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The Staff/Part properties dialog allows you to change display properties of a staff and the properties of the instrument it belongs to.
To open the dialog:
Right-click either an empty area in a staff, or the instrument label in the score
Select Staff/Part properties…
The up/down arrow buttons in the bottom left of the window will move between staves in the score. Note that any changes you have made to the current staff will be lost unless you click Apply first.
There are four different types of staff, called Style group in the dialog:
Standard, the most common type, which has two variants:
one for pitched instruments except for fretted, plucked string instruments
one for fretted, plucked string instruments, which has additional options for setting the number of strings and their tuning
Tablature, also used for fretted, plucked string instruments, with the same options for configuring strings
Percussion, used for unpitched percussion instruments.
For each type, there are pre-defined templates to choose from in the Advanced style properties dialog (see below).
Replacing an instrument can change the staff type, but be aware that doing this may sometimes create an undesirable result with incorrect playback – for example, when replacing a Standard type staff (e.g. Flute) with a Percussion type (e.g. Drum Kit).
The top section of the dialog allows you to customize the appearance of the staff. These options are common to all staff types.
Note that all these settings apply only to the specific staff being edited.
First column:
Style group: Shows the staff type (Standard, Tablature, Percussion)
Lines: The number of staff lines. Most pitched instruments use a 5-line staff, but percussion staves may have a different number, and most (though not all) tablature staves will have the same number of lines as the instrument has strings
Line distance: The distance between lines, in spaces; 1 is 'normal'. Do not change this to make a larger or smaller stave; use Scale instead.
Extra distance above staff: Increases or decreases the minimum distance between this staff and the one above. This setting has no effect on the topmost staff of a system. It also affects all systems in the score; to change the spacing on a single system, use a spacer
Scale: The size of the staff, and its contents, as a custom percentage. To change the scale of all staves in a score, use Page Settings > Scaling.
Second column:
Hide when empty: This setting overrides the score-wide settings for staff hiding for the current staff. See Excluding specific staves from being hidden for details
Show clef: Whether clefs will appear on the staff
Show time signature: Whether time signatures will appear on the staff
Show barlines: Whether barlines will be drawn on the staff
Hide system barline: Whether the initial barline at the left edge of the system should be hidden
Merge matching rests: When checked, simultaneous rests in multiple voices will be merged (drawn on top of each other). This can save time hiding or deleting extra rests:
Third column:
Do not hide if system is empty: Specifies this as the staff to be shown when all staves in a system are empty; see Choosing which staff to show when the entire system is empty
Small staff: Makes the staff small (cue-sized), following the size defined in Format -> Style -> Sizes -> Small staff size. For a custom size, use Scale, in the first column
Invisible staff lines: Makes staff lines invisible
Staff line color: The color of the staff lines
Cutaway: Suppress the drawing of staff lines in empty measures; see Cutaway staves
The Advanced style properties... button opens a separate dialog, described below.
Some settings in this dialog are common to all staff types. Those in the first two rows are simply duplicates of settings found in the main Staff/part properties dialog (Lines, Line distance, Show clef, Show time signature, Show barlines).
The Template dropdown, at the bottom of the window, lets you apply a a predefined template style to the staff. For tablature staves, the templates include various numbers of staff lines and notation styles; for percussion staves, the templates include settings for different numbers of staff lines.
To apply a template:
Make a selection from the Template dropdown list
Press the < Reset to template button
Press OK.
For all styles except percussion, the Preview shows a rendered example of notation that reflects the settings in the dialog, so you can see the effect of the changes you make.
The remaining settings differ according to the current staff type.
These settings are also duplicated from the main Stave/Part properties dialog.
Show key signature, Show ledger lines: Control whether key signatures and ledger lines should be drawn
Stemless: Will draw notes without stems, flags or beams
Notehead scheme: Specifies which type of noteheads to use (e.g. pitch names, shape notes). See Notehead schemes
Upside down: When unchecked (default), the top staff line will refer to the highest string, and the bottom line is the lowest string. When checked, this is reversed (used, for example, for Italian-style lute tablature)
The remaining settings are split into two separate tabs.
Fret marks are the numbers or letters used to indicate the location of notes on the fingerboard. These settings specify their appearance:
Font face: The font used to draw fret marks. A selection of eight fonts are provided, supporting all the necessary symbols in different styles, both modern and historic
Size: Font size for fret marks. The built-in fonts usually look good at a size of 9–10pt
Vertical offset: Applies a vertical offset to the symbols. Positive values move them down, negative ones move them up. It should not normally be necessary to change this, but it may be useful when encountering a font with unconventionally aligned symbols
Marks are: Either Numbers (1, 2, 3...) or Letters (a, b, c...). When letters are used, 'j' is skipped
Marks are drawn: Either On lines (i.e. vertically centered on the lines) or Above lines
Lines are: Either Continuous (the lines will pass straight through fret marks) or Broken (lines will be masked when crossing fret marks)
Show fingering in tablature: Sets whether fingerings added from the Guitar palette should be drawn or not.
These settings configure how rhythms are indicated on tablature staves.
The Shown as setting is actually the most important, as it determines which of the other options are relevant or enabled. There are three options:
None: No rhythm is indicated; all the other options in this tab will be disabled and/or ignored
Note symbols: Rhythm will be indicated with symbols in the shape of notes above the staff
Stems and beams: Rhythm will be notated using stems, flags and beams, just as on a standard staff
If Note symbols is selected, these settings apply:
Font: The font used to draw the note duration symbols. Currently five fonts are provided, supporting all the necessary symbols in five different styles (modern, Italian tablature, French tablature, French baroque (headless), French baroque)
Size: Font size for the note duration symbols. The built-in fonts usually look good at a size of 15pt
Vertical offset: Applies a vertical offset to the symbols. Positive values move them down, negative ones move them up
Repeat: By default, note duration symbols are only shown when the duration changes. This setting specifies when they should be repeated:
Never: Symbols are never repeated
At new system: Always draw the duration symbol at the start of a new system
At new measure: Always draw the duration symbol at the start of a new measure
Always: Draw a duration symbol for every note
Show rests: Whether note duration symbols should also be drawn for rests. If shown, they are drawn at a slightly lower position than those for notes.
If Stems and beams is selected, these settings apply:
Stem style: Stems and beams can be drawn either Beside staff (always outside the staff, above or below) or Through staff (being drawn through the staff to reach the fret marks, just as stems go to noteheads on normal staves)
Stem position: Whether stems and beams are drawn Above or Below the staff; this is only available if Stem style is set to Beside staff (if Through staff is selected, stems and beams are always drawn below the fret marks)
Half notes: How half notes are indicated. On a normal staff, this is done by changing the notehead, which is not an option in tablature. The options are:
None: Do not draw a stem
As short stem: Draw a shortened stem (only available when Stem style is set to Beside staff)
As slashed stem: Draw a stem with a double tremolo slash through it.
(Warning: This should more properly be called 'Instrument properties.' The current wording is a hangover from earlier versions.)
Instrument identifies which instrument is assigned to the staff. To change the instrument, click the Replace instrument button and select an instrument from the Select instrument dialog that appears. This replaces the instrument for the staff, including changing playback, staff name, transposition, etc. If there are existing Staff type change items on the staff, these may now cause unpredictable results.
The default values for all the other settings in this section are taken from MuseScore Studio's instrument definitions.
Long instrument name and Short instrument name are the labels which can be shown to the left of the staves on the score. To configure which are shown where, go to Format -> Style -> Score -> Instrument names.
Usable pitch range defines the usable range for the instrument. By default, MuseScore will highlight notes which fall outside of these ranges. (The highlighting only affects the display on screen, and does not affect printing or exporting.) To disable or re-enable this functionality:
Select Edit -> Preferences (Mac: MuseScore -> Preferences) from the menu bar
Select Note input
Toggle Color notes outside of usable pitch range.
There are two ranges defined:
Amateur: is usually a more limited range which can be assumed to be practical for non-professional players. Notes outside this range are colored olive green/dark yellow
Professional: is the full range of the instrument which is accessible to professional players. Notes outside this range are colored red.
Many of these range limits are subjective and open to discussion. If you wish to adjust them in your score, click the pencil icons next to each pitch name.
Transposition specifies the instrument's transposition, i.e. the difference between how the pitches are notated and how they actually sound, when the score is not shown in concert pitch. This is specified as a combination of:
Octave(s): the number of octaves
An interval between 0 and 12 semitones, selected from the dropdown
Up/down: the direction of the transposition.
For transpositions other than simple octave transpositions (i.e. where an interval other than Perfect unison) is chosen from the dropdown), an additional dropdown will be shown, Prefer sharps or flats for transposed key signatures, which specifies which key signature to use where there are two enharmonic equivalents available, for example B major and C flat major:
None: match the type of accidental of the untransposed key signature, when possible
Flats: use the version of the key signature with flats, when one exists
Sharps: user the version with sharps, when it exists
Auto: use whichever version has fewer accidentals; if there is no difference, match the accidental of the untransposed key signature.
There is a final row, only shown for fretted, plucked string instruments (on both Standard and Tablature stave styles):
Number of strings shows the number of strings for the instrument
Edit string data…: This button opens a dialog where you can change the number of strings and their tuning. See Changing tuning for details
Don't reflect transposition in linked tablature staves: If turned off, any tablature staves linked to this stave will not reflect the transposition of the main stave
The Implode command is used to take multiple voices or staves and combine them into one. The Explode command, its opposite, is used to take a single voice or staff and decombine it into several. These commands can be very useful when arranging, and can also save time when inputting.
The Implode command allows you to do either of the following:
Combine multiple voices on the same staff into one voice
Combine multiple staves containing single voices into separate voices on one staff.
Select a range of measures in a single staff, where there are multiple voices
From the menu bar, select Tools -> Implode.
All selected notes in the staff are now combined in voice 1. For this to work, all simultaneous notes in different voices need to have the same duration.
Ensure that there is only one voice in each staff to be imploded
Select a range of measures in the top staff and extend this selection downwards to include up to four staves
From the menu bar, select Tools -> Implode.
Imploding multiple staves always works upwards, i.e. the topmost staff of the selection is the destination of the combined result. The notes from the uppermost staff of the selection that contains any music will go to voice 1, those from the next staff down to voice 2, and so on. Empty staves are skipped. The lower staves are not automatically cleared.
Explode allows you to do either of the following:
Separate multiple voices on one staff into single voices each on their own staff
Separate a passage of chords in one voice into single notes on multiple staves
The two cannot be mixed in a single operation. If the passage contains multiple voices at any point, this will take precedence and it will be split into voices, but chords will remain intact.
Unlike Implode, Explode will only work on whole measures. If you select part of a measure, the entire measure will be processed.
This result will be notated on multiple staves, so there are some things to be aware of:
Exploding always works downwards, so the result will be notated starting on the stave containing the selected passage and on the staves directly below it. You may therefore need to move the passage to the topmost destination stave before exploding it, or may need to create extra staves to make space, because material may be lost if there are not enough staves available
Any existing music on destination staves will be overwritten.
To separate multiple voices on one staff into single voices each on their own staff:
Select the passage you want to explode
If you wish, extend the selection downwards to include the destination staves desired
From the menu bar, select Tools -> Explode.
Step 2 is usually not necessary. If you select only the passage on the source stave, MuseScore will determine how many staves are required, which is equal to the number of voices in the passage which contain notes. Empty voices will be skipped.
If you do extend the selection, but select fewer staves than are required (or, if there are not enough staves available in the score), then MuseScore will only transfer as many voices as it can move to the available staves. For example, exploding a 3-voice passage onto two staves will move voice 2 to the lower stave, and then stop, leaving voices 1 and 3 on the upper stave.
If you explicitly select more staves than are required, the extra lower staves will be left untouched.
To separate a passage of chords in one voice in to single notes on multiple staves:
Select the passage you want to explode, ensuring it is all in a single voice throughout
If you wish, extend the selection downwards to include the destination staves desired
From the menu bar, select Tools -> Explode.
If you select the passage on the source stave only, MuseScore will determine how many staves are required, which is equal to the largest number of notes in any single chord in the passage. If you explicitly select a range of staves, all the staves will receive notes.
MuseScore explodes the chords one by one, following this logic:
If the number of notes in the chord matches the number of destination staves, the highest note goes to the topmost stave, the second highest note goes to the next stave down, and so on
If the number of notes in the chord is greater than the number of destination staves, the chord is split as above, but once the staves run out, any extra notes are lost
If the number of notes in the chord is less than the number of destination staves, then:
if the number of staves is an exact multiple of the number of notes, each note will be repeated an equal number of times; for example, exploding a two-note chord onto four staves, the upper note will go to the top two staves and the lower note will go to the bottom two staves
if the number of staves is not an exact multiple of the number of notes, the notes will be distributed one by one, and then the lowest note will be repeated on the remaining staves.
When a musician is required to change from one instrument to another in the course of a piece, the instruction to switch is generally placed either after the music for the first instrument ends, or when the music for the new instrument begins. A return to the primary instrument is handled in the same manner.
In MuseScore Studio, the instruction to change to a different instrument is handled by the Instrument change text element, which is found in the Text palette. This is a special type of item, quite distinct from other text types, as it also affects the playback of the instrument, and may affect aspects of the notation such as transposition.
To add an instrument change:
Click on a note or rest to select the position for the change
Click on the Change instr. item in the Text palette
Choose which instrument you wish to change to in the Select instrument dialog that appears
Click OK.
The instruction to change to the new instrument will appear above the selected insertion point in the score.
To remove an instrument change:
Single-click an Instrument change text element to select it
Press Del or Backspace.
To change the text of an instrument change:
Double-click an Instrument change text element to start editing it
Edit the text in whatever way you wish.
Note that this does not affect which instrument is actually changed to. If you wish to alter which instrument the instruction changes to, you must delete the element and enter a new one.
By default, a score will show all measures of all staves on all pages throughout the score, whether they are empty or not. However, you may wish to have certain staves appear only on systems where they are needed. You may even wish to have a staff appear or disappear mid-system. MuseScore Studio provides a number of controls for this purpose.
To hide a certain instrument or staff entirely throughout a score, use the Instruments panel: see .
A staff is considered 'empty' if there are no notes or other markings (with a small few exceptions) on it for an entire system. It is a common practice in many printed ensemble and orchestral scores to hide these empty staves in order to save space:
To hide or unhide all empty staves in the current score automatically:
Ensure that nothing in your score is selected (press Esc if necessary)
Go to the Properties panel
Under Score appearance, click the eye icon next to Empty staves.
This same toggle is available in Format -> Style -> Score as Hide empty staves within systems:
It is common, though not universal, to show all staves on the first system of a score even if they are hidden on subsequent ones (in this way, the first page will always show the complete instrumentation). If you wish to hide empty staves even on the first system, untick the Don't hide empty staves in first system toggle.
If Show brackets when spanning a single staff is unchecked, brackets and braces will be hidden when all but one the staves of a bracketed group are hidden on a system. Check this box if you want these brackets to remain visible.
The setting just described (Empty staves) applies to all staves in a score, but you can override this setting for specific staves:
Right-click the staff
Select Staff/Part properties
In the dialog that opens, select an option from the Hide when empty dropdown:
Auto: follow the score-wide setting (this is the default option)
Always: the staff will always be hidden when empty (even if the score-wide setting is not turned on)
Never: the staff will never be hidden when empty (even if the score-wide setting is turned on)
Instrument: the staff will only be hidden if all staves of the instrument are empty.
The Instrument option is useful where you have an instrument with multiple staves, such as a piano or harp, but you wish for all of its staves to be shown even if some of them are empty, for example if only the right hand is playing on a given system. In such a case, you probably want to select this option for all staves of the instrument. The instrument will still be hidden if all of its staves are empty.
Where all staves of a system are empty, and stave hiding is turned on, the topmost staff will be shown by default. If you wish to choose another staff (or staves) to show in this situation:
Right-click the staff
Select Staff/Part properties
Check the Do not hide if system is empty box in the dialog.
Note that this setting works independently of all the other settings described here, and only applies when the entire system is empty.
There is a style used in some contemporary scores where individual measures are hidden when they are empty. These are sometimes called cutaway staves.
To use this style for a specific stave:
Right-click the staff
Select Staff/Part properties
Check the Cutaway box in the dialog.
Note that this hides the staff on a per-measure basis. Even if all measures on the system are empty, vertical space is still reserved for the staff, unless staff hiding is turned on, and the instrument label and brackets may still be shown. To prevent this from happening, it is a good idea to also set Hide when empty to Always for cutaway staves.
If you wish to use cutaway style for all staves in the score, you need to set it for each staff individually, but this process can be sped up by using the arrow buttons in the Staff/Part properties dialog:
Right-click the topmost staff in the score
Select Staff/part properties
Check the Cutaway box in the dialog
Press the Apply button
Press the ↓ button (at the bottom left) to move to the next staff
Repeat steps 3–5 until you have gone through all staves.
MuseScore also allows you to make individual measures invisible on any given staff, whether empty or not.
To set a measure to be invisible on a given staff:
Right-click the measure
Select Measure properties
In the dialog that appears, uncheck the Visible box for the staff or staves in which you wish the measure to be made invisible.
Note that you cannot make a measure invisible on all staves – it must remain visible on at least one.
An ossia is where a passage is notated on a small staff above or below the main staff to show an alternative (a different editorial reading, a realization of ornaments, a facilitation, etc.)
These can be created in MuseScore Studio using a combination of the features described above:
Enter the desired notation on the new staff
Right-click the staff
Select Staff/Part properties
Check the Cutaway and Small staff boxes
Set Hide when empty to Always
Press OK.
If you wish to hear the ossia play back instead of the normal staff, select the corresponding measures on the normal staff and uncheck the Play box in the Properties panel. If you would rather hear the normal staff, do this for the ossia staff instead.
You might also want to hide the initial or final barline for the passage. To do this, select the barline and press V or uncheck the Visible box in the Properties panel.
The 'type' of a staff refers to its properties: number of lines, distance between the lines, what kinds of noteheads appear on it, etc. To change the type of a staff throughout an entire score, see and . However, it is also possible to change the appearance of a staff starting at any measure of the score by applying a Staff type change element and then adjusting its properties in the panel. This can be used when changing between pitched and unpitched staves or for various experimental notation effects.
Select the measure in the score where you want the change to occur
Alternatively, you can drag the symbol from the palette directly to the measure.
Other than the item appearing above the measure, nothing will change in the score until you configure its properties.
The properties of these items are configured via the Properties panel. If you do not see this panel, select View -> Properties from the menu bar, or press F7.
To configure the properties of a Staff type change:
Click the grey Staff type change icon which appears above the measure
Go to the Properties tab
Configure the properties under Staff type changes as necessary.
Note that as you change these properties, the icon in the score will updated to reflect them, as well as the staff itself changing in appearance.
These are the available properties:
Cue size: Makes the staff small (cue-sized), following the size defined in Format -> Style -> Sizes -> Small staff size. For a custom size, use Scale, below
Offset: Displaces the staff vertically. This is an offset downwards from the top line of a 5-line stave, so to align a 1-line staff with the middle line of a 5-line staff (for example), set this to 2sp
Scale: The size of the staff, and its contents, as a custom percentage
Number of lines: The number of staff lines
Line distance: The distance between lines, in spaces; 1 is 'normal'
Step offset: Offsets notes and other notation items vertically relative to the staff
Invisible staff lines: Toggles visibility of the staff lines
Staff line color: The color of the staff lines
Notehead scheme: Specifies which type of noteheads to use (e.g. pitch names, shape notes)
Stemless: Will draw notes without stems, flags or beams
The remaining checkboxes toggle whether barlines, ledger lines, clefs, time signatures and key signatures should be shown on the staff.
The Instruments panel gives you control over your instruments and some basic staff properties without having to leave the score view. All of the instruments in your score will appear in this panel.
Open the panel by clicking on the Instruments tab:
If the Instruments tab is not visible, show it by selecting View -> Instruments, or by pressing F7.
Select an instrument and click the trash can icon at the top of the panel, or press Del. This removes the instrument entirely, along with all the music it contains.
Select an instrument and click the up/down buttons at the top of the panel to change its position in the score. Alternatively, drag the instrument up or down using the mouse.
To control where the long and short names are used (or to hide instrument labels entirely), use the settings in Format -> Style -> Score -> Instrument labels, rather than blanking out the names here.
To replace an instrument in the Instruments panel:
Click the cog icon to the right of the instrument
In the popup that appears, click Replace instrument
Select your desired replacement instrument in the dialog that appears
Click OK.
The Instruments panel can also be used to add staves to an existing instrument and configure some of their basic properties.
Initially, the panel only shows an entry for each instrument. To show the individual staves of an instrument, expand the instrument by clicking the small black triangle to the left of the instrument name. Staves are usually labelled according their default clef (for example, a piano will have a 'Treble clef' and 'Bass clef')
If necessary, expand the instrument to reveal its staves
Click Add staff.
The new staff is part of the same instrument but its notation is completely independent of its other staves. To create a staff which stays in sync with the notation of an existing staff, add a linked staff instead.
Staves which are linked together will keep their notation synchronized, so a change on one staff will be reflected on the other. However, the staves can have different staff styles, which makes this useful for creating staff notation alongside tablature notation for guitar, banjo, ukulele, etc.
To create a linked staff:
If necessary, expand the instrument to reveal its staves
Click the cog icon to the right of the stave
Click Create a linked staff
If necessary, expand the instrument to reveal its staves
Select the staff you wish to delete
Click the trash can icon at the top of the panel, or press Del.
This will only work when an instrument has more than one stave. To delete the last staff, select and delete the instrument itself.
To change the order of staves within an instrument, select a staff and click the up/down buttons at the top of the panel to move it, or drag it up or down using the mouse. Staves cannot be moved between instruments.
You can configure some properties of individual staves by clicking the cog icon to the right of the staff name:
Staff type allows you to choose between a Standard staff and a variety of predefined tablature types
Small staff makes the staff small ('cue-size'); the size for small staves can be configured in Style -> Sizes
To hide or unhide an instrument, chick the eye icon to the left of the instrument label. This hides the instrument and all its staves completely.
To hide or unhide a specific staff:
If necessary, expand the instrument to reveal its staves
Click the eye icon to the left of the staff.
Hidden instruments and staves are not deleted, they are just hidden throughout the whole score and will not affect its layout. You can still create parts for hidden instruments.
A hidden instrument will not play back, but hidden staves will. If you wish to hide an instrument but still hear it, this can be achieved by hiding all of its staves individually, but not hiding the instrument itself.
Brackets are used to visually group multiple adjacent staves together (usually instruments of the same family, e.g. woodwind or brass), and braces are used to group multiple staves of a single instrument (e.g. the grand staff of a piano) or adjacent instruments of the same or similar type.
Brackets and braces are automatically added when you create a score via the , but you can easily add, remove or change them.
Note that brackets and braces are drawn on all systems. You can add, remove or modify them on any system, but the changes will affect every system where they appear. They are added from the Brackets palette.
To add a bracket or brace:
Select a range of staves by clicking a measure on the staff where you want the bracket or brace to start, then hold Shift and click on a measure on the staff where you want it to end
Click the icon representing the desired bracket type in the Brackets palette.
Alternatively:
Select a measure on the topmost staff which you wish the bracket to span
Click the desired bracket in the Brackets palette (you can also drag it directly from the palette to the staff)
Select the bracket at the start of the system, then click the adjustment handle at the bottom and drag it down to the lowest staff you wish it to span. When you release the mouse button the bracket will snap into place.
You an apply nested brackets using any of these methods. Newly created brackets are drawn outside of existing ones, so it usually easiest to start with the innermost and work outwards. However, you can edit the order later using the Column property (see below).
If you select a bracket/brace, you can edit its properties in the Properties panel (sidebar).
Column: Moves the bracket inwards/outwards.
Span: Extends or retracts the end of the bracket/brace.
The top position of a bracket is fixed. If you need to move it, you must delete the bracket and create a new one.
To change the bottom position, use any of these methods:
Select the bracket, click the adjustments handle, and drag it to the new position
Select the bracket, click the adjustment handle, and press Shift+Up/Down to move it from staff to staff
Select the bracket, go to the Properties panel, and change the Span property, which specifies how many staves the bracket should enclose.
Select the bracket or brace that you wish to change
Click on a new bracket or brace in the Brackets palette.
There are a few global properties for brackets and braces which are available in Format -> Style -> System under System brackets:
Bracket thickness: The thickness of a thick bracket
Bracket distance: The distance between a thick bracket and the staff
Brace thickness: The thickness (total width) of a brace. Note that this only applies when the Emmentaler and Gonville fonts are used, as these fonts do not include brace symbols and so the braces are drawn algorithmically
Brace distance: The distance between a brace and the staff.
To delete a bracket or brace, select it and press Del.
Playback sounds for instrument changes are reflected in the mixer as separate channel strips stacked to the right of the primary instrument channel strip. These instruments are labelled in parentheses. You can change the assigned playback library, apply effects, adjust the volume, and mute, solo, and pan these channel strips just as you would any other instrument channel strip. For more information, see .
Changing to a different instrument may necessitate the use of different key signatures, clefs, and even staff type. See for details.
The Always setting can be useful for temporary staves, for example a cue staff which appears for a few bars or a third stave for a keyboard part required for a specific passage. See also , below.
Add a staff as described in ; you may need to move it to the correct position relative to the main stave, and adjust any brackets that are automatically created
You may also wish to decrease or fix the distance between the ossia and the normal staff. To do this, use a from the Layout palette.
Click the Staff type change item in the Layout palette:
When you apply a Staff type change to a staff, its properties override those which are set in the dialog, starting from the measure in which it appears. Not all properties can be modified via a Staff type change.
For some more details on these options, which are also available in the Staff/part properties dialog, See .
Click Add at the top of the panel. This will open the Instruments dialog. You can also open this dialog by pressing I. See for more information.
Click the cog icon to the right of an instrument to show instrument name settings. Name on main score is the long name, usually used at the beginning of a score, and Abbreviated name is the short one, often used after the first system of a section. These can also be edited via . Part name is used at the top of a part.
Click the cog icon on the newly-added staff to configure it, for example to change the Staff type, if required (see , below).
Hide any measures that do not contain notation (cutaway) will prevent the staff from being drawn for any measures which are empty; see for more details.
For more information about staff customization, see .
If you only wish to hide instruments or staves when there is no music for them on a given system, see .
Brackets and braces can affect the vertical spacing of staves: usually, extra space is given between bracketed groups, and staves enclosed by a brace are kept closer together. This behaviour can be configured in Format -> Page. See for details.
