next voice, or
next staff
Ctrl+Alt+Up – move cursor to top note of chord
Ctrl+Alt+Down – move cursor to bottom note of chord
Option for Alt.
Chapter 7:
Making Selections
MuseScore provides a number of operations such as copy and paste,
transposition, and deletion that work on individual elements, complete measures
(bars), or other selected elements or ranges of music. In this chapter, we will
learn how to make selections. In the next chapter (Editing), we will learn about
some of the things you can do once you make a selection.
Selections in MuseScore fall into three basic categories:
Single – a single element, such as one note

List – multiple elements, possibly of different types
Range – a region of music that includes everything from a given start time
position to a given end time position, possibly including the contents of
multiple consecutive staves
Single selections are actually just list selections that happen to contain
only one element. But certain operations – like changing the duration of
a note – only work with single selections. Also, as noted in the chapter
on Navigation, the “cursor” in Normal mode is really just a selection
consisting of a single note or other element. So it can be convenient to
describe it as a separate selection type.
An important note about selections: list and range selections are relevant mostly
in Normal mode. While in Note input mode, single selection is done
automatically during navigation and note entry. In the other edit modes we will
learn about later (e.g., the Text edit mode discussed in the chapter on Text), the
selection is reset to just the element being edited.
Single Selection
A single selection is made by simply clicking on an element. Just about any type
of element can be selected in this fashion. Once selected, an element will turn
blue (or the color corresponding to the voice of the element).

Click
Navigation commands move the current selection to a different single element,

as described in the chapter on Navigation.
List Selection
A list selection is literally a list of single selections. Each selected element will
be displayed in blue, or the color corresponding to the voice of the element.
There are a number of ways of creating list selections.
The most direct way to build a list selection is to select each element
individually. Just as in many other applications, MuseScore allows you to select
multiple elements one by one by holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while clicking them.
This allows a group of elements to be selected even if they are not adjacent.

Ctrl+click
You can also select a group of adjacent elements by dragging a rectangle around
them while holding Shift. If you select a group of notes and rests this way,
MuseScore will create a range selection (see below), but selecting other element
types will create a list selection.
These methods are useful for selecting just a handful of elements, or elements
that are in close proximity. But MuseScore also provides some very powerful
controls for making larger list selections based on the type of an element – note,
rest, clef, rehearsal mark, etc. These controls are accessed by right-clicking an
element and then clicking Select to bring up a menu of selection options.
The options in this menu allow you to create list selections of similar items as
follows:
All Similar Elements – this selects all elements of the same type in the entire
score
All Similar Elements in Same Staff – this selects all elements of the same type in
the current staff (relevant for scores consisting of multiple staves – see the
chapter on Staves and Instruments)
All Similar Elements in Range Selection – this selects all elements of the same
type within the current range selection (if one exists)
More – this opens a dialog with additional options
The Select / More option brings up a dialog that allows you to control the
selection further.
This dialog displays the type of the element and gives you a number of options
for making a new selection or modifying an existing one. The dialog is divided
into two parts. The top part lets you specify which other similar elements you
wish to specify.
Same subtype – all elements of the same subtype (e.g., for Dynamics, all mp
markings)
Same staff – all elements of the same type in the current staff
In selection – all elements of the same type within the current range selection
Same voice – all elements of the same type in the same voice (see Multiple
Voices in the chapter on Entering Notes and Rests)
Same system – all elements of the same type in the same system (one “line” of
music, but including all staves for scores consisting of multiple staves)
For notes, the Same subtype option is replaced by a set of more precise controls.
Same notehead – all notes with the same overall style of notehead (Normal,
Cross, Slash, etc.)
Same pitch – all notes with the same pitch (including octave)
Same string – all notes on the same string (tablature only)
Same type – all notes of the same type (Normal, Acciaccatura, Appoggiatura,
Grace note after)
Same duration – all notes of the same duration
Same note name – all notes of the same pitch in any octave
The bottom part of the dialog lets you control what is done with the elements
you have specified.
Replace selection – make a new list selection that includes the specified
elements only
Add to selection – add specified elements to existing list selection, or create a
new list selection if one does not exist
Search in selection – this option is not currently implemented
Subtract from selection – subtract specified elements from existing selection; if
current selection is a range selection, it is converted into a list selection
These options collectively allow you to build quite complex list selections. For
instance, you could first use the Same system option to select all articulations in
current system, but then right-click a staccato marking in voice 1 and use the
Same voice and Subtract from selection options in this dialog to exclude the
staccato markings in voice 1 from the selection, leaving only the articulations in
voices 2-4 and articulations other than staccato in voice 1 selected. You could
then right-click a slur and use the add to selection options to add all of the slurs
in the entire score to the selection. This is not something most people will need
very often, of course, but when you need it, this can be a powerful tool.
Range Selection
A range selection is easily differentiated from a list (or single) selection in

MuseScore in that when you select a region, a blue rectangle appears around it.
As with single and list selections, it is also the case that all elements within the
region turn blue (or the colors corresponding to their voices) to indicate that they
have been selected.
The simplest form of range selection is to select the entire score. You can do this
via Edit / Select All or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+A (Mac: Cmd+A). But
many useful operations in MuseScore can be performed on other ranges. There
are a number of ways of specifying and selecting ranges in MuseScore, both
using the mouse and the keyboard.
Using the mouse
A single measure in a single staff can be selected by clicking an empty spot

within it.

Click
Sometimes zooming in on the score can make it easier to find an empty spot to
click within a crowded measure.
A range of notes or measures can be selected by dragging while holding Shift.

You may recall this method can also be used to create list selections. The rule is
that if the drag rectangle includes notes, then the selection automatically
becomes a range selection.

Shift+drag
A range of notes or measures can also be selected by clicking the first to select it
and then clicking the last while holding Shift to extend the selection to the entire
range from the first to the last.

Shift+click
This method can also be used to select a range across multiple staves.

Shift+click
You can use a single Shift+click to select a range consisting of a single chord, if
nothing is currently selected.

Shift+click
Using the keyboard
You can also use keyboard shortcuts for selection. These work as in most
applications: holding Shift while using navigation keys such as Right will select
while moving the cursor. So you can click any note, press and hold Shift, and
then use the navigation commands discussed in the chapter Navigation to extend
the selection as you move the cursor.
Here is a full list of the selection shortcuts:
Shift+Left – extend selection to the previous note or rest

Shift+Right – extension selection to the next note or rest
Shift+Ctrl+Left – extend selection to the previous measure
Shift+Ctrl+Right – extend selection to the next measure
Shift+Home – extend selection to the beginning of the system (line)
Shift+End – extend selection to the end of the system
Shift+Ctrl+Home – extend selection to the beginning of the score
Shift+Ctrl+End – extend selection to the end of the score
Shift+Up – extend selection to previous staff
Shift+Down – extend selection to next staff
Ctrl+A – select all
Option for Alt.
In the example below, I am extending the selection to the end of the system
using Shift+End.

Press Shift+End
Here, I am extending the selection to the next staff using Shift+Down.

Press Shift+Down
Selecting notes or rests in a range
As mentioned previously, a range selection contains all elements within the

range, not just notes and rests. Since certain operations may require a list
selection containing notes or rests only, MuseScore makes it easy to easily
convert a range selection into a list selection of notes or rests. In addition to the
Select / All Similar Elements in Range Selection command seen above, which
you can access by right-clicking a note or rest within a range selection, you can
also simply press the Notes or Rests button within the Inspector. See Individual
note and rest properties in the chapter on Editing for more information.
Selection Filter
A range selection normally includes all elements between the start and end
position. However, MuseScore does allow you to exclude elements from a range
selection by type using the Selection Filter.
Actually, it is not quite true that a range selection normally includes all
elements between the start and end position. It excludes elements that
are attached to the system as a whole as opposed to any particular staff.
This includes tempo text, rehearsal marks, and voltas. You will notice
that these elements are not highlighted when you make a range selection.
To display the Selection Filter, go to View / Selection Filter or use the keyboard
shortcut F6.
By default, all of the items listed in the Selection Filter are checked, which
means that the corresponding element types will be included in range selections.
By unchecking any of the items in the filter, the corresponding element types
will be excluded from range selections. This applies to the current range
selection as well as any other range selections you make until you change the
filter settings.
For example, you might wish to exclude chord symbols from a range selection,
so that you can delete the notes but keep the chord symbols. To do this, uncheck
Chord Symbols in the Selection Filter. Any range selections you make will
exclude chord symbols. You will be able to tell this because the chord symbols
will not be highlighted in blue.

Make range selection
Keep in mind that while a range selection can include all sorts of
elements, it is at its heart defined by the notes between the start and end
time positions. You can exclude individual voices from a selection (see
Multiple Voices in the chapter in Entering Notes and Rests for more on
voices), but you must take care in doing so. If you exclude Voice 1, then
any measure that does not contain multiple voices will not be selectable,
because there will be no notes to select.
Chapter 8:
Editing
When you want to make changes to notes or rests you have already entered –
such as to fix mistakes – there are a number of ways you can go about this.
Many things can be done while still in Note input mode, while others are best
done in Normal mode (the mode you are in when you first start MuseScore or
when you leave Note input or any other mode). It is not always obvious which
changes can be done in which mode, so I recommend reading through this
chapter carefully and working through the examples if you have the time.
Basic Concepts
Before I discuss the specific editing techniques available in the different modes,
there are a couple of general observations that I would like to make.
Undo
When it comes to fixing mistakes, the Undo command is often the simplest
solution. MuseScore, like most programs, keeps a history of changes you make
and allows you to undo them one by one. So immediately after entering a note or
rest, or performing almost any other operation, you can undo it using Edit /
Undo, the toolbar icon , or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z (Mac: Cmd+Z).
While in Note input mode, the Backspace key (Mac: Delete) also works to
undo.

Press Ctrl+Z or Backspace
Replace versus insert
There is one crucial concept to understand about how MuseScore works when it
comes to making changes. Once you enter a note or rest into a score, its position
in time – which measure and beat it occurs on – remains fixed, unless you
explicitly change it or replace it with something else. That is not to say you
cannot change the time position of notes; just that you usually need to do it
explicitly (via cut and paste) rather than expecting notes to change time positions
on their own just because you make a change somewhere else.
This means that all note and rest entry is done in what a word processor might
call “replace mode” or “overtype mode,” as opposed to “insert mode.” That is,
when you enter a note or rest of a given duration, it always replaces whatever
was at that location. So in that sense, making changes while in Note input mode
is exactly like entering notes and rests in the first place. It is just a matter of
positioning the cursor where you want to make your change, then entering new
notes and rests to replace what was there before. You do not need to first delete
anything; just enter the new content. MuseScore ensures that your measures
always contains the correct number of beats and that notes not replaced are kept
at their original time position.
An example will hopefully make this clear. In the score below, I have a half rest
and a half note, with the Note input cursor positioned on the rest. If I elect to
enter a quarter note at that point, the second half note does not move earlier or
later in time. It stays right where I originally put it – on beat 3. A quarter rest is
automatically inserted after the quarter note I enter, to make sure that half note
stays on beat 3.

Type 5 C
On the other hand, if I had entered a dotted half note instead of a quarter note on
beat 1, there would be no way to keep the half note on beat 3. The last beat of
the new dotted half note replaces the first beat of the original half, leaving one
beat of the original half note on beat 4.

Type 6 . C
In this respect, the way MuseScore works is similar to at least one popular
notation program, but different from some others. People who come to
MuseScore expecting note entry to work like a word processor in “insert” mode
often have trouble adjusting at first. If you find yourself in that category, please
be patient. Once you become accustomed to how note entry and editing in
MuseScore works, you should come to find it quite natural and efficient.
Making Changes in Note Input Mode
As mentioned above, one way to make changes in note entry mode is to navigate
to the location where you wish to make the change, then simply enter new notes
and rests. The new ones replace the old. Enter as many new notes or rests as you
like, hit Esc when you are done, and everything should work out with no need to
delete anything first or to do anything special to insert new notes or rests.
In the following example, I am replacing the first two quarter notes with four
eighth notes, leaving the last two quarter notes right where they were – on beats
3 and 4.

Type 4 C B C D
In addition to simply re-entering new notes to replace the old ones, you can also
perform a variety of operations to modify the selected note or rest. As explained
in the chapter on Navigation, the most recently entered note is automatically
selected, but when you move the cursor, the selection follows. So immediately
after entering a note, you can modify it, or you can navigate to any other note
and modify it in the same way.
Changing pitch
We have already seen some of the commands that change the pitch of the
selection note, in the chapter on Entering Notes and Rests. Up and Down raise
or lower pitch a half step, while Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down (Mac: Cmd+Up and
Cmd+Down) raise or lower pitch an octave.
Two additional commands that alter the pitch of the selected note are
Alt+Shift+Up and Alt+Shift+Down, which raise or lower the pitch diatonically
(staying within the key). So with G selected, Alt+Shift+Up will raise it to either
A or A♭ depending on which is in the key.

Press Alt+Shift+Up
There is one other command that is worth mentioning in this context, even
though it technically does not change pitch. Pressing J will change the
enharmonic spelling of a note while keeping the pitch the same.

Press J
A corresponding command Ctrl+J will change the spelling of the note without
affecting the spelling when you toggle Concert Pitch mode. See Transposing
Instruments in the chapter on Transposition for more information.
Adding and removing notes
We have already seen some of the commands for adding and deleting notes, in
the chapter on Entering Notes and Rests. The commands we have seen to add
notes to the selected chord are Shift plus a letter A - G (adds note above chord)
and Alt plus a number (adds interval above to chord). There is also / to add a
grace note.
To remove the selected note from the chord it belongs to, use Delete.

Press Delete
The same command will turn a note into a rest if the note is not part of a chord.

Press Delete
Again, as suggested above in Replace versus insert, deleting a note does not
cause subsequent notes to move earlier in time. To make that happen, you need
to leave Note input mode and use cut and paste as described in the section
Making Changes in Normal Mode.
Changing duration
To change the duration of a note, you have three basic choices. One is to leave
Note input mode and make the change as described in the section Making
Changes in Normal Mode. Another is to simply replace the note – select the
duration, re-enter the pitch. However, there are a set of commands that can alter
the duration of a note while still in Note input mode, without the need to re-enter
the pitch. These include Q and W, which change the duration of note to the next
shorter or longer (respectively) note value.

Press Q
One advantage of using the Q and W keys to change duration is that,

unlike re-entering the notes, these commands preserve lyrics,
articulations, and other markings attached to the note.
Using Shift in conjunction with these two keys works similarly but will add or
remove augmentation dots as well. So you can use Shift+W to add an
augmentation dot after entering a note.

Press Shift+W
Changing time position
Changing the time position of a note – or an entire passage – is something that

would normally be done outside of Note input mode, using cut and paste.
However, there are a pair of commands that can be useful for small corrections
within Note input mode. Shift+Left and Shift+Right will exchange the selected
note with the previous or next note, thus effectively moving it earlier or later in
time.

Press Shift+Right
Regrouping rhythms
MuseScore provides a command to regroup the notation of rhythm in a selected

passage to conform to standard conventions for clarifying the meter. This applies
to how notes are beamed and tied together as well as how rests are combined.
For example, in 4/4 time, the usual rules do not allow a dotted quarter to start on
beat two; instead it should be written as a quarter tied to an eighth in order to
make beat three more visible. MuseScore can rewrite selected passages
according to these rules automatically using Layout / Regroup Rhythms.

Layout / Regroup Rhythms
Because this actually removes the original notes and then adds new ones, it is
best to use this command before adding markings such as lyrics and so forth, as
they may not all be able to be preserved.
Re-Pitch mode
MuseScore provides a special form of Note input mode in which you can quickly
replace the pitches of existing notes while leaving their durations unchanged. To
enable Re-Pitch mode, click the arrow next to the (note input) button on the
main toolbar and then select Re-Pitch mode from the resulting drop-down menu.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+I (Mac: Cmd+Shift+I). The
note input icon will change to indicate you are in Re-Pitch mode.
Once you have entered Re-Pitch mode, you can then simply type the new
pitches; no need to select durations. The existing notes will be replaced with the
new pitches but the durations of the original notes will be left intact.

Press F E F G F A C
Making Changes in Normal Mode

When you are not in Note input mode, there is no note input cursor. But
remember – the commands discussed in the previous section Making Changes in
Note Input Mode are actually working on the current selection. In Note input
mode, the selection is always a single note or rest, but in Normal mode, you can
have single, list, or range selections. Most of the commands covered in the
previous section actually will work on any type of selection. There are also new
commands you can take advantage of that only work in Normal mode (in most
cases because they require range selections).
So first, let me list the commands we have learned for Note input mode that will
operate on any type of selection in Normal mode as well:

Ctrl+J – change enharmonic spelling in current transposition mode only
+ – create tie
Delete – delete note
Option for Alt.
The fact that these commands work on range selections can be very powerful.
For example, the commands that add notes to chords can be used to add notes to
an entire selection, such as to double it in octaves.

Press Alt+8
Using the tuplet command on a range selection allows you to quickly create
extended passages of tuplets.

Press Ctrl+3
The commands to create cross-staff notation work with range selections as well.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Up
You can also delete the contents of a selection, replacing everything with rests.
The command for this is Delete. MuseScore tries to be smart about choosing
these rests. It does not simply replace each note with a corresponding rest, but
instead uses larger durations where appropriate. If the region includes an entire
measure, then the contents are replaced by a full measure rest.

Press Delete
To actually delete the measures themselves, the command is
Ctrl+Delete (Mac: Cmd+Delete). See the chapter on Measure
Operations for more information.
Changing pitch using the mouse
In Normal mode, you can click and drag a note up or down to change its pitch.

Drag down
This does not work in Note input mode because the click necessary to initiate the
drag would add a note instead.
Respell pitches
If you have a range of notes where the spelling of the notes does not fit the key
correctly – perhaps because the score was imported from a MIDI file with no
key information, or the spellings resulted from transposition or copy and paste –
then MuseScore can try to correct the spelling automatically. Select the range of
notes you would like corrected and go to Notes / Respell Pitches. MuseScore
will respell pitches according to a simple but reasonably effective analysis of the
music. It may not produce exactly the results you prefer, but if there were a large
number of errors to begin with, this may at least reduce the number you need to
correct by hand.

Notes / Respell Pitches
Changing the duration of a note or rest
Changing duration of a note or rest is only possible for a single selection. But in
addition to the Q and W commands to shorter or lengthen a note as in Note input
mode, you can also set the duration directly using the note value icons on the
note input toolbar or corresponding keyboard shortcuts. This includes the simple
note values like (6) as well as the commands to add dots.

Press .
Moving notes between voices
MuseScore provides two different methods of moving notes from one voice to
another.
Exchanging the contents of two voices

MuseScore can exchange the complete contents of two voices for an entire
measure or range of measures. To do this, select the range, then go to Edit /
Voices and choose the appropriate pair of voices to exchange.

Edit / Voices / Exchange Voice 1-2
Moving notes to another voice
In some cases, it may work to move individual notes by simply using the voice
change icons or keyboard shortcuts while not in Note input mode. This will only
work if the the note can be moved without requiring any changes to the durations
of any existing notes in the destination voice. That is, it will work if the
destination voice contains rests or nothing at all for the duration of the note
being moved. It will also work if the destination voice contains notes that exactly
match in time position and duration, in which case they will be combined into
chords.
In the following example, I have selected the notes of voice 2 (using the
Selection Filter) and am moving them into voice 1. The notes that can be moved
are moved and are replaced by rests in the original voice; the notes that cannot
be moved are left alone.

Press Ctrl+Alt+1
You can then hide or delete the rests and adjust stem directions if you wish.
MuseScore also provides an Implode command that can be used to combine

several voices into one. See Implode in the chapter on Other Editing Tools for
more information.
Copy, Cut, and Paste
MuseScore supports the standard clipboard operations of copy, cut, and paste.
These work similarly to most other programs, but with a few enhancements.
Duplicating a selection using copy and paste
First, select a range and use Edit / Copy or Ctrl+C (Mac: Cmd+C) to copy the
selection to the clipboard.
Next, click or navigate to where you would like to paste the selection, and use
Edit / Paste or Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V) to paste it.

Press Ctrl+V
By default, a copy and paste operation on a range selection copies all notes in the
region as well as most items attached to those notes, such as articulations and
dynamics. But you can suppress certain types of elements from being included in
the selection – and hence, from both the copy and the paste – by using the
Selection Filter described in Selection Filter in the chapter on Making
Selections.
You can also use copy and paste in a limited fashion for list selections. Only a
few element types are supported. But if you select a list of lyrics, articulations,
chord symbols, fretboard diagrams, and/or figured bass elements that are
attached to one set of notes, you can copy and paste these to another set of notes,
and MuseScore will do its best to match up the pasted elements to the correct
notes.
For example, you can select the lyrics for a group of notes.
You can then paste them to a different set of notes.

Press Ctrl+V
For lyrics and most other elements that can be pasted in this fashion,
MuseScore looks at the notes themselves to decide how to match things
up. But when pasting chord symbols in this fashion, MuseScore uses
their beat positions rather than the notes to match things up, so you can
paste a list chord symbols to a passage with very different rhythms and
they will still line up correctly.
Duplicating a selection using the Repeat command
Copy and paste can be especially useful when copying a passage to a different
staff, or to a different part of the score. But if you simply want to repeat a
passage immediately after the original, MuseScore provides an easier way of
doing this. Simply select the region and then press R.

Press R
Moving a selection with cut and paste
As with most other programs, Edit / Cut or Ctrl+X (Mac: Cmd+X) works the
same way as copy except that the original selection is deleted. The effect of cut
and paste is that of moving the selection, then, rather than duplicating it. This is
an especially significant operation in MuseScore because this is how you can
move a passage earlier or later in time.
For example, say you were trying to enter a C major scale in quarter notes but
accidentally repeated the E.
While your first instinct in trying to fix this might be to delete the first E,
remember that MuseScore never moves notes as a result of that kind of editing
operation. Deleting the E would simply replace it with a rest, leaving the other
notes right where they were.

Press Delete
So instead, the way to move the rest of the scale earlier is cut and paste. First,
select the region you want moved and cut it.

Press Ctrl+X
Then click the place you want to move the selection to and paste it.

Press Ctrl+V
Exchanging selections using Swap with Clipboard
MuseScore also supports the command Edit / Swap with Clipboard or

Ctrl+Shift+X (Mac: Cmd+Shift+X) to swap the selection with the contents of
the clipboard. This gives you a convenient way to exchange two passages of
music without the need to use a “scratch” staff as an intermediate step.
First select a range and copy it to the clipboard with Ctrl+C.
Then select a second range and press Ctrl+Shift+X. This replaces the second
range with the first, and simultaneously copies the second range to the clipboard.

Press Ctrl+Shift+X
Now return to the first range and press Ctrl+Shift+X again to replace it with the
second.

Press Ctrl+Shift+X
Manual Adjustments
While MuseScore usually does a great job of placing the elements in your score
automatically, there may be times when you wish to take more control. In many
of these cases, the best way of going about this is by going to the Style menu and
changing the settings that control the defaults for various types of elements. Still,
there may be times when you want fine-tune the positioning for individual
elements. Certain types of adjustments are specific to particular types of element
– time signatures, for example, have different controls than slurs. However, there
are other adjustments that are common to most element types, and those are what
we will discuss here.
Dragging with the mouse
Many elements can be dragged with the mouse. This includes most items that
can be attached to notes, such as articulations, dynamics, and accidentals.

Drag
To constrain a drag operation to be vertical only, press and hold Shift while
dragging; to constrain a drag horizontally, press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd).
Whether constrained in direction or not, dragging operations normally allow you

to drag an element by any amount you like. To make it easier to align elements,
you can select the (Enable snap to horizontal grid) and/or (Enable snap
to vertical grid) options in the Inspector.
No actual grid will appear, but drag operations will nonetheless “snap” to an
imaginary grid. The origin of the grid is the default position for the element, and
the grid lines are spaced at half the distance of the staff lines.
MuseScore uses the size of a staff space – referred to as a spatium and

abbreviated sp – as a unit of measurement throughout the program.
Using this rather than something like millimeters or inches allows
everything to scale smoothly if you change the size of the music. See
Music Size in the chapter on Page Layout for more information.
You can also drag multiple items at once by making a list selection (see List
Selection in the chapter on Making Selections) and pressing and holding Ctrl
(Mac: Cmd) when initiating the drag operation.

Drag
Since Ctrl is also the command to constrain a drag horizontally, you will only be
able to drag horizontally at first when dragging multiple elements. But if you
release the Ctrl key after initiating the drag, you will then be able to drag freely.
For notes specifically, dragging works only in the vertical direction, and
it actually changes the pitches of notes. To fine-tune the horizontal
position of notes on the page, the Inspector (see Using the Inspector
below) will normally be the best method.
Nudging with the keyboard
Most elements can be nudged left, right, up, or down using the arrow keys. The
arrow keys by themselves move elements in fine increments (0.1sp). To move in
full 1sp increments, press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while nudging.

Press Ctrl+Up
For text elements such as in the example above, you can simply click on the text
and then begin nudging. For most other items, however, you need to double-
click them first to put them into Edit mode before you can nudge them.
You can use this method to move notes, but what we think of as a “note”
is actually represented in MuseScore as separate elements for the
notehead, stem, flag, beam, dots, etc. These can be manipulated
individually in MuseScore, which is sometimes desirable, but if you just
wish to move the entire “note,” what you really want is to move the
chord. MuseScore uses that term even for single notes to refer to the
collection of elements that includes noteheads, stems, flags, beams, dots,
etc. To act on a chord as a unit, use the Chord section of the Inspector
(see below).
Using the Inspector
The Inspector contains a number of different settings, depending on the type of

element selected. The available options also depend on whether the selection is
homogeneous (containing only elements of the same type) or not. For non-
homogeneous selections – including both list and range selections that contain
multiple element types – the only controls provided are for color and visibility.
For homogeneous selections, other options become available depending on the

type of the element(s) selected.
Visibility
To use the visibility commands for non-homogeneous selections, simply click

Set Invisible or Set Visible as appropriate. You can also use the keyboard
shortcut V to toggle the visibility of selected elements. Note that invisible
elements will normally continue to display on screen, but grayed out.

Press V
These will not print or export to PDF or other graphic formats. If you would
rather not see grayed out invisible elements on screen either, you can turn off the
View / Show Invisible option.
For homogeneous selections, there is a single Visible option that you can check
or uncheck.
Color
To use the color command, start by clicking the black rectangle. A standard color
picker dialog will appear.
Once you have selected a color in this dialog, press OK. The color will now be
displayed in the Inspector, but it is not applied yet if the selection is non-
homogeneous. To confirm the application of the color to all selected elements,
press Set Color . This extra step is not necessary for homogeneous selections.
Position
For single or homogeneous selections, two additional options become available:

Horizontal offset and Verical offset. These controls provide very precise control
over the position of selected elements. You can click in a spinbox and then use
the arrow keys on your keyboard, or use the arrow icons with the spinboxes, to
change the value in 0.5sp increments. For even greater precision, you can type
values directly into the spinboxes.

Press Up Up Up
Next to these spinboxes are the and buttons to enable snapping to a grid
(see Dragging with the mouse above). Next to these are the reset buttons.
Pressing either of these restores the corresponding setting to the default.
Flipping direction
Many elements in a score can be placed in one of two vertical orientations. For
instance, stems can point up or down; ties can curve up or down; fermatas can be
placed above or below the staff. MuseScore allows you to flip most of these
elements between the two vertical directions using either the Inspector or the
context menu. In addition, the keyboard shortcut X serves to flip most of these
elements.

Press X
Changing shape
The shape of certain elements can be modified by double-clicking them to put

them into Edit mode and adjusting the handles that appear. Handles can be
adjusted by dragging or using the keyboard; and just as for nudging, you can get
fine adjustments using the cursor keys alone, or adjust in 1sp increments by
pressing and holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while nudging.
Examples will be presented when we cover the specific element types than can
be edited in this fashion.
Reset
Most manual adjustments to most elements can be reset by selecting them and
pressing Ctrl+R (Mac: Cmd+R) or using the equivalent menu command Layout
/ Reset.

In addition to the general adjustments described above, there are many controls
available for customizing the appearance and behavior of different element
types. In this section, I will present the customizations available for notes and
rests; customizations available for other element types can be found in the
chapters discussing those elements.
Most of the time, these sort of manual adjustments should not be necessary. So if
you are reading this for the first time, you may wish to just skip over this section
and the corresponding sections in other chapters, and perhaps return later as you
find the need for more control.
Global note and rest settings
MuseScore provides a number of global controls over the appearance and

behavior of notes and rests. In addition to the settings described below, see also
the chapters on Measure Operations and Page Layout for more settings and
commands that affect notes, particularly with regard to spacing.
Layout / Page Settings

Staff space – size of space between staff lines, which scales everything else
accordingly
Style / General / Score
Musical symbols font – font used for notes, rests, and other score symbols
Style / General / Notes
Shorten stems – progressively shorten stems that extend above or below the
staff
Progression – amount to shorten stem for each step
Shortest stem – minimum length when shortening stems
Accidental note distance – distance from accidental to note
Accidental distance – distance between accidentals
Dot size – size of dots
Note dot distance – distance from note to dot
Dot dot distance – distance between dots
Stem thickness – thickness of stem
Ledger line thickness – thickness of ledger lines
Ledger line length – length of ledger lines (not counting width of notehead)
Style / General / Beams
Beam thickness – thickness of beams
Beam distance – distance between beams
Broken beam minimum length – minimum length for the broken beams that
appear in mixed groups
Flatten all beams – force all beams to be horizontal
Style / General / Slurs/Ties
Line thickness at end – thickness of end of tie or slur
Line thickness middle – thickness at middle of tie or slur
Dotted line thickness – thickness of dotted line ties or slurs
Minimum tie length – minimum default length of tie (extra space will
added between notes to enforce this)
Style / General / Sizes
Small staff size – relative size for staves marked Small in Staff Properties
(see Staves and Instruments)
Small note size – relative size for notes and chords marked Small in
Inspector (see below)
Grace note size – relative size for grace notes
Style / General / Tuplets
Maximum slope – maximum default angle for tuplet bracket
Vertical distance from stem – vertical distance from stem to tuplet bracket
Vertical distance from notehead – vertical distance from notehead to tuplet
bracket
Avoid the staves – avoid placing tuplet number within staff
Distance before the stem of the first note – horizontal distance from left end
of tuplet bracket to stem of first note
Distance before the head of the first note – horizontal distance from left
end of tuplet bracket to head of first note
Distance after the stem of the last note – horizontal distance from stem of
last note to right end of tuplet bracket
Distance after the head of the last note – horizontal distance from head of
last note to right end of tuplet bracket
Individual note and rest properties
Since notes and rests are usually the most important elements in a score, there
are an especially large number of customizations possible for them. Most are
found in the Inspector, although a few are accessed via the context menu that
pops up when you right-click an element.
As I have mentioned before, MuseScore actually treats all notes as being part of
chords, so even a single note is considered to belong to a chord. One of the times
this distinction is important to keep in mind is when setting properties for a note
using the Inspector. Properties that affect a whole chord – like stem direction –
are found in the Chord section of the Inspector. Properties that affect individual
notes within a chord – like notehead – are found in the Note section.
When you select a range, you are actually selecting the notes, rests,
stems, flags, and all other elements in that range, and therefore, the
Inspector will only show you the controls that it normally shows for
mixed selections. However, at the bottom of the Inspector are buttons
Notes and Rests than will change the range selection into a list selection
containing only notes or rests, respectively. Thus, if you wish to use the
Inspector on all notes in a range, you can select the range and then press
the Notes button to change the selection to a list selection, which will
then enable the controls that are only available for notes.
Chord properties
These properties affect the chord as a whole, including all noteheads, stem, dots,
hooks, and beams if appropriate.
Inspector
Horizontal offset – position for the chord as a whole
Vertical offset – position for the chord as a whole
Small – size of chord as a whole
Stemless – suppress the stem for chord
Stem direction – direction of stem (Up, Down, or Auto)
Note properties
These properties affect an individual note within a chord.
Inspector
Small – size of note and elements attached to notes such as accidentals,
dots, and ties
Head group – overall style of notehead (Normal, Cross, Slash, etc.)
Head type – duration type to use for notehead (Whole, Half, Quarter, etc.)
Mirror head – horizontal position of notehead relative to stem (Left, Right,
Auto)
Dot position – vertical position of dots (Top, Bottom, Auto)
Tuning – pitch deviation in cents from equal temperament
Play – enable/disable playback of this note
Velocity type – override note playback MIDI velocity (volume) using
relative (offset) or absolute (user) value
Velocity – relative or absolute value for MIDI velocity (volume on a scale
of 1-127)
Fix to line – display note on fixed line regardless of clef or transposition
Line – line to use with Fix to line option
You can use the keyboard shortcut Shift+X to toggle the mirror property of a
note.

Press Shift+X
Rest properties
Inspector
Small – size
Accidental properties
Inspector
Small – size
Has bracket – controls use of parentheses
Tie properties
Inspector
Line type – Continuous, Dotted, Dashed
Direction – Auto, Up, Down
You can use the X command to flip the direction of a tie.

Press X
Stem properties
Edit mode – the length of a stem can be adjusted by double-clicking it and

adjusting the handle (see below)
You can flip the stem of a chord using the X command after selecting the stem,
the chord, or any note in the chord.

Press X
To adjust the length of a stem, double-click it to put it in Edit mode, then move
the handle. You can drag it with the mouse or use the keyboard cursor keys, with
or without Ctrl (Mac: Cmd), to get coarser or finer adjustments.

Drag
Beam properties
Inspector
Local relayout – space notes within this beam independently of rhythm in
other voices or on other staves
Direction – Up, Down, or Auto
Grow left – increase or decrease feathered beam spacing on left side
Grow right – increase or decrease feathered beam spacing on right side
Horizontal – force beam to be horizontal
User position – enable/disable manual adjustments in fields below
Position – manual adjustments to beam position
Edit mode – you can adjust the size, shape, and position of a beam by
double-clicking it and adjusting the handles (see below)
Beam Properties palette – override the default beaming (see To control
beaming below)
Beams can be flipped above or below the notes using the X command or the
Direction property in the Inspector.

Press X
To fine-tune the position of the beam, double-click it to put it in Edit mode, then
move the handles. You can drag with the mouse or use the keyboard cursor keys,
with or without Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) to get coarser or finer adjustments. The left
handle controls the vertical position of the beam; the right handle controls the
angle.

Drag
Tuplet properties
Inspector
Direction – Up, Down, or Auto
Number type – Number, Relation, or Nothing
Bracket type – Automatic, Bracket, or Nothing
Style / Text / Tuplet – font settings for number (see Text)
Edit mode – you can edit the size, shape, and position of a tuplet bracket by
double-clicking it and adjusting the handles
Brackets can be flipped above or below the notes using the X command or the
Direction property in the Inspector.
To fine-tune the position of the bracket, double-click it to put it in Edit mode,

then move the handles. You can drag with the mouse or use the keyboard cursor
keys, with or without Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) to get coarser or finer adjustments. The
two handles provide independent control over the end points of the bracket,
allowing adjustment both vertically and horizontally.

Drag
You can also simply drag the entire bracket if desired.
Common Tasks
To control beaming
MuseScore normally decides how to beam notes according to the time signature,
using standard engraving rules. For example, in 4/4 time, eighth notes are
automatically beamed in groups of four by default. If you wish to change the
defaults – say, to have eighth notes automatically beamed in groups of two, or in
groups of eight – then see Setting the default beaming in the chapter Time
Signatures. If you wish to override the defaults just for a specific passage,
however, you can use the Beam Properties palette.
These properties are applied to notes (chords, technically), not to the beams
themselves. To use this palette, either drag an icon to the note you wish to affect,
or click the note and then double-click a palette icon. The icons on this palette
are defined as follows:
Beam start – begin a new beam with this note

Beam middle – continue the previous beam through this note
No beam – do not beam this note
Beam 16th sub – create single sub-beam between groups at this note
Beam 32nd sub – create double sub-beam between groups at this note
Auto – restore default beaming for this note
Feathered beam, slower – feather beams converging to right
Feathered beam, faster – feather beams converging to left
For example, to break a beam, click the note after the desired break and then
double-click the (Beam start) icon.

Double-click
To join a beam, select the note after the current break and then double-click the
(Beam middle) icon.

Double-click
You can perform these actions while still in Note input mode, so you can
override the beaming as you enter notes (recall that the note just entered is
automatically selected). Or, if you are in Normal mode, you can apply a beam
property to a whole selected passage at once.

Double-click
You can also extend beams over rests using these same properties.

Double-click
To customize noteheads
MuseScore supports a number of different noteheads that can be useful for a

variety of purposes, from percussion notation to slash notation to shape music
notation to early music to ghost notes to spoken word. You can select these
alternate noteheads using the Head group drop-down menu in the Inspector, or
you can apply them using the Noteheads palette.
These noteheads are applied in the same way as other palette elements – either
drag one directly to a note, or else select the note (or multiple notes) and double-
click the palette icon.
To merge unisons
Occasionally you may wish to allow two notes in different voices to share a
notehead even though they have different rhythm values (e.g., eighth and half)
and thus cannot normally be shared. This is common in guitar music, for
example. To achieve this effect in MuseScore, set one of the notes to use the
same Head type as the other using the Inspector, or simply mark one note
invisible by pressing V.

Set Head type to Half
Shortcuts
We have learned a lot of keyboard shortcuts in this chapter; here is a summary.

Ctrl+J – change enharmonic spelling in current transposition mode only
+ – create tie (Normal mode only: tie chord)
Delete – delete note or selection
Q – change to next shorter duration (single selection only)
W – change to next longer duration (single selection only)
Shift+Q – remove dot or change to next shorter duration (single selection
only)
Shift+W – add dot or change to next longer duration (single selection only)
1 - 9 – change duration (Normal mode only)
. – toggle augmentation dot (Normal mode only)
Ctrl+Alt+1 - Ctrl+Alt+4 – move to specified voice Normal mode only
Shift+Left – exchange with previous note (Note input mode only)
Shift+Right – exchange with next note (Note input mode only)
Ctrl+Shift+I – toggle Repitch mode (Note input mode only)
Ctrl+C – copy selection to clipboard
Ctrl+X – cut selection to clipboard
Ctrl+V – paste clipboard
Ctrl+Shift+X – swap with clipboard
R – repeat selection
V – toggle visibility
X – flip
Shift+X – mirror notehead
Option for Alt.
Chapter 9:
Measure Operations
MuseScore understands, and indeed relies heavily on, the division of music into
measures (also known as “bars”). In addition to adding and removing measures,
there are many operations that can be performed on measures and properties
associated with measures that you can control.
Adding and Removing Measures
Measures can be added or removed anywhere in the score.
Appending measures to the end of the score
To add measures to the end of your score, choose either Add / Measures and then
either Append One Measure (shortcut Ctrl+B, or Cmd+B on Mac) or Append
Measures (Alt+Shift+B). If you choose Append One Measure, it will be added
immediately.

Press Ctrl+B
If you choose Append Measures, you will be prompted to enter the number of
measures you wish to append.
Inserting measures at any point in the score
To insert measures anywhere else in your score, select anything in the measure
you want to insert in front of, then choose Add / Measures and select either
Insert One Measure (Ins) or Insert Measures (Ctrl+Ins). If you choose Insert
One Measure, it will be added immediately.

Press Ins
If you choose Insert Measures, you will be prompted to enter the number of
measures you wish to insert. The dialog is similar to the corresponding dialog for
the append operation.
Deleting measures
We have already seen that the Delete key will delete the contents of a selected
range. To completely remove a measure or range of measures from your score –
as opposed to simply erasing their contents – first select the region, then select
Edit / Measure / Delete Selected Measures or use the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl+Delete (Mac: Cmd+Delete).

Press Ctrl+Delete
Barlines
MuseScore supports a variety of barline types, including double bars, repeat

signs, dotted barlines, barlines through staves, partial barlines, and more.
Double bars, repeat bars, and other barline styles
The basic barline styles available are found in the Barlines palette. If you do not
see all the options seen here and miss some of them, be sure to switch to the
Advanced workspace using the control at the bottom of the palette window.
To apply one of these barline styles, either select the barline to which you wish
to apply it and then double-click the palette icon, or else drag the palette icon to
the measure or barline. This will apply the style to all staves simultaneously.

As shown in the example above, when dragging an element to a
measure, release when the measure highlights.
Most of the barline styles apply to the right barline of a measure, but the start
repeat barline applies to the left barline.
If you wish to apply a barline style to one staff only, then press and hold Ctrl
(Mac: Cmd) while dragging the barline icon to the measure or barline, or select
the barline and then press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while double-clicking the
palette icon.

Press and hold Ctrl
Extending barlines through staves
To extend barlines through adjacent staves, double-click the barline on any

measure on the top staff to enter Edit mode, then drag the lower handle down to
the bottom staff. When you release, this change will be applied to all barlines for
this staff.

If you wish to extend just a single barline, then press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd)
while dragging the handle.

Ctrl+drag
Changing barline length
Barlines normally extend from the top staff line to the bottom (or from just
above to just below for single-line staves like those used for percussion
instruments). To change the length of a barline, double-click it to enter Edit
mode, then press and hold Shift while dragging one of the handles. When you
release, this change will be applied to all barlines for this staff.

Shift+drag
If you wish to change the length of just a single barline, then press and hold Ctrl
(Mac: Cmd) as well as Shift.

Ctrl+Shift+drag
Mid-measure barlines
A barline that does not truly end the measure but divides it visually can be
inserted at any point within a measure. Either click the note or rest before which
you wish the barline to appear and then double-click the desired barline icon in
the palette, or else drag the icon to the note.

Measure Numbering
By default, MuseScore displays measure numbers automatically at the beginning

of every system. You can control the numbering using options in the Style /
General / Header, Footer, Numbers, Style / Text / Measure Number, and Measure
Properties dialogs as discussed below.
Controlling which measures are numbered
The options to control which measures are numbered are found toward the
bottom of the dialog Style / General / Header, Footer, Numbers.
The options in this dialog are as follows:
Measure numbers – select whether measure numbers are displayed at all

Show first – select whether to show numbers on first measure
All Staves – select whether to show number on all staves or just the topmost
staff
Every system – specify that numbers should be shown on first measure of each
system
Interval – specify that numbers should be shown at a regular interval
For example, setting the All staves option, disabling Show first, and setting
Interval to “1” will cause measure numbers to display on every measure of every
staff, except the first measure.
Controlling the position and font of measure numbers
The default appearance of measure numbers is controlled by the settings in Style

/ Text / Measure Number. For more information on text styles, see Text
Formatting in the chapter on Text.
You can also manually position any given measure number as discussed in
Manual Adjustments in the chapter on Editing.
Overriding the numbering of specific measures
Measures are normally numbered consecutively starting with “1”. However,

MuseScore allows you to override this numbering for a given measure by right-
clicking it and selecting Measure Properties from the resulting context menu.
The relevant properties are found toward the bottom of the dialog.
The Exclude from measure count and Add to measure number options can be
used to alter the numbering, so that certain measures or numbers are skipped.
The Measure number mode defaults to Automatic, which means that the global
style settings will determine whether a number is displayed for this measure. The
Always Hide option can be used to suppress the measure number for a measure
with a rehearsal mark. The Always Show option can be used to show measure
numbers only for specific measures. Combined with a text style (see the chapter
on Text) that makes measure numbers larger and places a frame around them,
this would allow measure numbers to be used as a substitute for rehearsal
markings.
Multimeasure Rests
In scores for multiple instruments, it is common for an instrument to rest for

several measures at a time. In the score itself, this would normally be shown
using ordinary measure rests, since other instruments would presumably still be
playing.
In the individual parts for the instruments, however, it is customary to show
multiple measures of rest with a special symbol that indicates the number of
measures to rest.
MuseScore normally handles this automatically when you generate individual

parts from a full score. The full score will display normal measure rests, and the
parts for the individual instruments will display multimeasure rests. For more
information on scores and parts, see the chapter Parts.
Toggling display of multimeasure rests
To toggle the display of multimeasure rests manually, you can toggle the Create
multimeasure rests option in Style / General / Score.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut M.

Press M
Breaking a multimeasure rest
Sometimes when a part rests for many measures, you may need to break the
multimeasure rest into smaller pieces. This might be so you can show a key or
time signature change, tempo change, rehearsal mark, double bar, segno, coda,
or other significant event. MuseScore handles most of these cases automatically.
If you need a measure to break a rest even though it does not contain any of the
types of elements that automatically break a rest, you can force it to break by
right-clicking the measure and selecting Measure Properties, then checking the
Break multimeasure rest option.
Of course, in order to be able to right-click the measure, you may need to first
turn multimeasure rests off, then turn them back on after setting the Break
multimeasure rest property.

Right-click, Measure Properties, set Break multimeasure rest, press M
Splitting and Joining Measures
MuseScore allows you to divide and combine measures. These commands have
a variety of uses, some of which will be seen below. But first, I will explain how
the split and join commands work.
To split a measure into two parts, select the note before which you wish to split
the measure, then use Edit / Measure / Split Measure Before Selected Note. The
result is that the measure is split into two measures. Each measure will have its
Actual duration (see the chapter on Time Signatures) set appropriately for the
number of beats it contains.

Edit / Measure / Split Measure Before Selected Note
To join measures, select the measures you wish to join, then Edit / Measure /
Join Selected Measures. The selected measures will be replaced by one measure
with an appropriate Actual duration.

Edit / Measure / Join Selected Measures
The split command can be used to allow a measure to be broken into two parts
with the first part at the end of one system and the second part at the beginning
of the next (common in hymns).
The join command can be useful to create the effect of unmetered music.
Note that these commands currently are disabled for scores with linked
parts, so wait until you are done making these sorts of changes before
generating parts.
The most important controls for altering the appearance and behavior of
measures have already been discussed (see in particular the sections on Measure
Numbering and Multimeasure Rests), but there are a number of additional
options that can occasionally be useful.
Global measure settings

Minimum number of empty measures – threshold for creating multimeasure
rests
Minimum width of measure – minimum width to render multimeasure rests
Style / General / Measure
Minimum measure width – minimum width to render measures
Spacing – spacing factor; larger values result in more spacing between
notes
Barline to note distance – distance from barline to first note of measure if
there are no grace notes or accidentals
Barline to grace note distance – distance from barline to grace note
Barline to accidental distance – distance from barline to accidental
Note to barline distance – distance from last note of measure to barline
Minimum note distance – minimum distance between notes
Multimeasure rest margin – distance between barlines and the horizontal
bar indicating a multimeasure rest
Staff line thickness – thickness of staff lines
Style / General / Barlines
Show repeat bar tips – use “winged” repeat signs
Barline at start of single staff – display barlines at start of system when it
contains only one staff
Barline at start of multiple staves – display barlines at start of system when
it contains multiple staves
Scale barlines to staff size – display thinner barlines on small staves
Barline thickness – thickness of normal barlines
Final barline thickness – thickness of additional line in end or repeat
barline
Final barline distance – distance between lines in end or repeat barline
Double barline thickness – thickness of lines in double barline
Double barline distance – distance between lines in double barline
Individual measure properties
If you right-click a measure, you can display the Measure Properties dialog.
Several of the settings in this dialog have been discussed already, but others have
not. A few will be discussed in other chapters.
Staves
visible – controls whether this measure is visible for each individual staff
stemless – controls whether notes in this measure are displayed without stems
for each individual staff
Measure Duration
Actual – actual duration for this measure (see Time Signatures)
Other
Exclude from measure count – exclude this measure from the numbering
Measure number mode – select from Automatic, Always Show, or Always Hide
Add to measure number – add the specified amount to the measure number
Break multimeasure rest – break multimeasure rest starting with this measure
Layout stretch – increase or decrease the width of this measure (see Page
Layout)
Play count – number of times to play repeated measure (see Repeats)
Note at the bottom of the dialog there are also controls to let you move from
measure to measure without needing to close and reopen the dialog. This can be
useful if you want to apply some particular settings to several measures in a row.
Individual barline properties
The Inspector allows you to control a few properties for barlines.
Style – Normal, Dashed barline, Dotted barline, Double barline, Final barline,
End repeat, Start repeat, End-start repeat
Spanned staves –number of staves spanned by this barline
Span from – top staff line spanned
Span to – bottom staff line spanned
Span preset – selection of common span settings (Staff default, Tick 1, Tick 2,
Short 1, Short 2)
Common Tasks
To make a measure narrower or wider
MuseScore uses the concept of “stretch” to alter the width of a measure from its
default value. The stretch factor for a measure is shown in the Measure
Properties dialog as discussed above, but there is a simpler way to increase or
decrease the stretch for a selected measure or range. To increase the width of the
selected measures, use Layout / Increase Layout Stretch or the keyboard shortcut
}. To decrease the width, use Layout / Decrease Layout Stretch or the keyboard
shortcut {. The stretch is changed in 10% increments; you can use either
command multiple times to stretch measures by larger amounts.

Press {{{{{{
To change the number of measures on a system
MuseScore does not have a single direct command to place a specific number of
measures on any given system, because there is no single way this can be
achieved. Instead, MuseScore provides a variety of commands to suit different
needs.
If you wish to enforce a certain number of measures per system for the entire
score, there is the Edit / Tools / Add/Remove System Breaks command discussed
in Page Layout.
Edit / Tools / Add/Remove System Breaks, Break systems every 4 measures

However, MuseScore will not put more measures on a system than can fit given
your current settings for staff size and note spacing. So if you wish to fit more
measures per system throughout your score, you will need to reduce the staff
size or measure spacing. To reduce staff size, use the Staff space option in the
Layout / Page Settings dialog, as discussed in the chapter Page Layout. To
reduce the note spacing, you can either use the Spacing option in Style / General
/ Measure discussed above, or you can select your entire score and reduce the
stretch using {.
Reduce Staff space

To fit more measures on a given system than MuseScore does by default given
your current staff size and note spacing, you need to decrease stretch for that
system alone. So select the measures you wish to appear on a single system and
press { as many times as needed to allow the measures to fit.
Press {
To fit fewer measures on a given system than MuseScore does by default, the
simplest thing to do is add a system break. You can either add one from the
Breaks & Spacers palette to the desired last measure of the system, or select the
measure or barline and then press Enter.
Add system break

Part III:
Other Score Elements
Chapter 10:
Clefs
MuseScore supports a large variety of different clefs, and you can change clefs
anywhere within a score. In addition to the standard treble and bass clefs, you
can use the alto, tenor, or other C clefs, a percussion clef, tablature clefs, and
some special versions of treble and bass clefs that are transposed by an octave or
two or shifted to different places on the staff.
If your palette does not contain all of these clefs and you miss them, be
sure to select the Advanced workspace using the control at the bottom of
the palette.
As with most palette items, clefs can be applied by dragging the palette icon to
an element in your score or by clicking the score element then double-clicking
the palette icon.
Initial Clef
When you first choose instruments to add to your score, MuseScore

automatically chooses the most common clef used to notate music for each
instrument. This is true both when initially creating your score as described in
Creating a New Score as well as when adding instruments later as described in
Staves and Instruments. For example, when creating a score for violin, viola, and
cello, MuseScore automatically adds the appropriate treble, alto, and bass clefs.
If you wish to change the clef used for a given instrument, you can use the Clefs
palette to select a different one. You can drop the new clef directly on top of the
old, or you can drop it anywhere in the first measure once you see the entire
measure highlight.

You can also select the original clef or the first measure, and then double-click
the palette icon for the new clef.
For instruments like the bass clarinet or baritone saxophone that transpose by
large intervals, you can use different clefs depending on whether you are
viewing the score in Concert Pitch mode or not (see Transposition). Any change
to the initial clef with Concert Pitch turned on will only be in effect while
Concert Pitch is on, and the same is true for any change made while Concert
Pitch is turned off.
For example, the default clef for the tenor saxophone is treble. However, because
this instrument sounds over an octave lower than written, this could result in
many ledger lines below the staff in Concert Pitch mode. In order to avoid this,
MuseScore automatically changes a tenor saxophone staff to an octave-
transposing version of the treble clef when you switch to Concert Pitch. The
little “8” that appears below the clef indicates that all notes sound an octave
lower than written.

Enable Concert Pitch
If you prefer to use, for example, the bass clef for tenor saxophone in Concert
Pitch mode, simply change the clef while Concert Pitch is turned on. When you
turn Concert Pitch back off, the original treble clef will still be in place, but
every time you return to Concert Pitch mode, the staff will appear in bass clef.
Clef Changes
If you need to change clefs for a staff in the middle of a score – say, from bass to
treble in the bottom staff of a piano score – you can do this by dragging the clef
to the first measure to which you wish the change to apply and releasing when
the measure highlights.

Notice that the pitches of any notes already entered do not change; MuseScore
automatically displays the notes as appropriate for the new clef.
You can also select a single measure and then double-click a clef in the palette to
apply the change to that measure. If you select a range that is anything but a
single measure, the clef change is applied at the beginning of the range and the
original clef is restored at the end.
You can change clefs mid-measure by dropping the clef directly onto the note
before which you want the clef to appear.

You can also add a mid-measure clef change by clicking the first note you wish
to apply it to and then double-clicking the palette icon for the clef. Or, anywhere
there is already a clef but you but wish to change it to a different clef, you can
click the existing clef and then double-click the palette icon for the new one, or
drag and drop the palette icon directly onto the existing clef.
MuseScore handles the details of clef layout automatically. A clef change that is
applied to a measure is displayed before the barline; a clef change added
anywhere but at the beginning of a system is displayed a little smaller than usual;
a clef change at the beginning of a system is announced by a “courtesy” clef
change at the end of the previous system. For information on how to change how
clefs are displayed, see Changing Appearance and Behavior below.
To remove a clef change that was added by any of these methods, click the clef
and press Delete.

Press Delete
In addition to the general manual adjustments available for most element types
(see Manual Adjustments in the chapter on Editing), MuseScore provides a
number of options to control various defaults for all clefs as well as properties
for individual clef changes.
Global clef settings
The settings that affect the default appearance and behavior of clefs are found in
the Style menu as well as in the Staff Properties dialog accessed via the context
menu.
Style / General / Clefs

Default TAB clef – choose between standard and serif styles for tablature
clefs
Clef left margin – set default distance before clef at start of system
Clef/Key right margin – set default distance after clef / key signature / time
signature at start of system
Clef to barline distance – set default distance before clef change appearing
at end of measure
Style / General / Page
Create clef for all systems – display clef at the start of each system
Create courtesy clefs – display courtesy clef change at end of the previous
system when a clef change occurs at the start of a system
Small clef size – relative size of smaller clefs used for mid-system clef
changes
Staff Properties
Show clef – display clefs for this staff
Individual clef properties
Clefs have only a few properties that can be set using the Inspector and/or
context menu.
Inspector
Leading space – amount of extra space to add before this clef on all staves
of system
Trailing space – amount of extra space to add after this clef on all staves of
system
Show courtesy – control display of courtesy clef for this clef change
Context menu
Hide/Show Courtesy Clef – control display of courtesy clef for this clef
change
Common Tasks
To suppress courtesy clef changes
If a clef change occurs at the beginning of a system, it is customary to show a

courtesy clef at the end of the previous system. MuseScore does this for you
automatically, as we saw previously. However, there are cases where you might
not want this. Examples include theory or exercise worksheets. In these cases,
courtesy clefs might be unnecessary and distracting.
If you wish to suppress the display of one particular courtesy clef, click the
“main” clef at the start of the next system and turn off the Show courtesy option
in the Inspector. You can also right-click the courtesy clef itself and choose Hide
Courtesy Clef from the context menu. The courtesy clef will be removed.
You might also want to suppress the courtesy clef between movements
of a work or between songs in a larger collection. MuseScore provides
other features specially designed to meets the needs of these cases,
however. See Section breaks in the chapter on Page Layout and Creating
Albums in the chapter on File Operations for more information on these
features.
If you know you will not want courtesy clefs to appear anywhere in your score,
you can tell MuseScore not to generate them in the first place by turning off the
Create courtesy clefs option in Style / General / Page.
To suppress clefs at the start of each system
MuseScore normally displays a clef at the start of each system, as standard

music notation practice demands. However, for certain types of music, it is not
uncommon to omit clefs after the first system. To get this result in MuseScore,
go to Style / General / Page and turn off the Create clef for all systems option.
In the example above, I also disabled the Create key signature for all systems
option in that same dialog (see Key Signatures), and enabled the Barline at start
of single system option (see Measure Operations) to emulate the look of certain
jazz fakebooks.
If you would like to suppress even the clef on the first system, you can do this by
right-clicking the staff, going to Staff Properties, and turning off the Show clef
option. This can be useful to generate completely blank manuscript paper.
Note that I also made the rests and barlines invisible.
Shortcuts
There are a few predefined keyboard shortcuts that can used to enter clefs
directly while in Note input mode. These are two-character sequences, entered
by pressing the keys in succession.
Ctrl+Y Ctrl+1 – treble clef

Ctrl+Y Ctrl+2 – bass clef
Chapter 11:
Key Signatures
MuseScore supports the standard key signatures used in Western music, from the
key of C major / A minor with no flats or sharps up through the keys with seven
flats or seven sharps. You can change keys anywhere within a piece, and
MuseScore automatically handles transposition of key signatures when writing
for transposing instruments like clarinets or trumpets. You can also create an
open (atonal) key signature that does not transpose, and you can even define
your own custom key signatures.
Key signatures are added through the Key Signatures palette.
You can also bring up the key signature portion of the Master Palette using the
keyboard shortcut Shift+K.
Initial Key Signature
As we have already seen, you can select the initial key signature for a piece in
the Create New Score wizard (see Creating a New Score). This key signature is
automatically applied to all staves in your score, except for unpitched percussion
or other instruments that traditionally do not use key signatures.
For transposing instruments like clarinets and trumpets, the key signature is
automatically transposed (see the chapter on Transposition).
If you decide you wish to change the initial key signature, you can add a new
one from the palette. Select the original key signature in the score, the first
measure, or any note in the measure, and then double-click the desired key
signature in the Key Signatures palette. You can also drag a key signature from
the palette onto the first measure or onto the initial key signature.

When adding a key signature to your score, it is always added at concert pitch
(see the chapter on Transposition). This means that in a score for clarinet and
piano, adding a D major key signature actually adds an E major key signature to
the clarinet staff, unless you are in Concert Pitch mode.

Aside from this automatic transposition, adding a key signature to your score
applies the same key signature to all staves. If you are literally creating polytonal
music and wish to change the key signature for one staff only other than for
reasons for transposition, press and hold the Ctrl key (Mac: Cmd) while
dragging the key signature to your score.

Press and hold Ctrl
Key Signature Changes
You can change key signatures at any measure within a piece. Simply drag a key
signature from the palette to the measure you wish the key signature to appear
in.
Notice that MuseScore preserves the pitch of any existing notes and
automatically corrects the spelling to fit the new key signature. In the
above case, the E did not originally need a natural sign, but after the key
change, it does, so one is added for you. The key signature change itself
tells us that the following C is a C♮, so the natural sign that was there is
removed, but it would not be a bad idea to add a courtesy accidental to
make this explicit (see Accidentals in the chapter on Entering Notes and
Rests).
You can also select a single measure and then double-click a key signature in the
palette to apply the change to that measure. If you select a range that is anything
but a single measure, the key change is applied at the beginning of the range and
the original key is restored at the end.

As with changes to the initial key signature, you can apply mid-score key
signature changes to individual staves to create polytonal music by pressing and
holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while dragging.
Key signature changes are removed by clicking them and pressing Delete.

Press Delete
As usual, there are default settings that apply to all key signatures, properties for
individual key signatures, manual adjustments, and other things you can do to
change the appearance and behavior of key signatures.
Global key signature settings
Style / General / Accidentals

♮ in key signatures
Only for a change to C Maj / A min – only show naturals when changing to
a key signature with no flats or sharps
Before key signature if changing to fewer sharps or flats – always show
naturals when an accidental no longer applies; display naturals before
the new key signature
After key signature if changing to fewer sharps or flats. Before if
changing between sharps and flats
– always show naturals when an accidental no longer applies; display
naturals after the new key signature when changing to fewer sharps or
flats, before when changing between flats and sharps
Key signature left margin – distance to left of key signature
Clef/Key right margin – distance to right of clef, key signature, and time
signature at beginning of measure
Create key signatures for all systems – display key signature at the start of
each system
Create courtesy key signatures – display courtesy key signature at the end
of the previous system when a key change occurs at the start of a
system
Individual key signature properties
Aside from the standard properties shared by all elements (e.g., visibility,
horizontal offset), key signatures have only a single property that can be set
using the Inspector and/or context menu.
Inspector
Show courtesy – control display of courtesy key signature for this key
change
Context menu
Hide/Show Courtesy Key Signature – control display of courtesy key
signature for this key change
Edit mode – the position of a key signature can be adjusted by double-
clicking it and using the cursor keys
Common Tasks
To control the display of courtesy key signatures
As with clef changes, it is traditional to show a courtesy key signature change at

the end of the previous system if a key signature changes occurs at the beginning
of a line, and MuseScore inserts this automatically.
If you wish to suppress the display of one particular courtesy key signature, click
the “main” key signature at the start of the next system and turn off the Show
courtesy option in the Inspector. You can also right-click the key signature and
choose Hide Courtesy Key Signature from the context menu. The courtesy key
signature will be removed.
You might also want to suppress the courtesy key signature between
movements of a work or between songs in a larger collection.
MuseScore provides other features specially designed to meets the needs
of these cases, however. See Section breaks in the chapter on Page
Layout and Creating Albums in the chapter on File Operations for more
information on these features.
If you know you will not want courtesy key signatures to appear anywhere in
your score, you can tell MuseScore not to generate them in the first place by
turning off the Create courtesy key signatures option in Style / General / Page.
To control the display of key signatures at the start of each system
As with clefs, MuseScore normally generates key signatures at the start of each
system. Some editors, however, choose to omit both clefs and key signatures
after the first system. We have already seen how to suppress the generation of
clefs. Key signatures are suppressed the same way: go to Style / General / Page
and turn off the Create key signatures for all systems option.
You can completely suppress the display of all key signatures – including on the
first system – by right-clicking the staff, going to Staff Properties, selecting
Advanced Style Properties , and turning off the Show key signatures option. This
can be useful to generate completely blank manuscript paper.
To control the display of naturals in key signatures
When changing from a key with several sharps to a key with fewer sharps, some
editors prefer to place natural signs in the first occurrence of the new key
signature to show which sharps are no longer in effect. The same is true when
changing from a key with several flats to a key with fewer flats, or from a key
with sharps to a key with flats or vice versa. MuseScore can do this
automatically if you enable the appropriate option in Style / General /
Accidentals.

Style / General / Accidentals, Before key signature if changing to fewer sharps or flats
To add an open (atonal) key signature
Music that is not clearly in any key at all is often written with no key signature.
This is subtly different from a key signature of C major / A minor in that no key
signature at all means it should remain that way even if the music is transposed.
This can be an issue when writing atonal music for transposing instruments like
the B♭ clarinet. If you create the score with a key of C major / A minor, it will be
displayed with two sharps (D major / B minor) when Concert Pitch is turned off,
when you may prefer to have the music displayed with no key signature whether
transposed or not.
To add an atonal key signature, use the special Open key signature icon on the
palette.
To create a custom key signature
MuseScore allows you to design your own key signatures, which can be useful
for certain styles of music. To begin, press Shift+K to display the key signature
portion of the Master Palette, or go to View / Master Palette / Key Signatures.
You can create your own key signatures using the controls on the right side of
this window. Simply drag accidentals to the staff. You can include any
combination of sharps, flats, or other accidentals, including the microtonal
accidentals.
When you are done, you can press the Add button to add this key signature to
the master palette. If you will be using this same key signature often, you may
wish to add it to your main Key Signatures palette as described in Palettes in the
chapter on Customization.
Note that custom key signatures are for display only – they do not affect
the playback pitch of notes upon playback. Also, they do not transpose.
Chapter 12:
Time Signatures
MuseScore supports the standard forms of time signatures used in Western
music, from simple meters like 4/4 to uncommon ones like 7/16 to additive time
signatures like 2+2+2+3/8. You can change time signatures anywhere within a
piece.
The most common time signatures are added through the Time Signatures
palette.
You can also bring up the time signature portion of the Master Palette using the
keyboard shortcut Shift+T.
Note that this window normally shows controls that can be used in creating time
signatures (see Custom Time Signatures below), but I have hidden them in the
image above as they are not relevant here.
Initial Time Signature
As we have already seen, you can select the initial time signature for a piece in
the Create New Score wizard (see Creating a New Score). This time signature is
automatically applied to all staves in your score, except for tablature staff types
that normally do not use time signatures.
If you decide you wish to change the initial time signature, you can add a new
one from the palette. Click the original time signature in the score, the first
measure, or any note in the measure, and then double-click the desired time
signature in the Time Signatures palette. You can also drag a time signature from
the palette onto the first measure or onto the initial time signature.
Time Signature Changes
You can change time signature anywhere within a piece. Simply drag an icon
from the Time Signatures palette to the measure you wish the change to appear
before. When you do this, any music already present will automatically reflow
across measures.

The change affects all measures up to the next time signature change or section
break (see System, Page, and Section Breaks in the chapter on Page Layout for
more information on section breaks).
You can also select a single measure and then double-click a time signature in
the palette to apply the change to that measure. If you select a range that is
anything but a single measure, the time signature change is applied at the
beginning of the range and the original time signature is restored at the end.
Custom Time Signatures
By default, the Time Signatures palette shows only a selection of the most
commonly used possibilities. If you wish to use a more unusual meter, press
Shift+T to display the time signature portion of the Master Palette, or go to View
/ Master Palette / Time Signatures. You can create your own time signatures
using the controls on the right side of this window.
For most time signatures, you can simply fill in the Value fields for the top and
bottom numbers you desire. Then click the Add button at the bottom of the
dialog to add it to the Master Palette.
If you expect to use one of these custom time signatures often, you can add it to
your main Time Signatures palette for easier access in the future as described in
Palettes in the chapter on Customization.
You can create additive time signatures – meters of the form 2+2+2+3/8 – as
well. To do this, fill in the Value fields as appropriate for the total length of the
measure (e.g., 9/8), but use the Text fields to display this however you like.
The controls toward the bottom of this dialog allow you to customize the default
beaming, so that a time signature of 2+2+2+3/8 is actually beamed that way. For
more information, see Setting the default beaming below.
A time signature influences many aspects of how MuseScore organizes and lays
out music. A time signature normally applies to all staves in a score, controlling
how many beats are in each measure as well as how notes within a measure
should be beamed by default. For example, in 4/4, eighth notes (quavers) are
normally beamed in groups of four, but in 6/8 they are beamed in groups of
three.
MuseScore allows all of this to be customized. You can have different time
signatures displayed in different staves (6/8 for some, 3/4 for others); you can
force seven eighth notes into a 6/8 measure; and you can tell MuseScore to beam
in three groups of two, or one group of four and one group of two, etc.
Global time signature settings
The default settings that affect time signatures throughout the score are as
follows:

Time signature left margin – distance to left of time signature
Clef/Key right margin – distance to right of clef, key signature, and time
signature at beginning of measure
Create courtesy time signatures – display courtesy time signature at the
end of the previous system when a meter change occurs at the start of a
system
Individual time signature properties
Most of the relevant properties for time signatures are found in the Time
Signature Properties and Measure Properties dialog, accessed via the context
(right-click) menu.
Inspector
Show courtesy – control display of courtesy time signature for this meter
change
Context menu
Hide/Show Courtesy Time Signature – control display of courtesy time
signature for this meter change
Edit mode – the position of a time signature can be adjusted by double-
clicking it and using the cursor keys
Time Signature Properties
Actual value – default duration of all measures with this time signature
Appearance – alternate Text or symbols to display
Measure Properties
Actual – actual duration of this measure
In addition, the Time Signature Properties dialog contains controls to set the
default beaming for measures with this time signature. For more information, see
Setting the default beaming below.
Common Tasks
To control the display of courtesy time signatures
As with clef and key changes, it is traditional to show a courtesy time signature
change at the end of the previous system if a time signature changes occurs at
the beginning of a line, and MuseScore inserts this automatically.
If you wish to suppress the display of one particular courtesy time signature,
click the “main” time signature at the start of the next system and turn off the
Show courtesy option in the Inspector. You can also right-click the time
signature and choose Hide Courtesy Time Signature from the context menu. The
courtesy time signature will be removed.
You might also want to suppress the courtesy time signature between
movements of a work, or between songs in a larger collection.
MuseScore provides other features specially designed to meets the needs
of these cases, however. See Section breaks in the chapter on Page
Layout and Creating Albums in the chapter on File Operations for more
information on these features.
If you know you will not want courtesy time signatures to appear anywhere in
your score, you can tell MuseScore not to generate them in the first place by
turning off the Create courtesy time signatures option in Style / General / Page.
To change actual duration of a measure
Sometimes a situation arises where we need to put a different number of beats in

a measure than the time signature normally dictates. The pickup measure you
learned to create as part of the Create New Score wizard is one example of this.
If you forget to do this when creating your score, you can turn the first measure
into a pickup by using the Measure Properties dialog to change the Actual time
signature for the measure to be different from the Nominal time signature.
To do this, first right-click the measure and select Measure Properties from the
context menu. In the dialog that appears, change the Actual field to reflect the
number of beats you want to have in the measure. In the case of pickup
measures, it is also traditional to exclude them from the measure numbering, so
you would probably want to check the Exclude from measure count box in this
same dialog.
The result is the following:
Measures in which the nominal and actual durations differ will not normally
display full measure rests even when empty. Instead, MuseScore will display
ordinary rests that add up to the actual duration of the measure. However, if you
wish to force MuseScore to use a full measure rest, you can convert ordinary
rests into a full measure rest by selecting the measure and pressing
Ctrl+Shift+Delete (Mac: Cmd+Shift+Delete).

Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete
To create a local time signature
MuseScore supports scores with different time signatures in different staves. The
barlines will still all align, and the duration of the measures in these staves will
actually be the same as measured in real time, but MuseScore will display notes
in the measures as appropriate for the time signature of that staff. To create a
local time signature for a specific staff, press and hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) while
dragging the time signature to that staff.

Press and hold Ctrl
In order for this feature to work, the measure to which you add the local time
signature must be empty, and you must not have already created linked parts (see
the chapter on Parts).
Once you have set up the time signatures the way you like, you can then enter
notes and they will be interpreted as appropriate for the time signature applied to
that staff.
Both sets of measures – top staff and bottom staff – are intended to take the same
amount of real time, as should be clear from the layout. But there are four
(shorter) beats per measure on the top staff, and three (longer) beats per measure
on the bottom staff.
If you wish to create music in which the beat has the same duration in real time
but there are different numbers of beats per measure in different staves – and
hence the barlines do not align – you can create this effect by changing the
Appearance property of the time signature in one staff, hiding the barlines in one
staff, and adding new mid-measure barlines (see the chapter on Measure
Operations for more information).
Setting the default beaming
Earlier, in the section To control beaming in the chapter Editing, we saw how to
override the default beaming for specific notes. But if you would prefer different
defaults, it is easier to change them at the source – the properties for the time
signature.
To change the beaming properties for all staves in a score simultaneously, the
easiest way is to create a new custom time signature (see Custom Time
Signatures) and add that to your score. To change the beaming properties for one
staff only, you can right-click the time signature for that staff and select Time
Signature Properties from the context menu. Either way, the same basic Note
Groups controls appear.
You can change the beam behavior for any note by dragging the appropriate icon
from the toolbar at the bottom.

Drag icon
You can also simply click any note to break or join the beam.

Click
You can control the beaming for eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second notes
independently. Or, if you enable the Also change shorter notes option, then all
changes you make to one duration will also affect the shorter durations.
When you are done, existing notes that are set to Auto beaming will immediately
adopt the new defaults, and new notes you enter will also use these defaults.
Chapter 13:
Text
MuseScore allows you to place a variety of different types of text into your
score. It provides a styling facility so that the different types of text can each
have their own default font and positioning settings, and it lets you customize
these defaults. It also provides a way to override the default text style for
individual elements.
In this chapter, we will look at some of the basic types of text elements you can
add to your score. After showing examples of how to add different types of text
to your score, we will look at the text editing and formatting capabilities that are
common to almost all text types. Note that dynamics, lyrics, chord symbols,
figured bass, and repeat text are unique enough that they will each get a chapter
unto themselves.
Staff Text
The most common type of text you will probably create in MuseScore is staff
text. This is text that is attached to a specific note or rest on a particular staff in a
score. Staff text is used for instructions meant for the musician(s) reading that
staff, such as to tell a violin player to play pizzicato. By default, staff text
displays above the staff, although templates and styles for scores that use chord
symbols may place it below instead.
Creating staff text
To create staff text, click the note or rest to which you would like to attach the
text, then press Ctrl+T (Mac: Cmd+T) or use the equivalent menu item Add /
Text / Staff Text. A blue cursor will appear, allowing you to start typing your text.

Press Ctrl+T, type “pizz.”
When you are done typing your text, press Esc or click somewhere outside the
editing box.
You can also use the Text palette to add staff text to your score. This works like
other palette elements – either drag it to your score, or else click a note or rest
then double-click the palette element.
The potential advantage of this palette approach becomes clear when combined
with the ability to customize the palettes. Once you have created a text marking
and set all of its properties the way you like them, you can add that marking to
the palette to make it easier to reuse that same marking in the future. See
Palettes in the chapter on Customization for more information.
Playback: changing instrument sound
Because staff text is typically used to give instructions to players, it is often

desirable for these same instructions to be followed during computer playback.
While MuseScore cannot anticipate everything you might possibly wish to use
staff text for, it does provide a way to select from a number of the most common
options.
To set the playback behavior for a particular staff text element you have created,
right-click it and choose Staff Text Properties from the resulting context menu to
display the Staff Text Properties dialog.
The Change Channel tab of this dialog allows you to change the sound of the
instrument, for instruments that are already defined to have more than one sound
(e.g., open and muted trumpet, arco and pizzicato strings). MuseScore allows
you to change sounds for the four voices of a staff independently. To change the
sound, you must first click the icon for the specific voice(s) you wish to change,
then select the new sound from the drop-down menu.
The options available will depend on the specific instrument configured for the
staff. If there are no options listed other than Normal, it means the instrument
configured for that staff does not have any other sounds defined. However, you
will still be able to change sounds for this staff by adding an instrument change
text instead of a regular staff text. For more information, see Changing
instrument for a staff mid-score in the chapter on Staves and Instruments.
For more information on the other settings available in the Staff Text Properties
dialog, see Playback: swing below.
System Text
System text is very much like staff text, except that it automatically applies to all
staves in a system in a score containing multiple instruments. System text will
appear above the top staff only in the score itself, but the text will also appear at
that same point in all generated parts (see Parts). This is useful for instructions
that apply to all players, such as a stylistic notation like “Joyously” or “Swing”.
Note however that there is a separate category of text for tempo markings; see
Tempo Markings below.
Creating system text
System text is created much like staff text: select a note or rest to apply it to and
then press the keyboard shortcut or use the corresponding menu item. The
shortcut for system text is Ctrl+Shift+T (Mac: Cmd+Shift+T), and the menu
item is Add / Text / System Text. You can also add the appropriate element from
the Text palette.
Regardless of which staff you add the system text to, the text will appear above
the top staff in the score.

Press Ctrl+Shift+T, type “Joyously”
Playback: swing
System text can have playback properties applied just as staff text can. The steps
are analogous: right-click the marking, choose System Text Properties, and make
settings for the desired behavior. It generally does not make sense to change the
playback sound for all staves at once, but the Swing Settings do make sense to
apply to all staves, so we will look at those settings here.
By default, MuseScore plays eighth notes (quavers) straight – all the same
length. This is of course the way eighth notes were traditionally intended to be
played. but in jazz and some other styles, it is customary to “swing” the eighths
by imparting something of a triplet feel to them, where the first eighth note of
each pair is longer than the second. In some styles, we may wish to swing
sixteenths instead of eighths. MuseScore can play swing eighth or sixteenth
notes and even gives you fine control over the ratio of the lengths of the first to
the second note in each pair.
To set up swing playback in MuseScore, add a system text, right-click it, and go
to System Text Properties / Swing Settings.
The settings in the dialog allow you to customize the swing playback associated
with this text.
Swing Settings – enable / disable the swing controls (if disabled, there is no
change to the swing settings)
Swing – Off, Eighth note, Sixteenth note
Select swing ratio – specify percentage of time taken by the first note of each
pair (50% = straight, 66% = triplet feel)
Note there is an element labeled Swing on the Text palette already, so you can
add this marking easily with no need to change the settings if the default type
and degree of swing works for you. However, if you wish to have a passage
where the eighth notes are straight, you will need to add a text and customize the
swing settings using Staff Text Properties. To do this, enable the Swing Settings
but set the Swing to Off. Disabling Swing Settings does not set eighth notes to
straight; it simply means no change to swing settings. That allows system texts
like “Joyously” to be used without changing the swing settings.
Although I have presented the swing settings as applied to system text,

you can actually apply them to staff text as well. This allows you to have
some staves swing and others straight, or even have different swing
ratios for different staves. For example, you might want the drums to
play with a more pronounced swing eighth feel than the horns in a big
band arrangement.
Tempo Markings
Tempo markings are used to tell both musicians and the playback facility in
MuseScore how fast you want your piece played. Tempo markings are a special
type of system text – they appear above the top staff in a score and also on all
generated parts. But tempo markings also have the ability to affect the tempo in
playback, and they have a different text style (see Text style below), displaying in
larger bold face type by default.
Creating a tempo marking
To create a tempo marking, click the note or rest where you want the tempo to
take effect (the first note of the piece for the initial tempo marking) and then go
to Add / Text / Tempo Marking or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+T. This enters a
default marking that you can then edit.

Press Alt+T
The default text includes a symbol representing the beat value – e.g., a quarter
note (crotchet) in 4/4 time, or a dotted quarter note in 6/8 – and an indication of
the number of beats per minute. If you wish to change the note used for the beat
value, you can press F2 to bring up the Special Characters palette (see Entering
special characters below). So if you have music in 6/8 time but would rather
give the tempo in eighth notes than in dotted quarters, simply replace the default
symbols (the quarter note and dot are separate characters) with an eighth note.
To change the BPM value, simply replace the it in the text.
You can also add tempo markings from the Tempo palette.
You do not need to use these symbols or numeric values at all, however. You can
edit the text and replace it with anything you like.
Playback
MuseScore uses the beat and beats-per-minute (BPM) values in a tempo marking
to determine the playback tempo automatically. If you have edited the text to
remove this information, or if you wish to MuseScore to play the score at a
different tempo from that specified by the text, you can set the actual tempo for
the marking using the Inspector.
1. Click the tempo marking

2. Press F8 if necessary to bring up the Inspector
3. Uncheck the Follow Text option
4. Enter the desired value in the Tempo field
Note that regardless of the time signature, the Tempo value in the Inspector
needs to be expressed in terms of quarter notes (crotchets). For example, in order
to set a tempo of 120 dotted quarters per minute in 6/8 time, you need to set the
Tempo to 180 in the Inspector, because 120 dotted quarters works out to 180
quarter notes. Luckily, MuseScore can help you calculate this value as follows:
1. Create the tempo marking with the desired beat duration and BPM value
2. Press Esc to complete editing
3. Double-click the tempo marking you just created
4. Press F8 if necessary to bring up the Inspector
5. Turn off the Follow Text option
6. Replace the text in the tempo marking
By entering the tempo marking with the correct beat duration and BPM value
initially, MuseScore calculates the corresponding Tempo value in quarter notes
for you. When you turn off the Follow Text option, this value is locked in – it
will no longer change automatically as you edit the text. You can adjust the value
directly via the Inspector if you wish.
Rehearsal Marks
A rehearsal mark is a letter or number displayed above the staff – usually in a

box – that serves as a sort of “bookmark” allowing musicians to quickly find a
particular place in the music.
Like tempo markings, rehearsal marks are also a special type of system text.
Like all system text, they are normally displayed above the top staff only in a
score, but they display on all the individual parts. Rehearsal marks also have
their own text style (see Text style below), so they can display with a box while
other system text elements do not.
Creating a rehearsal mark
To create a rehearsal mark, click the note or rest to which you wish to attach the
mark and press Ctrl+M (Mac: Cmd+M) or use Add / Text / Rehearsal Mark.
This displays a cursor, and you can then type your text.

Press Ctrl+M, type “G”
You can also add rehearsal marks from the Text palette. Although there is only a
single rehearsal marking (“B1”) in the palette, adding a rehearsal mark from the
palette automatically sets the text to whatever is next in sequence after the
previous rehearsal mark.

MuseScore automatically detects the sequence to use. If the previous rehearsal
mark is a single capital letter, MuseScore inserts the next capital letter in
sequence, and the same for lower case. If the previous rehearsal mark ends in a
number, MuseScore inserts one with the next number in sequence. And if the
previous rehearsal mark is a number matching the measure number of the
measure it is attached to, MuseScore inserts one with the measure number of the
measure you are adding it to.
Resequencing rehearsal marks
In the course of editing a score, it is not uncommon that rehearsal marks may
become out of sequence. You might decide to insert a new rehearsal mark
between “G” and “H”, or delete the section at letter “J”, or just decide to use
more or fewer rehearsal marks. MuseScore provides a simple command to
automatically resequence rehearsal marks according to the same algorithm
described above.
To use this facility, select the range of measures for which you wish to
resequence rehearsal marks (if you select nothing, MuseScore will do the entire
score), and go to Edit / Tools / Resequence Rehearsal Marks. All rehearsal marks
in the selected range will be resequenced based on the first mark in the range.
Title, Subtitle, Composer, Lyricist
As described in the chapter Creating a New Score, you are prompted to enter a
title, subtitle, and names of the composer and lyricist when you first create your
score. However, if you do not enter this information at that time, or if you have
deleted it, you can easily add it using the items on the Add / Text sub-menu: Title,
Subtitle, Composer, and Lyricist. The text is automatically placed in a frame at
the top of the first page of your score.
You can also right-click within the existing frame and add the text from the Add
sub-menu within the context menu that appears.
Header and Footer
MuseScore provides a header and footer facility to allow for page numbers,
copyright notices, and other text to be displayed on every page. To access the
header and footer controls, go to Style / General / Header, Footer, Numbers.
The options in this dialog allow you to control the display and content of headers
and footers separately. First be sure to enable or disable the Header Text and
Footer Text options as appropriate, then set the content of the header and footer
as follows:
Show first – displays header or footer on first page

Odd/Even – use different settings for odd and even pages
Left – text to display against left margin
Middle text to display centered
Right – text to display against right margin
The individual text fields can contain ordinary text or special symbols to
automatically incorporate meta data such as the current page number.
$p – page number, except on first page
$N – page number, if there is more than one page
$P – page number, on all pages
$n – number of pages
$f – file name
$F – file path+name
$d – current date
$D – creation date
$m – last modification time
$M – last modification date
$C – copyright, on first page only
$c – copyright, on all pages
$$ – the $ sign itself
$:〈tag〉: – meta data tag
The meta data tag allows you to insert information from the fields in the File /
Score Properties dialog. You can use these fields however you like, although the
names of the fields should be suggestive of their intended purpose.
You can also use the New button to define your own custom meta data tags, and
you may use these in the header and footer as well.
You do not need to memorize these special symbols and meta data tags.
Hovering your mouse pointer over one of the text fields in the Style /
General / Header, Footer, Numbers dialog will display a list for you as a
reminder.
Frame Text
When you want to add a block of text in between systems of a score, frame text
can be used.
Creating frame text
To create a new frame for text, select the first measure of the system above
which you want the text to appear, then go to Add / Frames / Insert Text Frame.
This inserts a text frame and allows you to start typing.

Add / Frames / Text Frame, type “The next day”
Another way to add a text frame is using the Frames & Measures palette.
Frame text can also be added to any horizontal or vertical frame. Just right-click
the frame and select Add / Text. See the chapter on Page Layout for more on
frames.
Editing Text
Most text items can be edited after they are initially created by double-clicking
them. This puts MuseScore into Text edit mode, which is the same mode that is
used to type the text in the first place.

Double-click
Text edit mode works like many other text editors in terms of keyboard shortcuts
and so forth, but there are a few special techniques you should be aware of as
well.
Navigation and selection
Most keyboard shortcuts works as you might expect from other applications.
Right – move forward one character

Left – move backward one character
Ctrl+Right – move forward one word
Ctrl+Left – move backward one word
Up – move up one line
Down – move down one line
Home – move to beginning of line
End – move to end of line
Ctrl+Home – move to beginning of text
Ctrl+End – move to end of text
Holding Shift while navigating using any of the above keys selects while
moving the cursor.
Other editing keys also work in the ways you would expect.
Enter – starts a new line

Backspace (Mac: Delete)– remove character to left of cursor
Delete (Mac: Fn+Delete) – remove character to right of cursor
Ctrl+A – select all
Ctrl+C – copy
Ctrl+X – cut
Ctrl+V – paste
You can also position the cursor and select text using the mouse.
Entering special characters
It is not uncommon to want to include musical or other symbols within text, so

MuseScore provides a way to access the symbols it provides. While typing text,
either press F2 or else press the (Insert Special Characters) button in the text
toolbar at the bottom of the screen (see Text toolbar, below). A dialog will
appear showing a number of common symbols used in musical scores.
Double-click on a symbol to insert it into the score at the cursor position. The
dialog remains up so you can insert multiple symbols. The buttons at the top of
the dialog let you choose between a set of common symbols provided by
MuseScore or a full listing of all symbols provided by the current musical and
text fonts. There are potentially very many of these, so they are organized into
categories.
There are a few musical symbols for which keyboard shortcuts exist while
editing text.
Accidentals
♭ Ctrl+Shift+B
♯ Ctrl+Shift+#
♮ Ctrl+Shift+H
Dynamics
f Ctrl+Shift+F
m Ctrl+Shift+M
n Ctrl+Shift+N
p Ctrl+Shift+P
r Ctrl+Shift+R
s Ctrl+Shift+S
z Ctrl+Shift+Z
Text Formatting
In addition to the standard sorts of settings and properties that are provided for
other markings, MuseScore provides a powerful text formatting facility that
allows you to control the default position and font characteristics of each type of
text marking separately and to override the formatting of any given text element,
including the ability to change formatting within a single text element.
The key to controlling the formatting of text in MuseScore is the Text style
facility. When you create a text element of a given type (e.g., staff text, tempo
marking, rehearsal mark), it is assigned the corresponding text style. The
formatting of text with any given text style is controlled by the settings for that
style in Style / Text. For instance, if you create staff text, it is given a style of
Staff, and the formatting of all text with this style is controlled by Style / Text /
Staff. Any changes made in this dialog will automatically affect all text with
Staff style. This includes existing staff text as well as staff text yet to be created.
You can change the text style assigned to a text element if you like. For instance,
you can create staff text but assign it the Rehearsal Mark style instead of the
Staff style. It will still behave like staff text – it will display only on the staff it is
attached to, and it will give you access to Staff Text Properties such as the ability
to change instrument sounds – but it will appear using the same formatting as
rehearsal marks.
You can also define your own text styles and assign them to text elements. For
example, you can define a Below Staff text style for text you wish to display
below the staff rather than above, or an Italics Tempo text style for tempo
markings you wish to display in italics rather than bold. This makes it easy to
maintain consistent formatting for related elements throughout your score.
For any given element, you can also override the font and position specified by
its text style using Text properties, and you can use the Text toolbar to change
formatting within a single element.
Text style
The text style for any given element type controls the default position and size of
elements of that type. Changes to the text style affect existing elements of that
type (unless you have already overridden their style settings) as well as elements
yet to be created.
Customizing settings for a text style
To customize the settings for a text style, start by going to Style / Text and then
selecting the desired style from the list at left.
The names of the styles should be mostly self-explanatory. For example, Title is
the default style applied to titles, Staff is the default style applied to staff text,
etc.
Each text style defines a group of settings controlling the font, position, and
other attributes. The individual settings for each style are:
Text
Font – select the font family to be used
Size – set the font size in points
Style – enable bold, italic, and/or underline
Size follows ’Staff space’ setting – controls whether font size scales
automatically with staff size
Color – font color
System flag – controls whether text should be attached to top staff of system and
all parts, or attached to a specific staff and part only
Offset
Horizontal – horizontal position relative to reference point
Vertical – vertical position relative to reference point
Unit – units for offset (mm or Staff space)
Alignment
Horizontal – align left edge, center, or right edge to reference point
Vertical – align top, center, baseline, or bottom of text to reference point
Frame – select whether text should be enclosed in a frame and set attributes for
the frame if so
Circle – circular frame
Box – rectangular frame
Border thickness – width of border
Text margin – margin between text and border
Border radius – percentage to round corners for Box frames
Foreground color – color of border
Background color – color of background
Creating a new text style
To create your own custom text style, go to Style / Text, and in the left column,
select the style upon which you wish to base your new style. Then press the
New button.

Upon hitting OK , a new text style will be created with the specified name and
with settings inherited from the original style you based your style on. You can
then customize the settings for this newly added style just as you would any
other style. For example, to create a “Staff Below” style, you could set the
vertical offset to 6.0sp.
Applying a text style to selected elements
When you create a text element, it is automatically assigned the corresponding

text style and displayed accordingly. However, you can assign a different style to
any given text element or group of selected text elements. To do this, simply
choose the desired text style using the Inspector.
Text properties
Creating new text styles is a simple process and is very useful when you have
multiple elements that you want to have the same formatting. Sometimes,
however, you just want to override the formatting for one single element, such as
to make one particular staff text bold.
To change the text formatting for a single element, right-click it and select Text
Properties from the context menu. A dialog is displayed that contains the same
settings as the text style dialog, but this dialog affects only the selected text
element.
You can set the various attributes in this dialog just as you would when
customizing a text style. You can also apply a different style, or if you have
altered settings in this dialog, you can reset them to the style defaults. Settings
made in this dialog apply to the selected text element only.
Text toolbar
When you edit a text element – whether while initially typing it or after double-
clicking it to enter Text edit mode – a toolbar appears at the bottom of the
MuseScore that provides control over the formatting on a per-character basis.
The controls on this toolbar allow you to change the formatting of selected
characters within the text.
– display Insert Special Characters dialog
– toggle bold for selected characters
– toggle italics for selected characters
– toggle underlining for selected characters
– toggle subscript for selected characters
– toggle superscript for selected characters
font family
font size
Chapter 14:
Lyrics
Lyrics are form of text, but MuseScore provides special commands for entering
them to make it easier to attach words note by note as well as to handle the
hyphens, extenders, and other symbols and conventions used in lyrics.
Entering Lyrics
To enter lyrics into your score, click the first note you wish to add a lyric to, then
press Ctrl+L (Mac: Cmd+L) or use Add / Text / Lyrics. This places you into
Lyrics edit mode, which is similar to Text edit mode but with special handling for
lyrics.

Press Ctrl+L, type “Row,”
One of the special feature of Lyrics edit mode is that pressing Space advances
the cursor to the next note, allowing you to type the next syllable.

Press Space, type “row,”
Pressing Esc ends lyrics edit mode, as does clicking somewhere else on the
score.
Hyphenation
To enter a hyphenated word, simply press the - (hyphen) key instead of Space to
move to the next syllable. You can then type the next syllable normally.

Press -, type “ry”
If the hyphenated word is a melisma – a syllable that is held out over more than
note – then keep entering hyphens to move note by note until you reach the note
for the next syllable.

Press - - - -, type “men”
If the syllables are close enough together, MuseScore inserts just a single
hyphen; if the syllables are far apart, MuseScore automatically inserts a series of
evenly-spaced hyphens.
If you should need to enter a hyphen into a single lyric syllable rather than as a
separator, you can enter it as Ctrl+- (Mac: Cmd+-).
Extenders
When a melisma occurs at the end of a word, an extender line is used to show
the duration of the melisma. These are entered using the _ (underscore) key. As
with hyphens, press _ as many times as you need to reach the next word.

Press _ _ _, type “why”
If you should need to enter an underscore into a single lyric syllable rather than
as an extender, you can enter it as Ctrl+_ (Mac: Cmd+_).
Verses
To enter multiple verses or otherwise create multiple lines of lyrics, press Enter
while in Lyrics edit mode to move down to the next line. You can then start
entering lyrics for the next verse.

Press Enter, type “How”
A new line of lyrics is also created if you press Ctrl+L (or use Add / Text /
Lyrics) to enter Lyrics edit mode while on a note that already has a lyric.
Once multiple lines of lyrics have been entered, you can use the Up and Down
cursor keys to navigate between them.
If you wish to number your verses, simply type the number (and optionally a
period or other punctuation) as part of the syllable. If you wish to enter a space
between the number and the syllable, use Ctrl+Space.

Type “1.”, press Ctrl+Space, type “She”.
Copy and paste
Sometimes it can be simpler to enter lyrics into a separate text editor and then
add them to your score using copy and paste. When pasting text in Lyrics edit
mode, MuseScore pastes one syllable at a time and automatically moves on to
the next syllable. To take advantage of this useful facility, type your lyrics with
spaces and hyphens in any text editor, then copy them to your clipboard.
In the example below, I started by typing and then selecting the following text
into a text editor:
Just say the word,_ _ soft-ly
As I press Ctrl+V in Lyrics edit mode, the lyrics are pasted one syllable at a
time.

Press Ctrl+V repeatedly
You can also copy all the lyrics for a score to the clipboard in order to paste them
into a text editor or other program. The command to do this is Edit / Tools / Copy
Lyrics to Clipboard.
If you copy and paste a range that includes lyrics, the lyrics are copied as
part of the range unless you exclude them using the Selection Filter. You
can also copy a group of lyrics to another set of notes. For more
information, see Copy, Cut, and Paste in the chapter on Editing.
Editing Lyrics
Just as with other text elements, double-clicking an existing lyric syllable puts
you back into Lyrics edit mode, thus allowing you to make changes.
While editing lyrics in Lyrics edit mode, Left and Right move the cursor within
the current syllable, or to the previous or next note once you reach the end of the
current syllable. Ctrl+Left and Ctrl+Right move a note at a time. Up and
Down move up and down through verses.
You can also move through lyrics using Space, -, and _. Pressing Space on a
syllable that previously had a hyphen or extender will delete it.

Press Space
Lyrics are a form of text, and therefore, the standard text formatting facility
applies. See the chapter Text for more information. Lyrics formatting uses two
different text styles: Lyrics Odd Lines and Lyrics Even Lines. This allows you to
have the font alternate between regular and italics, for example.
The standard MuseScore controls can be used to adjust the position of lyrics:
you can drag them, click them and move them with the arrow keys, use the
Inspector, etc. But due to the special nature of lyrics, there are also some controls
and techniques specific to lyrics that you should know.
Global lyrics settings
Aside from the text styles, other relevant settings for lyrics are found in Style /
General / Page.
Lyrics top margin – additional margin to add to default vertical position of lyrics
as set in text style
Lyrics bottom margin – minimum distance between lyrics and top of staff below
(extra space is added to enforce this)
Lyrics line height – distance between lyric lines (as a percentage of default line
spacing)
Alignment
While lyrics honor most of the standard text style settings, including alignment,
there is some special handling to allow lyrics to obey traditional music engraving
practices without your needing to set the alignment for syllables manually. For
instance, any syllable that represents a melisma – whether hyphenated or not – is
automatically left-aligned. Leading and trailing punctuation characters are
ignored when centering or left-aligning syllables. Lyrics that begin with a
number are assumed to represent the beginnings of verses, so the numbers are
aligned.
Vertical alignment is also treated specially by MuseScore in order to work as

expected in the presence of multiple verses, the line height style setting, odd and
even text styles, hyphens, and extenders.
Common Tasks
To move lyrics to avoid notes below the staff
The default vertical position for lyrics as controlled by the text style and the
Lyrics upper margin in Style / General / Page is sufficient to ensure that lyrics
can clear notes one ledger line below the staff. However, if your music goes
lower than that, lyrics may collide with notes. Traditional music engraving
practice is to move the entire line of lyrics down.
Changing the text style or margin setting would affect all lyrics on the score,
which might be good if you have these collisions throughout the score. However,
it may happen that there is only system that needs adjustment, and you may
wonder how to accomplish this most easily. Dragging syllables individually is
possible, but time-consuming, and it would be hard to ensure they all line up
properly. Instead, it usually makes sense to select them all and move them
together. You can try to select the syllables as a group using Shift+drag, but this
will probably be difficult due to the fact that they are overlapping the notes. You
can also Ctrl+click (Mac: Cmd+click) them one by one, but this too could be
time-consuming.
A reliable way to select and move all syllables on a given system is the
following:
1. Right-click a single syllable

2. Select / More
3. Check the Same system option
4. Press OK
5. Use the Inspector to change the Vertical offset of the selected syllables
No matter how you select the syllables, the real key to making the adjustment is
to use the Insepctor to move them all together.

Increase Vertical offset using the Inspector
To create lyrics above the staff
In choral writing, it is common to have multiple parts – for example, soprano

and alto – in different voices on the same staff. If the rhythms and lyrics are
similar, then they can share the same lyrics. However, if the rhythms or lyrics
differ, then lyrics for the top part would normally be written above the staff.
While MuseScore provides no direct automatic way of doing this, it does
provides controls that make the job straightforward.
1. Enter the lyrics for the top voice

2. Select the range over which you wish to move the lyrics (optional)
3. Right-click one syllable
4. Select / More
5. Check the Same voice option
6. If you selected a range first, check the In selection option
7. Press OK
8. Use the Inspector to change the Vertical offset of the selected syllables
9. Enter the lyrics for the bottom voice normally
You can of course select the syllables using any other method you like if that
happens to be easier. For instance, if you are careful to enter all voice 1 lyrics
first and can move them all at once before entering any voice 2 notes, you can
omit step 2 and replace steps 4-7 with Select / All similar elements. But the steps
above should always work well, even if you prefer to work a few measures at a
time and/or to alternate between voices.
In any case, once the lyrics are selected, the Inspector is always an easy way to
move them all up together.

Decrease Vertical offset using the Inspector
Chapter 15:
Chord Symbols
MuseScore allows you to enter symbols representing chords into your score with
a great deal of flexibility, understanding virtually all common variations on
syntax, offering a choice of different fonts (including a “handwritten” style), and
providing an optional jazz style that does automatic superscripting and other
formatting.

Standard versus Jazz chord symbol styles
See Changing Appearance and Behavior for more information on the different
formatting options available.
Entering Chord Symbols
To enter chord symbols, click the note, rest, or fretboard diagram (see Fretboard
Diagrams) above which you wish the chord symbol to appear, then press
Ctrl+K (Mac: Cmd+K) or use Add / Text / Chord Symbol. This will place you in
Chord symbol edit mode, displaying a text cursor above the staff. You can then
type a chord symbol as text.

Press Ctrl+K, type “G7”
When you have completed entry of a chord symbol, you can press any of the
following keys:
Space – move cursor to next note, rest, or beat

Shift+Space – move cursor to previous note, rest, or beat
; – move cursor to next beat
: – move cursor to previous beat
Tab – move cursor to next measure
Shift+Tab – move cursor to previous measure
Ctrl plus number (1 - 9) – move cursor by duration corresponding to
number (e.g., half note for 6)
Esc – exit Chord symbol edit mode
These shortcuts allow you to enter chord symbols much as you do lyrics –
moving on to the next chord symbol without ever leaving Chord symbol edit
mode.

Press Tab, type “A7”

Press Space, type “F”
Note that Space, Shift+Space, ;, :, and the Ctrl plus number (1 - 9) shortcuts all
allow you to enter chords on beats where there are no notes. This allows you to
have multiple chords per measure even in measures containing only a whole note
or measure rest.

Press Space Space, type “G7”
The ;, :, and Ctrl plus number (1 - 9) shortcuts are especially useful in that they
allow you to quickly enter chords at regular intervals regardless of how many
notes might be present.

Press ; ; or Ctrl+6, type “C7”
Chord Symbol Syntax
In order for a chord symbol to correctly display, transpose, and export to other
formats like MusicXML, MuseScore needs to be able to understand what you
have typed. MuseScore supports a wide variety of different chord symbol
syntaxes, so for the most part, you can type chords as you expect and they will
be understood correctly. There is ordinarily no need to adhere any particular set
of rules for chord symbol syntax. However, you will probably want to know how
to create some of the special symbols used in chord symbols, and to be familiar
with the basic rules of chord symbol construction.
Flats and sharps
When typing, use the letter “b” to indicate a flat sign and it will automatically be
rendered as such when you finish entering the chord symbol. Similarly, use the
“#” character to indicate a sharp sign.

Press Esc
Double flats and double sharps and can be entered as “bb” and either “x” or
“##”.
Chord quality
MuseScore understands the commonly used abbreviations for the basic chord
qualities of major, minor, augmented, diminished, and half-diminished. Most of
these abbreviations can be typed directly. A few special symbols can be created
using easy-to-remember shortcuts: “o” for the diminished symbol, “0” for the
half-diminished symbol, “ˆ” or “t” for the triangle that is sometimes used to
indicate a major chord. Here is the full list of accepted abbreviations for the
standard chord qualities:
major – M, Ma, Maj, ma, maj, Δ (type: “ˆ” or “t”)

minor – m, mi, min, -
augmented – aug, +
diminished – dim, o (type: letter “o”)
half-diminished – m7b5, mi7b5, min7b5, -7b5, ø (type: number “0”)
Special keywords
In addition to the standard abbreviations for major, minor, augmented,

diminished, and half-diminished, MuseScore also understands most of the
special keywords commonly used in chord symbols, plus a few that are not
particularly common but are found in some other programs and/or are supported
by MusicXML:
sus – suspended (replace third)

alt – altered (include only altered fifths and ninths)
add – add the specified degree
no – omit the specified degree
omit – omit the specified degree
lyd – major seventh chord with ♯11
phryg – minor seventh chord with ♭9
blues – dominant seventh chord with ♯9
Tristan – chord of the form 1 ♯4 ♯6 ♯9
Of these, “add,” “no,” and “omit” must be followed by a number specifying a

chord tone to add or leave out. “sus” may be followed by a number specifying a
chord tone to replace the third, but if there is no number immediately after the
“sus,” 4 is assumed.
MuseScore does not limit you to just these keywords. As long as it can read the
initial characters as a root name, it will render the rest as well as it can, and the
chord will still transpose normally. However, only chords that are understandable
can be exported reasonably to MusicXML.
Extensions and alterations
MuseScore understands the common extensions and alterations (e.g., 13, ♭9,
♯11) to chord symbols. Parentheses and commas may be used freely but are
optional.
Alternate bass notes
A chord may be specified with a note other than the root in the bass by following
the name of the chord with a slash and the name of the bass note.
Note names
By default, the chord symbol facility in MuseScore uses the note naming
convention used in most English-speaking countries as well as much of the rest
of the world: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, always spelled using capital letters, and
flat and sharp denoted with ♭ and ♯. However, MuseScore also supports alternate
note spelling options such as those used in many French-speaking, Spanish-
speaking, and other countries (Do, Re or Ré, Mi, ...) as well as Germany (H; es
and is). MuseScore also supports the convention, used by some musicians, in
which lower case letters are used for minor and diminished chords and/or
alternate bass notes, and it also supports all caps spelling.
If you wish to use any of these note naming conventions in your chord symbols,
go to Style / General / Chord Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams and select the
appropriate option, which are described below under Changing Appearance and
Behavior.
Parenthesized chords
You can indicate optional chords by enclosing them in parentheses. Simply type
the parentheses when entering the chord symbol. Additional space is
automatically added when you complete entry. If several optional chords occur
in a row, you can enclose the whole sequence in parentheses.

Type “(Cmi7”, press Space, type “F7)”
Capo chords
For guitar music in which you wish to provide a capo version of your chords,
MuseScore can automatically generate these and display them in parentheses
after the main chords. To enable this feature, go to Style / General / Chord
Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams and enter a value for Capo fret position. You can
then type the chords as you intend them to sound, and MuseScore will
automatically calculate the appropriate chord to play in order to get that sound. It
will also add the capo version to any chord symbols you have already entered.
For example, with Capo fret position set to “1”, MuseScore calculates that you
need to play an A chord in order for a B♭ chord to result, and the A chord will
automatically be displayed in parentheses next to the B♭ chord.

Enter “1” for Capo fret position
Chord symbols are a special form of text, and therefore most of the ordinary text
formatting options are available. The relevant text style is Chord Symbol. See the
chapter Text for more information.
There are also a number of additional options unique to the special handling of
chord symbols.
Global chord symbol settings

Aside from the text style, other relevant settings for chord symbols can be found
in Style / General / Chord Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams.
Appearance
Standard – chord symbols are displayed normally according the text style
Jazz – chord symbols are displayed with special formatting (see below)
Custom – chord symbols are displayed with custom formatting
Chord symbols style file – XML file with definitions for custom formatting
Load chords.xml – specify whether chords.xml needs to be loaded (for
compatibility with custom chord symbol files created for earlier versions of
MuseScore)
Note Spelling
Standard – A, B♭, B, C, C♯
German – A, B♭, H, C, C♯
Full German – A, B, H, C, Cis
Solfeggio – Do, Re, Mi
French – Do, Ré, Mi
Automatic Capitalization – automatically capitalize chords according to the
options set below
Lower case minor chord – use lower case for minor and diminished chords
Lower case bass notes – use lower case for alternate bass notes
All caps note names – use all caps for note names
Position
Default vertical position – baseline for chord symbols (text style vertical offset
is relative to this)
Distance to fretboard diagram – distance of chord symbols above fretboard
diagrams if present
Minimum chord spacing – minimum space between chord symbols (notes are
automatically spaced to enforce this)
Maximum barline distance – maximum distance from chord symbol to barline
(barline is automatically spaced to enforce this)
Capo
Capo fret position – automatically calculate capo chords from this fret position
A few of these options bear further explanation.

Capitalization
When the Automatic Capitalization option is on (as it is by default), MuseScore

will capitalize root and alternate bass note names in chord symbols according to
the other options in that group. This means that even if you type chords all lower
case, MuseScore will automatically capitalize note names by default unless you
use one of the options to force lower case or all caps. However, if you turn the
Automatic Capitalization option off, MuseScore will preserve the capitalization
of chords as you type them, thus allowing for mixed capitalization within the
same score. This can be useful, for example, in accordion music.
Spacing
By default, MuseScore will automatically space your music to avoid collision

between chord symbols. The Minimum chord spacing setting controls how much
space MuseScore will preserve around chord symbols. Negative numbers here
will cause MuseScore to allow chord symbols to overlap by the specified
amount. You may wish to do this if you want your music spaced as tightly as
possible and plan to position chords manually to avoid collisions.
Also, by default, MuseScore will allow chord symbols to overlap the barline,
which may cause the last chord of one measure to collide with the first of
another measure. The Maximium barline distance setting controls how much
space MuseScore will use after a chord symbol before drawing the barline. The
default value here is on the low side, which is what allows chord symbols to
overlap the barline. By increasing this setting, you can force MuseScore to add
more space before the barline where chord symbols are present, thus preventing
chord symbols from overlapping. Depending on the nature of your music, you
might consider that a simple solution, or you might find it simpler to adjust the
position of individual chord symbols manually.
Common Tasks
To use jazz chord symbol formatting
MuseScore includes a font called MuseJazz that can provide a handwritten

appearance to your score. This font can be used for any type of text in your score
by selecting it normally under Style / Text, and this works for chord symbols just
as it does for other types of text.

Change both Lyrics Odd Lines and Chord Symbol text styles to MuseJazz
However, in order to take full advantage of this font, set the Jazz option under
Appearance in Style / General / Chord Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams. Setting
this option not only changes the font used in rendering chord symbols to
MuseJazz; it also enables a number of special formatting techniques such as
superscripting of alterations.

Set Jazz option under Appearance
This is all set up for you when using any of the jazz templates when first creating
your score. In addition, the font size for chord symbols is raised to 15 point.
To enter substitute chord symbols
By entering multiple chord symbols on the same beat, and setting different text
style or properties for them, you can create substitute chord symbols. You can do
this for individual chord symbols by moving chord symbols as you go, but there
are shortcuts that can simplify the task of entering a complete set of substitute
chord symbols.
While there are different ways of going about this, here is one method that
should work well:
1. Enter the original chords

2. Select them all (e.g., Select / All Similar Elements in Same Staff )
3. Cut (optionally paste them elsewhere for safety)
4. Enter substitute chords
5. Select them all
6. Use the Inspector to change the vertical position and/or text style
7. Select first note
8. Paste
In the example below, I used this technique with a custom text style I created
called “Alternate Chord Symbol” – based on the regular Chord Symbol text style
but with a font size of 12 point and a vertical offset of -3.50sp.
Chapter 16:
Lines
A number of musical symbols are essentially just lines drawn in the score with
various embellishments. Some also contain text, some have hooks, some are
angled, some are curved, etc. Some of the specific types of lines will be
discussed in later chapters, but there are a few general types of lines – as well as
some concepts and techniques common to all lines in MuseScore – that we will
look at here first.
Placing Lines
Most lines can be placed by selecting a range in your score then double-clicking
the icon for the line in the palette. The line will be applied to the entire range.

You can also apply them by dragging and dropping them from the Lines palette
to the specific note on which you wish the line to begin.
When using drag and drop, MuseScore tries to pick a sensible default initial
length for the line, but you are usually better off selecting the range first then
double-clicking the icon.
A few lines, such as slurs and hairpins, can also be added via Add / Lines
or have keyboard shortcuts that allow them to be placed more easily.
Line types that support these entry method will be discussed as we
encounter them.
Editing Lines
In most cases, the only alteration you will need to make to a line is to change the
end anchor point. Some lines are attached to measures, others to notes, but in
either case, the end anchor point is changed in the same way: double-click the
line to enter Edit mode, then press Shift+Right or Shift+Left to change end
anchor point. Lines attached to measures (like voltas) are extended a measure at
a time; lines attached to notes (like slurs) are extended a note at a time.

Press Shift+Right
Lines can be extended across multiple systems, or even multiple pages. Just keep
extending the line with Shift+Right and MuseScore will automatically continue
it as necessary.
If you change your mind about where you want the line to start, you can move
the left handle in the same way.

Press Shift+Left
Once you have set the start and end anchor points for a line, you can also fine-
tune the length of the line by using the arrow keys without Shift, or by dragging
the handles.

Drag
Dragging is for fine-tuning the length of the line only; it does not change
the actual anchor points. Do not use dragging as a substitute for
changing the anchor points. If you do, playback will not be correct,
multimeasure rests may not be handled correctly, and layout may not be
correct if a measure subsequently moves to a different system. You must
use Shift+Right and Shift+Left to change the anchor points.
The center handle provides a convenient way to adjust the position of a line
using the arrow keys. Position can also be adjusted by dragging or by using the
Inspector.

Press Ctrl+Up twice
Line Types
As mentioned above, a few of the line types will be covered in more detail in
later chapters where they are more relevant. For example, voltas are discussed in
Repeats, hairpins in Dynamics, and slurs, pedals, and trills in Articulations and
Other Symbols. But a few more general lines types are discussed here.
Text lines
A number of line types provided by MuseScore allow text to be incorporated

with the line. This includes voltas, ottavas, and pedal lines, each of which is
discussed in a subsequent chapter. However, MuseScore also provides a generic
text line that will be discussed here. The facilities for manipulating the text in all
of these line types is similar. So the discussion here will be referenced in the
chapters covering those other line types as well.
Text lines are created like other line types – select a range and double-click the
line icon, or drag the line icon from the palette to your score. There are actually
two versions on the palette: one with sample text (“VII”) already provided, and
one with no text. Either version is attached to a specific note, so when using drag
and drop, be sure to release when the desired note highlights.
To edit the text attached to the line, right-click the line and choose Line
Properties from the resulting context menu to display the Line Properties dialog.
The Begin and End sections of this dialog allow you to specify text to be used at
the beginning and ending of the line. The Continue section allows you to be
specify text to be used at the beginning of each system for lines that are
continued over more than one system.
For each section, you can type the desired text into space provided. The ...
button displays the standard Text Properties dialog, allowing you to customize
the font and alignment of the text as described in the chapter on Text. In addition,
there is a drop-down menu to select whether the text is displayed to the left of
the line or above/below the line.
Note that in order for the text to actually be displayed above or below
the line, you need to set appropriate vertical alignment in the text
properties as well. What the drop-down actually controls is whether the
line starts immediately or not until after the text. With Left, the line starts
after the text; otherwise it starts immediately. Whether the text actually
displays above or below the line depends on the vertical alignment in the
text properties.
In addition to the text itself, text lines support optional hooks on either end of the
line to clarify the exact extent of the line. The Line Properties dialog also
contains options, shown above, to control the presence, length, and angle for
hooks at the beginning and end of lines.
The follow example shows the result of setting the Begin text to “Optional”, with
Placement set to Below, Text Properties set to align the top of text, and the End
hook set to a length of 3sp.
Ottava
An ottava line is a special type of text line that is used to indicate that a passage
is to be played one or more octaves higher or lower than written. The lines 8va,
15ma, and 22ma tell the performer to play one, two, or three octaves higher than
written; 8vb, 15mb, and 22mb tell the performer to play lower.
MuseScore automatically places ottava lines above the staff for lines that
indicate notes should be played higher than written, or below the staff for lines
that indicate notes should be played lower than written. You can override this –
and also change the basic type of marking between 8va, 8vb, 15ma, etc. – using
the controls in the Inspector, as discussed below.
In addition to the standard methods of applying ottava lines (double-click, drag

and drop), you can also place some ottava lines via Add / Lines or the keyboard
shortcuts listed in that menu.
Global line settings
There are no global settings common to all line types. Certain line types such as
voltas and hairpins do support some global settings. Of the line types discussed
in this chapter, here are the settings available:
Style / General / Hairpins, Volta, Ottava

Ottava
Default vertical position – default height above the staff
Hook height – default length of hook
Line thickness – default line thickness
Line style – default line style (Continuous, Dashed, Dotted, Dash-Dotted,
Dash-Dot-Dotted)
Individual line properties
The following properties, found in the Inspector, are common to all lines types:
Line
Line visible – control whether the line itself is visible, or just the text
Allow diagonal – allow line to be drawn diagonally (by moving the end handles)
Line color – color of line
Line thickness – thickness of line
Line style – style of line (Continuous, Dashed, Dotted, Dash-Dotted, Dash-Dot-
Dotted)
In addition, for ottava lines, the following properties are available:
Ottava
Type – 8va, 8vb, 15ma, 15mb, 22ma, 22mb
Placement – placement relative to staff (Above, Below)
Numbers only – specify whether the “va”, ”vb”, ”ma”, or ”mb” text is displayed
by default
Shortcuts
There are a few predefined keyboard shortcuts that can used to enter lines
directly, both in Note input and Normal modes. These are two-character
sequences, entered by pressing the keys in succession.
Ctrl+Y Ctrl+O Ctrl+A – ottava 8va

Ctrl+Y Ctrl+O Ctrl+B – ottava 8vb
Chapter 17:
Repeats
MuseScore supports the standard symbols used to indicate repeated passages,
and most of these symbols work for playback as well. The symbols used share
attributes with other types of markings: repeat barlines are just a special type of
barline, “D.C. al fine” is just a special type of text, voltas (endings) are just a
special type of line, etc.
Repeat Barlines
The most common way to indicate a repeated section is with repeat barlines.
These are located within the Barlines palette and are added like other barlines;
see Barlines in the chapter on Measure Operations for more information.
Start repeats are added by applying the barline to the first measure of the
repeated section. You can do this either by dragging the palette icon to the
measure or by selecting the existing left barline and double-clicking the palette
icon.

The corresponding end repeat barline should be added to the last measure of the
repeated section; it will appear at the right of the measure.
When one repeated passage is followed immediately by another, add the two-
sided End-start repeat symbol to the end of the first section.
For convenience, these symbols can also be found on the Repeats & Jumps
palette.
Playback
By default, each repeated section will be played twice. To specify a different

number of repeats, right-click the measure with the closing repeat and choose
Measure Properties. The Play count setting controls the total number of times
the section ending at that repeat sign is played.
Mid-Measure Repeats
If a piece starts with a pickup measure, it may be necessary for a closing repeat
to appear mid-measure. Mid-measure repeats are created like other types of mid-
measure barlines. Either click the note or rest before which you wish the repeat
to appear and then double-click the repeat sign in the palette, or drag the icon to
the note or rest.
Mid-measure repeats created in this manner do not play back. If you

would like to hear the playback, then use the Edit / Measure / Split
Measure Before Selected Note command (discussed in the chapter
Measure Operations) to split the measure into two parts. Then you can
add the repeat barline to the first part normally, and playback will work.
Voltas (Endings)
If a passage is to be repeated with a different ending each time, use a volta

symbol to indicate this. The volta symbols are located within the Lines palette.
For more information on how lines work in MuseScore, see the chapter on Lines.
Voltas are normally attached only to the top staff of a score, and they are
automatically copied and linked to all parts (see the chapter on Parts).
But in particularly large scores – such as for a full orchestra – you may
wish to place additional voltas at the top of each section. MuseScore
allows you to do this. Only voltas attached to the top staff will be copied
to parts.
Placing a volta
To place a volta, select the range of measures and double-click the palette icon,
or drag the icon from the palette to the measure that you wish to begin the volta.

Extending a volta
If you wish to extend a volta to cover more measures than you originally
attached it to, double-click the symbol after placing it. This places the volta in
Edit mode. You can then press Shift+Right to move the endpoint of the volta
one measure at a time to the right.

Press Shift+Right
Changing the ending number
The palette provides symbols for first, second, and third endings. If you need
other endings, such as a fourth ending, or an ending to be used for the first
through third repetitions, place the volta using one of the existing symbols, then
right-click the symbol and select Volta Properties. This will bring up a dialog
that allows you to enter the text that will appear as well as select the exact
repetitions for which this ending should be used.
D.C., D.S., Segno, Coda, Fine
To place a D.C., D.S., segno, coda, or similar marking, use the Repeats & Jumps
palette.
Drag a marking from this palette to the desired measure of your score, releasing
when the measure highlights. The marking will automatically be placed above
the measure, aligned either to the left or to the right as appropriate for the
marking.
Note that while some editors use the coda sign alone to indicate where a
performer should jump forward, MuseScore requires you to use the To
Coda marking in order for playback to work correctly. However, if you
prefer to use the coda sign instead of (or in addition to) text, go ahead
and add the To Coda marking, then double-click it to edit the text. To
insert the coda sign, press F2 to bring up the Special Characters palette,
then double-click the coda sign.
Playback
MuseScore normally interprets these symbols automatically when it comes it

playback, but you can also customize some aspects of this behavior.
The standard convention in music notation is to not take repeats during a D.S. or
D.C. However, it is common to want to specify that repeats should be taken
anyhow. You can edit the text of the D.S. or D.C. to clarify your intent to the
human performer. To get MuseScore to take repeats on a D.S. or D.C., select it
and enable the Play repeats option in the Inspector.
If you have an especially complicated road map with multiple segnos and/or
codas, you can also use the Inspector to tell MuseScore which D.S. goes with
which segno, etc. Each segno and coda marking has a label you can set, and each
D.S. and D.C. lets you specify the labels they jump to.
Measure Repeat
The measure repeat symbol can used when you wish to repeat a single measure.
It is located on the Repeats & Jumps palette, and you can add one to your score
by dragging it to the desired measure or by selecting the measure and double-
clicking the symbol in the palette. The latter approach also allows you to insert
several measure repeat symbols at once, by selecting a range of measures before
double-clicking the palette icon.

Double click measure repeat icon in palette
MuseScore does not contain native support for two-bar or four-bar repeats.
However, the symbols themselves are present in the Bravura font and can be
added to your score using the Symbols palette. To add one of these symbols,
press Z to display the palette. The symbols in question are found toward the very
end, so scroll down until you find them.
This symbol is usually centered directly on the barline between two measures,
indicating that those two measures are to be replaced with the contents of the
previous two. You can attach the symbol to a barline in your score by dragging it
and releasing when the dotted line is drawn to the correct barline.
If you use this symbol a lot, you may wish to add it to your Repeats palette as
described in the chapter on Customization.
Although MuseScore does not position this symbol automatically, you can do so
manually in a reliable way without too much trouble, as follows:
1. Click the symbol to select it

2. Press Ctrl+R to reset the position to the default (to top right of barline)
3. Double-click symbol to enter Edit mode
4. Press Ctrl+Down twice to move the symbol to the middle line
5. Press Ctrl+Left followed by Left five times to center it on the barline
You can accomplish the same results with the Inspector, entering offsets of
-1.50sp horizontal and 2.00sp vertical.
Once you have positioned the symbol appropriately in your score, you can mark
the rests invisible and then copy and paste those two measures or use the R
command to repeat the passage as often as desired.
In no time at all, you can fill entire pages with these.
Although these symbols do not playback, you can use separate invisible
staves to contain the playback for these and other symbols for which
playback is not defined. See the chapter Staves and Instruments for more
information.
The appearance of repeats can be customized in the same basic ways as for other
element types, but there are some special properties for repeats, to support
playback for instance.
Global repeat settings
The text-based repeating markings such as D.C., Fine, and the segno and coda
signs themselves use the Repeat Text Left and Repeat Text Right text styles,
depending on whether they are normally aligned to the left or the right of the
measure. Global settings for repeat barlines are discussed in the chapter Measure
Operations. Addition global settings for repeats are as follows:

Volta
Default vertical position – default height above the staff
Hook height – default length of hook
Line thickness – default line thickness
Line style – default line style (Continuous, Dashed, Dotted, Dash-Dotted,
Dash-Dot-Dotted)
Individual repeat properties
Barline settings have already been discussed in the chapter on Measure

Operations, text settings in Text, and line settings in Lines, but there are a few
additional properties for repeats that you can set in the Inspector.
Volta
Volta
Type – Open, Closed
D.C., D.S.
Jump
Jump to – label of marker to jump to
Play until – label of marker to play until after jump to above marker
Continue at – label of marker to continue at after playing until above
marker
Play repeats – play repeats after taking the D.S. or D.C.
Segno, Coda, To Coda, Fine
Marker
Marker type – type of this marker (controls label and default text)
Label – label of this marker (for use by jump elements such as D.C. and
D.S.)
Chapter 18:
Dynamics
Dynamics indicate the relative volume of a passage – how soft or loud it should
be played. Dynamic indications fall into two categories: text markings like mf
that most often indicate the overall volume of a passage, and lines called
hairpins used to indicate a gradual change in volume. The former are found in
the Dynamics palette; the latter in the Lines palette. All of these symbols are
understood and applied to playback, with certain limitations in the case of
hairpins.
Dynamics Text Markings
The standard dynamics text markings (e.g., mp, ff ) are found in the Dynamics
palette.
These markings can be added to your score in the same way as most palette
items: either drag and drop one to a specific note, or else click one or more notes
then double-click the icon.

Double-click sfz in palette
You may also wish to add text markings like “subito p”. You can do this by
adding an ordinary dynamics text marking like p and then double-clicking it to
edit the text.
As mentioned in the chapter on Text, the special versions of the letters f ,

m, n, p, r, s, and z can be entered while editing text by pressing
Ctrl+Shift while typing the letter.
Hairpins (Crescendo and Diminuendo)
A gradual change in dynamics – crescendo or diminuendo (decrescendo) – can

be indicated with a hairpin symbol or with a dashed text line. These are found on
the Lines palette and generally work as described in the chapter on Lines.
Both the hairpins and the dashed text lines can be added to a score like other
lines: either select a range then double-click the icon, or drag the icon to a
specific note in your score. In the latter case, you may need to adjust the end
anchor manually (double-click and use Shift+Left and Shift+Right).

Press Shift+Left twice
However, you can also add hairpins via Add / Lines, or using keyboard shortcuts.
The latter method is especially convenient. First select the range, then press <
for crescendo or > for diminuendo.

Press <
When a hairpin is in Edit mode, there is a special handle that appears at the open
end to control the height of the hairpin.

Drag
The standard text markings are a form of text and hence can be customized
similarly to other text markings. Hairpins are a form of line and hence can be
customized similarly to other lines. But there are also some specific settings
unique to dynamics.
Global dynamics settings
The standard text markings use the text style Dynamics to control position and
font.
Settings for hairpins are as follows:

Hairpins
Default vertical position – position relative to top of staff
Height – height of hairpin at wide end
Continue height – height of hairpin at narrow end when continued across
systems
Individual dynamics properties
A variety of properties relating specifically to dynamics can be set in the

Inspector. Note that the more general properties of dynamics as text or lines are
available as well. These are documents in the chapters on Text and Lines
respectively.
Standard text markings
Dynamic
Dynamic range – scope of playback effect (Staff, Part, System)
Velocity – MIDI velocity (volume on scale of 1-127)
Hairpins
Hairpin
Text line – display as a line rather than a hairpin
Circled tip – display small circle on closed end (indicating silence)
Dynamic range – scope of playback effect (Staff, Part, System)
Velocity change – change in velocity from start to end; 0 indicates
automatic determination from surrounding dynamics
Height – height of hairpin at wide end
Continue height – height of hairpin at narrow end when continued across
systems
Chapter 19:
Fretboard Diagrams
Music for guitar and similar instruments often includes diagrams showing how
to finger the chords on the fretboard. MuseScore allows you to create these
fretboard diagrams with a straightforward fretboard diagram editor.
Creating a Fretboard Diagram
Fretboard diagrams are added to your score using the Fretboard Diagrams
palette.
Initially, this palette contains a set of commonly-used diagrams. After adding

one to your score, you can modify it as we will see below. As you build a
collection of chords, you can add them to your palette as described in Palettes in
the chapter on Customization to make it easy to reuse your own fretboard
diagrams.
To add a fretboard diagram to your score, drag it from the palette to a note, rest,
or chord symbol, or click the note, rest, or chord symbol then double-click the
palette icon.
To edit a fretboard diagram once it has been placed in your score, right-click it
and choose Fretboard Diagram Properties. This displays an editor that allows
you to create your own chords easily.
By default, this editor displays six strings and five frets, but you can customize
this using the controls at the bottom of the dialog. You can also use the scroll bar
to set the topmost fret.
Fret marks
To add a fret mark to a string, simply click where you want the mark to appear.

Click
If there is already an existing mark on another fret for that string, the existing
one is deleted automatically.
Open and unused string indicators
If you wish to remove a fret mark and leave the string open, either click on the
mark you wish to delete or click above the string where you would like the open
string indicator (the letter “O”) to appear.

Click
To mark an open string as unused, click the “O” and it will turn into an “X”.

Click
If you click the “X”, it will be deleted, leaving you with an unmarked string.

Click
Barré chords
To create the symbol for a barré, Shift+click the string/fret where you would like
the barré to end.

Shift+click
Chord symbols
Chord symbols and fretboard diagrams can be used together and entered in either
order. Chord symbols will automatically display above a fretboard diagram if
present.

Press Ctrl+K, type “D7”
When using chord symbols in conjunction with fretboard diagrams, you

will probably want to set the Chord Symbol text style to centered rather
than left-aligned. See Text style in the chapter on Text for more
information.
The options that control the appearance of fretboard diagrams are found in Style
/ General / Chord Symbols, Fretboard Diagrams.
Default vertical position – position above staff

Scale – relative size of fretboard diagram (1.0 = standard)
Fret offset number font size – size of fret offset number relative to size used for
“X” and “O”
Position – display fret offset number to Left or Right of diagram
Barré line thickness – relative thickness of barré line (1.0 = standard)
Chapter 20:
Figured Bass
Figured bass is a style of notation, commonly used in Baroque music, in which
notes are written for a bass instrument and symbols are placed below the staff to
indicate a harmony that is to be supplied by a keyboard player or other musician.
MuseScore supports the most common types of figured bass notation.
Entering Figured Bass
Figured bass notation can be created in MuseScore in a similar manner as for

chord symbols. To begin figured bass entry, click a note then press Ctrl+G
(Mac: Cmd+G) or use the menu item Add / Text / Figured Bass. This places a
text cursor under the staff, allowing you to type a figured bass symbol.

Press Ctrl+G, type “b3”
As with chord symbol entry, a similar set of shortcuts exist to move the cursor
when entering figured bass.
Space – move cursor to next note, rest, or beat

Shift+Space – move cursor to previous note, rest, or beat
Tab – move cursor to next measure
Shift+Tab – move cursor to previous measure
Ctrl plus number (1 - 9) – extend duration corresponding to number (e.g.,
half note for 6)
Esc – exit Figured bass edit mode
Note that as you enter figures, a gray horizontal bar appears on screen above
each figure to show its duration. These bars do not print but are there to help you
visualize how your figures relate to the bass notes above. See Duration below
for more information.
To edit a figured bass element that has already been entered, you can either
navigate back to it while still in Figured bass edit mode, or you can double-click
it if you have already exited to Normal mode.
Figured Bass Syntax
Figured bass symbols include digits, accidentals, and a variety of other special
symbols.
Digits
Digits are entered normally. Stacked digits are entered by pressing Enter after
each line.

Type “6”, press Enter, type “4”
When you complete entry of the figure, it will be reformatted automatically.

Accidentals
Accidentals are entered using ordinary characters that will be automatically

converted to the proper symbols when you complete entry of the figure. Use “b”
for flat, “#” for sharp, “h” for natural, “bb” for double flat, and “##” for double
sharp. Accidentals can be placed before or after a digit, or used in place of a digit
(which by convention implies a 3). Parentheses – both round and square – can be
used freely around accidentals.
Combined shapes
Digits can be combined with a slash or cross by typing “/”, “\”, or “+” as
appropriate, either before or after the digit. For example, to produce a 6 with a
slash through it, type “6\”, and it will be converted when you complete entry of
the figure.

Duration
Figured bass elements have a specific duration, shown on screen by the gray
horizontal line above each figure. Although MuseScore does not currently use
this value for anything, the duration can be used by plugins and is also exported
to MusicXML, so one should take care to set these correctly. By default, each
figure lasts the duration of the note to which it is attached, and this is set when
you use Space or Tab to move to the next note or measure or Esc to exit Figured
bass edit mode.
You can explicitly enter a longer or shorter duration while entering a figure by
pressing Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) in conjunction with the number key corresponding to
the duration you wish to set. Using one of these shortcuts upon entering a figure
will both set the duration as specified and move the cursor forward by that same
amount. This allows you to enter multiple figures under a single note, or to enter
a single figure that extends for multiple notes.

Press Ctrl+6, type “7”

Press Ctrl+6, type “6”, press Enter, type “5”
In order to make the duration visually explicit in the final score (not just the gray
line on screen), you can enter a continuation line by typing an underscore after
the figure, and then using Ctrl and a number as usual to specify the duration.

Type “_”, press Ctrl+6, type “6”, press Enter, type “5”
Although figured bass elements are a form of text, rendering requirements are
special enough that the usual text style mechanism does not apply. Instead, all
relevant settings are part of the general style.
Global figured bass settings

Most of the options for controlling the appearance of figured bass are found in
Style / General / Figured Bass, which is described in detail below. Although
figured bass is a form of text, there is no corresponding Figured Bass text style.
The relevant controls are all found in the general style options.
Style / General / Figured Bass

Figured Bass
Font – currently the only option is MuseScore Figured Bass
Size – size of font
Vertical position – default position of figures relative to top of staff
Line height – spacing between lines for multi-line figures, expressed as a
percentage of font size
Alignment – specify whether Top or Bottom of figure is aligned to
reference point
Style – specify Modern or Historic rendering styles for combined shapes
Chapter 21:
Articulations and Other Symbols
MuseScore supports a very large number of markings, including articulations
such as staccato dots or tenuto lines, ornaments such as mordents and trills, and
other symbols such as arpeggios, tremolo, and even a set of bagpipe
embellishments.
Rather than overwhelm you with a single palette containing hundreds of

symbols, MuseScore divides them up into a number of separate palettes. The
way MuseScore divides the markings up has as much to do with how they are
created in the program as with what they actually mean, which can sometimes
make things hard to find at first. This book presents a compromise between these
two different ways of categorizing markings.
Most of the markings discussed in this chapter support the standard adjustments
to position that can be made using the keyboard, mouse, or the Inspector, as
described in Manual Adjustments in the chapter on Editing. Most require a
double-click to be placed into Edit mode before nudging with the keyboard
becomes possible; exceptions include markings that are actually based on text
(eg, fingerings).
The examples below often make use of the Advanced workspace, which
contains the fullest set of markings. If your palettes contain fewer
symbols than shown here and you need to use one of the missing ones,
be sure to select the Advanced workspace using the control at the bottom
of the palette window.
Articulations
The term articulation refers to the manner in which individual notes are played.
Articulation symbols in MuseScore are found in the Articulations & Ornaments
palette.
Placing articulations
Markings on the Articulations & Ornaments palette can be added to your score
in the usual ways: by dragging and dropping a palette element onto a single note
or rest, or by selecting one or more notes or rests and then double-clicking the
palette icon.

Certain articulations can also be entered via keyboard shortcuts, both in Note
input and in Normal modes.
Shift+S – staccato
Shift+N – tenuto
Shift+V – sforzato
Shift+O – marcato
There are a few other articulations that do not have shortcuts assigned by default
but for which they can be added as described in the section on Shortcuts in the
chapter on Customization. Articulations for which you can define custom
shortcuts include trills and bowing marks.
Editing articulations
In addition to the standard adjustments, most articulations can be flipped upside

down and/or to the opposite side of the note (stem side versus notehead side)
using the keyboard command X.
Playback
Certain articulations – such as staccato – will play back automatically. Play back
for other articulations may be simulated by using the Inspector to set appropriate
properties (e.g., to increase the velocity for notes under a down bow marking).
The fermata is special in that it has built-in playback support that is not enabled
by default. To make a fermata play back, increase its Time stretch property in the
Inspector. A value of 2.00, for instance, will cause the note under the fermata to
be held twice as long as usual.
Slurs
Slurs (not to be confused with ties, which look similar but are entirely different –
see Ties in the chapter on Entering Notes and Rests) can be considered a form of
articulation, but they are special in that they are not applied to individual notes
but instead to groups of consecutive notes. They are found on the Lines palette.
Placing slurs
The easiest way to apply a slur to a group of consecutive notes is to first select
them and then press the keyboard command S.

Press S
Slurs can also be entered directly during note entry. Press S after entering a note
and a slur will be started. The slur continues as you enter more notes, until you
press S again to terminate it.

Type S D E S F
You can also enter a slur from the Lines palette as described in the chapter on
Lines, or via Add / Lines / Slur.
Editing slurs
Slurs can be edited as described in Lines. Although I recommend that you use
Shift+Left and Shift+Right when adjusting the endpoints of any lines, slurs are
unlike other line types in that you can also drag an endpoint with the mouse to a
different note, and the slur will automatically adjust. Just be sure to release when
the anchor point (as shown by the dotted line) changes to the desired note.

Drag right
Fine tuning can be done by adjusting the handles without holding Shift. Slurs are
different from other lines in that they are curved and thus contain additional
handles that can be used to customize the shape of the slur.

Drag
Slurs can also be flipped above or below the notes to which they apply using the
keyboard command X.

Press X
Cross staff slurs
For instruments like piano that use multiple staves, slurs can cross from one staff
to the other. To create a cross staff slur, place the slur normally, and then while in
Edit mode, use Shift+Up and Shift+Down to move the anchor point to a note or
rest on the staff above or below.

Press Shift+Up
Ornaments
Ornaments that have a fixed shape and size are found on the Articulations &
Ornaments palette. Ornaments like trills that can be extended in length are found
on the Lines palette.
Placing ornaments
The ornaments on the Articulations & Ornaments palette are attached to

individual notes in your score and are placed just like articulations and most
other palette elements: drag and drop from the palette to a note or rest, or select a
note or rest then double-click the palette icon.
The ornaments on the Lines palette – various forms of trills – are placed by
selecting a range and then double-clicking the icon or by using drag and drop, as
discussed in the chapter on Lines.
Editing ornaments
Ornaments placed from the Lines palette can be extended as described in the
chapter on Lines: double-click to enter Edit mode, then use Shift+Left and
Shift+Right to change the anchor points.

Press Shift+Left
Fine tuning can be done by adjusting the handles without holding Shift.
Playback
Certain ornaments, such as mordents and turns, will play back automatically.
However, interpretation of ornaments is highly subjective, and the automatic
playback is unlikely to be satisfactory to everyone in all cases. The Ornament
Style control in the Inspector enables you to customize the playback of
ornaments. You can also disable playback of an ornament completely using the
Play control, and you can optionally provide your own interpretation of the
ornament by adding invisible notes in another voice or on another staff.
Pedal Markings
MuseScore supports the standard pedal markings used for piano. These markings
are found on the Lines palette.
Placing pedal markings
Pedal marking are placed like other lines, as described in the chapter on Lines:
select a region then double-click the palette icon, or drag from the palette to the
desired start note.
Editing pedal markings
By default, a pedal marking extends to the end of the measure, but the anchor
point can be edited as for other lines: double-click then use Shift+Left or
Shift+Right.

Press Shift+Right
Pedal change markings
The angle bracket used to indicate a pedal change can be created in MuseScore
by combining two pedal lines: one ending with an angle hook where you want
the change to occur, and another starting with an angle hook at that same
location.

Pedal release markings
Some editors prefer to use the symbol “*” to indicate where the pedal is
released, instead of using a line with a hook at the end. This symbol can be
added from the Lines palette even though no actual line will appear in your
score. The line is marked invisible and will appear grayed-out on screen.
Other pedal types
MuseScore includes built-in support (including palette icons and playback) for
the standard damper pedal only, but you can add generic text lines for other types
of pedal marking such as sostenuto pedal, using Line Properties to set the text
and other attributes however you like.
Fingering
Fingering markings are found on the Fingering palette and can also be added via
Add / Text / Fingering.
Although all the markings on this palette are placed and edited the same way,
there are actually several different types of fingering markings with different
handling in terms of the automatic positioning that is applied. The first set of
numbers (0-5) is intended for piano. The next set of letters (p, i, m, a, c) are for
guitar right hand, the next set of numbers (0-5) are for guitar left hand, and the
set of numbers in circles (0-6) are for guitar string numbers. The remaining
elements are special markings for lute and other instruments. The tooltip that
appears when you hover over any of these markings is intended to help you tell
which fingering is intended for which purpose. In truth, it does not actually
matter if you use the “wrong” fingering style, but the automatic placement of the
markings is optimized to work best when used as intended.
Placing a fingering
Fingerings are placed like most palette elements: either drag a symbol to the
desired note, or select one or more notes then double-click the appropriate
fingering.

If you use fingerings a lot, you can also define a shortcut as described in the
section on Shortcuts in the chapter on Customization.
Editing a fingering
Fingerings other than the special lute markings are ordinary text and can be
edited using the standard text tools. See the chapter on Text for more
information. The text styles used by the different fingering types are Fingering,
RH Guitar Fingering, LH Guitar Fingering, and String Number.
Breaths and Pauses
Markings to indicate breaths and pauses are found on the Breaths & Pauses
palette.
If you are looking for the fermata marking – which could be considered
a type of pause as well – see the section on Articulations above. If you
are looking for the rest symbols – which are sometimes called pauses –
see the section Entering Rests in the chapter on Entering Notes and
Rests.
Placing a breath or pause
Breaths and pauses are placed just as for most other markings – drag and drop or
double-click. Just be sure to attach the marking to the note or rest before where
you want the marking to appear.

Playback
To control the playback effect of breaths and pauses, use the Pause property in
the Inspector to set the length in seconds.
Tremolo and Rolls
Tremolo markings consist of a series of diagonal slashes. A tremolo marking can

be placed through the stem or above or below a single note to indicate rapid
repetition of that note (in which case, it is the same as a roll for percussion,
which can also be notated with a letter “Z”), or it can be placed between two
notes to indicate rapid alternation between them. These markings are found on
the Tremolo palette.
The markings that show the stem are the type that can be applied to individual
notes; the ones without the stem are the type that are applied between two notes.
Placing a tremolo or roll on individual notes
Tremolo markings can be placed on individual notes in the usual way: by

dragging a marking from the palette to a note, or by selecting one or more notes
then double-clicking a palette icon.
Placing a tremolo between two notes
Tremolo markings that occur between two notes – indicating rapid succession
between them – work a bit differently. By convention, the notes being alternated
are notated with both notes shown at the full rhythmic value. Thus it may look
like there are too many beats in the measure. For example, the notation for a
whole note tremolo in 4/4 time shows both notes as whole notes, making it
appear there are eight beats in the measure. MuseScore uses a special method to
enter this notation:
1. Enter the notes as if each were to take half the total length of the tremolo
2. Apply the tremolo to the first note of the pair (drag and drop or select and
double-click)
When you apply the tremolo, MuseScore will automatically convert the notes to
the correct notation.

Arpeggios
Arpeggio markings are found on the Arpeggios & Glissandi palette.
The first few symbols on this palette are for arpeggios; the remainder are
discussed later in the sections on Glissandi and Falls, Doits, Scoops, Plops, and
Slides.
Placing an arpeggio
These markings are placed in the usual way: either drag the icon to a chord, or
select one or more chords then double-click the palette icon.
Editing an arpeggio
Arpeggios can be edited for length and position much like other lines: double-
click and drag the handles.

They can also be extended across staves of a single instrument such as piano
using Shift+Up and Shift+Down.

Press Shift+Down
back
Arpeggios will playback by default, but this can be disabled via the Play
property in the Inspector.
Glissandi
Glissandi – lines connecting two chords to indicate a sliding in pitch between

them – are found on the Arpeggios & Glissandi palette, shown above in the
section on Arpeggios. They are placed by attaching them to the first note of the
pair in the usual way: select and double-click or drag and drop.
Although glissandi appear to be a form of line, they are not editable via Edit
mode.
Playback
Glissandi will playback by default, but this can be disabled via the Play property
in the Inspector.
Falls, Doits, Scoops, Plops, and Slides

These symbols are attached to individual notes to indicate a bend in pitch
preceding or following the note. They are found on the Arpeggios & Glissandi
palette, shown above in the section on Arpeggios.
These symbols are added in the usual way: drag and drop to a note, or select one
or more notes then double-click. Because they attach to a single note, there is no
need for Shift+Left and Shift+Right to move the anchor points, but the shape of
the symbols can be edited by double-clicking and then dragging the handles.

Drag
Guitar Bends
Guitar notation – and tablature in particular (see Tablature) – uses a few special
notations to indicate different types of bends. MuseScore provides support for
two different types of customizable bend markings.
Bends
The most common type of bend notation used in guitar music consists of one or
more arrows indicating the direction of the bend and text indicating the
magnitude. MuseScore provides one default bend marking but allows you to
customize it. To do this, first add the default version to your score from the
Articulations & Ornaments palette.
This marking is placed like other articulations: drag the icon to a note, or click
the note then double-click the icon.
The default bend marking shows an upward bend of a full fret. Once you have
placed a bend marking, you can customize it to show a bend of a half fret or
some other magnitude, a bend up and back down, a bend up to the note, or other
types of bend. To do this, right-click the bend marking and select Bend
Properties, which displays the Bend Properties dialog.
The thick gray line with the blue control points depicts the overall shape of the
bend, plotted on a grid. The darker horizontal lines on the grid indicate frets; the
lighter ones indicate intermediate points between frets. So the example above –
the default bend marking – shows a bend of one full fret. To change this to a half
fret bend, simply click to move the control points down to the horizontal line
half way between the current line and the bottom.
When you press OK , the marking in the score automatically updates to show
“1/2” instead of “full”:
More complex bends are possible by adding more control points. The buttons to
the left of the dialog provide presets for a number of common bend types. For
instance, the Bend/Release button generates the following graph:
This creates the following marking:
Tremolo bar markings
Tremolo bar markings are similar to bends in how they are applied and
customized, but the specific controls differ. Tremolo bar markings are also added
to your score from the Articulations & Ornaments palette.
This marking can be placed via drag and drop or by double-clicking.
You can then customize them by right-clicking and selecting Tremolo Bar
Properties. This brings up a dialog that looks and works much the same as for
bends.
Playback
Bends will playback by default, but this can be disabled via the Play property in
the Inspector.
Ambitus
MuseScore supports the symbol used in some early music editions to indicate the
ambitus or range of a part. This symbol is found in the Lines palette.
MuseScore can indicate this automatically at the beginning of the part. To do
this, either click the clef at the beginning of the system and then double-click the
icon, or drag the icon to the clef:
MuseScore creates this symbol based on the highest and lowest note found on
the staff. You can then change this using the Inspector if necessary.
Bagpipe Embellishments
Bagpipe music uses a series of embellishments that are similar to grace notes but
that occur is very specific combinations. MuseScore provides a whole palette of
these.
These can be added to your score in the usual ways: either drag and drop to a
specific note, or select one or more notes then double-click the icon.
Once added to your score, these are ordinary grace notes and can be edited as
such.
Miscellaneous Symbols
MuseScore provides a number of other symbols that can be used for various
purposes.
Other symbols
There are a large number of other symbols that can be found by going to View /
Master Palette / Symbols or pressing the keyboard shortcut Z.
These can be placed in your score as usual: by drag and drop to an element in
your score, or by selecting one or more notes then double-clicking the symbol in
the palette.

You can then move the symbol into the desired position.
By default, MuseScore will show you symbols from the Bravura font, which
contains such a large number of symbols that it can be overwhelming. To help
you find what you are looking for, there is a search box at the top of the dialog
that you can use to filter the list if you can guess at part of the name of the
symbol. For example, typing “pedal” into the search box will display only the
symbols with that term in the name.
If the symbol you are adding is a common one that is supported more directly by
MuseScore in another context – for instance, if you are trying to add a clef
somewhere a clef would not normally appear – then you may also find it easier
to find the symbol in the Emmentaler font, which is the default used in
MuseScore for most symbols in their usual context. To select from the
Emmentaler font, select it in the drop-down menu at the bottom right of this
dialog.
Do not confuse this palette with the Special Characters palette described
in the chapter on Text. That palette is specifically for including a symbol
within text; the Symbols palette discussed here is for attaching symbols
directly to notes, rests, or other elements.
You can also add any of these symbols to a custom palette to make them easier
to find later, as described in Palettes in the chapter on Customization.
Graphics
When all else fails, MuseScore allows you to insert graphics from image files
into your score. This allows you to create whatever notation you like in a
graphics editor and then add it into your score. For best results, use transparent
PNG or SVG formats. Graphics can be added to frames as described in the
chapter on Page Layout, but they can also be added to any note or rest in your
score via drag and drop or copy and paste from another program.
In the following example, I first created a drawing using Inkscape, a free and
open source vector graphics editor, and copied it to my clipboard. I can then
paste it into my score.

Press Ctrl+V
As with symbols, you can then move the graphic into the desired position.
The different types of markings discussed in this chapter all have different
settings, properties, and methods of customization. The most important
adjustments for each type of marking have already been covered in the
corresponding sections above.
Global settings
The default settings for the markings covered in this chapter are found in
different pages of the Style / General dialog.
Style / General / Articulations, Ornaments

Notehead distance – distance from notehead for multiple articulations
placed relative to chord
Stem distance – distance from staff for multiple articulations placed
relative to staff
Articulation distance – distance from articulation to chord, staff, or other
articulation
Articulation size – relative size of articulations
Anchor – reference point for articulation placement (Above Staff, Below
Staff, Chord Automatic, Above Chord, Below Chord)
Style / General / Slurs/Ties
Line thickness at end – thickness of end of tie or slur
Line thickness middle – thickness at middle of tie or slur
Dotted line thickness – thickness of dotted line for ties or slurs
Style / General / Arpeggios
Distance to note – distance from arpeggio to chord
Hook length – length of hook for bracket form of arpeggio
Style / General / Pedal, Trill
Pedal
Default vertical position – position relative to staff
Line style – Continuous, Dashed, Dotted, Dash-dotted, Dash-dot-dotted
Trill
Default vertical position – position relative to staff
Individual properties
The various types of markings support different property settings in the

Inspector. The settings are arranged by group. For line markings, see the chapter
on Lines for more information on their available properties.
Articulation
Anchor – reference point for articulation placement (Above Staff, Below Staff,
Chord Automatic, Above Chord, Below Chord)
Time stretch – relative amount to extend duration of notes (for fermatas)
Ornament style – select from different playback interpretations where supported
Play – controls whether ornament affects playback
Slur
Line type – Continuous, Dotted, Dashed
Trill
Type – Trill Line, Up Prall, Down Prall, Prall Prall
Ornament style – select from different playback interpretations
Play – controls whether trill affects playback
Arpeggio
Play – controls whether arpeggio affects playback
Glissando
Type – Straight or Wavy
Text – text to display with line (if room)
Show text – controls whether text is displayed with line (if room)
Play – controls whether glissando affects playback
Ambitus
Head group – same as for notes; see Changing Appearance and Behavior in the
chapter on Editing
Head type – same as for notes
Direction – Upright, Leaning Left, Leaning Right
Has line – controls whether a line is drawn between top and bottom note
Top note / Oct – pitch and octave of top note
Bottom note / Oct – pitch and octave of bottom note
Update range – recalculate top and bottom notes automatically
Part IV:
Staves and Layout
Chapter 22:
Staves and Instruments
MuseScore allows you to write music for a single instrument or for as many
instruments as you like. Most instruments will use only a single staff, but some –
like piano, or guitar if you opt for linked standard notation and tablature staves –
use multiple staves. The set of staves for all instruments in a score is referred to
as a system.
Each staff in your score is associated with an instrument (which might actually
be a voice, or some sort of sound effect). The instrument associated with a staff
determines the name displayed on the staff, the sound used for playback, the
transposition used when toggling Concert Pitch (see the chapter on
Transposition), the usable pitch range (so MuseScore can flag notes that are too
high or too low for the instrument), and other staff properties.
MuseScore also uses the term part in some places in the interface. For
now, we will assume a part and an instrument are essentially the same
thing. In the chapter on Parts, we will see that is possible to define a part
containing multiple instruments, and that an instrument can belong to
more than one part.
The staves for the instruments in your score can be grouped together using
brackets or barlines that extend through them, and MuseScore can automatically
hide empty staves to save space. Each staff can be sized and spaced
independently, and staves can have any number of lines. Staves can be defined to
use standard notation, percussion notation (see the chapter on Percussion), or
any of a variety of types of tablature (see the chapter on Tablature). MuseScore
can also link staves together for simultaneous display of standard notation and
tablature (see Adding, Removing, and Reordering Instruments and Staves
below).
The example below contains five instruments: two violins, one viola, one cello,
and one piano. The first four instruments contain one staff each, but the piano
instrument contains two staves (connected with a curly brace), making a system
of six staves in all.
Depending the size of your page and the number, size, and spacing of your
staves, there might be only one system per page, or there might be many. For
more information, see the chapter on Page Layout.
In most cases, the Create New Score wizard already sets up everything you need
for the staves in your score. See the chapter on Creating a New Score for more
information. But if you need to make changes after your score has already been
set up – such as adding more staves, changing the instrument assigned to a staff,
adding brackets between staves, or hiding empty staves – then this chapter and
the ones that follow cover everything else you will need.
Adding, Removing, and Reordering Instruments and Staves
When creating a new score from scratch, you would normally have selected the
instruments you want in the Create New Score wizard. If you change your mind
later, or if you created your score from a template and need to customize the
instrument and staff selection, go to Edit / Instruments or press the keyboard
shortcut I.
This dialog is virtually identical to the one that appears in the Create New Score
wizard when creating a score from scratch. You can add and remove instruments
from your score with the Add and Remove buttons; add staves to instruments
with the Add Staff button, add linked staves with the Add Linked Staff button;
and reorder instruments and staves with the Up and Down buttons.
For more information on how the various controls in this dialog work, please see
the chapter on Creating a New Score.
MuseScore has a long list of instruments it knows about, although only

the most commonly used instruments are displayed in this dialog by
default. To see the full list, select All instruments from the drop-down
menu at the top of the Instruments dialog. You can also customize the
instrument list to add your favorites if they are missing. See Score in the
chapter on Customization for more information. But you can also simply
choose a similar instrument and use Staff Properties to change the name,
or just double-click the name in the score.
Splitting a Single Staff into a Grand Staff

Sometimes it happens that you have music written on a single staff that you
decide you would rather have split into two staves. This can happen for imported
MIDI files that are not automatically recognized as being for piano, for instance.
MuseScore provides a facility to automatically create a second staff within the
same instrument and move all notes to it that are below a certain split point.
To do this, simply right-click the staff you wish to split and select Split Staff
from the context menu. A dialog appears that allows you to select the point at
which the staff will be split.
When you press OK, a new staff with bass clef will be created below the current
staff. Notes lower than the split point will be moved to the new staff.

Split staff at c3
Grouping Staves
In a score for multiple instruments, it is common to group related staves

together, either with brackets at the start of each system or by extending barlines
through the staves or by some combination of the methods. MuseScore supports
all of these options.
Brackets
You can add a bracket in front of a group of staves using the Brackets palette.
To add one of these brackets to your score, add the icon from the palette to the
topmost staff you want included.
The bracket can then be extended to include additional staves by double-clicking

it and dragging the handle downward. The bottom of the bracket will
automatically snap into place at an appropriate position.

Brackets can be nested, allowing a bracket group to include other bracketed sub-
groups. To create nested brackets, work from the inside out. First add the inner
brackets, then add the outer.
Extending barlines
Barlines are typically extended through the staves of bracketed groups, except
for vocal staves where the barlines would interfere with lyrics. To extend
barlines through staves, double-click any barline on the topmost staff you want
included in the group, then drag downward.
For more information, see Barlines in the chapter on Measure Operations.
Hiding Staves
By default, all staves of instruments added to a score will display on screen and
print. However, there are situations where you might wish to hide certain staves,
or only show certain staves. One such case is in a score for multiple instruments
where you wish to print and hand out individual parts. MuseScore provides
special facilities for this purpose; see the chapter Parts for more information.
In this chapter, I will focus on two different situations where you might want to
hide staves. One is creating a condensed score by automatically hiding empty
staves in each system, and the other is creating staves to be used for playback
purposes only.
Creating a condensed score
A full score shows all staves for all instruments in each system, even if some of
the instruments are not actually playing during that passage. A condensed score,
on the other hand, omits the staves for instruments that are not playing at any
given point. This can save space, allowing you to fit more systems per page and
thus require fewer pages.
MuseScore can turn your score into a condensed score (aka short score)
automatically. To do this, go to Style / General / Score and enable the Hide
empty staves option. You will note there is an additional Don’t hide empty staves
in first system option underneath that allows you to control whether empty staves
are hidden in the first system. The default – and the norm in published
condensed scores – is to always shows all staves in the first system.
Another use for this feature is to create the appearance of a temporary staff that
begins and ends mid-score. Simply add the staff normally, enter notes where you
want them, then enable this option when done. The staff will appear and
disappear as needed.
If you use this feature a lot, you may wish to define a keyboard shortcut for it.
See the section on Shortcuts in the chapter on Customization for more
information.
There are also options to control the behavior of individual staves with respect to
the Hide empty staves option. For more information on these options, see
Changing Appearance and Behavior below.
Creating a staff for playback only
Sometimes you may wish to create a staff that will be used for playback
purposes but not otherwise be displayed or printed. For example, in a jazz
arrangement, you might want to have the notated parts for rhythm section
instruments just show chords symbols and slashes (see Slash Notation in the
chapter on Alternative Notation) but also create separate parts with actual notes
for playback. MuseScore allows you to make these playback staves completely
invisible. To do this, go to Edit / Instruments (keyboard shortcut I) and uncheck
the Visible option for the staff or staves you wish to hide. The staff will not be
displayed or printed, but will still be heard on playback.
Changing the Instrument and Sound for a Staff
As discussed above, each staff in MuseScore belongs to a particular instrument.

Usually there is one staff per instrument, but some instruments may contain
multiple staves. The instrument is what controls the sound used for playback as
well as other attributes such as transposition and usable range. The instrument is
also what shows up in the Mixer (see below); an instrument may have three
staves but still have only one entry in the Mixer.
There are several ways of changing the sound used for playback of a staff,
depending on whether you are also interested in changing the transposition and
other attributes as well, and whether you want the change to affect all the music
on the staff throughout the score or whether you want the sound to change mid-
score.
Note that with all of these methods, if the instrument to which a staff
was originally assigned had more than one staff, changing the instrument
assigned to one staff will affect all staves assigned to that instrument. So
for example, if you have a piano part with two staves and you changing
the instrument assigned to top staff to an electric piano, this will affect
the bottom staff as well. If you wish to have different sounds for
different staves, they should be added as separate instruments.
Changing instrument for an entire staff
You can change the instrument assigned to a staff by right-clicking the staff and
selecting Staff Properties. The Edit Staff/Part Properties dialog box appears, and
the Change Instrument button in this dialog allows you to change the instrument
assigned to this staff. It displays an instrument dialog similar to the one you use
when selecting instruments for your score.
Selecting an instrument in this dialog changes the listing in the Mixer (see
below) for the instrument to which this staff belongs. It also changes other
instrument-related properties including playback sound and transposition. The
change affects the entire staff from the beginning to the end of your score.
Changing playback sounds only for an entire staff
If you wish to change the playback sound for a staff but leave the transposition
and other settings alone, and you wish this to affect the entire score from
beginning to end, the place to do this is the Mixer. Go to View / Mixer or press
the keyboard shortcut F10.
Most instruments will have only a single entry in the Mixer, regardless of how
many staves they have. For example, there is only one entry for the piano shown
above even though that instrument has two staves.
To change the sound used for a given instrument, simply select a different sound
from the drop-down menu.
The list of available sounds is controlled by the soundfont(s) you have loaded
into the Synthesizer window. The Mixer window contains a number of other
controls that should be familiar to anyone who has used a real mixer. See the
chapter Playback and Audio Output for more information on the Synthesizer and
Mixer windows.
Changing instrument for a staff mid-score
There are two main ways to change the sound of a staff mid-score. The first way
literally changes the instrument and works for all instruments, while the second
keeps the same instrument but just changes between different sound variants that
are predefined for that particular instrument in MuseScore (e.g., regular and
muted trumpet).
In order to change the sound for an instrument mid-score, you first need to place
a special instrument text in your score from the Text palette. The idea is that you
would need this text to tell a human performer to change instruments, so
MuseScore uses this same text to control its own playback as well. It also sets
the correct transposition.
This element can be added to your score like most other palette items: either
click a note then double-click the palette item, or drag the palette item directly to
the note. The text will initially read simply “Instrument”, but you can then
double-click it to edit it as for any text. See the chapter on Text for more on text
editing and formatting. You can also add an instrument change via Add / Text /
Instrument Change.
Adding an instrument text to your score automatically creates a new Mixer entry
for the staff to which you have attached the text. It is basically like another
instrument that is defined to start at the point where you added the text, replacing
the instrument that was originally defined for the staff in Staff Properties.
To change the playback and transposition associated with this new instrument,
you can right-click the text and select Change Instrument from the context
menu. This will display the same instrument selection dialog as shown above.
You can also simply change the playback sound in the Mixer.
Changing between sound variants for a single instrument
Certain instruments can make different sounds depending on how they are
played. For example, a trumpet sounds very different depending on whether it is
played with a mute or not, and a violin sounds very different depending on
whether it is bowed (arco) or plucked (pizzicato). MuseScore knows about these
and other similar variants. If you view the Mixer entry for one of these
instruments, you will see there are actually multiple entries – one for each
variant. For example, trumpets will show both a normal and muted entry.
MuseScore allows you to change between these different sounds for the same
instrument using staff text. To accomplish this, first place a staff text element
normally – e.g., select a note and press Ctrl+T (Mac: Cmd+T. Then right-click
it and choose Staff Text Properties from the context menu. This brings up a
dialog that allows you to choose between the different sound variants
(MuseScore calls them channels) that are predefined for the instrument.
You can then select from the other channels on a per-voice basis. Important:
note that you must select a voice for each channel change; simply selecting a
different sound without telling MuseScore which voice or voices you wish it to
apply to will have no effect.
Global staff settings
In addition to options like Hide empty staves discussed above, there are a
number of settings that affect the actual appearance of staves – distance between
lines, thickness of lines, etc.

Staff space – distance between staff lines; used as a unit of measurement
throughout MuseScore
Hide empty staves – hide staves containing no notes for a given system
Don’t hide empty staves in first system – keep all staves on first system
Hide instrument name if there is only 1 instrument – control whether
instrument names are displayed for scores with only one instrument
Style / General / System
System bracket thickness – thickness of square brackets
System bracket distance – space to right of square brackets
Brace thickness – thickness of curly braces
Brace distance – space to right of curly braces
Staff line thickness – thickness of staff lines
Small staff size – relative size for staves marked Small (see below)
In addition to the settings described here, see the chapter on Page Layout for
more information on controlling different aspects of staves.
Individual staff and instrument properties
There are a number of properties that control various aspects of how staves and
instruments are handled. To access these properties, right-click an instrument
name or empty place in a staff and select Staff Properties from the context menu.
The Edit Staff/Part Properties dialog is then displayed. Note you can also edit
the name displayed in front of a staff simply by double-clicking it, and you can
delete staff names directly on the score as well.
The settings in this dialog are divided into two groups. The settings in the first
group – labeled Staff Properties – affect the current staff only. The settings in the
second group – labeled Part Properties – are actually instrument properties, and
they affect all staves assigned to the same instrument as the current staff.
Staff properties
Lines – number of staff lines

Line distance – space between staff lines (relative to score default given by Staff
space)
Extra distance above staff – extra space above this staff throughout all systems
Scale – size of staff and contents (relative to score default given by Staff space)
Never hide – do not hide with Hide empty staves option even if empty
Show clef – show clefs
Show time signature – show time signatures
Show barlines – show barlines
Hide system barline – do not draw system barline through this staff (if at top of
system)
Do not hide if system is empty – keep this staff if entire system is empty
Small staff – display the staff and its contents at small size (see Syle / General /
Sizes)
Invisible staff lines – hide the staff lines
Staff line color – color of staff lines
Advanced style properties
In addition to the settings available directly within the Staff Properties dialog,
there is an Advanced Style Properties button that displays a dialog with further
settings that are dependent on the staff type – standard, percussion (see the
chapter on Percussion), or tablature (see the chapter on Tablature). Options
specific to percussion and tablature staff types will be discussed in the relevant
chapters. This section covers the options for standard staves.
Lines – number of staff lines

Line distance – space between staff lines (relative to score default given by Staff
space)
Show clef – show clefs on this staff
Show time signature – show time signatures
Show barlines – show barlines
Show key signature – show key signatures
Show ledger lines – show ledger lines
Stemless – do not show stems
Note that the first several options are duplicated from the ordinary Staff
Properties dialog; changing the option in one place automatically updates the
other.
Part properties
Changing the instrument via the Change Instrument button in this dialog sets
most of these properties at once based on the default for that instrument in
MuseScore. However, you can also override these settings manually.
Part name – name used for this instrument in the Mixer and as default name for
the generated part (see chapter on Parts)
Long instrument name – name displayed to the left of this staff at the start on the
first system
Short instrument name – name displayed to the left of this staff on subsequent
systems
Amateur usable pitch range – notes outside this range are colored dark yellow
Professional usable pitch range – notes outside this range are colored red
Transpose written pitches to sound – interval, octave, and direction to play back
relative to written pitch (see chapter on Transposition)
Number of strings – number of strings (for stringed instruments with string data
defined only; see String data in the chapter on Tablature)
As with the Measure Properties dialog, there are controls at the bottom to let you
move from staff to staff without needing to close and reopen the dialog.
Chapter 23:
Transposition
MuseScore provides a number of different facilities for transposition. If you
have written a piece in the key of E major and then decide you rather have it in
A♭, MuseScore can transpose your score or any selected range of it into any key
or by any interval you specify. It can also automatically handle the transposition
necessary when writing for transposing instruments – instruments that produce
sounding pitches that are different from their written pitches.
Transposing a Selection
In the chapter on Editing, we have already seen a number of commands that

MuseScore provides to transpose a selection by step or octave. The Up and
Down keys – alone or in conjunction with Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) or Alt+Shift – will
transpose the notes in the selection up or down a semitone, octave, or diatonic
step. But these operations do not transpose the key signature or chord symbols –
they affect the notes only. For a more complete transposition, we need the
facility described in this section.
To transpose your score or a range of it, select a range you wish to transpose –
or, if nothing is selected, the entire score will be transposed. Then go to Notes /
Transpose, which will display the Transpose dialog.
This dialog contains a number of options to control the transposition to be
performed.
Transpose Chromatically – keep the same relative intervals when transposing

By Key – transpose into a specified key
Closest / Up / Down – direction of transposition
By Interval – transpose by a specified interval
Up / Down – direction of transposition
Transpose key signatures – transpose any key signatures already present within
the range (does not create a new key signature) Transpose Diatonically – adjust
intervals when transposing to keep the notes in the current key
Up / Down – direction of transposition
Keep degree alterations – do not convert notes with accidentals to diatonic
pitches
Options Transpose chord symbols – transpose chord symbols as well as notes
Single ♯ and ♭ only / Use double ♯ and ♭ – allow double sharp and flat or respell
Transposing Instruments
Music for certain instruments – especially brass instruments like trumpets and
horns, and woodwind instruments like clarinets and saxophones – is written at a
different pitch than the instrument actually sounds. For example, alto saxophone
sounds a major sixth lower than written, and French horn sounds a perfect fifth
lower. This means that in order to produce the sound of a G, you would need to
write an E for alto saxophone or a D for the French horn. So the following notes
all produce the same sounding pitch:
Switching between written and concert pitch
MuseScore allows you to easily switch the display of your score between written
pitch and sounding pitch. The button that performs this function is labeled
Concert Pitch, because that is the term used by players of these instruments to
describe the sounding pitch. When the Concert Pitch button is off, your score
displays using the written pitch, as shown above. But when you turn Concert
Pitch on, your score displays using the sounding pitch.
Notice that the key signature transposes as well. The actual sounding key of the
piece is D major, and this is how it is displayed with Concert Pitch turned on.
But this translates to A major for French horn and B major for alto saxophone, so
that is how it was displayed with Concert Pitch turned off as in the previous
example.
Whether Concert Pitch is turned off or on, your score will playback using the
sounding pitch – the transposition affects the display only. So your score should
always sound correct.
By default, when you create a new score, it will be displayed with Concert Pitch
turned off. Unless you are more comfortable transposing for the various
instruments yourself, you should immediately turn on Concert Pitch upon
creating a new score that includes transposing instruments. Then you can enter
notes at the desired sounding pitches. Leave it on until you are done entering the
notes, then turn it off before doing any final formatting or before printing.
As discussed previously, MuseScore will highlight any pitches that are

outside the playable ranges for their respective instruments. This check
works correctly regardless of the state of the Concert Pitch button.
Changing the transposition for a staff
MuseScore knows the usual transposition for each instrument and its sets this up
for you when you add a staff to your score. If you change the instrument
assigned to the staff later as described below, MuseScore automatically updates
the transposition information. So you should never normally need to alter the
transposition settings yourself.
However, if for some reason a situation arises where you wish to override the
default transposition for an instrument, the controls to do so can be found in the
Staff Properties dialog, as described in Changing Appearance and Behavior in
the chapter on Staves and Instruments.
Changing the enharmonic spelling of a note
There may be notes where you wish the transposed spelling to be “wrong”
relative to the concert pitch spelling. For example, music for a B♭ instrument
normally is written a major second higher than it sounds. But if you have a score
that includes an A♯ at concert pitch, you may wish to spell this as C rather than
B♯ when transposed. MuseScore provides a special command to change the
enharmonic spelling in the current mode only.
You may recall that the J command will change the enharmonic spelling of
selected notes. This normally affects both the concert pitch and transposed
spellings. So if you have Concert Pitch turned off, and you select a B♯ and press
J, this will change the spelling to C, but the concert pitch spelling will also be
changed, to B♭.
If you wish to change the transposed spelling to C but leave the concert pitch
spelling at A♯, use the Ctrl+J command instead of J.

Press Ctrl+J
You will then find if you enable concert pitch, the original spelling is retained.

Enable Concert Pitch
Chapter 24:
Percussion
Unpitched percussion instruments – and drumsets in particular – use a somewhat
different style of notation than most other instruments. MuseScore supports this
type of notation, and provides a special Drum input mode to facilitate entering it.
It also allows you to customize the particulars of how different instruments are
notated.
Drum Notation
Before explaining how to create percussion notation, it helps to have a clear

understanding of the concepts.
Individual unpitched percussion instruments are normally notated on a one-line

staff. Many of these instruments use standard noteheads, but a few use different
noteheads to indicate different playing techniques. Some use notes above and
below the line to indicate different pitches.
Drumsets are collections of multiple percussion instruments. Music for drumsets

is normally notated on a five-line staff, with each staff line or space representing
a different drum, and again, different noteheads to indicate different playing
techniques. It is also common to use multiple voices – voice 1 with stems up,
voice 2 with stems down – to allow multiple rhythms to be notated clearly on the
same staff.
In either case, the music is notated on a special percussion clef to make it clear
the lines and spaces do not represent pitches in the usual sense. Unfortunately,
there are no universal standards for which lines correspond to which drums,
which noteheads correspond to which playing techniques, or which notes to put
in which voice.
By default, MuseScore employs a convention that is common in the US and

some other countries. In this convention, notes near the bottom of the staff are
for instruments played with the feet and are placed in voice 2 with stems down;
the rest of the notes are for instruments played with the hands and are placed in
voice 1 with stems up. Drums are notated with normal noteheads, and cymbals
are notated with “x” noteheads. Other heads are used to indicate alternate
playing techniques.
Within this basic set of guidelines, however, it seems everyone has different
ideas on which drums or cymbals should be notated on which lines. And some
people prefer an entirely different convention, such as one in which everything is
notated in voice 1 with stems up. Luckily, MuseScore provides customization
options that allow you to specify how you like your drum notation to work. See
the section on Changing Appearance and Behavior below for more information.
Music for drums in a jazz or pop/rock context often makes uses of slash
notation, and MuseScore includes native support for this as well. See
Slash Notation in the chapter on Alternative Notation for more
information.
Percussion Staves
In order to enter percussion notation on a staff, it has to be designated as a

percussion staff. You can add a percussion staff to your score when creating a
new score, or at any time thereafter using Edit / Instruments. Any staff you add
to your score from the Percussion: Unpitched, Percussion: Marching, or
Percussion: Body sections of the instrument list will be added as a percussion
staff.
The Drumset instrument defaults to a five-line staff; the other percussion

instruments default to a one-line staff. You can override this by selecting a
different staff type in that same dialog or by using Staff Properties dialog
discussed in the chapter on Staves and Instruments.
MuseScore provides many additional percussion instruments via the

optional MuseScore Drumline extension. With this extension installed, a
number of customizations – including templates, palettes, and
soundfonts – are automatically made available to greatly enhance the
ease of writing for drumline and the realism of the playback. See the
section on Extensions in the chapter on Customization for more
information.
Drum Input Mode

Now that you have a percussion staff, you can enter percussion notation onto it.
The process is somewhat different than for standard notation due to the unique
nature of percussion notation, but still, you should begin by familiarizing
yourself with the concepts presented in the chapter Entering Notes and Rests.
As with standard note entry, the first step in percussion note entry is to enter
Note input mode by selecting a note or measure and then pressing N or clicking
the icon. When in Note input mode for a percussion staff, the drum palette
should display at the bottom of the screen. This palette contains the notes
defined for the instrument associated with that staff and lists the keyboard
shortcuts where appropriate.
The basic steps after entering Note input mode are analogous to those for
standard notation as well:
1. Select duration
2. Enter notes
Just as with standard notation, there are three ways of entering notes: with the
mouse, with the computer keyboard, or via MIDI. But the specifics of how you
enter the notes is different from standard notation no matter which entry method
you select. Furthermore, the way MuseScore treats multiple voices is different
for each of these note entry methods. The sections below will explain all of this.
Selecting duration
The process of selection duration is exactly the same as for standard notation, so
I will refer you back to the corresponding section Selecting Duration in the
chapter on Entering Notes and Rests for more information on this subject. But to
summarize, you can click on the appropriate icon in the note input toolbar, or
you can use the corresponding keyboard shortcuts (number keys 1-9).
Entering notes
Once you have selected the duration, you can enter the specific drum note you
want. For each drum, MuseScore automatically selects the proper staff line and
notehead to use based on the drumset definition for the staff. As we will see
below, multiple voices are handled differently accordingly to which note input
method you choose.
To enter a drum note using the mouse, select a palette icon and then click within
the staff at the desired time position. It does not matter what staff line you click;
the drum note you selected will be placed using the staff line and notehead
depicted in the icon. In the example below, the Closed Hi-Hat icon was selected
first, as shown in the toolbar image above. This automatically selects the voice
that is predefined for this drum in the drumset definition and sets the mouse
cursor to an image of the predefined notehead for this drum.

Click
Drum notes, like standard notes, are normally entered left to right for each voice,
so you may need to enter leading rests before you can enter a note in the middle
of a measure.

Click
If you wish to add a drum note in a voice other than the one predefined for that
drum, simply change voices after clicking the palette icon but before entering the
note into your score. In the following example, I first selected the snare drum
icon, then changed to voice 2 before entering the note.

Click
Drum notes can be combined to form “chords” just as pitched notes can. To add
a drum note to a chord, select the icon for the drum note you wish want to add,
select the voice of the chord to which you are adding the note, then click the
chord.

Click
You can also enter a drum note at the current cursor position by double-clicking
the palette icon. However, this replaces any drum note already present at that
position rather than adding to the chord.

Double-click Acoustic Snare icon
Drum entry on one-line and other staff types works the same way.
MuseScore allows you to use the keys A-G to enter drum notes. The drum
palette shows the shortcuts that are defined by the current drumset. These
shortcuts can be customized; see Changing Appearance and Behavior below.
Pressing one of these shortcuts automatically selects that drum and enters the
note into your score.

Press A
Drum note input using the keyboard always uses the voice predefined for that
drum in the drumset definition for the staff. If it is not possible to enter a note in
this voice at the current cursor position, the cursor will automatically back up to
an appropriate position.

Press B
To add a note to a chord, move the selection cursor to that chord if necessary,
and then press Shift while entering the note.

Press Shift+G
Even though only seven shortcuts can be defined, you can actually enter other
drum notes by keyboard as well. Enter the closest note using its shortcut, then
use the up and down arrow keys to cycle through the other notes in the order
they are shown on the palette.

Press Up
Entering notes using a MIDI device
If you have a MIDI input device such as a keyboard or drum pad, then you can
use it to enter drum notes. Simply press the key, pad, or button corresponding to
the drum you want, and the corresponding note will be placed in the score at the
cursor position.

Play snare drum on MIDI device
When entering notes via MIDI, the line and notehead are taken from the drumset
definition, but the voice and stem direction are not. Instead, the currently
selected voice is used, and stem direction is set automatically according to
position on the staff – just as for standard notation.
The customizations available for standard notation are available for drum notes
and staves as well, so see the chapters Entering Notes and Rests, Editing, and
Staves and Instruments for more information. But as discussed elsewhere in this
chapter, many aspects of drum notation are customized in the drumset definition,
and this is unique to percussion staves.
Editing a drumset definition
To edit the drumset definition for a staff, either right-click the staff and choose
Edit Drumset, or click the Edit Drumset button within the drum palette while in
Note input mode. The resulting Edit Drumset dialog allows you to define how
each drum note is displayed and whether one of the available shortcuts can be
used to enter it.
On the left is a list of the 128 possible MIDI pitch numbers. Each of these
potentially corresponds to one drum sound, although many of them may not
actually produce any sound in any given soundfont (see Synthesizer in Playback
and Audio Output). On the right are the settings that define how the drum note
corresponding to the selected MIDI pitch is displayed.
In the preceding image, we can see that MIDI pitch 38 is defined as Acoustic
snare drum and will display by default with a normal notehead in voice 1 on
staff line 3 (second space from top – see below) with stem up. The keyboard
shortcut A can be used to enter this note.
Most drumsets will not actually define drum notes for all 128 possible MIDI
pitches. A drum note is defined only if is given a name.
To add a drum note to the drumset, or to modify the settings for an existing note
in the drumset, select the MIDI pitch from the list at left and then define the
various attributes on the right.
Name – name that appears in the drum palette tooltip and status bar
Noteheads group – noteheads group (see below)
Default Voice – voice to use when entering by mouse or keyboard
Staff Line – staff line, where the lines and spaces are numbered consecutively
(see below)
Shortcut – keyboard shortcut
Stem Direction – Auto, Up, Down
A preview of the note as defined will display in the box below these settings.
The list of noteheads groups includes normal, cross, slash, and a handful of
others. However, if you want to use more exotic notehead shapes, there is a
library of over a hundred others you can access if you enable the Edit noteheads
option. With this enabled, you can set the notehead for each duration type
independently.
The staff lines and spaces are numbered consecutively, and staff line 0 is always
the top staff line. So in a five-line staff, the lines are numbered 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and
the spaces 1, 3, 5, 7. For a one-line staff, the line is 0. For a three-line staff, the
lines are 0, 2, and 4. Spaces or ledger lines above or below the staff are
numbered relative to this – one ledger line above any staff is -2, one ledger line
below a three-line staff is 6, etc.
The mapping between MIDI pitch numbers and drum sounds depends on the
specific soundfont you are using (see Synthesizer in Playback and Audio
Output). However, most soundfonts you are likely to want to use – including the
one provided with MuseScore – use a standard called General MIDI and have
the same list of sounds at the same MIDI pitch numbers. See below for a list of
drum sounds defined by General MIDI.
Saving and loading drumset definitions
The Edit Drumset dialog also contains Load and Save buttons. These enable
you to save the current drumset definition to a file (with the extension .drm) or to
load previously saved drumset files, thus allowing you to easily share drumset
definitions between staves or scores.
MuseScore provides alternate drumset definitions for to handle a few specific

needs. For example, the drumset_fr.drm file uses French names and conventions,
whereas orchestral.drm works with the orchestral drumsets that you can select
using the Mixer. You can find these drumsets by pressing the Load button and
navigating to the templates folder under your main installation folder.
General MIDI
The mapping between MIDI pitch numbers and drum sounds defined by General
MIDI and used by MuseScore is as follows:
35 Bass Drum 2
36 Bass Drum 1
37 Side Stick/Rimshot
38 Snare Drum 1
39 Hand Clap
40 Snare Drum 2
41 Low Tom 2
42 Closed Hi-hat
43 Low Tom 1
44 Pedal Hi-hat
45 Mid Tom 2
46 Open Hi-hat
47 Mid Tom 1
48 High Tom 2
49 Crash Cymbal 1
50 High Tom 1
51 Ride Cymbal 1
52 Chinese Cymbal
53 Ride Bell
54 Tambourine
55 Splash Cymbal
56 Cowbell
57 Crash Cymbal 2
58 Vibra Slap
59 Ride Cymbal 2
60 High Bongo
61 Low Bongo
62 Mute High Conga
63 Open High Conga
64 Low Conga
65 High Timbale
66 Low Timbale
67 High Agogô
68 Low Agogô
69 Cabasa
70 Maracas
71 Short Whistle
72 Long Whistle
73 Short Güiro
74 Long Güiro
75 Claves
76 High Wood Block
77 Low Wood Block
78 Mute Cuíca
79 Open Cuíca
80 Mute Triangle
81 Open Triangle
Chapter 25:
Tablature
Tablature (a.k.a. “tab”) is a form of notation sometimes used for stringed
instruments in which the lines represent strings and the symbols placed on those
lines indicate frets. MuseScore allows you to create tablature staves and to enter
notes onto them directly. It also supports linked staves (see the chapter on Staves
and Instruments) so you can have your music displayed on a tablature staff as
well as a standard staff and only have to enter it once. With linked staves, any
notes entered onto one staff automatically appear on the other, so you can enter
notes in standard notation and have them displayed in tablature notation or vice
versa. Changes made on one staff are automatically reflected on the other as
well.
There are many different varieties of tablature, and MuseScore supports all the
common ones – including three different forms of tablature for guitar and bass,
tablatures for ukulele and for balalaika, and two different styles of Renaissance
lute tablature. See Tablature staff types below for more information.
Tablature Notation
Before explaining how to create tablature notation, it helps to have a clear

understanding of the concepts.
String and fret

Tablature notation, like standard notation, is read from left to right, but the lines
of the staff represent strings on the instrument rather than pitches. The top-most
line generally indicates the highest string, although some people like to reverse
that. A number placed on a line indicates you are to play that string at that fret,
with “0” indicating the string is to be played open.
Many variations on this idea are possible. For example, in some styles of lute
tablature, script letters are used instead of numbers to indicate frets, the fret
marks are placed above the corresponding lines rather than directly on them.
MuseScore supports both of these styles and more; see Tablature staff types.
Rhythm
From the examples above, we can see that rhythm is indicated in different ways
in different styles of tablature. Tablature for rock guitar often contains no
indication of rhythm at all; a player is expected to have heard the piece and learn
the rhythm by ear. However, it is also possible to indicate rhythms using stems
that resemble standard notation.
Again, MuseScore supports a variety of different ways of indicating rhythm, as

we will see in Tablature staff types.
Tablature Staves
In order to enter tablature notation on a staff, it has to be designated as a

tablature staff. You can add a new tablature staff to a score, add a tablature staff
that is linked to a standard staff, or convert an existing standard staff to tablature.
Adding a tablature staff
You can add a tablature staff to your score when creating a new score from
scratch, or at any time thereafter using Edit / Instruments. For most instruments
that use tablature notation, you will see both a standard and a tablature version in
the instrument list. Simply select the tablature version.
You can also add a tablature staff to an existing instrument by selecting the
existing staff in this same dialog, clicking the Add Staff button, then selecting
one of the tablature types from the Staff type drop-down menu.
See the chapter on Staves and Instruments for more information on adding
staves.
Adding a linked tablature staff

If you wish to have your music displayed both in tablature and in standard
notation, the process is similar.
1. Go to Edit / Instruments
2. Add the standard instrument if you have not done so already
3. Select the standard staff
4. Click Add Linked Staff button
5. Select the new linked staff
6. Change staff type to one of the tablature types using the drop-down menu
If you prefer, you can enter the staves in the opposite order – first the tablature
staff, then a linked standard staff. You can also rearrange the staves after adding
them. See the chapter on Staves and Instruments for more information.
Once you have created linked standard and tablature staves, any notes
added to one automatically appear on the other. If you are more
comfortable with tablature than standard notation, you can enter notes
onto the tablature staff and they will automatically appear in standard
notation on the other. Conversely, if you are more comfortable with
standard notation, you can enter notes that way and they will
automatically appear in tablature as well. MuseScore will automatically
attempt to figure out appropriate string and fret combinations for the
notes in your standard staff. There is no guarantee the automatic choices
are optimal, or even playable, however!
Converting an existing staff into a tablature staff
You can convert an existing standard staff into a tablature staff. The easiest way
to do to do that is using Edit / Instruments again. Simply select the staff then
change the staff type using the drop-down menu as shown previously.
The staff has to be for an instrument that is defined to allow tablature, since it
has to have string data defined in order for many of the tablature commands to
work. See String data below for more information. However, if the current
instrument does not have string data, you can first change to an instrument that
does. Right-click the staff and choose Staff Properties, then click the Change
Instrument button. Even if you choose one of the tablature versions of an
instrument, this will not immediately change the staff type, but now that the
instrument has appropriate string data, you can go to Edit / Instruments and
change the staff type there.
Tablature Input Mode
Once you have a tablature staff, you can enter tablature notation onto it. While
this is done via similar basic steps as standard notation, the details are different.
Even the duration and navigation shortcuts work differently in TAB input mode
than in standard Note input or Drum input modes. However, even though there
are differences, there are many more similarities, so you should start by
familiarizing yourself with the concepts presented in the chapter Entering Notes
and Rests. Most features – like tuplets, for example – work exactly the same way
as for standard notation and hence are not discussed further here. Instead, we
will focus on the differences.
Just as you do for standard or percussion notation, you begin note entry by
clicking in a tablature staff and pressing N or the corresponding toolbar icon
to enter TAB input mode. After that, the steps for tablature note entry are:
1. Select duration
2. Select string
3. Enter fret
4. Repeat steps 2-3 as necessary to add more notes to chord
5. Move cursor to next input location
Selecting duration
The process of selecting duration is similar to that used for standard notation.
However, because the number keys by themselves are used to enter frets when in
TAB input mode, these shortcuts are not available for selecting duration. Instead,
if you wish to use keyboard shortcuts for duration, you need to press Shift while
pressing the desired number key, or use the keys on the numeric keypad if your
computer has one.
So for example, to select a duration of a quarter note (crotchet), you would press
Shift+5. The toolbar works in the usual way, as do dots, ties, and tuplets. See
Entering Notes and Rests for more information.
String
When you are in tablature entry mode, the cursor indicates not just the time
position but also the specific string on which a note can be entered. To select a
different string, use the Up and Down cursor keys.

Press Down
Fret
Once you have selected the duration and string, you may enter the specific fret
you want. The most direct way to do this is to simply type the number.

Press 4
You can enter two digit numbers by simply typing the two digits normally.
MuseScore will not allow you to enter a number larger than the number of frets
defined for the instrument (see String data below).
Instead of typing a fret number, you can also simply click the line itself to enter a
“0” at the cursor position.

Click
You can then change the fret number by pressing Alt+Shift+Up and
Alt+Shift+Down, as discussed below.
For lute tablature, you can type fret letters instead of numbers, and if you have
selected the French lute staff type, it will be rendered using an appropriate font.

Press D
Lute tablature traditionally does not use the letter “j”, but since the shortcut I is
already used in MuseScore to access the Instruments dialog, you can use J to
enter an “i”.
Chords
You may have noticed that the cursor does not automatically advance after entry
of a note in tablature as it does for standard notation. That is because in
tablature, chords will be very common, and needing to back up the cursor and
then change strings would make entry of chords a lot of work. So instead, you
can enter a chord by simply changing strings after entering one note, then
entering another note.

Press Up 3
Repeat as desired to add more notes. Of course, you can only add one note per
string. Attempting to enter another note on a string that is already used will
simply replace the existing note.
Navigation
As mentioned above, the cursor does not automatically advance after adding a
note in tablature entry mode. To advance the cursor, press the Right cursor key.

Press Right
Should you need to back up, the Left cursor key accomplishes that. And just as
with standard note entry, you can use Ctrl+Right and Ctrl+Left (Mac:
Cmd+Right and Cmd+Left) to move the cursor a full measure at a time.
Ghost Notes
A note on a tablature staff can be converted into a ghost note by pressing the
shortcut Shift+X.

Press Shift+X
Rests
Rests are not displayed in some forms of tablature, although they are in the Full
styles (see Tablature staff types, below). In any event, it may be necessary to
enter a rest even though it is not displayed, such as to start a measure with a note
somewhere other than the first beat. Since the keyboard shortcut 0 is already
used to enter an open string, rests in tablature are instead entered using the
keyboard shortcut ; (semicolon).

Press ;
Because it makes no sense to add more notes to the rest, the cursor does advance
automatically after entering a rest.
Multiple voices
Tablature notation does not normally involve the use of multiple voices –
complex polytonal music is usually better suited for standard notation. However,
MuseScore does allow you to enter multiple voices onto a tablature staff, and
music originally entered with multiple voices on a standard staff will be rendered
as well as possible if converted or linked to a tablature staff.
When using one of the Full or Common tablature styles (see Tablature staff
types, below), multiple voices will be indicated with stems up or above the staff
for voice 1 and down or below for voice 2, similar to how music is notated on a
standard staff.
Any more voices than this, however, and it becomes more confusing.
The Simple style – which uses no stems at all – might be more suitable, even
though it contains less information.
On the other hand, given that the notation of note lengths in guitar music tends to
be less significant than in music for other instruments (most notes are assumed
to ring until they decay naturally), this same passage could have been entered
more simply and just as effectively with only two voices, by combining the notes
of the top two voices into chords.
Regardless of which style you use or how you choose to assign notes to voices,
actually entering notes in multiple voices on a tablature staff works just as it
does for a standard staff. After entering tablature entry mode, press one of the
voice icons on the note input toolbar or use one of the keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl+Alt+1 - Ctrl+Alt+4 (Mac: Cmd+Alt+1 - Cmd+Alt+4). Notes you enter
will be entered in that voice until you change voices or leave TAB input mode.

Press Ctrl+Alt+2 2
Extra bass strings
Certain instruments such as lutes may have additional bass strings (or courses of
two or more strings considered together) that do not correspond to staff lines.
Traditionally, notes for these strings are notated using symbols below the staff. If
an instrument has more strings than its staff has lines (see String data below),
then you can enter notes for the extra strings by moving the cursor below the
staff. Each press of the Down key beyond the bottom of the staff moves to a
lower string and adds the appropriate mark to indicate this.

Press Down Down Down
You can then enter the fret (often 0, since these bass strings are commonly
played open).

Press 0
For tablature styles that use upside down notation (see Tablature staff types
below), the extra bass strings are notated above the staff instead.
Editing Tablature
As with standard notation, there are some changes you can make while in TAB
input mode and other changes that you can make while in Normal mode.
Making changes in TAB input mode
While you are in TAB input mode, you can move the cursor using the cursor keys
as follows:
Left – move cursor to previous note or rest

Right – move cursor to next note or test
Ctrl+Left – move cursor to previous measure
Ctrl+Right – move cursor to next measure
Up – move cursor to string above
Down – move cursor to string below
With the cursor on a note, you can modify it using any of the following keys,
several of which work the same as for standard notation:
Delete – delete note

Shift+Left – exchange with previous note or rest
Shift+Right – exchange with next note or rest
Alt+Shift+Up – raise pitch (increase fret number or move note to next
higher string)
Alt+Shift+Down – lower pitch (decrease fret number or move note to next
lower string)
Ctrl+Up – move note to next higher string if possible
Ctrl+Down – move note to next lower string if possible
Shift+X – toggle ghost note
The behavior of Alt+Shift+Up and Alt+Shift+Down takes the tuning of the

instrument into account (see String data below). For instance, on a guitar in
standard tuning, playing the B string at fret 5 produces the same pitch as playing
the high E string at fret 0. Using Alt+Shift+Up automatically takes this into
account when it raises the pitch. It increases the fret number until you reach the
pitch of the next string, and then it switches strings for you.

Press Alt+Shift+Up Alt+Shift+Up
Similarly, lowering the pitch using Shift+Down decreases the fret number until
you reach 0, and then it switches strings for you.
Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down (Mac: Cmd+Up and Cmd+Down) also take the
tuning into account when moving a note to a different string, so that the pitch
remains the same.

Press Ctrl+Down
Making changes in Normal mode
Most other changes require you to leave TAB input mode, and this works just as
it does for standard notation for the most part. For example, to change duration
of a single selected note or chord, simply press the appropriate duration key or
use the standard duration shortcut (without Shift – that is only needed while in
TAB input mode). Working with selections – including copy and paste – also
works just as it does for standard notation. So be sure to read the chapter Editing
to learn the basic concepts.
There are a few special commands for tablature while in Normal mode:
Up – raise pitch (increase fret number)

Down – lower pitch (decrease fret number)
Alt+Shift+Up – raise pitch (increase fret number or move note to next
higher string)
Alt+Shift+Down – lower pitch (decrease fret number or move note to next
lower string)
Ctrl+Up – move note to next higher string if possible
Ctrl+Down – move note to next lower string if possible
Shift+X – toggle ghost note
The basic customizations available for other types of notes, such as position and
visibility, are available for tablature notes as well, so see the chapter Editing for
more information. Similarly, basic staff customizations (such as the long and
short names and staff line color) are available for tablature staves just as for any
others; see the chapter Staves and Instruments for more information. But there
are a number of customizations unique to tablature. These are controlled by the
staff type and the string data, which are described below.
Tablature staff types
MuseScore provides a number of predefined tablature staff types that control

details like how rhythms are notated, whether frets are displayed as numbers or
letters, the order of the strings, and more. We have already seen how you can
change staff types by going to Edit / Instruments and using the Staff type drop-
down menu.
These predefined staff types should be sufficient for most purposes. However,
MuseScore also allows you to customize the individual settings for each staff.
Predefined tablature staff types
MuseScore provides three predefined styles each for guitar, banjo, and bass
tablature, two different predefined styles of lute tablature, and two more
predefined styles for ukulele and balalaika that are based on the Common style
for guitar and bass.
Simple (guitar, banjo, bass) The Simple style includes numbers for the frets
only, with no indication of rhythm.
Common (guitar, banjo, bass, ukulele, balalaika) The Common style adds
stems below the staff to indicate rhythms. Eighth notes are indicated with flags
or beams as appropriate; half notes with shorter stems. Rests are not indicated.
Full (guitar, banjo, bass) The Full style represents rhythm more completely,
including time signatures and rests. Because rhythm is a more integral part of
this style of tablature, the stems are connected to the frets rather than being
written below the staff. Half notes are indicated with slashes through the stems.
French (lute) In the French style, letters are used instead of numbers for the
frets, with “a” indicating an open string, “b” indicating the first fret, “c”
indicating the second fret, and so forth. The letter “j” is not used; the ninth fret is
denoted by “k”. The fret marks are placed in the spaces above the line for the
corresponding string. Rhythms are indicated with symbols representing note
values placed above the staff, but only where the duration changes. Rests are not
indicated.
Italian (lute) In Italian lute tablature, frets are indicated with numbers on the
lines as in modern guitar tablature, but the lines are reversed (highest string is
the lowest line). Rhythms are indicated using symbols representing note values
placed above the staff where the duration changes. Rests are indicated using
symbols placed directly on the staff rather than above it.
Custom types
If one of the predefined tablature staff types does not suit your requirements, you
can customize the settings for any particular staff by right-clicking the staff,
choosing Staff Properties, and then clicking the Advanced Style Properties
button. This brings up the Edit Staff Properties dialog.
This dialog contains a number of different options, most of which are grouped
into tabs for Fret Marks and Note Values.
Upside down – display highest string on bottom instead of on top
Fret Marks
Font – font for fret marks
Size – size for fret marks
Vertical offset – vertical offset for fret marks
Marks are – Numbers or Letters
Marks are drawn – On lines or Above lines
Line are – Continuous (staff lines drawn through fret marks) or Broken
(staff lines are broken for fret marks)
Note Values
Font – font for Note symbols
Size – size for Note symbols
Vertical offset – vertical offset for Note symbols
Shown as – None, Note symbols, or Stems and beams
Repeat – controls whether note symbols for repeated values are shown
Never, At new system, At new measure, or Always
Stem style – Beside staff or Through staff (for Stems and beams)
Stem position – Above or Below staff (for Stems and beams with Beside
staff )
Half notes – None, As short stem, or As slashed stem (for Stems and
beams)
Show rests – controls whether or not rests are displayed
This dialog shows a preview of the results produced by the current settings,
which can help in understanding how these settings will work together.
Underneath these options is the Template drop-down menu, which allows you to
quickly change all settings in the dialog to those from a different staff type.
Select the desired template and press the Reset to Template button. This has the
same effect as changing staff type in the Instruments dialog.
Note there is also an Add to Templates button, but it is grayed out.

Future versions of MuseScore may allow you define and re-use custom
staff types.
String data
While it may not be common to need to customize the actual staff types, you will
need to customize string data any time you wish to write tablature for an
instrument using non-standard tuning (a.k.a. “scordatura”). The default tuning
for each instrument is defined in instruments.xml, which can be customized as
described in Score in the chapter on Customization. However, unless you know
you will always want to use a particular non-standard tuning, it is better to leave
the defaults in instruments.xml alone but instead override them for a particular
staff. This is done by right-clicking the staff, choosing Staff Properties, and then
clicking the String Data button to display the String Data dialog.
This dialog allows you to set the number of strings and the tuning for each, so
MuseScore knows how to associate string and fret information with actual
pitches. It also allows you to set the Number of frets, which MuseScore uses to
prevent you from entering too high a fret number when creating tablature
notation.
To change the tuning for an existing string, select the string and press the Edit
String button. The Note Selection dialog will appear, allowing you to select the
tuning for that string.
For reference, a standard guitar is tuned from low E in octave 2 to high E in

octave 4.
Enabling the Open option for a string tells MuseScore that the string cannot
normally be fretted, so the algorithms that try to determine appropriate string and
fret combinations for notes will not try to fret that string.
The String Data dialog also allows you to add and remove strings. To add a
string below the selected string, press the New String button. This will display
the same Note Selection dialog to allow you to select the tuning for the new
string. To remove a string, press the Delete String button.
Because new strings are always added below the selected string, adding
a new high string requires you to edit the existing top string to set it to
the new desired highest pitch, then add a new string below it to replace
the old high string.
Chapter 26:
Alternative Notation
In addition to Percussion and Tablature, MuseScore provides some support for a
few other specific styles of notation. These are described in this chapter.
Slash Notation
There are two basic styles of slash notation supported by MuseScore. In one
style, measures are filled with slashes, one per beat, to indicate that a musician is
supposed to improvise his part (whether solo or accompaniment) as he or she
sees fit. This style is created with the Edit / Tools / Fill With Slashes command in
MuseScore. In the other style, specific rhythms are indicated. This second style
can appear on its own within the staff or it can appear outside the staff combined
with standard notation. The former variety is sometimes referred to as rhythmic
notation; the latter as accent notation. Both of these varieties can be created with
the Edit / Tools / Toggle Rhythmic Slash Notation command in MuseScore.
When using these commands to create slash notation, MuseScore will not
normally transpose the slashes (see Transposition), nor will it play them back.
Fill With Slashes
To fill a measure or range with slashes, select the range and go to Edit / Tools /
Fill With Slashes. Partial measure selections are allowed.

Edit / Tools / Fill With Slashes
The slashes are normally placed in voice 1, but if there are already notes present
in the measure, they are preserved, and the slashes are placed in the next
available voice.

Edit / Tools / Fill With Slashes
In compound meters, dotted quarter notes are used for the beat.
Rhythmic Slash Notation

To create rhythmic slash notation – where the slashes indicate the desired rhythm
rather than beats in general – first enter notes for the rhythm, then select the
range and go to Edit / Tools / Toggle Rhythmic Slash Notation.

Edit / Tools / Toggle Rhythmic Slash Notation
The original pitches are actually preserved, so if you run this command again, it
will restore them.
MuseScore places the notes vertically according to a simple rule: notes in voices
1 and 2 are turned into full sized slashes within the staff; notes in voices 3 or 4
are turned into small slashes above or below the staff. So to create accent
notation, enter the notes you wish to preserve into voices 1 or 2, the notes for the
accents into voice 3, and use the Selection Filter (see the chapter on Making
Selections) to exclude voices 1 and/or 2 before running Edit / Tools / Toggle
Rhythmic Slash Notation.

As mentioned in the chapter on Percussion, music for drums often uses a
combination of slash fill and accent notation. This is very easy to create in
MuseScore as follows:
1. Enter notes for accents in voice 1 (e.g., using snare drum)

2. Select range
3. Edit / Voices / Exchange Voice 1-3
4. Edit / Tools / Toggle Rhythmic Slash Notation
5. Edit / Tools / Fill With Slashes
This places the accents above the staff and the beat slashes within the staff. In
accordance with common conventions, the accents on percussion staves use
regular noteheads rather than slashes, and they are placed directly above the staff
rather than floating slightly above as they are on standard staves.
The slashes created in both styles of slash notation are actually just normal notes
whose noteheads have been set to Slash (except for drum accents, which are left
Normal, as shown above). The heads can be overridden using the Head group
setting in the Inspector. The Fix to line setting is what prevents the slash
notation from transposing. The specific line used can be set using the Line
setting.
Remember, after selecting a range of music, you can restrict the

selection to just the notes by clicking the Notes button in the Inspector.
See the chapter on Editing for more information.
Shape Note Music

Shape note music notation is a system that associates each scale degree with a
specific notehead. MuseScore supports several different shape note systems
through the use of a plugin. See Plugins in the chapter on Customization for
more information on plugins. Once the Shape notes plugin has been downloaded
and installed into MuseScore, converting standard notation into shape note
notation is as simple as running the plugin. A dialog appears that allows you to
choose between several different systems. The following examples shows the
results of the 7 shape notes option.

Plugins / Notes / Shape Notes, 7 shape notes
Early Music
While MuseScore does not contain a full set of tools for notating Gregorian
chant or other Renaissance and earlier forms of notation in anything like their
original forms, it does provide a few features that can help in producing modern
transcriptions of this type of music.
Mensuration
The term mensuration (also mensural notation) refers to the systems of

indicating rhythms that were in use during the Renaissance. It is beyond the
scope of this book to try to explain the different systems that existed, and as
mentioned, MuseScore does not truly support these notations in their original
formats. However, there are some features that you might find useful if you
already have some idea of what you would like to do and are wondering how to
accomplish or simulate it in MuseScore.
Time signatures
MuseScore uses the modern concept of a time signature as defining the length of
a measure, not the older concept of tempus and prolatio as defining the lengths
of the breve and minim. However, you can force a standard time signature to
display using one of the older mensural symbols by right-clicking the time
signature, choosing Time Signature Properties, and selecting the appropriate
symbol under Appearance.
While nothing will change in the behavior or interpretation of the music, the
time signature will be displayed using the selected symbol.
Meterless music
Much music of the era was notated with no time signature in the modern sense,
and no barlines. In MuseScore, you can create this effect by notating your music
in 4/4 but using the commands Edit / Measure / Join Measures and Edit /
Measure / Split Measure to create one long measure for each system.
Edit / Measure / Join Measures
For more information on these commands, see Splitting and Joining Measures in
the chapter on Measure Operations.
The time signature itself can be suppressed by right-clicking a staff, choosing

Staff Properties, and turning off the Show time signature option.
You can also hide barlines individually (press V or use the Inspector, Visible) or
for an entire staff (Staff Properties, Show barlines).
Mensurstrich
Mensurstrich is a form of notation that uses barlines between staves rather than
within staves as a compromise between early and modern styles of notation. To
create mensurstrich in MuseScore:
1. Style / General / Display note values across measure boundaries

2. Double-click a barline
3. Shift+drag handles to place barline between staves
The Display note values across measure boundaries option is experimental and
may not always work, but it is intended to allow long notes that would be tied
across the barline to be shown with their full value.
Noteheads
While MuseScore does not contain a full set of early music noteheads, it does
support the square brevis that was commonly used instead of the more modern
breve. To enable this, select a breve and use the Inspector to change the Head
group to Alt. Brevis.

Set Head group to Alt. Brevis
Ambitus
MuseScore supports the ambitus symbol used to indicate the range of each staff.
See Ambitus in the chapter on Articulations and Other Symbols for information
on how to use this symbol.
Figured Bass
MuseScore provides a full-featured figured bass facility. See the chapter on

Figured Bass for more information.
Tablature
Music for lute and other stringed instruments was typically notated using a
tablature system that is related to the type often used today for guitar music.
MuseScore is designed to handle several different styles of historical tablature.
See the chapter on Tablature, and the sections on Tablature staff types and Extra
bass strings in particular, for more information. In addition to pre-defined
French and Italian tablature styles, there are a variety of fonts you can select and
other customizations you can perform in the Advanced style properties section of
the Staff Properties dialog.
Modified Stave Notation
The British organization Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has
developed a set of guidelines for the production of large-print scores for the
visually impaired. In Modified Stave Notation (MSN), the music is enlarged in
general, but the proportions are altered to increase readability. For example,
while notes are physically larger, the horizontal spacing is not increased as much
as the vertical, and it is usually printed in landscape mode, in order to fit as many
notes possible per system and thereby reduce the number of times your eyes
have to track back to the beginning of the line. Smaller symbols are enlarged
more proportionally than symbols that are already large. The guidelines also help
minimize the size and number of pages required over what would result from a
simple scaling, and symbols are placed in consistent positions where possible so
the reader is less likely to miss them.
For example, here is an excerpt from a Mozart sonata that uses default settings in
MuseScore:
Here is that same excerpt produced in MuseScore according to the MSN
guidelines:
MuseScore has worked with RNIB to support as many of these guidelines as

possible, so you can create scores in MSN by simply changing a few settings.
The guidelines are subjective and finding the right settings for any given reader
can be a matter of trial and error. But some of the settings you might wish to
look at include:

Page size Style / General / Measure
Landscape Style / General / Barlines
Staff space Style / General / Notes
Spacing Style / General / Beams
Minimum note distance Style / General / Slurs/Ties
Staff line thickness Style / General / Articulations, Ornaments
Barline thickness
End barline thickness In addition, the various text style settings under
Double barline thickness Style / Text can be worth looking at. MuseScore
Dot size gives you control over many more settings that could be
Stem thickness relevant as well, so check out the Changing
Ledger line thickness Appearance and Behavior section of different
Ledger line length chapters in this book to get an idea of what else is
Beam thickness possible.
Flatten all beams
Line thickness at end When you are done, you can save your modified
Line thickness middle settings via Style / Save Style and then load them into
Minimum tie length other scores via Style / Load Style, and you can specify
Articulation size this style to be used by default for all new scores in Edit /
Preferences / Score. You can also save your score into your Templates folder
and use it as a template for the creation of future scores.
Chapter 27:
Other Editing Tools
There are a few editing commands provided by MuseScore that do not fit
particularly well into any other chapter, so they will be covered here.
Explode
When writing for a group of related instruments, it is not uncommon to have

passages where the parts have different pitches but the same rhythms. It can
often be easiest to create the passages by first entering all parts onto one staff,
then separating them out later. MuseScore provides a command to automate this
process if you have written the parts as chords. If you have instead used multiple
voices, there is no single command for this, but it can be done through creative
use of other commands.
Exploding from chords
To explode a series of chords into individual notes on separate staves, first enter
the chords on the topmost staff of the group. Then select the passage and go to
Edit / Tools / Explode. The notes of the chords will be exploded onto the staves
below.

Edit / Tools / Explode
Exploding a staff in the this way will use as many staves as there are notes in the
largest chord. If you would rather restrict the staves used, you can select just the
staves you wish to use, and if there are extra notes, they will be ignored.

If on the other hand you select more staves than there are notes, the parts will be
doubled as necessary.

Exploding from multiple voices
The Explode command does not work with multiple voices, but it is still possible
to achieve the same effect if you have music on a single staff with multiple
voices. Say you have a staff with two voices (voice 1 and voice 2) that you wish
to separate into individual staves. You can do this via copy, paste, voice
exchange, and the selection filter as follows:
1. Select passage to explode

2. Ctrl+C (Mac: Cmd+C) to copy
3. Click in destination staff
4. Ctrl+V (Mac: Cmd+V) to paste
5. Edit / Voices / Exchange Voice 1-2
6. Select the passage in both staves
7. Press F6 if necessary to display the Selection Filter
8. Exclude Voice 1 in the Selection Filter
9. Press Delete to remove the contents of voice 2, keeping voice 1
The following images illustrate the process:

Copy to destination staff, exchange voices

Delete contents, keeping voice 1
The same technique can be extended to other voices as well.

When using the Selection Filter to exclude voice 1, it is important to
remember to enable it again when you are done, or else you will have
trouble making selections!
Implode
Implode is the converse operation of explode – going from individual lines on

separate staves or in separate voices to a series of chords in one staff. MuseScore
provides a command for this as well.
Imploding from separate staves
To implode parts that were originally entered onto separate staves, enter the lines
onto separate staves, select the passage on all staves, and go to Edit / Tools /
Implode. MuseScore will combine the lines into chords on the top staff – the
opposite of Explode.

Edit / Tools / Implode
Ideally, the parts should be identical in rhythm. If they are not, MuseScore will
simply ignore notes that it cannot combine into chords on the top staff.

Imploding from multiple voices
You can also use Edit / Tools / Implode to combine multiple voices of one staff
into chords on voice 1. As with imploding from separate staves, ideally the
rhythms should be identical. But if a note from voice 2-4 cannot be added to a
chord in voice 1, the note is left in its original voice, so the end result should still
contain all the notes of the original.

Chapter 28:
Parts
A score may involve multiple instruments, and they are normally all displayed
together one above the other, as we have seen in the chapter on Staves and
Instruments (and indeed, in examples throughout this book). However, when it
comes time for musicians to play your music, you will want to generate separate
parts for each instrument in your score. MuseScore provides a powerful linked
parts facility in which your parts can be displayed and printed individually, and
changes to the score are automatically reflected in the parts (and vice versa).
In the following illustration, I have taken advantage of the View / Documents

Side By Side option to show the score in one pane and one of the parts in the
other:
Creating Parts
In most cases, MuseScore can handle all details of part creation for you. Simply
go to File / Parts and press the New All button. MuseScore automatically
defines one part for every instrument in your score, each named according to the
Part name for that instrument (see the chapter on Staves and Instruments).
While this dialog box is still open, you can customize the part definitions as you
see fit. You can change which instruments are assigned to which parts using the
checkboxes in the list at right, delete parts you do not need using the Delete
button, add new parts individually using the New button, or rename parts using
the Part title box.
The instrument list allows you to produce a part containing the staves for
multiple instruments. This might be useful, for instance, in a score for choir and
instrumental ensemble, where you might want to generate a part containing all
the vocal staves but none of the instrument staves.
You can have the same instrument in multiple parts. For instance, you might
want separate parts for all instruments in an orchestra, but also create an
additional part for the winds as a section, another for brass, and another for
strings. These parts might never be printed, but it might be convenient to be able
to work with the parts in this way.
Again, though, in most cases, simply hitting the New All button is all you will
need.
When you are done defining the parts, press OK to actually create them. You
will now see separate tabs for each part.
The parts are automatically saved as part of your score, so there is no need to
save them separately. Whether you are viewing the score or one of the parts,
when you save, the score and all parts are saved together in the same file.
However, the File / Save As and File / Export Parts commands both allow you to
save a separate copy of one or more parts if you like. See the chapter on File
Operations for more information.
Because your score and the parts are linked, it is not necessary to wait
until you are done with your score before creating parts. You can create
parts at any time, and as you continue to work on the score, the parts are
automatically updated. However, especially for large scores, you might
find it advantageous to wait until you are mostly done editing before
creating parts, as performance can be a little sluggish on large scores
with parts.
Once the parts have been created, you can still return to the Parts dialog
to add or remove parts. You can also reorder the parts using the arrow
buttons in the dialog; this controls the order in which the score tabs are
displayed. But for parts that have already been created, you will no
longer be able to edit the part titles or change which instruments are
associated with which parts. This is another reason it usually makes
sense to wait until you are mostly finished with your score before
creating parts.
Working With Parts
Once parts are created, they are linked with the score so that most changes to one
affect the other. You can freely move back and forth between working on the
score and working on the parts, and MuseScore keeps things in sync for you.
However, certain changes are deliberately not linked, to allow for formatting and
other inherent differences between score and parts.
Changes that are linked
Any notes you add to any staff in the score will automatically show up in the
corresponding part, and vice versa. Same for any text or other markings you add
to those notes. Clef changes and other changes that affects the staff as a whole
are also automatically linked.
If you make a change that affects the entire score rather than just a single staff,
then this is reflected in the score as well as all parts. For example, time signature
changes, adding or removing measures, repeat barlines, voltas on the top staff,
and tempo markings – these affect the score as well as all parts, whether you
make the change while viewing the score or while viewing any part. Note that,
as discussed in the chapter on Repeats, voltas on staves other than the top are not
copied or linked to parts.
Changes that are not linked
Certain types of changes are not linked, so that the formatting decisions made
that are specific to the score do not affect the parts, and vice versa.
While manual adjustments to the position of score elements made before parts
are created are copied to the parts, manual adjustments made after parts are
created are not.
For example, it may make sense to move a dynamic in the score in order to
avoid a collision with a note on a ledger line above the staff below.
However, this only makes sense in the score – in the part, the note that caused
the conflict will not even be present, because it is in a different part.
Similarly, in the part, you might find a tempo marking conflicts with a
multimeasure rest. But that multimeasure rest will not be present in the score, so
again, that adjustment will not make sense to link.
In addition to manual adjustments to position, most other changes to individual

element properties are not linked, either. This includes visibility, which allows
you to add an element to the score that is invisible in the score or vice versa.
Changes to the Concert Pitch state of the score or parts are not automatically
linked, thus allowing you to have a concert pitch score but transposed parts.
Similarly, the state of the multimeasure rest option is not linked, so the score can
have them disabled while parts have them enabled.
Line and page breaks not linked either, because they will not normally occur in
the same places between the score and parts. The same is true for changes to
other page layout settings, as well as for style settings. See below for more
information.
Global part settings
When a part is created, it inherits most style settings from the main score, so it
will use the same fonts, position, etc. However, while the score might have been
created with a custom page and staff size in order to fit all the staves for all of
your instruments, the parts will use default page layout settings, because the
page layout of the score is seldom appropriate for the parts. Also, concert pitch is
turned off by default for parts, and multimeasure rests are turned on.
As we will see in Score in the chapter on Customization, MuseScore allows you

to specify a style file to control the default style and page layout for newly
created scores. If you have done that, then this file will be used for newly created
parts as well. You can also specify a different style file to be used for parts.
These settings are located in Edit / Preferences / Score (Style and Style for part).
For more on the layout of both score and parts, see the chapter on Page Layout.
Individual part properties
As mentioned previously, if you change style settings after the parts are
generated, these changes are not linked by default. This allows you to have
differences in style settings between score and parts, which can be useful.
However, chances are if you make a style change in one part, you will want that
same change made in all parts. So MuseScore provides an Apply to all Parts
button at the bottom of the Edit Style and Edit Text Styles dialogs.
The same is true for the Page Settings dialog.
The part name that that appears by default at the top left of each part is, of
course, not linked between score and parts. This name is generated automatically
when you create a part. But if you need to regenerate it later, you can do so via
Add / Text / Part Name.
Chapter 29:
Page Layout
Page layout is a complex topic, but MuseScore provides facilities to accomplish
just about anything you might wish to do. You can control the overall page size
and margins, with separate margins for odd and even page if you like. You can
set the overall size of the music as well as the default horizontal spacing of
notes, and you can increase or decrease the spacing where necessary. You can
also control where line and page breaks occur. You can keep individual systems
from extending all the way to the left or the right margin, and you can create
gaps in the middle of systems. You can set the default distance between staves
and between systems, and you can specify variable system spacing so that more
space is added on pages that have room for it. You can also create additional
space between certain staves or systems where necessary.
In this chapter, I will demonstrate how to accomplish each of these tasks and
more. The following diagram may prove a helpful reference. It shows the
MuseScore terms for some of the various concepts we will be discussing.
Page Size and Margins
If you create a score using a template, page size and margins for your score are
determined by the template. Otherwise – when creating a score from scratch –
MuseScore chooses a default page size and margins for you. Either way, you
may wish to override these defaults for any given score. To do this, go to Layout
/ Page Settings to display the Page Settings dialog.
MuseScore uses the default paper size for your default printer as the
default page size when creating a new score from scratch. In addition,
when creating a new score from a template that uses A4 or Letter page
size, MuseScore will automatically substitute whichever is appropriate
on your system.
Most of the settings in this dialog should be familiar from word processors or
other programs that deal with the printed page. The one that is unique to
MuseScore is the Staff space setting under the Scaling heading. This literally
controls the size of the spaces between staff lines, but more than that, this
distance – also referred to as spatium and abbreviated sp – is used as a unit of
measurement throughout MuseScore. See the section Music Size for more
information.
Here is a full description of the settings in this dialog:
Page Size – select from a variety of preset paper sizes using the drop-down
menu
Width – manual paper width setting
Height – manual paper height setting
Portrait / Landscape – select between portrait or landscape orientation
Two sided – enable separate margin settings for odd and even pages
Scaling
Staff space – set size of spaces between staff lines
First page number – set the page number to use for the first page of the score
mm / inch – select between millimeters and inches for display of units in this
dialog
Odd Page Margins – margins for odd-numbered pages (all pages if Two sided is
off)
Even Page Margins – margins for even-numbered pages
This dialog also includes thumbnail representations of the pages in your score so
you can see the effect of changes to the various settings in real time.
MuseScore can optionally display the page margins on your score. Select View /
Show Margins, and the margins are shown with an outline, as in the example at
the beginning of this chapter.
In addition to the Page Settings dialog, there are two settings in Style / General /
Page that are relevant here.
Music top margin – additional space between top page margin and first system
of page
Music bottom margin – additional space between bottom page margin and last
system of page
Without this extra space, the top line of the staff would be placed right up against
the top margin. Notes on ledger lines above the staff would extend into the
margin, as would text and other markings normally placed above the staff. So
these additional margins are intended to create room above and below the top
and bottom staves of each page, to prevent the music and markings from
extending into the margins.
The Music top margin and Music bottom margin do not apply if there is
a vertical frame at the top or bottom of the page. The distances above
and below vertical frames are set independently. See Vertical Frames
below for more information.
Music Size
As mentioned above, the Staff space setting in Layout / Page Settings controls
the size of the spaces between staff lines, and this setting is used as a unit of
measure throughout the score. This means that changing the Staff space setting
actually scales just about everything in your score uniformly. The sizes of notes,
rests, and most other elements, the vertical and horizontal positions of elements
above or below the staff, the height of hairpins, the thickness of barlines – all
these and more are specified in sp units and thus will scale with changes to the
Staff space setting. In addition, most text styles use the Size follows ’Staff space’
setting option, so even font sizes (which are specified in points) will scale with
changes to the Staff space setting. The page size and margins, however, remain
unchanged. As a result, changing the Staff space setting is often all you need to
do in order to fit more or less music on a page than the default.
Change Staff space setting from 1.764mm to 1.364mm
System, Page, and Section Breaks
MuseScore normally fits as many measures per system and as many systems per
page as it can given its current spacing settings. If you wish to fit more music on
a line or page, you will need to reduce the music size as described above, or
reduce the music spacing as described in Horizontal Spacing and Vertical
Spacing below. However, if you wish to fit less music on a system or page than
MuseScore fits by default, you can place explicit line or page breaks using the
Breaks & Spacers palette.
From left to right, the first three icons are for system break, page break, and
section break. These are each described below. The last two icons are staff
spacers, which will be discussed later under Vertical Spacing.
System breaks
To add a system break to your score, you can drag the icon to the measure after
which you want the break to occur, or select the measure then double-click the
icon. You can also select the measure or barline after you which you want the
break to occur and then press Enter.
You can also add system breaks by pressing Enter or double-clicking the palette
icon during note input.
When you add a system break to a measure, MuseScore ends the system with the
chosen measure, respaces the music on that system fill it out to the right margin,
and reflows the music from that point onward. In addition, a system break icon
will appear above the barline (on screen only) to show that an explicit break was
placed there.
A system break can be removed by clicking it and pressing Delete.
MuseScore also provide a command to add or remove system breaks

automatically throughout your score. Select a range of measures (if desired;
otherwise the command works on the whole score) and go to Edit / Tools /
Add/Remove System Breaks.
The dialog that is displayed contains three options:
Break systems every ... measures – insert system breaks at the specified interval
within the selected range
Add system break at end of each system – locks in the current system layout by
adding explicit system breaks within the selected range
Remove current system breaks – removes all system breaks from the selected
measures
The first option allows you to create layouts with a consistent number of
measures per system (although remember, if you want more measures on a
system than MuseScore fits by default, you will need to change the music size or
horizontal spacing). The second option can be useful when you have finished a
score and wish to guarantee that the layout will not change in the future. The
command adds system breaks at the end of each system, thus guaranteeing
MuseScore will never try to fit more measures on any system. You can then
reduce stretch as described in Horizontal Spacing to help ensure that MuseScore
will not fit fewer measures on a system in the future.
Page breaks
Page breaks work in the same manner as system breaks. You can drag the page
break icon to the measure after which you want the break to occur, or select the
measure then double-click the icon. You can also click a barline and then press
Ctrl+Enter (Mac: Cmd+Enter).
MuseScore ends the system with the chosen measure as with a system break, but
it also ends the page with that system.
Depending on your settings MuseScore may also add space between systems to
try to fill the page more and reduce or eliminate the empty space at the bottom of
the page. See Vertical Spacing below for more information.
Section breaks
Line and page breaks should be familiar from word processors and other
programs, but a section break is more specific to music notation. It is used to
indicate an actual musical break, such as between movements of a sonata or
between songs in a fakebook.
A section break in MuseScore acts like a system break – the next section will
start on a new system – but it also causes MuseScore to treat the first section
almost like a separate score. If the new section is in a different key or time
signature, no courtesy signature will be displayed at the end of the previous
section.
You can add a vertical frame with a new title before the first measure of the new
section as well.
To select all of the measures comprising a selection, simply select one measure
then use Edit / Select Section.
By default, a section break also adds a three-second pause between the sections
during playback, and it resets the measure numbering so that the first measure of
the new section is “1”. In addition, long rather than short instrument names will
be displayed before the first system of the new section if appropriate. You can
customize these default behaviors of a section break by right-clicking the icon on
your score and choosing Section Break Properties from the context menu.
Pause – set length of the pause between sections on playback
Start new section with long instrument names – select whether to use long
instrument names for first system of new section
Start new section with measure number one – select whether to reset measure
numbering for new section
Horizontal Spacing
MuseScore uses standard music engraving rules to determine how much space to
place between notes, which in turn affects how many measures can fit on a
system. MuseScore gives you a considerable degree of control over this process,
both globally for the score and for locally specific systems and/or measures.
Changing the default horizontal spacing for the score
The settings MuseScore uses to control horizontal spacing are found in Style /
General / Measure. Most of these settings have already been discussed in
previous chapters. For example, the Clef left margin setting is documented in the
chapter on Clefs. There are three specific settings worth discussing again here,
however.
Minimum measure width – minimum width to render measures

Spacing – spacing factor; larger values result in more spacing between notes
Minimum note distance – minimum distance between notes
The Spacing setting provides a general control over how tightly notes are
spaced. The smaller the value, the tighter the spacing, and the more measures
you can fit on each system, while keeping the size of the music the same. The
default Spacing of 1.200 should produce good results for most scores.
The minimum value is 1.000, and this produces very tight spacing with more
measures per system that you would get by default.
A larger value like 1.600 (for example) produces much looser spacing with fewer
measures per system.
In general, I find values between 1.100 and 1.400 usually work best. The default
spacing of 1.200 works best for classical scores, while a value of 1.400 might be
more appropriate for jazz lead sheets, for example. When in doubt, it is usually
better to select a smaller value than you need, because you can always insert
system breaks in your score and force looser spacing where you want it (see
System, Page, and Section Breaks).
In the above examples, even with a Spacing setting of 1.000 (which allows six
measure on this system by default), if I add a system break after measure four,
the result would be exactly the same as with a Space setting of 1.600 (which
allows only four measure on this system by default). But the difference is that
with a Spacing setting of 1.600, four measures are the maximum that can fit on
that particular system, whereas with a Spacing setting of 1.000, you also have
the choice of five or six.
However, instead of setting a low value for Spacing for the entire score, you may
find it more useful to override the spacing for selected measures only as shown
below.
Overriding the default horizontal spacing for selected measures
Often, the default spacing is fine for most of the score, but there may be
individual measures or groups of measures where you may wish to alter it. This
can be done by selecting the measure or measures you wish to adjust then
pressing { (Layout / Decrease Layout Stretch) to tighten the spacing, or } (Layout
/ Increase Layout Stretch) to loosen it. You can also control stretch using the
Measure Properties dialog (see the chapter on Measure Operations).
You can change the stretch settings anywhere you see fit, but there are some
specific situations where this often comes in handy. Before discussing these,
however, I should mention that after experimenting with stretch settings, you can
reset the spacing in selected measures using Layout / Reset Stretch.
Fitting more measures onto a system
As we have already seen, you can tell MuseScore to put fewer measures on a
system than it otherwise would by adding explicit system breaks. However, there
is no direct way to tell MuseScore to put more measures on a system than it
would otherwise. Instead, the way to accomplish this is to select the measures
you wish to appear on a single system and reduce stretch until the measures fit.
In the following example, I wish to fit the first measure of the second system
onto the first system.
By pressing { as necessary, I can tighten up the spacing enough to convince

MuseScore to combine them.
Creating uneven spacing within a system
Normally, MuseScore will space all measures within a system equally. Note that
this is not to say all measures will be the same size (although see below if this is
what you want). What I mean by equal spacing is, the amount of space allocated
for any given note duration – say, eighth notes – will be consistent throughout
any given system. This is standard practice in music engraving. But if you need
to override this – to make a particular measure tighter or looser than the others
on the same system – you can increase or decrease stretch for individual
measures.
If I wish to make the selected measure narrower, I can simply press { as desired.
Although this is not standard engraving practice, some people like to force all
measures on each system be the same width. You can accomplish this in
MuseScore by individually increasing or decreasing stretch measure by measure
as necessary.
Last system fill

MuseScore normally fills (right-justifies) all systems but the last. That is,
MuseScore places as many measures on the line as it can given the spacing
settings, and then it stretches the measures out to fill the width of the page.
However, the last system might contain only a measure or two, and this would
normally be left unfilled.
The last system in this example would look strange if it were stretched out to fill
the width of the page.
On the other hand, if the last system is close to being full already, then it could
be safely fill the width of the page like any other system. MuseScore provides a
setting to control how close to full the last system needs to be before being
automatically filled the rest of the way. To set this, go to Style / General / Page,
and see Last system fill threshold. If the last system is more full than this, it will
be filled the rest of the way; otherwise it will not.
Horizontal Frames
A system normally extends from the left margin of the page to the right margin.
Horizontal frames can be used to create additional space to the left or right of a
system or to create space between measures within a system. Frames can be
added from the Add / Frames menu or from the Frames & Measures palette.
When adding from the palette, the frame is inserted before the measure you are
dragging to.
Adding space to the left of a system
When adding a frame to the beginning of a system, it is a good idea to first

ensure there is a system break at the end of the previous system. Otherwise,
when you add a frame to the beginning of the system, it might actually appear at
the end of the previous system. Add the horizontal frame to the first measure of
the system you want to indent (add from the palette or use Add / Frames / Insert
Horizontal Frame).

Adding space between measures within a system
Add the horizontal frame to the measure you wish to appear after the gap.
This creates a gap:
By default, MuseScore repeats the staff names, brackets, clefs, and key
signatures after the gap, but you can hide these elements if you wish by clicking
them and pressing V (or using the Visible property in the Inspector).
Adding space to the right of a system
Because horizontal frames are placed in front of the measure to which they are
added, creating a horizontal frame at the end of a system is a little more tricky
but can be done. First, follow the steps for adding a frame to the left of the next
system. Delete the system break from the end of the system where you want the
frame. At this point, there are three possibilities:
1. The frame may be exactly where you want it – at the end of the system
2. The frame might be on the system where you want it, but there might be
other measures after it on that system as well
3. The frame might still be at the start of the next system (if there is not
enough room at the end of the system where you want it)
In the third case, select the measures on the system where you want the frame.
Reduce stretch as necessary to create room for the frame. This may create too
much space, and you may now be faced with the second case.
In this case – or if you see the second case from the beginning – simply drag a
system break from the palette to the horizontal frame itself.
A horizontal frame is invisible in itself, but it can be resized to create more or

less space, and it can also contain text or graphics.
Resizing a horizontal frame
Once you have placed a horizontal frame, you can resize it by double-clicking it
and dragging the handle.

Drag
You can also use the Width property in the Inspector.
Adding text or graphics to a horizontal frame
As mentioned in the chapter on Text, you can add text to a horizontal frame by
right-clicking it and choosing Add / Text from the context menu. A cursor will
appear and you can type your text.
You can also add graphics in a similar way, using Add / Picture. A standard file
selection dialog will appear, allowing you to choose an image file.
Vertical Spacing
MuseScore provides independent control over the distance between staves

within a system and the distance between systems on a page. You can set
defaults but also override them for particular staves and/or systems.
Staff spacing
MuseScore provides control over the default distance between staves within a
system as well as overrides that apply to a staff on a single system or across all
systems.
Setting the default distance between staves
MuseScore normally spaces all staves within a system a fixed distance apart.
This is controlled by settings in Style / General / Page. There are two relevant
settings in this dialog – Staff distance and Grand staff distance. The former
controls the distance between staves of different instruments. The latter controls
the distance between staves of a single instrument, such as the treble and bass
clef staves of a piano score. This allows you to have more or less space between
the two piano staves in a score than between the other staves.
These parameters both affect all staves on all systems throughout the score. But
MuseScore provides overrides to allow different spacing for a given staff within
a given system, or for a given staff on all systems.
Changing distance between specific staves on a single system
If you need to increase the space between two specific staves in one system
without affecting other staves or other systems – such as to make room for a
special marking that appears only in that one place – the way to do this is with a
staff spacer. These are found on the Breaks & Spacers palette.
To use a staff spacer, add it from the palette to any measure on one of the staves
you want to separate, then double-click it and drag the handle to control the
amount of space added.
You can also use the Height property in the Inspector to set the spacer to a
specific height.
The example above used a Staff spacer down attached to the upper staff and
dragged downward. The exact same thing can be done in the other direction –
attaching a Staff spacer up to the lower staff and dragging upward. You can mix
both types of spacers to add space above and below a given staff.
It is not currently possible to reduce space between specific staves for a

single system only. This is not a common thing to want to do, but if the
need arises, you could decrease the distance between those staves across
all systems (see below) and then add spacers to all other systems.
Changing distance between specific staves across all systems
A spacer is attached to a specific measure, and only the system containing that
measure is affected by the spacer. If you wish to create additional space between
two specific staves but have this change affect all systems, you can simply drag
the lower staff downward while holding Shift.
The extra distance created in this manner is reflected in the Extra distance above
staff setting in the Staff Properties for the staff you dragged. This can be used to
accurately reset the spacing back to the default – just set Extra distance above
staff to 0.00sp. This is more accurate than trying to do it by hand. Similarly, if
you are working on a large score such as for an orchestra, you might wish to add
a consistent amount of space between the different sections (i.e., between the
woodwinds and brass, between the brass and percussion, and between the
percussion and strings). This is also best done using Staff Properties rather than
Shift+drag. See the chapter on Staves and Instruments for more on staff
properties.
Note that whether dragging staves on the score or using Staff Properties, you can
actually reduce the distance between staves as easily as you can increase it.
System spacing
System spacing is controlled in a similar manner as staff spacing: via defaults in

Style / General / Page and the use of spacers for overrides.
Setting default distance between systems
MuseScore uses two settings to control the default distance between systems –
the Min. system distance and Max. system distance, both found in Style / General
/ Page.
The reason there are two settings rather than just one is to allow for flexibility in
system spacing from page to page. MuseScore will use the minimum system
distance to compute the number of staves it can fit on a page. It will then add
more space between systems (up to the specified maximum) in an effort to fill
the page. MuseScore stops at the specified maximum system distance to avoid
trying to fill the page if that would require excessive amounts of space.

For example (as shown above), if you have a score with a title frame on letter-
sized paper, the default minimum system distance setting allows for up to nine
single-staff systems on the first page, and these will be spaced to fill up the page.
However, if you have only seven systems on the page, the default maximum
system distance setting allows these to also be spaced to fill out the page.
On the other hand (as shown below), if you have only five systems, they are
spaced only as far as allowed by the maximum system distance setting, creating
a page that is not filled up completely but is still spaced more loosely than the
page with nine systems.

A change to the minimum system distance thus affects how many systems
MuseScore can fit on a page, whereas a change to the maximum system distance
affects how hard MuseScore tries to fill the page with those systems.
For example, reducing the minimum system distance value to 8.0sp allows
MuseScore to fit a tenth system on the page, whereas increasing the maximum
system distance to 20.0sp allows MuseScore to fill the page with only six
systems.

Taken together, the minimum and maximum system distance settings provide a
powerful way of controlling system spacing. They allow one set of defaults to
create pleasing layouts in a variety of different settings. Even if different pages
within your score have different numbers of systems, or different sizes of
systems, or if you use the same settings in different scores, most pages should all
look good by default. Manual overrides to system distance should thus not be
needed very often.
In most cases, the default settings will work well, but if you do need to
change them, it may take a little while to get the hang of it, as these
settings can admittedly be confusing at first. One potential cause for
confusion is that changes to either of these settings might appear to have
no effect at first. A change in minimum system distance, for instance,
will have no visible effect unless you change it by enough to affect how
many systems MuseScore can fit on the page. And on a page that is
already being filled completely, a change in maximum system distance
will have no effect unless you reduce it by enough to prevent the page
from being completely filled. I encourage you to experiment with the
settings to better understand how you can take advantage of the power
and flexibility they provide.
Changing distance between specific systems
The same staff spacers that are used to add space between staves within a system
can also be used to add space between systems. Add one from the palette to your
score, double-click it, and drag in the direction of the arrow to increase the
distance.
As when adding space between staves within a system, you can also use the
Inspector to control the amount of space added.
Effect of lyrics on vertical spacing
If you add lyrics to your score, MuseScore automatically adds extra vertical
space below the staff to accommodate them. This affects both staff spacing and
system spacing. As discussed in the chapter Lyrics, you can control this via the
Lyrics top margin and Lyrics bottom margin parameters in Style / General /
Page.
Vertical Frames
Just as a horizontal frame creates space within a system, a vertical frame creates
space between systems. If all you need is empty space, a staff spacer is a better
choice, but a vertical frame can contain text or images. Vertical frames can be
added from the Add / Frames menu or from the Frames & Measures palette.
When adding from the palette, the frame will be inserted before the selected
measure.
Insert vertical frame
The options for changing the appearance of vertical frames are very much like
those for horizontal frames. You can resize the frame by double-clicking and
dragging the handle, you can add content by right-clicking and going to Add /
Text or Add / Picture. But vertical frames provide additional options as well.
Global vertical frame settings
MuseScore provides global settings for the default space to leave above and
below vertical frames. These are located in Style / General / Page.
Vertical frame top margin – space to leave above vertical frames

Vertical frame bottom margin – space to leave below vertical frames
Individual vertical frame properties
You can customize settings for individual vertical frames using the Inspector.
Top gap – additional space to leave above frame (negative values will decrease
space)
Bottom gap – additional space to leave below frame (negative values will
decrease space)
Height – height of frame
Left margin – space between left edge of frame and inserted elements
Right margin – space between right edge of frame and inserted elements
Top margin – space between top edge of frame and inserted elements
Bottom margin – space between bottom edge of frame and inserted elements
Adding text or graphics to a vertical frame
If you wish to add text to a vertical frame, right-click the frame and select Add
from the menu that appears. You will see that in addition to the plain Text option
that is also available for horizontal frames, there are also options for Title,
Subtitle, Composer, Lyricist, and Part Name. You can thus add these elements to
frames other than the top frame for a score. This can be useful when creating a
score of multiple movements, or a collection of songs. See also Creating Albums
in the chapter on File Operations for another way to combine movements or
songs into a single score.
In addition to text, you can also add graphics to a vertical frame using Add /
Picture.
Adding a horizontal frame to a vertical frame
In order to create more complex layouts, MuseScore allows you to insert a

horizontal frame within a vertical frames, via Add / Insert Horizontal Frame.
One use for this is to create a table-like layout with text that is right-aligned to
some point within the vertical frame. Create a vertical frame, add and resize a
horizontal frame within it, add text to the horizontal frame, and use Text
Properties to right align the text.
This is but one use for this facility. However, it should be emphasized that
MuseScore is not meant to replace a word processor or desktop publishing
program. For more complex layouts involving combinations of text and music,
you may be better off creating a document another program and inserting music
from MuseScore using the facilities described in the chapter on Printing and
Graphic Output.
Part V:
Working with MuseScore
Chapter 30:
Playback and Audio Output
While the primary purpose of MuseScore is to produce notation, MuseScore
does include a built-in software synthesizer that aims to provide realistic
playback using a high quality soundfont that is included. You can also find other
soundfonts that may suit your needs better, and you can use these with the built-
in synthesizer as well.
In addition to the built-in synthesizer, if you have your own MIDI-compatible

synthesizer (whether hardware or software), you can configure MuseScore to use
that instead. MuseScore can also be used as a playalong tool for practice, and it
provides metronome and looping features for this purpose. It should be noted,
however, that the mobile apps for Android and iOS are perhaps better suited for
this purpose.
Playback Controls
The most commonly used playback controls offered by MuseScore are found on
the Transport Tools toolbar. Other commands can also be found by going to View
/ Play Panel (keyboard shortcut F11).
Play mode
To play your score, press Space or click the button on the Transport Tools
toolbar or in the Play Panel. Playback commences from the beginning of the
score by default. If you click a note first, playback will instead commence from
that point.
Once started, the playback continues until the end of the score or until you hit
or Space again to pause playback. If you then restart playback without first
clicking another note, playback will continue from where it left off.
While your score is playing, MuseScore is in Play mode, and the following
shortcuts can be used:
Left – seek to previous note
Right – seek to next note
Ctrl+Left – seek to previous measure
Ctrl+Right – seek to next measure
Home – seek to start of score
In addition, a number of the buttons on the Transport Tools toolbar are relevant.
– rewind to beginning of score

– toggle loop playback (see Looping)
– toggle following repeats during playback
– toggle automatic scrolling of score during playback
– toggle metronome sound during playback
These controls can also be found in the Play Panel. This window contains a few
other useful controls as well.
/ – set loop in/out points (see Looping)

– toggle count-in before playback
Tempo – temporary scaling factor to apply to the actual tempo for the piece
Volume – temporary override to the overall synthesizer volume
In addition, the horizontal slider in this window can be used to seek to a

particular point in the score.
The Play Panel can be opened or closed at any time and is active during
playback, allowing you to change any of these settings while listening to your
score.
The basic tempo and dynamics for your piece should be set using tempo
and dynamics markings placed directly on the score. Additional
markings can be placed to change tempo and dynamics over the course
of the piece. The tempo control in the Play Panel is intended to allow
you to temporarily scale the tempos specified by the tempo markings in
the piece by some fixed ratio. This can be useful for playalong purposes
(see below). Do not use this as a substitute for placing tempo markings
on your score. Similarly, the volume control in the Play Panel is for
overriding the overall MuseScore playback volume (see Synthesizer
below) for this particular score, and should not be used as a substitute
for placing dynamics markings on your score.
Looping
As mentioned previously, your score normally plays until the end or until you
pause playback by pressing Space or . However, MuseScore also provide a
loop mode in which a specified passage is played over and over, thus allowing
you to practice along with the playback. This loop mode can be enabled via the
button on the Transport Tools toolbar or in the Play Panel.
To set the range for the loop, you can select it before pressing the button. You
can also set the loop in and out points independently using the and
buttons in the Play Panel. This will also automatically enable the loop mode.
When the loop mode is enabled, the in and out points are clearly marked in your
score.

Press
When the loop mode is enabled, playback will always start at the beginning of
the loop and will continue until you stop it.
While the playback is looping you can adjust the tempo using the slider in the
Play Panel, allowing you to start slowly and gradually increase the speed as you
practice.
Although there are no default shortcuts defined for the loop controls, if
you use this feature a lot, you can define shortcuts yourself as described
in Shortcuts in the chapter on Customization.
Mixer
MuseScore includes a Mixer window that allows you to adjust a number of

different playback parameters for the various instruments in your score,
including the specific sounds used and relative volume levels of each instrument.
To display this window, go to View / Mixer or press F10.
The Mixer contains entries – called channels – for each instrument in your score.
Instruments that define more than one variant will have separate channels for
each. For example, in the above, we see separate channels for the normal and
muted trumpet variants. These correspond to the same staff in your score, but the
separate channels allow you to control the normal and muted sounds
individually.
For each channel, the following parameters can be set:
Mute – when enabled, this channel will not playback

Solo – when enabled for any channel, only channels with this enabled will
playback
Sound – select the sound to use for this channel
Volume – set the relative volume level for this channel
Pan – set the stereo panning for this channel (from left to right)
Reverb – set the amount of reverb to apply to this channel (external synthesizer
only)
Chorus – set the amount of chorus to apply to this channel (external synthesizer
only)
To set the parameters that use dials, click the dial and drag – up to turn to dial
clockwise, down to turn the dial counterclockwise. You can also click the dial
and use the up and down arrow keys. To reset any dial to its default value, just
double-click it.
The Sound control displays a drop-down menu that lists all the sounds available.
The available sounds are determined by the soundfonts you have loaded. For
more information, see the section Synthesizer below.
The Mixer window remains active during playback so you can adjust any of the
parameters while your score is playing.
Although you can change the sound used for a staff in the Mixer, in most
cases this would only be done to change to related sounds, such as
between the different types of guitar sounds. If you wish to actually
change a staff from guitar to, say, accordion, you should normally do
this via Change Instrument in Staff Properties. This will change the staff
name, clef, transposition, and other important parameters that should be
updated when making this type of change. For more information, see the
chapter Staves and Instruments.
Synthesizer
The built-in synthesizer included with MuseScore allows you to use a variety of
different soundfonts to define the sounds of the instruments used by MuseScore
much in the way that a text font defines the appearance of characters used. The
synthesizer in MuseScore also provides a customizable reverb effect and allows
you to change the master tuning. To display the synthesizer controls, go to View /
Synthesizer.
The two controls on the far right are for the volume of the playback as a whole
and of the internal metronome. These controls affect the volume for all scores.
The settings remain in effect for the duration of the current MuseScore session,
but will reset to the defaults the next time you start MuseScore. If you wish to
change the default volume for MuseScore, press the Save as Default button after
setting the volume the way you like.
Although you might perceive the default volume to be on the low side,
do keep in mind that MuseScore does not compress the dynamic range
of its playback, so that music intended to be quiet really is quiet rather
than being artificially amplified to bring it closer to the level of louder
passages, as is common in much recorded music. Take care not to
increase the default volume for MuseScore just to increase the volume
for one particular piece that is marked pp, as this will likely result in
pieces marked ff distorting badly.
The other controls available within this dialog are explained below.
Soundfont
A soundfont is a file or set of files that define the sounds used in a synthesizer.
MuseScore supports two types of soundfonts: the SF2 format (also known as
SoundFont) and the SFZ format. These formats are used by the two different
engines within the synthesizer. The SF2 engine is called Fluid and the SFZ
engine is called Zerberus. The first two tabs in the Synthesizer window contain
controls for loading different soundfonts into these two engines.
MuseScore allows you to load multiple soundfonts at once, and the sounds from
all of the loaded soundfonts will be available in the Mixer. You can store
soundfonts in the Soundfonts folder created for you by MuseScore, and these
soundfonts will be available to load into the Synthesizer. See Folders in File
Operations.
To load a soundfont, press the Add button and select the soundfont from the list
that appears.
You can also load a soundfont directly from your operating system’s file
manager (e.g., Windows Explorer) by double-clicking it.
Once loaded into MuseScore, a soundfont is available to all scores for the
duration of your current session – until you close MuseScore. The next time you
start MuseScore, only the default soundfont will be loaded. If you wish your
newly added soundfonts to be loaded each time you start MuseScore, click the
Save as Default button after loading the soundfonts.
You can also save the current set of soundfonts directly into your score by
pressing the Save to Score button. The soundfonts you save in this manner will
not be loaded automatically next time you start MuseScore, nor even upon
loading that score. But after loading a score to which you had previously saved
soundfonts, you can return to View / Synthesizer and press Load from Score to
restore the saved soundfonts. This can be useful if you have a large set of
soundfonts that you do not want to load all the time for memory / performance
reasons, but that you wish to be able to reload quickly for special occasions.
Fluid
By default, MuseScore uses the Fluid engine only, with a soundfont called
MuseScore_General. This soundfont contains over 200 different instrument
sounds, including the full set of 128 standard and 47 percussion sounds defined
by the General MIDI standard. It should meet the needs of most users.
However, there are many SF2 soundfonts available that you may wish to
investigate. Some simply provide different versions of the regular General MIDI
sounds. Others provide sounds for just certain instruments, perhaps including
instruments that are not part of the General MIDI standard.
You can load multiple soundfonts into Fluid. The one listed at the top will be
used by default, and you can use the Up and Down buttons to arrange this list
however you like. Regardless of the order of the soundfonts, all the sounds from
all of the currently loaded soundfonts will be available in the Mixer.
The MuseScore_General soundfont provided with MuseScore is actually

in a special variation on the SF2 format in which the samples are
compressed to save space. It is based in part on the FluidR3 soundfont
that is available for download on other sites, but has improved for use in
MuseScore.
Zerberus
The Zerberus engine handles playback of SFZ soundfonts. To load an SFZ file,
simply switch to the Zerberus tab before pressing the Add button.
Effects
MuseScore includes a reverb effect called Zita that you can control by going to
the Master Effects tab of the Synthesizer window.
The various dials allow you to fine-tune the performance of the reverb.
Delay – time in milliseconds before the reverb is introduced for each note
Frequency / Time – set the length of the reverb effect for different frequency
ranges
Eq1 / Eq2 – select specific frequency bands to boost or attenuate
Output – control the ratio of dry to wet signal
You can turn off the reverb completely by changing the Effect A to No Effect.
There is also an optional compressor SC4 that you can configure here by
selecting it as Effect B.
If you are familiar with audio processing terminology, these controls
should seem familiar. If not, you can try reading up on the subject or just
experimenting. For most people, the defaults should be fine. If you have
a general sense that you want “less” (or “more”) reverb, the one setting
you would want to play with is the Output in the Zita1 section. Turning
the dial toward Dry will result in less reverb; turning it toward Wet will
result in more.
Tuning
The Tuning tab of the Synthesizer window allows you to control the overall
tuning of the synthesizer. The default is A = 440Hz. To change this, simply enter
a different value into the Master tuning box and then press the Change Tuning
button.
Exporting Audio
Once you have your score sounding the way you want it, you may want to export
it to an audio format such as WAV or MP3 in order to share it with others. To do
this, go to File / Export. This displays a standard file selection dialog that allows
you to export your score to a variety of formats. Toward the bottom of the dialog
is a drop-down menu that allows you to select the specific format.
The audio formats supported by MuseScore are:
Wave Audio – an uncompressed audio format; support by virtually all programs

FLAC Audio – an audio format that employs lossless compression that results in
file sizes around 50% of WAV with no loss in audio quality; supported by
many open source programs
Ogg Vorbis Audio – an audio format that employs lossy compression that results
in files sizes only around 10% of WAV with only a modest loss in audio
quality; supported by many open source programs
MP3 Audio – an audio format that employs lossy compression that results in
files sizes only around 10% of WAV with only a modest loss in audio
quality; supported by most programs
You can control the sample and/or bit rates used via Edit / Preferences / Export.
See Export in the chapter on Customization for more information.
Note that on some systems you may need to install “LAME” encoder
library in order to export MP3 files. MuseScore will prompt you if this is
the case on your system. You will only need to do this once.
Exporting MIDI
In addition to the audio formats described above, MuseScore can also export to a
standard MIDI file. It is important to understand that while MIDI can be used to
produce sound, it does not contain actual audio information. Instead, it simply
contains instructions as to what notes are to be played at what times and by what
instruments. It is in that sense more similar to a score than it is to an audio file,
except it contains none of the visual information (e.g., no information about
whether a note is to be spelled G♯ or A♭, no text, articulations, or other
markings) that a score would normally contain. A score exported as a MIDI file
and then loaded into another program will not sound the same as it does in
MuseScore because the other program will be using a different synthesizer to
create the various sounds. But if this is not important to you – or if you know the
synthesizer used contains sounds you do want – then MIDI files can be
convenient, because they are very small compared to even compressed audio
files (often less than 1% of the size of an MP3 file).
To export a score to MIDI format, use the same File / Export dialog described
above for audio, but specify Standard MIDI File as the file type.
MIDI Output
If you have your own MIDI synthesizer that provides sounds or other
capabilities you wish to use, you may wish to have MuseScore play your score
through your own synthesizer instead of the built-in one. MuseScore provide
limited direct support for MIDI output, and can also communicate with other
applications more fully via JACK, a free and open source program for Windows,
Mac OS, and Linux.
To set up your MIDI output device, go to Preferences / I/O and select your
device under MIDI Output. This same dialog also allows you to configure
JACK. If you wish to silence the internal synthesizer, you can delete the
soundfont or reduce the volume in View / Synthesizer.
For more information on MIDI output or JACK, see the section on I/O in the
chapter on Customization. A full discussion of these topics is beyond the scope
of this book, and the details may depend on what operating system you are
using. For more information on using MIDI output or JACK with MuseScore,
you may wish to try the support forums and other help resources on
musescore.org.
Chapter 31:
Printing and Graphic Output
Now that you have your score and parts looking and sounding great, you will
probably want print everything out or convert to PDF and find musicians to play
it for real! Or perhaps you are creating musical examples to include within web
pages, exercise sheets, or other documents. MuseScore can print directly as well
as export scores to PDF and a variety of image formats, and it provides an Image
capture mode that allows you to define a region of a score and insert it as a
graphic into other documents in other programs.
Printing
To print the current score or part, go to File / Print. A standard print dialog
appears that allows you to select a printer and control basic parameters of how
your score is printed.
The specific controls provided will depend on your operating system and system
configuration, but in general, you should expect to see options to select a printer,
to set printer preferences, to limit the range of pages printed, to print multiple
copies, etc.
Recall that the page size and margins within MuseScore are controlled by Layout
/ Page Settings. For more information, see the section on Page Size and Margins
in the chapter on Page Layout. It is your responsibility to choose a page size that
is compatible with your printer, or to choose appropriate printer options to resize
the output, if your system supports this.
Exporting PDF or Graphics
To export the current score or part to PDF, go to File / Export. PDF is normally
the default file type in the dialog that appears.
You can also export the score and all parts at once via File / Export Parts. This
displays a similar dialog, but when you specify a file name for the export, one
file for each part will be generated, with the name of the part appended. In
addition, a copy of the score with all parts included will also be exported as a
single file.
To export the current score or part to another graphic format such as PNG or
SVG, use the same File / Export dialog as for PDF, but this time select PNG or
SVG as the file type. To control the resolution and other details of how the score
is exported, go to Edit / Preferences / Export. See the section on Export in the
chapter on Customization for more information. Note that for PNG, a separate
file for each page will be generated. For SVG, MuseScore will generate a single
file that contains all pages.
Image Capture
To export a specific excerpt of your score as a graphic, MuseScore provides an

Image capture mode. To enable this, press the button on the main toolbar. A
cropping rectangle will appear that allows you to define the region to be
captured.
You can resize this rectangle using the handles. For scores that consist of just the
passage you wish to capture, you can right-click the rectangle and select Auto-
resize to page to cause the rectangle to crop the region automatically.
There are also options to predefine up to four regions of the page, thus allowing
you to capture the same region over and over as the content changes (see below).
Once you have defined the region you wish to capture, you can right-click the
rectangle to display a menu of options that allow you to copy the region as an
image to the clipboard or to save it to a file. The captured image can then be
inserted into documents in other programs, such as the free and open source
word processor LibreOffice Writer.
Copy – copy the region as an image to the clipboard

Resolution – set the resolution for the image capture
Transparent background – render the paper as transparent pixels
Auto-resize to page – crop the rectangle to the actual content of the page
Resize to A/B/C/D – crop the rectangle to a preset region
Set Standard Size – define the preset regions
Save As (Print Mode) – save the region as a PNG, PDF, or SVG file as it
would appear in print
Save As (Screenshot Mode) – save the region as a PNG, PDF, or SVG file
as it appears on screen (including icons for breaks, grayed out invisible
elements, etc.)
Unlike a traditional screen capture, the Image capture mode in

MuseScore does not limit you to the resolution of your monitor. This
facility allows you to create high resolution images suitable for inclusion
in documents meant to be printed or displayed on high resolution
devices, making it well-suited for creating music textbooks and similar
documents.
However, if you are planning on producing a significant number of these
types of document, or even a single such document with many musical
examples, you may wish to check out the MuseScore Example Manager
extension for LibreOffice and OpenOffice. This extension can help
automate the process of inserting examples into text documents and
keeping them linked with the original score files in MuseScore for easy
updating later. You can install this extension via the extension managers
built in to LibreOffice and OpenOffice.
Chapter 32:
File Operations
In the chapter on Creating a New Score, we saw how you can create new scores
in MuseScore. By now, you have probably figured out the basic file open and
save dialogs as well. MuseScore provides a few additional facilities you may
also find useful. These include the ability to save and share scores online, to
define and use your own templates, and to create albums that join separate scores
into one larger work (to produce a songbook, for example).
Folders
MuseScore creates a series of folders for you the first time it starts up. First, it
creates a folder called MuseScore2 underneath your main documents folder.
Within this folder, MuseScore creates the following folders, which are used as
the default locations for the different types of files MuseScore uses:
Scores – default location for opening and saving scores

Styles – default location for loading and saving style files (see Style in
chapter on Customization)
Templates – location searched for templates (see Creating Templates
below)
Plugins – location searched for plugins (see Plugins in chapter on
Customization)
SoundFonts – default location for soundfonts (see Synthesizer in chapter on
Playback and Audio Output)
Images – default location for saving image captures (see Image Capture in
chapter on Printing and Graphic Output)
Extensions – default location for installed extensions (see Extensions in
chapter on Customization)
The location of these folders can be customized via Edit / Preferences as

discussed in Folders in the chapter on Customization.
Opening Scores
The familiar File / Open command works as you would expect in MuseScore,
displaying a standard file selection dialog box that allows you to choose a score.
The standard shortcut Ctrl+O (Mac: Cmd+O) works as well.
There is also a list of recent scores you can access via File / Open Recent. You
can clear the list of recent scores at any time via File / Open Recent / Clear
Recent Scores.
Another way to open a score from within MuseScore is to use the Start Center,
which shows thumbnail images of all of your recent scores. To open the Start
Center, go to View / Start Center or press the keyboard shortcut F4. You can
then open any score shown by clicking its thumbnail. If the score you wish to
open is not displayed, you can click the Open a score button to display the
standard file selection dialog, just as if you had used File / Open.
In addition, you can open scores directly from your operating system file by
double-clicking the file name or icon.
Saving Scores
The standard File / Save and File / Save As commands work as you expect in
MuseScore to save the current score, as do the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+S and
Ctrl+Shift+S (Mac: Cmd+S and Cmd+Shift+S). As discussed in the chapter on
Parts, this automatically saves all parts as well if you have generated linked
parts.
MuseScore also provides a few other options for saving scores:
File / Save a Copy – saves a copy of the current score under a different
name, but leaves you editing the original score
File / Save Selection – creates and saves a new score consisting of the
current selection only
Sharing Scores
An exciting feature of MuseScore is the ability to share scores online via the site
musescore.com. Anyone can sign up for a free account, with more storage and
features available with a Pro account as well. You can save your score to your
account on musescore.com directly from within MuseScore. Once your score is
saved online, it can be shared with others, accessed on mobile devices using a
web browser or one of the dedicated MuseScore apps for Android or iOS,
embedded within web sites, turned into a video score, and more. For more
information on musescore.com, visit the site and browse around.
To save your score to musescore.com from within MuseScore, go to File / Save

Online. If you have not already created an account or are not logged in, you will
be prompted to do so. You will then be presented with a dialog that allows you to
enter information about your score.
The information you enter in this dialog corresponds to the information you
would enter when uploading a score via musescore.com itself. The option to
upload score audio allows you to use soundfonts other than the default for online
playback (see Soundfont in the chapter on Playback and Audio Output). Note
that this option will only appear if you are actually using a soundfont other than
the default and you have the necessary library installed to be able to export MP3
files (see Exporting Audio in the chapter on Playback and Audio Output).
Creating Templates
In the chapter Creating a New Score, we saw how you can use templates when
starting a new score. Creating your own templates is very simple – just set up
any score the way you like, go to File / Save As or File / Save a Copy, and save
the score into your Templates folder. The new template will appear in the list
when you create future scores.
When you create a score from a template, MuseScore will use the page
layout and style settings, the list of instruments, and the properties of the
title frame if present (size, margins, etc.) from the source score. No other
information is used. So it is not necessary to delete measures, titles, or
other content from an existing score before saving it as a template.
Creating Albums
The album feature allows you to join two or more scores into one longer score.
This can be used to create a work of multiple movements, to construct a
collection, songbook or fakebook, or for any similar purpose.
An album in MuseScore consists of a list of scores that can be saved to a special

.album file. This file is literally just a list of scores. MuseScore can print from
this directly or use it as the basis for forming a new score composed of all the
individual scores joined together.
Creating an album
To create an album, go to File / Album. The Album Manager dialog appears.
If you have previously created an album, you can load it now via the Load
button. Otherwise, you can use the default untitled album. You can also start a
new album at any time by clicking the New button.
To add scores to the album, click the Add Score button. This will display a
standard score selection dialog. You can select multiple scores in that dialog if
you like, and you can repeat this process to add as many scores as you like.
Newly added scores appear at the end of the list, but you can use the Up and
Down buttons to arrange the scores into any desired order. You can also remove
scores via the Remove Score button.
When you are satisfied with your album, you can print or join the scores
immediately (see below), or you can save the album for use later. To save the
album, simply click the Close button and you will be prompted to save it to a
.album file. As mentioned previously, this saves the list of scores only. If you
make a change to one of the scores later, this change will be seen the next time
you load the album.
Printing an album
You can print an album directly from the Album Manager by clicking the Print
Album button. A standard print dialog will be displayed. Once you confirm the
operation, the scores will be printed consecutively, with each score starting on a
new page. The pages are numbered consecutively as well, so that if you have ten
scores of one page each, the pages will be numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and
10.
Creating a joined score from an album

MuseScore also lets you join the scores of your album together to form a new
score. To do this, click the Join Scores button. A standard file dialog will be
displayed to allow you to save the joined score.
By default, the joined score will have section breaks after each component score
(see Section breaks in the chapter on Page Layout). Each score will begin on a
new line, but not a new page. If you prefer, you can turn off the automatic
section break or force page breaks to be added as well using the provided
options.
Note that a joined album contains actual copies of the scores it comprises. Thus,
changing any of the component scores later will not affect the joined score. But
you can always load the album again and re-join the scores.
In order for the album joining feature to work well, it is best if the scores
in the album all have the same instrumentation. Whatever instrument is
used for the top staff of the first score will be the instrument used for the
top staff for all scores throughout the album, and the same for any
subsequent staves.
Supported File Formats
MuseScore saves scores with a file name extension of .mscz. It can also
optionally save to an uncompressed version of this format, by going to File /
Save As and selecting the file type .mscx. The resulting file is plain text and can
be examined in a text editor. This could be of value for those curious about the
structure of a score in MuseScore, but note that the format is not documented
and is subject to change from release to release. The .mscz format should be
preferred in general.
In addition, MuseScore saves a backup copy of your score when it first saves
your score during a session. This backup copy of the score has the same file
name as the score itself except for a leading “.” and trailing “,”. This backup
represents the state of your score when it was opened. MuseScore will not open
this backup file directly, but if something happens to your score and you are
unable to open it, you may be able to rename the backup file and open it to
access an earlier version.
In addition to these native formats, MuseScore can also import from and export
to certain other formats. Not all features can be supported when using a non-
native format.
Importing from other file formats
MuseScore can import scores in a number of formats aside from its native .mscz
and .mscx:
MusicXML – .xml, .mxl

MIDI – .mid, .kar
MuseData – .md
Capella – .cap, .capx
Band-in-a-Box – .mgu, .sgu
Overture / Score Writer – .ove, .scw
Bagpipe Music Writer – .bww
Guitar Pro / TuxGuitar – .gtp, .gp3, .gp4, .gp5, .gpx
To import a score in one of these formats, simply load it normally via File /
Open.
Importing scores from other formats should not be expected to be

perfect, as many of these formats are not documented. Plus, different
programs have different feature sets and may have incompatible ways of
representing scores. In addition, formats like MIDI simply cannot
represent much of the information normally contained in a score.
MuseScore does provide excellent support for MusicXML, which is the
standard format for exchange between music notation programs.
However, be forewarned that MusicXML files produced via optical
music recognition (OMR) often contain many errors, as OMR
technology is still in its infancy.
PDF
Although MuseScore cannot import PDF files directly, the score sharing site
musescore.com provides an experimental service that can attempt to convert a
PDF file to MusicXML via optical music recognition using the free and open
source software Audiveris. To try this service, you can go to File / Import PDF
within MuseScore and follow the prompts from there. If the conversion
succeeds, you can download the converted MusicXML file to your computer and
then open it normally.
MIDI
When importing a MIDI file, MuseScore employs a number of special

techniques to try to produce readable notation. Because much of this basically
involves guesswork, MuseScore provides a special set of controls to allow you
to experiment with different conversions. Upon importing a MIDI file, a MIDI
import panel is displayed, with a number of settings to guide the conversion of
each track.
The settings available for each track are:
MuseScore instrument – select the instrument to be used for this staff

Max. quantization – select the shortest note duration to use
Max. voices – limit the number of voices MuseScore will use if it detects
overlapping notes
Tuplets – select what types of tuplets MuseScore will attempt to detect and
create
Is human performance – attempt to ascertain the intended rhythms in a MIDI
recording that was not recorded with a metronome
Split staff – split track into multiple staves
Clef changes – create clef changes if too many ledger lines would be needed
Simplify durations – round off note durations to minimize use of ties and/or
rests
Show staccato – represent short notes using staccato
Dotted notes – recognize dotted rhythms
Recognize pickup measure – create pickup measure when appropriate
Detect swing – recognize and represent swung eighth notes as ordinary eighths
rather than triplet or dotted rhythms
Exporting to other file formats
The native .mscz and .mscx formats are the only ones that are guaranteed to
preserve all of the information present in a score. In order to facilitate
interoperability with other programs, however, MuseScore allows you to export
your score to a number of other formats. We have already discussed the audio (in
the chapter on Playback and Audio Output) and graphic (in Printing and
Graphic Output) formats supported by MuseScore. But aside from MIDI, none
of these formats contain any of the type of information MuseScore or any other
notation program would need in order to import a score, and MIDI is very
limited in the type of information it can represent.
MusicXML is the recommended format to use for import into other programs.
To export a score to MusicXML or other formats, go to File / Export. This
displays a standard file dialog you can use to choose the file name for the
exported file, as well as a drop-down menu to select the file type.
As we have already seen in the chapter on Printing and Graphic Output,
MuseScore also provides a command File / Export Parts to export the score and
all parts individually. In addition to the various audio and graphic formats, you
can choose MusicXML, or you can choose .mscz or .mscx. This can be useful if
you wish to have non-linked versions of the parts in your score.
Chapter 33:
Customization
One of the strengths of MuseScore is the degree of flexibility it offers through
customization. We have already seen throughout this book how the appearance
and behavior of most score elements can be altered through style settings and
properties set in the Inspector. In this chapter, we will look at customizing the
appearance and behavior of MuseScore itself. For instance, the location of the
toolbars and windows, the contents of the palettes, the color of the background,
the default style settings applied to new scores and to imported scores, the
devices used for audio output, and keyboard shortcuts – all of these and more
can be personalized to suit your needs.
Before going further, I would like to point out that you can reset all of your
customizations at any time using Help / Revert to Factory Settings. Reverting
will not delete any of your scores or other files you have created in your own
folders, but it will reset everything else to its original state. A confirmation
dialog will appear, making it unlikely you will find yourself doing this
accidentally. Note that extensions will not be uninstalled.
Extensions
MuseScore provides a powerful and easy-to-use extension facility that allows

you to download and install packages of customizations in just a few clicks.
These extensions can also be easily updated as well as uninstalled in the same
way. The extension facility allows MuseScore to deliver new functionality
without the need for a program update. To access extensions, go to Help /
Resource Manager. As of this writing, there is one such extension available: the
MuseScore Drumline.
To download and install an extension, simply click the Install button. Once an
extension is installed, the button label will change to Update, and it will be
grayed out unless there is an update available (see the section Update later in this
chapter). The Uninstall button allows you to uninstall the extension.
User Interface
In the chapter on Finding Your Way Around, we looked at the various toolbars
and windows within MuseScore. In this section, we will show how they can be
customized.
Toolbars
The toolbars within the main window of MuseScore can be enabled or disabled
individually by right-clicking an empty area of any toolbar and checking or
unchecking the corresponding options in the context menu that appears.
In addition, toolbars can be undocked so they float above the main window.
Once undocked, you can also re-dock a toolbar in another location.

Windows
As discussed in Finding Your Way Around, windows can be enabled or disabled

via the View menu or by keyboard shortcuts. The Inspector, Palettes, Selection
Filter, and Piano Keyboard can also be undocked and re-docked in the same
manner as toolbars.
You can resize most windows in MuseScore whether docked or undocked.
Language
The MuseScore interface has been translated in whole or in part into over 50
languages, with more being added regularly. To select the language for your
installation, go to Edit / Preferences / General and select from the Language
drop-down menu. Clicking the Update translations button displays a dialog that
allows you to download updated translations where available.
Palettes
A particularly powerful feature of MuseScore is the ability to customize your

palettes. This includes the ability to add and remove palettes as well as the
ability to add and remove elements from palettes. So if there are symbols from
the master Symbols palette (see Miscellaneous Symbols in the chapter on
Articulations and Other Symbols) that you intend to use in many places within a
score, you can copy these from the master Symbols palette to a custom palette in
order to make them easier to find. Or, if there are particular text markings –
perhaps with playback semantics defined (see the chapter on Text) – that you use
often, you can copy them from your score to a custom palette in order to make
them easier to apply. This can also be useful if you have a collection of fretboard
diagrams (see Fretboard Diagrams) or bends (Articulations and Other Symbols)
that you have created.
In this section, I will show you how to customize your palettes.
Workspaces
As mentioned in Finding Your Way Around, MuseScore provides two

workspaces by default: Basic and Advanced. The workspace controls the
contents of the Palettes window. The Basic workspace omits certain palettes that
most users would not find useful, and includes only the most common elements
on many of the remaining palettes. The Advanced workspace contains the full set
of markings supported by MuseScore, with the exception of the special symbols
found on the master Symbols palette.
In order to customize the palettes in MuseScore, you will need to create your
own workspace first. Go to Edit / Workspaces / New or click the + button next to
the workspace selection menu at the bottom of the Palettes window.
You will be prompted to give the workspace a name. After doing so, MuseScore
will set up your new workspace as a copy of the workspace you were using at
the time. If you were in the Basic workspace when you pressed the +, your new
workspace will contain the same limited set of palettes and elements as the Basic
workspace. If you were in the Advanced workspace, however, your new
workspace will contain the full set of palettes and elements.
Upon adding a new workspace, it is selected by default. You can switch between
workspaces using the Edit / Workspaces menu or the drop-down menu at the
bottom of the Palettes window.
To delete the current workspace, use Edit / Workspaces / Delete.
Adding, removing, and arranging palettes
Once you have created a workspace, you can begin customizing the palettes for
that workspace. You can add or remove palettes, rearrange them, and most
importantly, add new elements to palettes. The latter feature is discussed in the
next section, but first, I will discuss operations performed on palettes as a whole.
To add a new palette to your workspace, right-click a palette name and select
Insert New Palette from the resulting palette context menu.
The Palette Properties dialog then appears, allowing you to type a name and
change other settings.
The settings in this dialog are:
Name – name displayed in Palettes window

Width – width of each cell in pixels
Height – height of each cell in pixels
Element offset – vertical position of elements within cells
Scale – size of palette items relative to actual size of elements in score
Show grid – display grid lines between palette cells
When you press OK, the new palette is inserted.
To rearrange the palettes within the Palettes window, use the Move Palette Up
and Move Palette Down commands in the palette context menu.
You can save and load palettes individually using the Save Palette and Load
Palette commands in the palette context menu. However, palettes are saved
automatically, so it is not necessary to save them explicitly unless you wish to
share a custom palette between different workspaces.
To delete a palette, use the Delete Palette command in the palette context menu.
Customizing palette contents
If you wish to customize the contents of a palette, first be sure you are in a
custom workspace, then right-click the palette name and enable the Enable
Editing option.
To add elements to a palette, you can drag an element either from the Master
Palette or from your score to the desired palette, while holding Ctrl+Shift. The
element will appear in the first empty cell.
An element added to a palette as described in this section can then be added to

scores in the usual fashion – either by dragging it to an element in your score, or,
for elements types that support it, by selecting one or more elements in your
score and then double-clicking the palette icon.
You can further customize the appearance of the element within the palette by
right-clicking it and selecting Properties from the resulting cell context menu.
This displays the Cell Properties dialog box.
Name – name to display in tooltip when hovering mouse over palette cell
Content offset – position of element within cell
Content scale – size of palette item relative to actual size of element in score
Draw staff – display element on a staff within palette
You can remove an element from a palette by selecting Clear from the cell
context menu.
Style
Another powerful customization available in MuseScore is the ability to not only

define style settings for a given score, but to save those settings to a file, load
them into other scores, and to set the default styles to be used for new scores, for
imported scores, and for parts. In this section, we will look at how you can save
and load style files. Later, you will see how to specify the styles to be used by
default (see Score and Import below).
To save the style settings for the current score to a file, go to Style / Save Style. A
standard file dialog will appear, allowing you to specify a file name and location.
The file extension .mss will be used, and the default location is the Styles folder
MuseScore created for you (see Folders in the chapter on File Operations).
To load a previously saved .mss file into a score, go to Style / Load Style. A
standard file dialog will appear, allowing you to select a style to load.
Plugins
One of the great things about open source software is the sense of community it
fosters, encouraging people to participate in the development of the software.
There are many users of MuseScore who are also programmers, and while some
of them have helped with the development of MuseScore, others still have found
it more appropriate to contribute in other ways. MuseScore supports a plugin
framework that allows programmers to write code that you can download to
extend the capabilities of MuseScore.
There are plugins available to automate the performance of a number of tasks

that might otherwise require many manual steps. Some of these are quite
sophisticated. For example, one plugin can automatically add courtesy
accidentals as required throughout your score. Another can analyze a four-part
chorale and identify voice leading errors such as parallel fifths. Another can
convert a score to shape notation.
It is beyond the scope of this book to teach you how to write your own plugins –
for more information on that topic, consult musescore.org. However, you do not
have to be a programmer to download and use the various plugins that are
already provided on that web site. In this section, we will look at how to
download and use a plugin.
Pre-installed plugins
MuseScore comes with a number of plugins already pre-installed, but they may
still need to be enabled as described in Enabling and disabling plugins below.
Some of the pre-installed plugins are intended for programmers only, to serve as
a model for creating new plugins, but a few are useful as is:
abc_import – uses a web service to convert a score in the text-based ABC

notation into a MusicXML file which is then imported into MuseScore
colornotes – colors notes in the current score according to pitch
notenames – adds text above each note in the current score, naming the pitches
Downloading plugins
To find plugins to download, go to musescore.org and browse the plugins menu.
When you find a plugin you would like to try, download and save it to your
Plugins folder (see Folders in the chapter on File Operations). Most plugins
will be in .zip format, so you will need to use an appropriate program on your
system to extract the contents of the archive into a new folder within the
Plugins folder.
Once you have downloaded the plugin, you will need to enable it for use in
MuseScore as described below.
Enabling and disabling plugins
To enable and disable plugins, go to Plugins / Plugin Manager. The Plugin

Manager lists the currently installed plugins (pre-installed as well as ones you
have downloaded to your Plugins folder).
To enable or disable a particular plugin, select it from the list and check or
uncheck the box to the left of its name.
On the right side of the dialog you will see a description of the plugin as well as
buttons Define Shortcut and Clear Shortcut. These allow you to assign shortcuts
for plugins in the same manner as described in Shortcuts.
Using plugins
To run a plugin, be sure it it is enabled (see above), and then you can run it from
the Plugins menu. If you defined a keyboard shortcut for the plugin, you can also
invoke it that way. Some plugins work on the current score as a whole; others
work on a selection; others do not interact with the current score at all but
instead load new ones or perform other tasks. Consult the documentation for the
particular plugin you wish to use for more information.
Preferences
MuseScore allows you to control many aspects of its behavior via Edit /
Preferences. The resulting Preferences dialog is divided into a number of tabs.
General
Program Start – select what scores and windows MuseScore displays when it
is started
Folders – select location of the folders used by default when saving or loading
different types of files
Language – select language to use for menus, dialogs, buttons, and other user
interface elements
Style – colors and icon sizes for user interface
Auto Save – interval at which to automatically save a copy of current score to
be used for recovery in the event of a crash
OSC Remote Control – enable certain operations in MuseScore to be
controlled by other applications that use the Open Sound Control (OSC)
standard
Canvas
Background – appearance of the background behind the pages of your scores
(on screen only)
Paper – appearance of the virtual paper on which your scores are displayed (on
screen only)
Scroll Pages – control display of multiple pages (horizontal row or vertical
column) and whether score can be scrolled past page borders
Miscellaneous
Draw antialiased – use antialiasing to improve rendering of thin lines at small
magnifications
Proximity for selecting elements – number of screen pixels around each element
that are active for clicking it
Note Input
Note Input
Enable MIDI Input – allow MuseScore to respond to MIDI input
Color notes outside usable range – display notes in dark yellow or red if they
are outside the amateur or professional ranges for the instrument as set in
Staff Properties
Delay between notes in automatic Real-time mode – set the speed for the
metronome used during note input
Play notes when editing – play each note when you select or edit it
Default duration – length to play each note while editing
Play whole chord when adding note – during note entry, when adding a note to
an existing chord, play the whole chord rather than just the note being
added
MIDI Remote Control – assign keys on a MIDI device to perform various
functions within MuseScore
The MIDI Remote Control section allows you to assign specific keys on your
MIDI device to perform functions within MuseScore, such as changing duration.
This can help you enter music using your MIDI keyboard alone with less need
for the mouse or computer keyboard.
To assign a key on your MIDI device to perform a function, first enable the
MIDI Remote Control option if it is not already. Then, press the second
(rightmost) button next to the command to which you want to assign a key. The
button will highlight in red, indicating that it is waiting for you to press the key
you wish to use as shortcut. Press a key on your MIDI device and the first button
will highlight in green, indicating a shortcut has been assigned.
From now on, pressing that key on your MIDI device will perform the assigned
command. You can temporarily disable these shortcuts – so the keys will enter
notes as usual – by unchecking the MIDI Remote Control option. You can clear
these shortcuts permanently using the Clear button.
Score
Instrument list 1 / 2 – specify files containing instrument definitions

Style – style file to be used when creating a new score from scratch
Style for part – style file to be used when generating parts
Default zoom – initial zoom setting when loading a score
Instrument list
The instrument list – used when creating new scores or adding instruments via
Edit / Instruments – is built in to MuseScore. In this dialog, you can specify an
alternate or additional instrument list. A full description of the syntax of this file
is beyond the scope of this book, but you can get started by examining the file
provided in the instruments folder within your MuseScore installation.
Style
You can customize the default styles used for new scores. First, create a style
(.mss) file as described above in Style. You can then set this style to be used by
default in this dialog. You can have separate defaults for scores created from
scratch and for parts generated via File / Parts.
I/O
Most of the settings on this tab are platform-dependent. They allow you to select
the audio output method used by MuseScore. The latency field, if present, allows
you to tweak the delay between the playback cursor and the MIDI output, if you
find the default value results in these being out of sync.
The JACK settings should be present on all platforms, but they will only be
useful if you have JACK installed. A full discussion of JACK is beyond the
scope of this book.
Import
Style Used For Import – style file to apply when importing scores in other
formats
Character Set Used When Importing Binary Files – select how non-ASCII
text is interpreted in Guitar Pro and Overture files
MusicXML – control the import of formatting information
MIDI – select defaults to use when importing MIDI files
The Style Used For Import settings allow you to specify a style (.mss) file
defining the default settings to apply when importing files in other formats.
Export
PNG/SVG
Resolution – DPI to use for graphic output
Transparent background – represent paper as transparent for graphic output
PDF
Resolution – DPI to use for graphic output
MIDI
Expand repeats – expand repeated section within exported MIDI file
Export RPNs – control the export of RPN information (e.g., for pitch bend)
Audio
Sample rate – sample rate to use for audio formats that support this setting
MP3 bitrate – bitrate for MP3 export
MusicXML
Export layout – control the export of formatting information
Shortcuts
As have seen throughout this book, MuseScore provides keyboard shortcuts for
many commands. There are also a number of commands that could be performed
by keyboard, but there is no shortcut assigned by default – there are, after all,
only so many keys available. MuseScore allows you to customize the keyboard
shortcut assignments, so you can change which commands are performed by
which keys. Commands can have multiple shortcuts, and shortcuts can consist of
a sequence of keys pressed one after another, not just keys pressed
simultaneously. For example, the command to insert a bass clef during note input
is Ctrl+Y followed by Ctrl+2.
To customize the shortcut for a given command, first find the command in the
list. To make this easier, there is a search box that allows you to type a word and
find all commands that include it.
There is also a Print button to allow you to print the full list.
Once you have found the command you wish to customize, select the command
in the list and click the Define button. A dialog box is displayed to allow you to
define a new shortcut for the command.
The existing shortcuts, if any, will be displayed. To define a new shortcut, simply
press the combination of keys you wish to use. If the shortcut conflicts with a
command already in use, you will be informed of the conflict. The Clear button
allows you to start over and try again, or you can cancel out of the dialog, find
the command with the conflict, and clear or change its shortcut.
Once you have entered a new shortcut that does not conflict with any others,
click the Add button to add the new shortcut to the list of shortcuts for this
command, or Replace to replace the existing shortcut(s) with the new one. This
will set the shortcut and close the dialog.
To restore the default shortcut for a command, select it from the list and click the
Reset Shortcut to Default button. To remove all shortcuts from a command,
click the Clear button.
Update
Check for new version of MuseScore – enable automatic check for updates for
MuseScore
Check for new version of MuseScore extensions – enable automatic check for
updates for MuseScore extensions
Index
ABC, 1
Accessibility, 2
accidentals, 3, 4
courtesy, 5, 6
albums, 7
ambitus, 8, 9
anacrusis, see pickup
arpeggios, 11
articulations, 12
playback, 13
audio, 14, 15
bagpipe embellishments, 16
barlines, 17, 18, 19, 20
bars, see measures
beams, 22, 23, 24
bends
falls, doits, scoops, plops, and slides, 25
guitar, 26
tremolo bar, 27
brackets, 28
breaks, 29, 30, 31
line, 32
page, 33
section, 34, 35
system, 36
breath markings, 37
chord symbols, 38–39, 40

capo, 41
formatting, 42, 43
jazz, 44
layout, 45
lower case, 46
note names, 47
substitute chords, 48
chords, 49, 50, 51, 52
clefs, 53–54
courtesy, 55, 56, 57, 58
formatting, 59
color, 60, 61
composer, 62, 63
compressor, see playback
concert pitch, 65, 66, 67
condensed scores, 68
Continuous View, 69, 70
copy, cut, and paste, 71–72
copyright, 73
crescendo, see dynamics
cross staff notation, 75, 76
cut, see copy, cut, and paste
delete
measures, 78
notes, 79, 80
rests, 81
diminuendo, see dynamics
doits, see bends
drums, see percussion
duration, 85, 86
dynamics, 87–88
formatting, 89
hairpins, 90
lines, 91
playback, 92
early music, 93, 94

endings, see voltas
enharmonic spelling, 96, 97, 98, 99
explode, 100
extensions, 101, 102
falls, see bends
fermatas, 104
figured bass, 105–106, 107
formatting, 108
file formats, 109
fingering, 110
folders, 111
footer, 112
frames
horizontal, 113, 114, 115
text, 116
vertical, 117, 118
fretboard diagrams, 119–120
formatting, 121
glissandi, 122
grace notes, 123, 124
graphics, 125, 126, 127, 128
export, 129
image capture, 130
hairpins, 131
header, 132
horizontal frames, see frames
implode, 134
Inspector, 135, 136
instruments, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142
transposing, 143
key signatures, 144, 145–146

courtesy, 147, 148, 149
custom, 150
formatting, 151
local, 152, 153
open (atonal), 154
polytonal music, 155, 156
language, 157
layout, 158–159
breaks, 160
chord symbols, 161, 162
horizontal spacing, 163
lyrics, 164
measures, 165, 166, 167, 168
music size, 169
page, 170, 171
vertical spacing, 172
lines, 173–174
dynamics, 175
editing, 176
formatting, 177
ottava, 178
text, 179
linked parts, see parts
lyricist, 181, 182
lyrics, 183, 184–185
copy and paste, 186
editing, 187
extenders, 188
formatting, 189
hyphens, 190
layout, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195
verses, 196
manual adjustments, 197–198

reset, 199
Master Palette, 200
measures, 201, 202–203, 204
adding, 205
barlines, 206
deleting, 207
joining, 208
multimeasure rests, 209, 210, 211, 212
numbers, 213, 214
splitting, 215
melisma, 216, 217
metronome, 218, 219, 220
MIDI, 221, 222, 223
export, 224, 225
import, 226, 227, 228
input, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236
JACK, 237, 238
output, 239
Mixer, 240, 241, 242
modified stave notation, 243
musescore.com, 244, 245, 246
MusicXML
export, 247, 248
import, 249, 250
navigation, 251–252, 253

cursor keys, 254
find, 255
Navigator, 256
Navigator, 257, 258
note input, 259, 260, 261–262
accidentals, 263
chords, 264, 265, 266
cross-staff notation, 267
duration, 268, 269
grace notes, 270
making changes, 271–272, 273–274
MIDI, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281
notes, 282
percussion, 283–284
re-pitch mode, 285
real-time, 286, 287
rests, 288, 289
tablature, 290–291
ties, 292
tuplets, 293
voices, 294, 295
notes, 296, 297, 298, 299
ghost notes, 300, 301
noteheads, 302, 303
unisons, 304
ornaments, 305
playback, 306
ottava, 307
page layout, see layout

Page View, 309, 310
Palettes, 311
palettes
customization, 312
parts, 313, 314–315
formatting, 316
paste, see copy, cut, and paste
pauses, 318, 319
PDF
export, 320
import, 321
pedal markings, 322
percussion, 323–324
drumset definitions, 325
MuseScore Drumline, 326, 327
Piano Keyboard, 328, 329
pickup, 330, 331
Play Panel, 332, 333
playback, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338–339
effects, 340, 341
looping, 342
Mixer, 343
Play Panel, 344
soundfonts, 345
Synthesizer, 346
tuning, 347
volume, 348
plops, see bends
plugins, 350
position, 351
preferences, 352
printing, 353
rehearsal marks, 354

repeats, 355, 356–357, 358
barlines, 359, 360
coda, 361
D.C., 362
D.S., 363
fine, 364
formatting, 365
measure, 366
mid-measure, 367
playback, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 373
segno, 374
voltas, 375
rests, 376, 377, 378, 379
full measure, 380, 381, 382
multimeasure rests, 383, 384, 385, 386
tablature, 387
reverb, see playback
rolls, 389
scoops, see bends

screenshots, see graphics
selection, 392–393, 394, 395
list, 396
range, 397
Selection Filter, 398
single, 399
Selection Filter, 400, 401
shape note music, 402
shortcuts, 403, 404
slash notation, 405
slides, see bends
slurs, 407
soundfonts, see playback
sp, see spatium
spatium, 410, 411, 412, 413
staff, see staves
Start Center, 415, 416
Status Bar, 417
staves, 418, 419–420
brackets, 421
extending barlines, 422
formatting, 423
grouping, 424
hiding, 425
invisible, 426
layout, 427
linked, 428, 429, 430
percussion, 431
playback, 432, 433
splitting, 434
tablature, 435, 436
transposition, 437
stems, 438
style, 439, 440
subtitle, 441, 442
swap, see copy, cut, and paste
swing, 444
symbols, 445
graphics, 446
Synthesizer, 447, 448, 449
systems, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462
layout, 463
tablature, 464–465, 466

formatting, 467
string data, 468
templates, 469, 470
tempo, 471, 472, 473, 474
text, 475–476
editing, 477–478
formatting, 479–480
frame, 481, 482, 483
header and footer, 484
note names, 485
playback, 486, 487, 488, 489
properties, 490
rehearsal marks, 491
special characters, 492
staff, 493
style, 494
symbols, 495
system, 496
tempo, 497, 498
toolbar, 499
ties, 500, 501, 502
time signatures, 503, 504–505, 506
courtesy, 507, 508, 509
custom, 510
formatting, 511
local, 512
mensural, 513
mensurstrich, 514
meterless music, 515
polymetric music, 516
title, 517, 518, 519, 520
transposition, 521, 522–523
instruments, 524
tremolo, 525
tremolo bar, see bends
tuplets, 527, 528, 529
undo, 530
vertical frames, see frames
visibility, 532
voices, 533, 534, 535
voltas, 536, 537
volume, see alsodynamics, 539, 540, 541
word processors, 542
zoom, 543

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Mastering

Published by MuseScore BVBA

Inquiries and feedback: [email protected]

Nicolas Froment @lasconic

MuseScore is also a community of users. The support site musescore.org

Before we go on and start exploring the many features of MuseScore, I would

About This Book

Although there is a free Handbook (Help / Online Handbook, or

Getting Started – quick introduction to the program

Because MuseScore provides such a wealth of free online

This book is available in both printed and electronic versions. Please

It would be impossible to adequately acknowledge everyone who has

MuseScore runs on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, and it works

The main window in MuseScore is divided into a number of separate areas –

The toolbar area is located just below the main menu.

Page and Continuous View

Documents Side by Side & Documents Stacked

By default, MuseScore displays a Basic workspace containing only a

MuseScore strives to be as accessible as possible. While the Palettes and a few

While a full discussion of the accessibility features of MuseScore is beyond the

1. Click the button on the toolbar, or use the keyboard shortcut 5

This is what you should see:

Notice that the cursor moves on to the next measure automatically.

If you make a mistake at any point in this demonstration, the easiest

Enter the fourth measure in a similar manner.

See Lyrics for more on entering lyrics.

Completing Note Input

For more on making selections, see Making Selections.

You can now press Esc to leave Note input mode.

A template defines defaults for almost everything in your score. Most

Adding instruments to your score

On the left is a list of all the instruments supported by MuseScore, grouped

Modifying the list of instruments in your score

Adding a staff to an instrument in your score

Key Signature and Tempo

The Tempo checkbox controls whether an initial tempo marking is displayed on

Time Signature and Measures

Clicking on a staff using your mouse

Selecting duration using the mouse

Selecting duration using the computer keyboard

Selecting duration using a MIDI keyboard

Entering notes using the mouse

To add accidentals, see the section Accidentals.

Other useful shortcuts include Alt+Shift+Up and Alt+Shift+Down, which

See the chapter Staves and Instruments for information on customizing

Entering notes using the computer keyboard

See Editing for more information on commands to alter pitches

Entering notes using the Piano Keyboard

Entering notes using a MIDI keyboard

As mentioned above, when entering notes using the mouse or computer

As with most palette icons, you apply one either by double-clicking it or

So if your score is in C major, and you enter an F♯ followed by an F on that

Some people like to use parentheses around courtesy accidentals to avoid

Entering chords using the mouse

Entering chords using the computer keyboard

Entering chords using the Piano Keyboard

Like many other elements in MuseScore, ties can be created by clicking or by

1. Enter first note normally

Entering rests using the mouse