Breaths and pauses

Breaths and pause symbols may be found in the Breaths & pauses palette.

These symbols also have an adjustable playback effect.

Types of pauses

Fermata

A fermata, or pause appears above/below a note, and extends its written duration, indicating a pause in the music.

It may also be written above a rest, or a barline, indicating the end of a piece or section of music.

Breath mark

A breath mark is placed just above the staff, and tells a wind instrument performer or singer to take a breath here, or other instruments to pause slightly. It may occur between two notes or at the end of a measure.

Caesura

The caesura also indicates a pause, slightly longer than a breath mark but less so than a fermata. It may occur between two notes or at the end of a measure.

Adding a pause to your score

To add a fermata:

1. Select a note, rest or barline

2. Click on a fermata symbol in the Breaths & pauses palette.

Alternatively drag a fermata symbol onto a note.

Note that while it is customary for fermatas to be shown on all staves in a score, MuseScore Studio does not currently do this automatically: you must add fermatas to each stave manually.

To add a breath mark or caesura:

1. Select a note

2. Click on a breath mark/pause symbol in the Breaths & pauses palette.

Alternatively drag a breath mark/caesura symbol onto a note.

MuseScore automatically places the breath mark/caesura in the correct position, just above the staff and after the selected note. It may create extra horizontal space for the marking.

Changing pause playback

Pause symbols have a playback effect in the score. To adjust the pause length:

1. Select the pause

2. Go to the Properties panel

3. Click Playback

4. In the popup, adjust the Time stretch value.

The Time stretch value scales the rhythmic duration of the note or rest to which the pause is attached.

Pause properties

To specify whether a fermata is placed above or below the stave:

1. Select the fermata

2. Go to the Properties panel

3. Under Fermata, choose the desired Position setting.

Pause style

You can specify default positional properties for all fermatas in Format -> Style -> Fermatas.