Volta brackets are lines above the staff used to mark different endings for a repeated section. MuseScore Studio creates correct playback. In the example below, the repeated section is played once through with the ending marked "1.", then a second time with the ending marked "2.".
Make sure that repeat barlines are in the correct position.
To apply the volta bracket, use one of the following:
Select a measure and click on the desired volta in the Repeats & jumps palette, or
Drag a volta from a palette onto a measure.
To change the range covered after the volta has been added, see .
The appearance of voltas can be changed via the Properties panel. See , below. Note that changing the text is purely visual and does not affect playback.
Select a volta in the score.
Go the Properties panel and find the Volta section.
Select the Style tab and edit the Repeat list value.
The Repeat list specifies which times through the music under the volta should be played. For example, a value of 1 means that the passage will be played only the first time, and will be skipped other times. 2 means it will be played only the second time.
If the volta is to be played more than once, you can enter a series of numbers separated by commas, e.g. 1,2,3. In this case, you must also edit the end repeat's Play count property accordingly. See . The play count is usually the number of Repeat list entries plus 1. For example:
To achieve this, the following properties are set:
For Repeats:
In measure 3, Play count is set to 4
In measure 5, Play count is set to 3
In the properties panel, there are two tabs for voltas: Style and Text.
The only option specific to voltas is Style -> Repeat list which is used to specify which repeats the volta applies to. See , above.
For all the other options in Style, see . For the options in Text, see and .
Styles for voltas can be found in Format -> Style -> Voltas:
Vertical position: The default position of the horizontal line of the volta.
Hook height: The height of the vertical hook (note that if this value is close to or larger than Vertical position then this will determine the position of the whole item, as it will automatically move up to avoid colliding with the staff).
Line thickness: The thickness of the line.
There are two options to control the alignment of the beginning of the volta:
At start of system, start volta: This controls whether the vertical hook should start after or on the key signature. Note that this affects also affects the continuation of a volta line when it continues to a new system.
Align start hook: This controls whether the vertical hook should align to the left or right side of the thick barline in a repeat.
Styles for the text under voltas can be found in Format -> Style -> Text styles under Volta.
In measure 3, Repeat list is set to 1,3,4 and Beginning text is set to 1., 3., 4.
In measures 4–5, Repeat list is set to 2,5 and Beginning text is set to 2., 5.
In measure 6, Repeat list is set to 6 and Beginning text is set to 6.
A repeat sign looks like a double barline with a dot above and below the center line of the staff (see image below). It is used to enclose repeated sections of the score.
Find repeat signs in the Repeats & jumps and Barlines palettes.
Place a start repeat barline at the beginning of the repeated section and an end repeat barline at the end:
If the start of the repeat section coincides with the beginning of the piece there is no need for a start repeat barline.
For repeated sections with multiple endings, use .
Unless indicated otherwise, a repeated section is played through twice.
To change the number of times a section is repeated:
Select the end repeat barline of the section.
Open the Properties panel.
Change the value of Play count to the number of times you wish the section to be played.
This will be reflected in playback, and also a textual indication will appear above the barline, for example:
The text that appears above the repeat can be configured in Format -> Style... -> Repeats -> Repeat play count text:
Automatically show text at repeat barlines: This toggle controls whether this text should appear at all in the score.
Show for single repeats: If checked, the text will also appear above repeats with a play count of 2.
Preset: This dropdown gives several options for the format of the text ('x3', '3x', 'Play 3 times', '3 repeats').
The Edit text style
Play count text is a type of , and can be shown (or hidden) wherever there is a system marking instance in the score.
You can customize the behavior for any specific end repeat barline in the score via the Properties panel. See , below.
To ignore all repeats during playback:
Click the cog icon in the .
Uncheck Play repeats.
Repeat style: Either the 'plain' or 'winged' style.
Play count: The number of times to repeat (see , above).
Play count text (which may be disabled depending on the value of Play count and the score's ) has three options:
For the other settings under Show more, see .
Style settings for repeat barlines can be found in Format -> Style -> Barlines:
The settings specific to repeat barlines are:
Show repeat barline tips: Adds 'wings' above and below repeat barlines.
Repeat barline to dots distance: The distance between the innermost line of a repeat barline and its dots.
For the other settings, see .
Sometimes, items which can span multiple notes can start before a repeat or jump but need end at the other side of that repeat or jump. This can mean that the end actually comes before the start in the score (for example, when going back to the start of a repeat, or at a D.C. or D.S.), or may come after the start but have other material in between, like when jumping across a first-time bar or to a coda.
MuseScore Studio supports this behaviour for certain types of item, specifically ties, slurs and lyrics lines. The way that each type of item is created is slightly different.
The following instructions will refer to this short example as a model:
To add a tie that crosses a repeat or jump:
Select the starting note of the tie
Press T or click the tie icon in the toolbar.
The tie will be drawn to all valid locations where there is a note of the same pitch to connect to. It is entirely possible for there to be more than one endpoint for a tie, so several segments may appear.
In the example, adding a tie to the A in the first-time measure will create a partial tie from the note to the end repeat barline, and a partial tie from the start repeat barline to the A in the first measure.
Adding a tie to the F in the first measure will create a 'normal' tie to the next note, but will also create a partial tie to the F in the second-time measure. This is an example of a tie that has multiple endpoints. If you select such a tie, you will see a popup which lists the places the tie connects to:
You can select or deselect items in this list and the tie segments will appear or disappear accordingly. You can also select the partial tie segment at any endpoint and delete it.
Slurs can span any range of notes, rather than only connecting adjacent notes, so MuseScore cannot create these 'automatically' for you. Therefore, you must add the individual segments manually.
To add a slur segment:
Select the two endpoints of the slur by clicking one and then Ctrl+clicking (macOS: Cmd+click) the other. One endpoint must be a note and the other endpoint must be a repeat barline or a barline which has a jump on it (D.C., D.S., etc.)
Press S or click the slur icon in the toolbar.
If you have a slur which starts on the first note after a jump, or which ends on the last note before a jump, and you want to move the endpoint next to the jump into the 'hanging' position, you can do this by selecting that endpoint and pressing Shift+Alt+Left/Right (macOS: Shift+Option+Left/Right).
Lyric extension lines and dashes can also be added across jumps; like slurs, the individual parts need to be input manually.
For general information on inputting lyrics, see .
To add a partial lyric line after a repeat or jump:
Select the first note after the repeat or jump
Type Ctrl+L (macOS: Cmd+L) to enter lyric entry mode
Type _ for an extension line or - for a dashed line (without any other characters before); the line will be drawn starting just after the barline. Repeat the keypress to extend the line across more notes if necessary.
To delete a partial lyric line of this type, simply select it and press Del. Only partial lines like this (with no preceding syllable) can be selected in this way. Normal lyric lines are dependents of the syllable that precedes them, and cannot be selected directly.
Lyric lines going into a repeat or jump are added in the 'normal' way during lyric entry: once you get to the last note before a jump, which may either have a syllable on it or have a continuation of a lyric line that started before, simply type _ or - and the line will be drawn up until the repeat or jump.
A partial lyric line of this type can be selected in order to delete it (press Del). This is in contrast to normal lyric lines, which are dependents of the syllable that precedes them.
In the example at the top of the page, the lyrics are entered in the following way (these can be done in any order):
Select the first A, enter lyric entry mode and type _ once; this creates a partial lyric line starting from the repeat barline
Select the first F, enter lyric entry mode and type jump then_ three times; the third press extends the lyric line to the repeat barline
Select the second F, enter lyric entry mode and type _ twice.
A measure repeat symbol indicates that the previous measure is to be repeated. Two-measure and four-measure repeat symbols indicate the repetition of the previous two or four measures.
To apply a measure repeat symbol, select a measure in the score and click on the measure repeat icon in the Repeats & jumps palette, or drag the symbol on to a measure.
To apply a two-measure or four-measure repeat symbol, select the first blank measure following the section you want to be repeated, then click on the applicable measure repeat icon in the Repeats & jumps palette. Alternatively, drag the repeat icon from the palette onto the same blank measure instead.
Note: You may need to click the More icon in the palette to reveal the two-measure and four-measure repeat symbols.
In the case of multiple-measure repeats a "Keep measures on same system" layout item is automatically added to each measure of the repeated section except for the last. This keeps the repeated measures together on the same system, so they will not be broken up by layout changes to the score. These layout items can be deleted if desired.
For multiple-measure repeats you can change the vertical position of the number which appears above the symbol:
Select the multiple-measure repeat
Go to the Properties panel
Under Bar repeat, edit the Number position value.
You can edit the properties of all measure repeats in the score in Format -> Style -> Measure repeats:
Custom: Provides a text field where you can enter any text you wish, to override the default. You can also edit the text directly in the score and Custom will be automatically selected.
Hide: Do not show play count text on this repeat.
Layout and styling of clefs, key signature and time signature changes at repeats and jumps can be a complex matter. MuseScore Studio provides a range of options to configure when and where you want them to appear. These are options are found in Style -> Format -> Clefs, key & time signatures.
Changes that apply to both the repeat/jump and the subsequent bar: sometimes a change of clef, key or time signature applies both to the destination of a jump (an end repeat barline or a 'to Coda', for example) and also when continuing on. There are two options for now to notate this:
if the option is checked: only show the change once, before the repeat/jump
if the option is unchecked: show the change after the repeat/jump, but allow for a courtesy change to also be shown before the repeat/jump. Whether a courtesy is actually shown or not, and whether it is parenthesised if it does, depends on the (see below).
You can configure this behaviour separately for repeats and for all other types of jump. These examples show illustrate a repeat:
If you turn off Show at repeats under Courtesies, below, the courtesy will disappear, resulting in the change only appearing after the jump:
Changes that apply only after repeats and jumps are for when the change only applies when continuing. However, some styles prefer to keep clefs before the barline (in their 'usual' position) even when this applies. For that reason the options Place clefs before repeats and Place clefs after repeats (the default) are provided.
Finally, Allow changes between end-start repeats will, when checked, allow an end-start repeat barline to be split into an end-repeat and start-repeat, with the changes placed between, if the changes do not apply when going back to the start of the repeat. (Clefs may still go before the end-repeat if Place clefs before repeats is selected.)
It is possible to display courtesies before any jump as an indication that the clef, key signature and/or time signature is different at the destination of the jump.
There are four toggles which form two pairs of options:
Show at repeats: show cautionaries, where necessary, before a repeat barline (to indicate that the clef, key or time signature is different back the start of the repeated section)
Show at all other jumps: show cautionaries, where necessary, before all other types of jump (e.g. D.C., D.S., To Coda, etc.)
Show when cancelling a courtesy before repeats: if a courtesy is shown before a repeat, but it does not also apply after the repeat, show a cautionary to 'cancel' the preceding cautionary
Each of these toggles also has a Use parentheses checkbox which specifies whether the cautionaries should be enclosed in parentheses. Where several cautionary items appear in the same place (it is possible to have a clef, key signature and time signature all at once), a single pair of parentheses will enclose all the items.
The Small parentheses option specifies that the parentheses should be drawn to just enclose the height of the items within them (the preview images use this style). If unchecked, the parentheses will be drawn from 1sp below the staff to 1sp above.
D.C.
Repeat from the beginning (stands for for da capo).
D.S.
Repeat from the segno marker (stands for dal segno).
D.C. al Fine
Repeat from the beginning until 'Fine'.
D.S. al Fine
Repeat from the segno marker until 'Fine'.
D.C. al Coda
Repeat from the beginning until 'To Coda', then jump to the coda.
D.S. al Coda
Repeat from the segno marker until 'To Coda', then jump to the coda.
Markers are labelled positions in the score. Coda and segno markers indicate the destination of a jump:
Coda
(with or without additional text)
Segno
Fine and To Coda indicate the place where something should happen after a jump has been made:
Fine
End the piece or section. This must be used together with a 'D.C. al Fine' or 'D.S. al Fine'.
To Coda
Jump to the coda. This must be used together with a 'D.C. al Coda' or 'D.S. al Coda'.
To add a jump or marker to your score:
Select a measure, or an item within the measure.
Click the desired item in the Repeats & jumps palette.
Alternatively, drag an item from the palette and drop it onto the measure.
Coda and segno are placed at the beginning of the measure, and all other jumps and markers at the end.
Jumps and markers are text, so they are edited like any other text objects.
Markers often also contain music symbols (e.g. for segno and coda), which are taken from the musical text font the score is using. The size and alignment of these symbols can be controlled independently of the rest of the text in their properties.
To enter music symbols into these items, use the Special characters dialog (Properties -> Text -> Insert special characters).
Jumps and markers are connected using labels, which are simple text identifiers that define the flow of playback. For most scores, you should not need to change the default labels of jumps and markers that are added from palettes. See Example of how labels control playback flow.
To indicate the beginning or end of the score, this specific syntax must be used:
start is the beginning of the score or section.
end is the end of the score or section.
Otherwise, the labels can be whatever you like, as long as they match up correctly. If you are creating more elaborate structures than the defaults allow, you can customize them in properties.
To ignore repeats, jumps, and markers in playback:
In the playback toolbar, open the cog menu
Uncheck Play repeats
Jump to: The label of the marker that playback should jump to, once this jump is reached.
Play until: The label of the marker where playback should continue until.
Continue at: The label of the marker to jump to once the label specified in Play until is reached. If this field is blank, playback will stop at the Play until label.
Play repeats: Whether to play repeats after the jump happens.
The image above shows the default settings for a 'D.S. al Coda'. It describes that the following should happen once it is reached:
Jump to the marker with the label segno (which is the default label of the segno item from the palette).
Play from that label until the marker with the label coda (which is the default label of the 'To Coda' item from the palette).
Then jump to the marker with the codab (which is the default label of the coda item from the palette).
Since Play repeats is unchecked, any repeats encountered after the initial jump will be ignored.
Marker type: The type of marker (non-editable).
Label: The marker's label. This should match one of the labels referenced in a jump, according to what purpose the marker serves.
Symbol size: The size in points of any musical symbols (coda, segno, etc.) used as part of the text on the score.
Align symbol with barline: If checked, and if the item contains a symbol, the entire item will be positioned such that the symbol is centered over the barline. If unchecked, the alignment buttons below become enabled and the desired alignment can be chosen.
The text styles for repeats and jumps can be configured in Format -> Style -> Text styles -> Repeat text left and Repeat text right. The Repeat text left style is used for markers which go at the start of the bar (coda, segno), and the Repeat text right style is used for markers which go at the end (everything else).
The musical text font, used for the symbols, can be changed in Format -> Style -> Score -> Musical text font.
