Topic #24: Staff options in MuseScore

In this MuseTube course lesson, we dive into the “Staff/Part Properties” menu in MuseScore. This tool allows you to customize both the visual and functional behavior of each staff in the score, including aspects like style, visibility, fingering, and transposition. Below, we explore everything you can do with this powerful feature.

🧭 Accessing Staff Properties

To open this menu, right-click on any measure and select “Staff/Part Properties.” Despite the name, “Part” doesn’t refer to the part scores we’ve discussed in earlier videos. MuseScore has clarified this naming is a mistake, and future versions will rename it to “Staff or Instrument Properties.”

🎼 Types of Staff Styles

There are four main staff styles:

• Standard A: The classic five-line staff used by most instruments.
• Standard B: Similar to A but adapted for instruments like guitar.
• Tablature: Especially useful for string instruments.
• Percussion: Offers distinct visual and functional options.

By adding different instruments to a single score, you can observe the differences between these styles and how they affect the available options.

🛠️ Visual and Structural Customization

• Number of lines: Adjustable, especially useful for tablatures.
• Line spacing and scaling: Controls the visual appearance of the staff.
• Visibility of clef, time signature, and barlines: You can toggle these on or off.
• Small or invisible staff: Useful for graphical notation needs.
• Cutaway and initial barline: To visually divide score sections.
• Merge rests: Automatically merges redundant rests across voices.

🎨 Advanced Style Properties

In this section, you can adjust key signatures, extra ledger lines, and notehead styles. You can also choose the notation system: letter names (A–G), German, fixed-do or movable-do solfège, among others. These settings are instrument-specific and help tailor the score for educational or publishing purposes.

🎸 Tablature Options

• Invert string order: Highest-pitched string at the top or bottom.
• Markings: Use numbers or letters, on or between lines.
• Fingering: Option to show it directly on the tablature.
• Linked staves: Tablatures that reflect notes from a standard staff automatically.

Additionally, you can adjust stem styles, how half notes are shown, and whether to display rests.

🕒 Note Durations and Repetition

In the “Durations” tab, you can define symbols for each rhythmic figure and configure whether repeated figures are hidden or shown again. Options include how stems are displayed and how half notes are visually represented.

📏 Pitch Range and Colors

MuseScore highlights notes that are too high or too low for a given instrument. Two ranges are defined: amateur and professional. Notes outside these ranges are color-coded, helping ensure playability according to the performer’s skill level.

🔁 Transposition and Key Signatures

Transposing instruments like trumpet or clarinet do not sound the same pitch as a piano when playing a written “C.” This section lets you define how many semitones the instrument transposes and how the key signature should be displayed: in sharps or flats, depending on your needs or context.

🧵 String Data Editing

For string instruments like guitar, you can define the number of strings and their tuning individually. This is done from “Edit string data,” allowing you to set custom tunings for each string as needed.

🪄 Changing Staff Type Mid-Score

From the “Layout” palette, you can use the “Staff Type Change” item to change staff settings from a specific point forward. This allows for visual changes mid-piece without affecting earlier measures, ideal for complex scores or structural shifts.