Topic #35: Keyboard, guitar, and percussion in MuseScore

In this MuseTube lesson, we focus on three of the most widely used instruments in MuseScore: keyboard, guitar, and percussion. MuseScore provides specific palettes for each, and while many elements were covered in previous lessons, here we highlight the most distinctive and advanced features, divided into three clear sections.

🎹 Keyboard palette: pedal and cross-staff notes

The “Keyboard” palette includes the sustain pedal symbol, which can appear as lines with brackets or as “Ped.” and “*”. Select the start and end measure and apply the desired marking.

To indicate a pedal change (lift and press again), insert a second pedal mark where the change occurs. You can adjust hooks, angles, and visibility from the “Properties” panel.

To cross notes between staves, select a note and press Ctrl+Shift+Arrow (↑ or ↓) to move it from one staff to the other. This improves legibility when many ledger lines are involved.

To create chords spanning both staves, manually extend the stem and reposition the flag, disabling automatic placement in “Properties”.

🎸 Guitar palette: chord diagrams, tablature, techniques

From the “Guitar” palette, you can insert chord diagrams above notes. MuseScore shows finger placement on the fretboard, and you can customize the diagram in “Properties”: add barre chords, remove strings, show open or muted strings, and more.

You can also create custom chord shapes by enabling “multi-dot” mode (for multiple fingers per string), or use Shift+Click to add barres quickly.

📋 Tablature: creating and editing

You can create tablature in three ways:

• Add a second staff to an instrument and change its type to “tablature”.
• Create a linked staff that mirrors notes automatically in tab view.
• Select “tablature” when adding a new instrument.

In “Staff/Part Properties”, you can also edit the number of strings and their tuning to match a custom setup not included in the MuseScore instrument list.

🆕 Advanced guitar techniques (MuseScore 4.1 and 4.2)

Recent versions of MuseScore include new guitar-specific features:

• Capo: Add a capo on any fret and string.
• Bending: Add bend effects between two notes, configurable via “Properties”.
• Edit tuning: Already explained above for customizing tab setups.

🥁 Percussion palette

When creating a new score, you can add a drum set. When writing notes in the percussion clef, MuseScore assigns sounds to each line according to the instrument (kick, snare, cymbals…).

For a more in-depth explanation, the author refers to a specific video on percussion in MuseScore.

This lesson serves as a practical review of key tools and techniques for working with keyboard, guitar, and percussion instruments in MuseScore.