MuseScore Studio Handbook
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  • MuseScore Studio Handbook
  • About the handbook
    • Editing the Handbook
    • Style guide
    • Using GitBook
  • Introduction
    • Download and installation
    • Create your first score
    • Upgrading to MuseScore Studio 4 from earlier versions
  • Navigation
    • Accessibility
    • The user interface
    • Navigating your score
    • Timeline
    • Braille
  • Basics
    • Setting up your score
    • Entering notes and rests
    • Working with multiple voices
    • Input by duration mode
    • Alternative note input methods
    • Adding and removing measures
    • Selecting elements
    • Editing notes and rests
    • Copy and paste
    • Using the palettes
    • Properties panel
    • Adjusting elements directly
    • Parts
    • Default keyboard shortcuts
  • Notation
    • Instruments, staves, and systems
      • Instruments and system markings
      • Showing staves only where needed
      • Implode and explode
      • Mid-score instrument changes
      • Staff type change
      • Staff/Part properties
      • Brackets
    • Rhythm, meter, and measures
      • Time signatures
      • Stems and flags
      • Beams
      • Regroup rhythms
      • Tuplets
      • Barlines
      • Measure numbering
      • Measure rests and multimeasure rests
      • Pickup and non-metered measures
      • Measure properties
    • Pitch
      • Clefs
      • Key signatures
      • Transposition
      • Octave lines
      • Noteheads
      • Ambitus
      • Respell pitches
    • Expressive markings
      • Articulations
      • Dynamics and hairpins
      • Slurs and ties
      • Laissez vibrer ties
      • Breaths and pauses
      • Ornaments
      • Arpeggios and glissandos
      • Grace notes
      • Tremolos and rolls
      • Other lines
      • Other symbols
    • Repeats
      • Repeat signs
      • Voltas
      • Jumps and markers
      • Items across repeats and jumps
      • Changes and courtesies at repeats and jumps
      • Measure and multi-measure repeats
  • Idiomatic notation
    • Keyboard
      • Pedal
      • Cross-staff notation
      • Accordion notation
    • Guitar
      • Fretboard diagrams
      • Guitar techniques
      • Creating a tablature staff
      • Entering and editing tablature notation
      • Customizing a tablature staff
      • Applying capos
      • Alternate string tunings
      • Guitar bends
    • Harp
    • Percussion
      • Inputting percussion notation
      • Customizing the percussion panel
      • Percussion kit customization
      • Other percussion notation
  • Alternative notation
    • Mensural notation and Mensurstrich
    • Slash notation
    • Custom staff types
  • Text
    • Entering and editing text
    • Formatting text
    • Staff Text, System Text and Expression Text
    • Tempo markings
    • Lyrics
    • Fingering
    • Chord symbols
    • Figured bass
    • Rehearsal marks
    • Header and footer
    • Text blocks
  • Formatting
    • Page layout concepts
    • Positioning of elements
    • Score size and spacing
    • Systems and horizontal spacing
    • Pages and vertical spacing
    • Using frames for additional content
    • Working with images
    • Using sections for multiple movements or songs
  • File management
    • Opening and saving scores
    • File export
    • Working with MusicXML files
    • Backup and recovered files
    • Project properties
    • Publish to MuseScore.com
    • Share on Audio.com
  • Sound and playback
    • Playback controls
    • Mixer
    • SoundFonts
    • Installing MuseSounds
    • Sound flags
    • Swing playback
    • Working with MIDI
    • Working with VST and VSTi
  • Customization
    • Language
    • Appearance
    • Toolbars and windows
    • Templates and styles
    • Palettes
    • Workspaces
    • Keyboard shortcuts
    • Preferences
    • Plugins
  • Support
    • Getting help
    • Revert to factory settings
    • Troubleshooting
  • Appendix
    • Command line usage
    • All keyboard shortcuts
    • Changes for MDL percussion
    • Upgrade from MuseScore 3.x
    • Glossary
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  • General
  • Case
  • UI labels
  • Hyperlinks
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Typed characters
  • Structure
  • Pages
  • Groups

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  1. About the handbook

Style guide

PreviousEditing the HandbookNextUsing GitBook

Last updated 1 month ago

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General

Case

All text is to be written in sentence case. This includes all paragraphs, headings, and page titles.

GitBook renders some text in BLOCK CAPITALS, such as group (aka chapter) titles in the table of contents on the left of the screen. However, you should use sentence case when editing this text.

Proper nouns and abbreviations should be capitalized according to the prevailing form used on the Wikipedia page of the topic in question.

Import the MusicXML file. MusicXML is capitalized

Customize the user interface (UI). UI is capitalized and user interface is not

Available in braille and Modified Stave Notation. MSN is capitalized and braille is not

Contractions of everyday speech should not be capitalized.

A quarter note (aka crotchet) is a musical duration. aka is not capitalized

UI labels

When writing instructions for the user, text that appears in MuseScore's user interface should be copied verbatim, including any capitalization, and highlighted in bold without enclosing quotation marks.

Press the Not now button. Not now is bold and capitalized like in the application

Hyperlinks

Where appropriate, hyperlinks may be added to key words or phrases in ordinary text, which should be written to make sense without the link. In general, the full URL should not be displayed.

Plain domain names should be captalized like the brand name. The top-level domain (TLD; e.g. .com, .org, .co.uk, etc.) should be omitted unless there's a good reason to include it.

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts should be formatted as follows:

Modifiers should be written in this form and in this order for each platform:

In Linux-specifc instructions, the Win key should be written as Super.

Keys that type printable characters should be represented by that character.

All non-printing keys should be referenced by their (possibly abbreviated) name rather than by a symbol.

Typed characters

Typed sequences should usually be formatted as inline code, even if it's just a single character.

Occassionally, it may be preferable to show the actual keys pressed, formatted as keyboard shortcuts rather than as inline code.

Structure

Pages

Page titles

Page titles should be relatively short. Ideally the title should fit on one line in the Summary on the left of the screen, although this may not always be possible. Bear in mind that page titles may be significantly longer when translated to other languages besides English.

Tips to keep page titles short:

  • Avoid saying "score" (e.g. "Selecting elements", not "Selecting elements in the score")

  • Avoid saying "MuseScore" (e.g. "Upgrading", not "Upgrading MuseScore Studio")

Subpages

When subpages are used, only one level of subpages may be used. Never create a subsubpage.

Parent pages should have very short titles because its title appears in the URLs of all its subpages.

Groups

Groups are like chapters. They are CAPITALIZED in the Summary on the left of the screen.

Groups should have very short names. This is because the group name appears in the URLs of all pages within the group.

It is possible to edit the group slug to make it shorter than the actual group name. However, in general, this should not be done. Instead, the group name should be made as short as possible.

Watch the . Text makes sense without the link

Watch the tutorial . Text wouldn't make sense if the link was removed

Watch it at . Don't show the URL

Find us on and . Omit .com TLDs for these popular sites

Listen on . TLD is part of the website's branding

Visit . TLD is necessary to distinguish from MuseScore.com

Download the installer from . Referring specifically to the website

Get the sounds in . Referring to the app (but linking to the website)

Press Shift+1—9. en-dash indicates range

Press Ctrl+Shift++/- (Mac: Cmd+Shift++/-). slash indicates alternatives

Windows & Linux: Win+Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Fn+…

Mac: Ctrl+Cmd+Option+Shift+Fn+…

. , ; ' [ ] / \ - = ` etc.

Space Backspace Del Ins Esc Return Up Down Left Right PgUp PgDn Home End Menu Caps Lock

To enter a double flat, type bb. Inline code (single element)

To enter a double flat, type B B. Keyboard keys (space between each key)

You're currently viewing the page, which is a subpage of .

In general, we prefer to use rather than subpages, to avoid nesting in the Summary.

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tutorial video
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audio.com
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MuseHub
Style guide
About the handbook
groups