Breaths and pauses
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Breaths and pause symbols may be found in the Breaths & pauses .
These symbols also have an adjustable playback effect.
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.
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.
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.
To add a fermata:
Select a note, rest or barline
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:
Select a note
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.
Pause symbols have a playback effect in the score. To adjust the pause length:
Select the pause
Go to the Properties panel
Click Playback
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.
To specify whether a fermata is placed above or below the stave:
Select the fermata
Go to the Properties panel
Under Fermata, choose the desired Position setting.
You can specify default positional properties for all fermatas in Format -> Style -> Fermatas.
