In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a score in MuseScore 4 quickly and easily. If you’re a beginner, this is an excellent starting point to get familiar with the software.

🚀 Methods to Create a Score

In MuseScore 4, you can create a score in four different ways:

• By clicking the “New Score” button.
• By clicking the “New” button at the bottom.
• From the “File” → “New” menu.
• Using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + N.

Any of these options will take you to the score creation screen.

🎻 Selecting Instruments

When creating a new score, you have two options:

• Selecting a predefined template.
• Manually choosing and adding instruments.

For this example, we will select a template from the “General” category and choose the “Treble Clef” option. Then, click “Done” to start.

🎵 Entering Notes in MuseScore

To enter notes into the score, follow these steps:

• Click on the measure where you want to enter the notes.
• Activate note input mode by clicking the “pencil icon” or pressing the “N” key.
• By default, the “Quarter Note” is selected. You can change the note value using the Note Input Toolbar or by pressing numbers 1 to 9 on the keyboard.
• To enter notes using the keyboard, use the letters A to G, following the Anglo-Saxon notation (A = A, B = B, C = C, etc.).

🔗 Adding Elements like Slurs

The “Palettes Panel” allows us to add graphical elements such as slurs, dynamics, and articulations. To add a slur:

• Select the first note.
• Hold down the “Shift” key and click the last note of the slur.
• From the “Articulations” tab, click “Slur”.

⚙️ Customization with the “Properties” Panel

In MuseScore 4, the “Properties” panel allows us to modify different parameters of the score. For MuseScore 3 users, this function was previously known as the “Inspector”.

Depending on the selected element (note, measure, slur), the “Properties” menu changes to offer specific settings.

💾 Saving and Exporting Scores

To save your score:

• Go to “File” → “Save As”.
• Choose whether to save it to the cloud or your computer.
• The default format is .mscz, compatible with both MuseScore 3 and 4 (although scores created in MuseScore 4 cannot be opened in MuseScore 3).

To export to other formats:

• Go to “File” → “Export”.
• Select the desired format (PDF, MP3, image, etc.).
• Click “Export” and save the file to your computer.

🔄 Keep MuseScore Updated

It is recommended to keep the program updated to benefit from new features and bug fixes.

• From “Edit” → “Preferences”, enable the option “Check for a new version of MuseScore available”.
• You can also check manually by going to “Help” → “Check for Updates”.

🎹 Differences Between MuseScore 3 and MuseScore 4

Some key differences between the two versions:

• In MuseScore 4, the “Start Center” has been removed.
• The “pencil icon” for entering notes is now called “Note Input Mode”.
• The “Inspector” from MuseScore 3 has been replaced by the “Properties” panel in MuseScore 4.
• In MuseScore 3, the slur option is found in the “Lines” tab.

🎯 Conclusion

With this tutorial, we have learned the basic steps to create a score in MuseScore, enter notes, add graphical elements, save, and export our work.

In the next tutorial, we will explore MuseScore’s user interface and main menus in depth, making navigation within the program more efficient.

See you soon!