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Thread: If You Use MuseScore

  1. #1
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default If You Use MuseScore

    I've just started using MuseScore. I imported a PDF and was able to transpose the piece to a different key. It was so exciting!

    Since that time I've imported a couple more pieces. I was able to transpose the key both times, but the interval then needed changing. When I tried to do it, nothing happened. At that point I was even unable to change the key again. In all cases I used Ctrl + A to highlight the entire piece.

    A Google search was no help.

    Does anyone know how to overcome this problem?

  2. #2
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    I've only transposed tunes in Musescore format. I wasn't aware it could manipulate pdfs.

    Are you saving the files in Musescore format or pdf?
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  3. #3
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill McCall View Post
    I've only transposed tunes in Musescore format. I wasn't aware it could manipulate pdfs.

    Are you saving the files in Musescore format or pdf?
    I'm using the "Import PDF" feature under "File" and do a search there. Is there another way to search for music?

  4. #4
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Try shutting everything down and restart, then try the first, successful pdf in other keys?

  5. #5
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    From what I can find out (I am using Musescore 3.6) you need to upload your pdf to the Musescore site them import it from there, Bill. There are requirements such as setting resolution to at least 300dpi (the default seems to be 360dpi) and using grey image scale, and I think you actually need to sign up on the Musescore site to use the facility, but I could be wrong. There is a trial offer when you go to the relevant page.

    Like you, I work in Musescore format and only convert to pdf if I am sending the file to someone else. It is not always possible to open a Musescore .mscz file in older versions of the program, and when I am working on something along with colleagues who have Musescore I generally send the files in .xml format as this can be opened in other programs as well.

    Sherry, I am very interested in how you get on with importing the pdfs and then working on them. Please keep us posted on your experiments.
    Last edited by John Kelly; Apr-08-2021 at 4:27pm. Reason: typos
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  6. #6
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    I just upgraded from the free version, thinking that would solve all my problems. Maybe this weekend I can spend some time figuring things out. The one thing I have not figured out is how to search for sheet music, other than in PDF format. Sounds like you guys (Bill and John) have figured that out.

  7. #7
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    I haven't created any pdfs and wouldn't upload anyone else's, so I never noticed that feature. (I just found it). I have transposed other Musescore files.

    I often search using google 'site musescore.com: song name'

    If you go to the 'Browse' page on the site, there's a search window at the top.
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  9. #8
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    I am like Bill on the pdfs, Sherry. I only use Musescore for creating notation to share with the folk I play along with - generally fiddlers, accordionists and other trad or folkie types, and to write harmony parts to share with them. I have shared files regularly with the people I do collaborations with over on the SAW Group and when I work along with Ginny (Celtic Mandolins) it is pdfs we share as she uses an older version of Finale and also likes to have TAB, which I do not use. It is easy to add a TAB stave into Musescore then copy and paste the standard notation; Musescore does the conversion for you, and you can have the TAB in different formats.

    Most of my output is simple lead sheets or scores with maybe three parts, and I can convert them to pdf for passing on to my fellow players. Musescore lets me create parts so that I can have a tune displayed with all parts together or I can select one part and print out only that one - handy for someone who maybe finds it confusing to follow their own part when it is maybe the third line of the score. Using the mixer facility also lets you select the parts you want to hear while you are working on a score, and you can even adjust the levels and panning of the parts, just as you can in the recording DAW you use (Mine is REAPER).

    I find the new versions of Musescore useful in that they let you hear the chords when you type in the symbols. This is the default setting in the recent versions - input chord symbols and they will play back. This can cause stuttering if you have a computer that is lacking in technical specifications such as processor speed or RAM (as in my case) but you can turn off the feature once you have found the right place to do this! Also, the chord sounds on the note above which you have put the symbol.

    I know I am straying from the original thread here, but just showing how Musescore seems to be so useful for us no matter the level at which we use it, and there are always new things that we can find and share.
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  11. #9
    Registered User Polecat's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Not everything works perfectly in MuseScore, but given that it is freeware, I think it is a fantastic tool and have been using it for years.

    One workaround is to use the up/down arrow keys and the key signature tool - for example, if you wanted to transpose down a fifth, from G to C, say, then you would mark the entire score with ctrl. A, then hit the down arrow key seven times, shifting the entire notation seven semitones down. Then using the key signature tool, change the key from G major (one #) to C (no #). It's slightly longer, but up till now, it's always worked for me. I hope it does for you.
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  13. #10
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    In addition to changing the key signature when you import the PDF from musescore's website, you can also transpose within the song. Tools - Transpose - By Interval, and make sure that the "Transpose key signatures" is not checked. You can do this over a single measure or over the whole song, depending on how many measures you select.

    Another useful feature that I just discovered this week is that mandolin family instruments are part of the instrument library. Edit - Instruments - All Instruments (the default is Common). Then expand Plucked Strings. Previously I'd been loading Acoustic Guitar and changing the label to mandolin.
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  15. #11
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    To search for sheet music, go to https://musescore.com/. There is a search bar at the top of the page. Type in a term (e.g., Carolan), and it will take you to a bigger search page. You can filter for instrument type, song type, etc. You can see the song and play it from the website. You have to have the paid account to download anything that you like.
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  17. #12

    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    If I find music notation I like in Musescore site I usually take a screenshot and copy it in manually. Most of the music I find is not in Musescore anyway. On another note (pun intended) there is a template you can download that will automatically create mandolin tab as you input the notation. It's attached at the bottom of this discussion: https://musescore.org/en/node/42901 called Mando linked staff and tab.mscz and it also points you to instructions on how to put it into your Musescore Template folder.

  18. #13
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill McCall View Post
    If you go to the 'Browse' page on the site, there's a search window at the top.
    Bill, where is the "Browse" page? Is it called that or something else?

  19. #14
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Depends on platform. I just opened it on my iPad, and ‘browse’ is one of the headers. On my computer, it opens to the ‘dashboard’ page, complete with search window and separate ‘browse’ header. Also, if you’re logged in, if you click on your icon (silhouette on right side) there a ‘browse’ header in the drop down list.

    It’s funny that there is no ‘home page’ that I see.
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  20. #15
    Registered User Polecat's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    It's worth knowing that MuseScore can open any midi file and display it in standard notation. That means you can search for a song or tune title with the word "midi" behind it and will have a good chance of finding a downloadable file that you can use - sometimes the notation is more than somewhat garbled (tempo changes every bar, ludicrous time signatures and so on), but with a little practice, it's not too hard to edit it to something useable. http://abcnotation.com is a useful resource - apart from the abc (which I have never learned to read), there's a lot of standard notation and midis available. Off topic, I recommend http://www.folktunefinder.com/, although the audiofiles are rendered as mp3s, the collection is huge.
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  21. #16
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    So, you could take a tef file from TablEdit and import it into Musescore to add a harmony part, maybe easier than directly in TablEdit. Or not. Lot more capabilities than I am using.
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  22. #17
    Dave Berry
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Hey Bill, Unless I'm mistaken, I think you may have to export the tabledit file to midi format to import it directly into MuseScore at least that is how I have gotten it to work. Note, Tabledit seems to limit it to 16 bars unless you have a purchased copy. I guess YMMV.
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  23. #18
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    So, I've been compiling your comments and will be asking some pretty dumb questions, I suspect. If others might be interested in dumb questions and smart answers, you may want to let me know, either in this thread - or by PM if you'd rather not put yourself out there. Otherwise, I'll PM those who have posted, as I try to put your responses into action.

    To those who have posted, thanks for the information. I hope you don't mind hearing from me.

  24. #19
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Quote Originally Posted by tuhker View Post
    Hey Bill, Unless I'm mistaken, I think you may have to export the tabledit file to midi format to import it directly into MuseScore at least that is how I have gotten it to work. Note, Tabledit seems to limit it to 16 bars unless you have a purchased copy. I guess YMMV.
    That’s what I meant.
    Thanks
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  25. #20
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Quote Originally Posted by Sherry Cadenhead View Post
    So, I've been compiling your comments and will be asking some pretty dumb questions, I suspect. If others might be interested in dumb questions and smart answers, you may want to let me know, either in this thread - or by PM if you'd rather not put yourself out there. Otherwise, I'll PM those who have posted, as I try to put your responses into action.

    To those who have posted, thanks for the information. I hope you don't mind hearing from me.


    Sherry, the reason for the existence of the forums is to give us a place to present what might be seen as "dumb questions and smart answers". I am happy to see whatever folk post and if I do not want to read it I can decide not to; also, if I want to respond, I will do so in what I hope is a helpful way. We are all in the MC to support each other and it is one of the best sites around for seeking advice and getting helpful and positive responses. I am quite happy to correspond by PM too, as are most of us, I am pretty sure.

    Please feel free to continue asking. All of our questions add to the great pool of knowledge that exists here.
    Last edited by John Kelly; Apr-11-2021 at 4:29am. Reason: typos
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  27. #21
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    A different MuseScore question: How do you make the program do playback with its mandolin sound? All I have been able to get is piano.
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  28. #22
    Dave Berry
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Quote Originally Posted by DCHammers View Post
    A different MuseScore question: How do you make the program do playback with its mandolin sound? All I have been able to get is piano.
    Press F10 to get to the mixer and select whatever instrument you want. My experience is if you set the instrument to the mandolin at the beginning or use the mandolin template I think somebody mentioned, the playback will follow. Btw, there is an incredible MS forum that rivals the one here and they have all the answers. cheers

    https://musescore.org/en/node/23606
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Quote Originally Posted by tuhker View Post
    Btw, there is an incredible MS forum that rivals the one here and they have all the answers. cheers

    https://musescore.org/en/node/23606
    There is also a fairly active MuseScore Facebook group.

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  32. #24
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Quote Originally Posted by Dick Dery View Post
    There is also a fairly active MuseScore Facebook group.
    I just joined the Discussion and Support Group. Is that the best one for issues like those in this thread?

  33. #25
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: If You Use MuseScore

    Quote Originally Posted by Polecat View Post
    Not everything works perfectly in MuseScore, but given that it is freeware, I think it is a fantastic tool and have been using it for years.

    One workaround is to use the up/down arrow keys and the key signature tool - for example, if you wanted to transpose down a fifth, from G to C, say, then you would mark the entire score with ctrl. A, then hit the down arrow key seven times, shifting the entire notation seven semitones down. Then using the key signature tool, change the key from G major (one #) to C (no #). It's slightly longer, but up till now, it's always worked for me. I hope it does for you.
    Tim, I saved 2 pieces of music today in MuseScore format. The first one I transposed easily following your instructions. The second piece, when I hit Ctrl-A only highlighted a couple of measures. Up and down arrow keys didn't move any notes. Any idea what I did wrong - or didn't do right - with the second piece?

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