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MuseScore aligns the stems of voice 1 notes according to the conventions of music theory. By contrast, voice 2 and voice 4 stems point downwards by default, while voice 3 stems point upwards. Voice 1 stems automatically flip upwards in the presence of voice 2 or 4 notes.
Select either the notehead, stem or attached beam (if any)
Use any of the following methods:
Press X
Click on the "Flip direction" icon in the Note input toolbar
Select a stem direction from the Stem tab in the Properties panel
This action will flip any attached beam as well.
Select the stem
Use one of the following methods:
Press ↑/↓ to extend or shorten the stem
Change Length in the Properties panel
To hide the stems of individual notes:
Select one or more noteheads
Go to the Properties panel
Select the Stem tab
Select the checkbox next to Stemless
To hide all stems in an instrument part:
Right-click on the staff and select Staff/Part properties
Click on Advanced style properties
Select the checkbox next to Stemless
Properties specific to stems and flags can be edited from the Stem tab in the Note section of the Properties panel:
Stemless removes the stem (and associated beams) from the selected note(s)
Stem direction:
Auto determines the direction of the stem according to the voice of the selected note(s)
Up and Down override the default stem direction
Flag style sets the appearance of flags for the entire score to either traditional (default) or straight
Thickness determines the stem's width
Length determines the stem's length
Stem offset can be used to move the stem in a horizontal and/or vertical direction
Global settings for Stem thickness and Flag style may also be set in Format→Style→Notes.
Standard music notation normally follows a set of conventions designed to facilitate the reading of rhythm. The basic idea is to group notes in ways that clarify which notes belong to which beat. Rules include:
sixteenth notes should be beamed in a way that clarifies each beat
eighth notes should be beamed in a way that clarifies each group of two beats
longer notes that start off the beat should be broken up with ties to clarify each beat or group of two beats
A full discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of this Handbook, but for more information, see this handout.
Here is an example of a rhythm written incorrectly and then correctly:
MuseScore can correct many of these cases automatically.
To regroup rhythms according to the common conventions of standard music notation:
Select the passage you wish to regroup.
From the main menu, select Tools→Regroup rhythms.
The rhythm itself is not changed—only the notation of it.
Time signatures are applied from the Time signatures palette:
When creating a new score, the initial time signature can be set on the second page of the New Score dialog. The default is 4/4, which will be used if you skip this page.
To add a time signature, or replace an existing one:
Select a measure, note or rest, or time signature in the score
Click a time signature in the Time signatures palette.
Alternatively, drag a time signature directly from the palette onto the measure where you want it to appear.
Currently, time signature changes can only occur at the beginning of a measure.
Changing a time signature will cause any existing music that follows to be re-barred, and some items may be lost in this process, so the changes should be checked carefully.
To delete a time signature, select it and press Del.
If you delete the time signature at the beginning of the score, the music is treated as though it is in a nominal 4/4 and re-barred accordingly.
If you need a time signature that is not available in the palette, you can create your own using the Create Time Signature dialog. You can access this dialog from the Time signatures palette:
In the Time signatures palette, click More
Click the Create time signature button in the popup
Or, from the Master Palette:
Select View -> Master palette from the menu bar, or press Shift+F9
Choose Time signatures from the list in the left of the dialog.
To create your time signature in this dialog:
In Value, enter the numerator and denominator
If you want the time signature to be displayed differently than its real value, enter the text you wish to see in the Text fields
If necessary, adjust the beaming in the Beam groups section (see below)
To add the new time signature to the Time signatures palette, click the Add button. You can now add it to the score from the palette in the usual way.
To toggle whether time signatures are to be shown on a particular staff (throughout the score):
Right-click the staff and choose Staff/Part properties... from the context menu
Check/uncheck the Show time signature box.
To hide a specific time signature on all staves:
Select the time signature
In the Properties panel, under General, uncheck the Visible toggle (or simply press V).
For controlling visibility of courtesies, see Courtesy time signatures, below.
Sometimes there may be different time signatures on different staves simultaneously. In this example, the global time signature is 3/4, but the right hand staff is notated in 18/16:
We refer to this as a 'local' time signature, i.e. one which applies only to a single staff, rather than to all staves.
To add a local time signature, add it (either by dragging from the palette to the required staff, or selecting the measure and clicking a time signature in the palette) while holding Ctrl (Mac: Cmd).
Local time signatures always result in bars of the same length as the global time signature; you can think of them as putting an invisible tuplet over each bar (in the Bach example above, an 18:12 tuplet). It is not yet possible to have bars of differing lengths.
It is also not possible to add a local time signature on a staff where there is any existing music following it.
Select a time signature
In the Properties panel, under Time signature, adjust the Scale values. The horizontal and vertical scale can be modified separately.
Changing the scale affects the time signature on all staves where it appears.
To open the Time Signature Properties dialog, either:
Right-click on a time signature and select Time signature properties from the menu
Select a time signature and click the Time signature properties button under Time signature in the Properties panel.
These options let you change the appearance of the time signature without affecting its underlying rhythmic value. Choose between:
Text: Insert the nominal numerator and denominator that you wish to appear on the score (if empty, the real values will appear in the score)
Common time
Cut time
Other: a dropdown containing Medieval and Renaissance prolation symbols.
Here you can customize how groups of notes are beamed together. See Setting the default beaming for a time signature.
Normally, when a time signature change falls at the start of the system, a courtesy (also called cautionary) is shown at the end of the previous system.
To disable or re-enable all courtesy time signatures throughout the score:
Select Format -> Style from the menu bar and
Select Clefs, keys & time signatures from the list on the left
Under Time signatures, check/uncheck the Show courtesy time signatures box.
To hide or show an individual courtesy time signature:
Select the parent time signature (i.e. not the courtesy itself)
In the Properties panel, under Time signature, check/uncheck the Show courtesy time signature on previous system box.
There are some more global style settings for time signatures available in the style dialog (Format -> Style):
In Measures, under Padding, some settings to configure the distances between time signatures and other items:
Clef to time signature
Key signature to time signature
Barline to time signature
Time signature to barline
In Measures, under System header, one more distance setting:
Time signature to first note (this only applies at the beginning of a system)
In Barlines, Use double barlines before time signatures has three options:
Always: always use a double barline
Never: always use a single barline
Only before courtesy time signatures: use a double barline before courtesies, but a single barline otherwise.
A tuplet is any group of notes that divide the beat in a way other than what is normally permitted by the time signature. Triplets consisting of three eighth notes in one beat are the most familiar type of tuplet.
A simple tuplet such as the triplet shown above can be entered in note input mode or in normal mode.
Navigate to the note/rest (or blank measure) where you want the tuplet to start.
Use one of the following commands:
Press the keyboard shortcut for the required tuplet: i.e. Ctrl+3 for a triplet; Ctrl+4 for quadruplet … and so on, up to Ctrl+9 for a nonuplet. (Mac: Cmd+3 … Cmd+9);
From the menu, choose Add→Tuplets…, then select the required tuplet.
From the note input toolbar, click on the Tuplet icon and select from the dropdown.
The note or rest is automatically divided for you and an appropriate annotation is applied.
Enter the desired series of notes/rests.
Use one of the following commands:
Press the keyboard shortcut for the required tuplet: i.e. Ctrl+3 for a triplet; Ctrl+4for quadruplet … and so on, up to Ctrl+9 for a nonuplet. (Mac: Cmd+3 … Cmd+9).
From the menu, choose Add→Tuplets…, then select the required tuplet.
From the note input toolbar, click on the Tuplet icon, and select from the dropdown.
The note or rest is automatically divided for you and an appropriate annotation is applied.
Enter the desired series of notes/rests.
More complex tuplets can be created as follows:
Open the Create Tuplet dialog from either the menu (Add→Tuplets…→ Other…), or by clicking on the tuplet icon (note input toolbar).\
In the Ratio field, specify the desired number ratio of the tuplet.
Set Number and Bracket to get the required tuplet display.
Press OK to close the dialog.
Enter the desired series of notes and rests.
Tuplets can be nested within other tuplets.
To create a nested tuplet:
Create the outer tuplet as described above.
While entering the individual notes, create inner tuplets in the same way (select the total notated duration for the inner tuplet, then use one of the tuplet commands to divide it appropriately).
Direction: Whether the tuplet indication appears above or below the staff. Available settings are "Auto", "above" (↑) or "below" (↓). Number type: Affects the numerical display. Choice of "Number", "Ratio" or "None". Bracket type: Sets bracket display. Settings are "Auto", "bracket", or "no bracket". Line thickness: The thickness of the tuplet bracket, if displayed.
Values of the "Style for tuplets" can be edited in Format→Style→Tuplets. Values of the "Style for text inside tuplets" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Tuplet
"Style for tuplets" contains
The settings include:
Properties
Direction
Number type
Bracket type
Brackets
Bracket thickness
Bracket hook height
Vertical distance from notes
Maximum slope
Vertical distance from stem
Vertical distance from notehead
Avoid staves
Horizontal distance from notes
Distance before stem of first note
Distance before head of first note
Distance after stem of last note
Distance after head of last note
A full range of common barlines is contained in the Barlines .
Select one or more barlines in a staff ;
Click on the desired barline in the palette.
Alternatively, you can drag a barline from the palette onto a barline in the score.
Changes are applied automatically to all barlines at the same point in the score.
Select one or more barlines in the score;
Hold Ctrl then click on the desired barline in the palette.
Alternatively, you can hold Ctrl and drag a barline from the palette onto a barline in the score.
Only barlines in the one staff are affected.
Select one or more notes.
Click on a barline in the palette.
This will add a "barline" in front of each selected note. The barline is for visual purposes and does not factor into any measure operations.
Here we are concerned with the vertical extension of barlines in order to link staves together, or their reduction to create partial barlines.
Select a barline on the "start" staff;
Use either of the following:
Drag the end handle downwards until it meets the destination staff. This method is the best for extending barlines through multiple staves.
Select the edit handle and press ↓.
Check the "Span to next staff" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel; then click Set as staff default
Repeat if required for subsequent staves.
The barline snaps into place, and all other barlines in that staff follow.
Select one or more barlines (and their counterparts in the staves below if there are more than two staffs to join).
Check the "Span to next staff" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel.
Partial barlines can be easily created by adjusting "Span from" and "Span to" in the Barlines section of the Properties panel.
Style: Used to change selected barlines to one in the dropdown list. Span to next staff: Check this to make selected barlines extend to the staff beneath. Span from/to: used to set the vertical start and end points of one or more selected barlines. Set as staff default: Applies the changes made in Span to next staff and Span from/to to all barlines in the staff. Span presets: Applies the selected preset to one or more selected barlines in the score.
Selected properties for all barlines in the score can be changed in Format→Style→Barlines:
A measure rest looks like a whole rest, but is centered within a measure and indicates that the entire measure (or a voice within it) is silent:
It is commonly used in all meters (except 4/2 and 8/4).
Press Ctrl+Shift+Del (Mac: Cmd+Shift+Backspace).
In the appropriate voice, enter a rest that extends for the full measure.
Make sure the rest is selected, then press Ctrl+Shift+Del (Mac: Cmd+Shift+Backspace).
If the voice contains only rests you can select the first rest and invoke the conversion keystroke.
A multimeasure rest is used to indicate a run of empty measures, the number of measures being shown by a figure above/below the staff.
Multimeasure rests can be turned on/off with the shortcut M (prior to 4.4), Ctrl+Shift``M (as of 4.4, Mac: Cmd+Shift+M), or by checking "Multimeasure Rests" in Format→Style…→Rests.
By default, if multimeasure rests are enabled, any sequence of two or more empty measures is automatically converted to multimeasure rests.
To change the minimum number of empty measures needed to trigger multimeasure rests:
From the menu, choose Format→Style…→Rests.
Check "Multimeasure rests" (if the option is not already enabled).
Edit "Minimum number of empty measures".
Multimeasure rests can be turned on/off independently in the score and instrument parts.
Multimeasure rests are automatically broken at important points, such as double barlines, rehearsal marks, key signature or time signature changes, section breaks etc.
However, you can opt to break a multimeasure rest elsewhere as follows.
Disable multimeasure rests;
In the dialog, check "Break multimeasure rest".
Click OK.
Re-enable multimeasure rests.
Show number: This box is checked by default. Uncheck it to hide the multimeasure number. Number position: Adjust the vertical position of the multimeasure number, above or below the rest.
Values of the "Style for text inside Multimeasure rest range" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Multimeasure rest range .
Values of the "Style for Measure numbers" can be set in Format→Style…→Measure numbers:
Others from Format→Style…→Rests:
Other measure-related pages:
A pickup measure, also known as an upbeat or anacrusis, is a partial, or incomplete, measure at the beginning of a score or section.
Note: By convention, measure numbering starts at the first complete measure.
Click on in the "Additional score information" page (page 2) of the dialog;
Check "Create pickup measure";
Choose an underlying time signature using the spin controls below.
Right-click on the measure and choose ;
In the Measure duration section, next to "Actual", choose an underlying "time signature";
Click OK; or click Apply and then ← or → if you want to configure an adjacent partial measure.
It is accepted musical practice to omit the same duration as the pickup from the final measure of the piece or of the same repeat section. The same method of shortening the measure applies here.
A non-metered measure is one which is less or greater in duration than the indicated time signature.
A measures of less duration than the indicated signature may be created in exactly the same way as a pickup measure (see above).
Other ways of creating non-metered measures are described below:
Extra notes/rests can be inserted in a measure with the help of either a keyboard shortcut, or by using a special mode of entry called Insert mode:
Select the note or rest in the score before which you want to insert notes/rests;
Enter note-input mode;
Press Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift) while adding the note/rest from the keyboard or mouse.
Make sure you have the element selected where you want to start inserting notes/rests;
Click and hold the Note input icon, and select Insert (or if Insert is the current default, just press N);
Enter a note or rest as you would in step-time mode. Each note is inserted before the current cursor position;
Move the cursor forward and backward if required (using the arrow keys), to change the insertion point.
If, at any time, the total duration of the notes and rests within the measure does not match the time signature, a small + or - sign will be shown above the measure.
This command joins selected measures into one measure.
Method A. To join two measures only:
Select the barline between the two measures;
Press Ctrl+Del; or select Tools→Remove selected range.
Method B. To join any number of measures:
Select the measures you want to join;
From the menu bar, select Tools→Measures→Join selected measures.
Notes: (1) If you select measures on only one staff in a score with multiple staves, the same measures will be joined in each staff of the system. (2) Beaming may be automatically modified.
This command inserts a barline before a selected note, splitting the measure into two.
Use one of the following methods:
Select a note; then hold Ctrl and click a barline in a palette.
Hold Ctrl and drag a barline (from a palette) to a note.
Select a note; then, from the menu bar, select Tools→Measures→Split Measure Before Selected Note/Rest.
Other measure-related pages:
By default, MuseScore shows measure numbers at the start of each except the first one in a . Numbering starts at the first complete measure in a section.
if you wish to change measure numbering:
From the menu bar, select Format→Style→Measure numbers.
Edit the following properties as required:
Measure numbers: This is ON by default. Uncheck to turn off measure numbering.
Show first: Check to show measure number on the first system of a section.
All staves: Check to show measure numbers on every staff.
Every system / Interval: If "Every system" is selected, measure numbers are shown at the start of each system. If "Interval" is selected, you can choose a measure interval at which to display measures.
Make changes to positioning using the controls on the right.
Edit the display of multimeasure numbers in the section below:
Show measure number range at multimeasure rests. If checked, you can also customize the appearance and position of the numbering. Unchecked (the default setting), only the count of multimeasure rests is displayed.
To always show the number of a particular measure, regardless of style settings, open and select "Always show" from the Measure number mode dropdown.
To hide all measure numbers, uncheck "Measure numbers" in Format→Style→Measure numbers.
To adjust the position of all measure numbers, edit the X and Y offsets of "Position above" and "Position below" in Format→Style→Measure numbers.
Values of the "Style for Measure number" can be edited in Format→Style→Measure number. Values of the "Style for text inside Measure number" can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Measure number.
Other measure-related pages:
The Measure properties dialog allows you to adjust various properties of an individual measure—such as visibility, duration, numbering and width ("Stretch"). To change all measures on the score, use : Score, Page, , and Measure categories. To change all measures of one staff on the whole score, change the staff .
To open Measure properties, right-click on a measure and select "Measure properties".
Visible : Uncheck/check the boxes to hide/show the selected measure. Stemless: Check/uncheck the box to hide/show stems.
The play count of the measure with the end repeat barline must be set one higher than the number of times you want the measure to play (this is usually equal to the number of entries in that volta repeat list + 1).
Take the following score:\
\ Measure 4 should have play count set to 4\ Measure 6 should have play count set to 3
Other measure-related pages:
A beam is a line connecting consecutive notes to indicate rhythmic grouping of eighth or shorter notes (). You can change control the presence or absence of beams between notes as well as their appearance.
The default beaming of notes is determined by properties of the time signature. You can edit those defaults and thus affect the beaming of all notes within that time signature, and you can also override the beaming of individual notes to differ from the time signature defaults.
See the main chapter
Each time signature has a set of beaming defaults that control the beaming of all notes in that time signature. Since you will normally want the beaming consistent throughout the score, this is usually the place to start when altering the beaming. To edit the defaults for a given time signature, use the Time signature properties dialog.
Select a time signature within the score
Click the Time signature properties button in the Properties panel
Edit the Beam Groups section as explained below
You can also access this dialog by right-clicking a time signature.
Note: the settings made in this dialog are per score and also per staff. To apply changes to other staves within the same score, you can Ctrl+Shift+drag the time signature to another staff, which acts similarly to adding it from the palette. To make a customized time signature available to other scores, Ctrl+Shift+drag it back to the palette.
To change the beaming of a note of a given duration on a given beat, click the corresponding note in the Beam groups section to toggle the beam into that note on or off. That is, if you click a note that is currently beamed to the previous note, that will break the beam, and if you click a note that is not currently beamed to the previous note, that will join them. You can also drag one of the Beam selector icons to any given note to set its beaming as explained further below.
If you select the Also change shorter notes option, then changes made to any given note will affect notes on the same beat of shorter durations as well.
Click Reset to remove all changes made since this dialog was opened. Note that this button does not reset settings back to the original defaults from the palette. To revert all changes made since the time signature was added, use the palette to replace the time signature.
The time signature properties control the default beaming for notes in your score, but you can override those defaults on a note-by-note basis, such as to have one measure beamed differently from another. This can be useful when writing certain rhythms that might be more readable beamed in a non-standard manner, or in cases where the options available in Time signature properties are insufficient to create the defaults you want. It is also the only way to create beams over rests.
Beam properties are set on the notes themselves. To change the beam between two notes, you will normally start by selecting the second of the two notes, as most of the beam properties control the beam into a note. Note that these properties can be set from the Properties panel or the Beam properties palette, but this discussion will focus on the Properties panel.
To change the beaming of a given note:
Select the note
Select the Beam tab in the Note section of the Properties panel
Select one of the icons to set the appropriate property
From left to right, the available properties are:
Auto: resets the beaming of the note to the time signature default behavior
No beam: breaks any beams into or out of the selected note
Break beam left: breaks any beam into the selected note
Break inner beams (8th): breaks all but one beam into the selected note (for notes that would otherwise have two or more beams)
Break inner beams (16th): breaks all but two beams into the selected note (for notes that would otherwise have three or more beams)
Join beams: joins a beam from the previous note into the selected note (unless the previous note is set to No beam)
To extend a beam over a rest:
Select the rest
Apply the Join beams or Break beam left property
To extend a beam across a barline:
Select the first note or rest after the barline
Apply the Join beams property
While breaking and joining beams is a function of the individual notes, the actual appearance of the beam can be controlled by selecting either the beam itself or any of the notes it joins. Thus, to set these properties, you can either:
Select a note that is currently beamed
Select the Beam tab within the Note section of the Properties panel
or
Select the beam itself
Either way, at that point, you will see the options to control the appearance of the beam.
The buttons in the Feather beams section of the Properties panel can be used to indicate gradual slowing down or speeding up of the joined notes (note this is not supported in playback). These options only apply to 16th and shorter durations using multiple beams.
None: reset the beam to standard (non-feathered) appearance
Decelarate: feather the beams to fan inward to indicate a gradual slowing down
Accelerate: feather the beams to fan outward to indicate a gradual speeding up
The angle of a beam can be edited directly by selecting it and moving the handles by dragging or using the cursor keys. But you can also use the settings in the Properties panel. You may need to click the More button first to display this section.
The two settings here correspond to the left and right handles on the beam and allow you to set the height of either side of the beam independently.
You can also force a beam to be horizontal by enabling the Force horizontal property.
A few global properties of beams can be set from Format→Style→Beams:
Beam distance: Set the vertical distance from one beam to the next.
Beam thickness: Set the thickness of all beams.
Broken beam minimum length : Set the minimum length of broken beams such as those used in dotted rhythms.
Flatten all beams: Check to make all note beams horizontal, regardless of context.
Select a final for the whole tuplet group (e.g. for an eighth note triplet, this will be a quarter note—keyboard shortcut 5).
Select a note or rest that specifies the full of the desired tuplet group. You may need to create this in the score beforehand. Thus, if you want an eighth note triplet you need to select a quarter note/rest.
If you need to input a series of tuplets, and don't want to continually repeat the tuplet command, you can select the notes of the first tuplet and press R (Repeat) as many times as needed; then move subsequent notes into position using keyboard arrows, retyping or .
In note input mode, select a note equaling the total duration of the tuplet; or, if in normal mode, select a note or rest of the desired overall duration.
You can choose to display or hide a tuplet number or bracket, change its orientation, or adjust line thickness. See (below) for details.
The display of selected tuplets can be changed in the Tuplet section of the panel.
See
If you wish to divide a measure, inserting a real barline in the process, see .
See .
You can edit properties specific to barlines in the Barlines section of the panel:
for a workaround to ensure barlines are aligned vertically between systems.
Use the following method if all selected measures are "standard"—i.e. with no :
1 a measure, or of measures.
2. Press Del (Mac: Backspace).
If one or more of the measures contains a , use the following method instead:
a measure, or of measures.
Right-click on the measure at which you want the multimeasure rest to break, and select .
You can edit properties specific to multimeasure rests in the Multimeasure rest section of the panel:
Select a ;
.
To hide the number of a particular measure, regardless of style settings, open and select "Always hide" from the Measure number mode dropdown.
In , check "Exclude from measure count" (in the Other pane).
In , edit "Add to measure number". Both positive and negative numbers are accepted.
By default, numbering of measures always restarts at the beginning of a new . To prevent this, and make numbering continuous, select the break and in the Properties panel uncheck "Reset measure numbers for new section".
Note that any changes made to a measure number in the may be lost if the layout changes.
See
If you only want to adjust one measure, click OK to make the changes permanent. However, if you also want to adjust adjacent measures there is no need to close the dialog; simply click Apply, then use the arrows on the bottom left of the window to move the dialog to the new measure. The new measure number appears both at the top of the dialog and in the .
Nominal: This is the set in the score. Actual: Adjust these figures to increase or decrease the duration of a measure.
Exclude from measure count: Check to make the count skip the selected measure. Break multimeasure rest: See . Measure number mode: Allows you to display/hide measure number for the selected measure irrespective of settings. Add to measure number: Changes numbering from this measure onwards in the score. Layout stretch: This property is normally adjusted first with a shortcut (see ); use "Measure properties" for fine adjustment. Play count: This only appears if the measure is before an end repeat barline. It indicates the number of times the repeat section is played.
for a workaround to ensure barlines are aligned vertically between systems.
