Beginner Question: Why Does MuseScore Keep Adding Rests Into My Score?
Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by MuseScoreTips in How-To Videos, Quicktips
One of the most frequently asked questions here on MuseScoreTips and via my Youtube videos is: “Why does MuseScore keep “adding” rests into a measure when I’m entering notes?”.
Along the same lines is this question: “How do I delete rests?”
If you’ve had experience with notation software before, you won’t be surprised by MuseScore’s behaviour but it can be disconcerting for someone who’s come from a MIDI sequencing or simple pencil-and-paper background. I hope this video clears things up a little.
Video transcript below.
Video Transcript
When you set up a score in a notation program like MuseScore, you will choose a starting time signature which defines the pulse or meter of the music you’re writing.
The time signature you choose defines the number of beats in a bar, and what type of beats they are. For instance, a time signature of 4/4 means that I will have 4 quarter note beats in each measure.
Every measure in a score consists of one of the following:
1. Sound – that is, a note or a number of notes
2. Silence – that is, a rest
3. A combination of the two – some notes and some rests
For example, if I add a quarter note – worth 1 beat – into the beginning of a 4/4 measure like this, MS will automatically maintain the total value of the measure – in this case 4 – by inserting rests that add up to 3 beats.
If I add another quarter note, the measure will now contain notes that total 2 beats and in order to maintain a total of 4 beats, MS will alter the rests accordingly so that they add up to 2 . The total value of rests and notes in a measure in 4/4 time will always add up to 4.
If you have rests in a measure that you don’t want, you simply need to replace the rests with notes.
In this example, I have 3 quarter notes in a measure. The rest at the end of the measure is worth one beat so that the measure correctly adds up to 4. If I wanted to get rid of this rest, I would simply need to make the third note longer by changing it into a half-note.
Kevin Robinson
21. Dec, 2011
That’s an excellent video. Thanks for posting…
Peter
07. Mar, 2012
Thanks for your info. I’m new to the application and still not able to find a way to add rests rather than remove them and I haven’t found a tempo control yet either. Any help much appreciated. Thanks
Pete
Katie Wardrobe
04. Apr, 2012
Hi Pete. Your score either contains notes or rest, so if you have a note in a measure and want it to be a rest you can simply select it and press 0 to turn it into a rest. If you have a full measure rest and want to “split it up” into smaller rests, you can select the whole-note rest and then select a smaller rhythmic value (e.g.. a quarter note) by pressing 5. Tempo is best controlled by a Tempo word at the beginning of your score (along with a metronome mark). There’s a video about that here: http://www.musescoretips.com/2011/06/how-to-set-the-playback-tempo-of-your-score-video/
Steve
31. Oct, 2012
Hi, I’m a newbie using Muse for my Uni work. I’m having trouble deleting the rests when I just want to use Slash marks in the bar
Katie Wardrobe
31. Oct, 2012
No need to delete rests. Simply select one or more rests and from the Note Heads palette, double click on the “half slash head”. Read more at http://musescore.org/en/node/8422