how to add lyrics in musescore

Updated 9 months ago

Enter a lyrics line

First line

1. Enter the notes of the melody line;
2. Select the note where you want to start entering lyrics;
3. To enter lyrics mode, type Ctrl+L (Mac: Cmd+L ); or from the main menu, select Add→Text→Lyrics;
4. Type a syllable;
5. Use the following options to continue entering lyrics:
   • Go to the next syllable: Press Space (or Ctrl+→ (Mac: Alt+→ )) at the end of a syllable.
   • Hyphen (to connect syllables): Press - at the end of a syllable.
   • Go to the previous syllable: Press Shift+Space (or Ctrl+← (Mac: Alt+→ )).
   • Move left: Press ← (left arrow). If the cursor is at the beginning of a syllable, it will jump to the previous one.
   • Move right: Press → (right arrow). If the cursor is at the end of a syllable, it will jump to the next one.
   • Move to the syllable below: Press ↓ (down arrow).
   • Move to the syllable above: Press ↑ (up arrow).
   • Start new lyrics line: Press ↵ (Return) at the end of an existing lyrics syllable (Note: Don't use the Enter key from the numeric keypad!).
6. To exit lyrics mode, press Esc or click outside of the text box.

Subsequent lines

If you want to add another lyrics line to an existing one (e.g. a 2nd or 3rd verse etc.):

1. Choose one of the following options:
   • Select the note where you want to start the new lyrics line. Enter lyrics mode as shown in step 3 (above). The cursor moves to a new (blank) line.
   • Enter text edit mode on an existing syllable, go to the end of the syllable and press ↵ (Return). The cursor moves to the next line.
2. Continue entering lyrics from step 4 (above).

Example:

Special characters

In most cases, lyrics can be edited just like normal text. However, special keyboard shortcuts are required to enter the following characters:

• Space character: Ctrl+Space (Mac: Alt+Space ).

• - (hyphen): Ctrl+- (Mac: Alt+- ) or AltGr+- .

• Line feed: Ctrl+↵ (Mac: Alt+Return ) or Enter (from the numeric keypad).

Verse numbers

To number verses, simply type the number (e.g. 1.) and a space before the first syllable. MuseScore will automatically align the numbers and first syllable correctly.

Melisma

A melisma is a syllable or word that extends over two or more notes. It is indicated by an underline extending from the base of a syllable to the last note of the melisma. The underline is created by positioning the cursor at the end of a syllable and pressing Shift+_ : once for each note in the melisma. See the image below:

The above lyric was created in the following manner:

1. Type the letters, s o u l , .
2. At the end of the word, press Shift+_ _ _.
3. Type the letters T o , then press Esc .

For non-last syllables to extend, just use additional dashes - , usually only one of them will show (more when the distance between the syllables is large enough), and the syllable will right-align to the first note, similar to last syllables that got notated with a melisma, see above.

Elision (Lyric) slur / Synalepha

Two syllables under a note can be joined with an elision slur, also known as a "lyric slur" or "synalepha". For example:

To create the example lyric text, starting with the syllable text "te":

1. Type t e ;
2. Click on the keyboard icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen, or press F2 to open the Special Characters palette;

3. Use one of the following options:

   • Double-click one of the three elision slurs in the "Common Symbols" tab: "Narrow elision", "Elision", or "Wide elision" (these can be found between the "C Clef" and the " p " dynamic—see image below):
     
   • Double-click the elision slur found after the 7/8 fraction in the "Common Symbols" tab (next to last character in the image above). Depending on the font, add one or more spaces before/after the slur using Ctrl+Space (Mac: Alt+Space ).

   Note: Not all fonts include the "undertie" character (U+203F ‿ "undertie", present in "Special Characters" mainly for compatibility with MuseScore 1.x scores). To find out which fonts on your computer support it, see "fontlist" (look for any font that shows a tie between "te" and "A" instead of a blank rectangle).

4. Type A .

As of 3.6: Ctrl+Alt+- (Mac: Cmd+Alt+- ).

Edit Lyrics

1. Enter text edit mode on an existing syllable;
2. Use standard text editing commands to make changes;
3. Continue entering lyrics (see above); or exit lyrics mode by pressing Esc .

Adjust properties of lyrics

To make global adjustments to the properties of all lyrics in the score:

1. From the menu, select Format→Style...→Lyrics;
2. Edit Placement, Line height, Margins, Dash and Melisma properties as required.

Adjust position of individual lyrics lines

To adjust the position of a particular lyrics line:

1. Select the lyrics line: i.e. right-click on a word in the line, and (from the menu) choose Select→More...; then check the relevant options, which should include "Same system";
2. Adjust the X and Y offsets in the Inspector.

Copy lyrics to clipboard

To copy all lyrics to the clipboard:

• From the menu bar, select Tools→Copy Lyrics to Clipboard.

Paste lyrics from clipboard

To copy and paste lyrics from a text file (say) into a score:

1. Enter the notes in the score to which the lyrics will be attached.
2. Set up your lyrics in a text file, with appropriate spaces, hyphens, line-breaks etc.
3. Copy the lyrics from the text-file into the clipboard.
4. Select the start note in MuseScore, and press Ctrl+L (Mac: Cmd+L ) (step 3 under Enter lyrics in a score).
5. Repeatedly applying paste will enter successive words of the lyrics. You may need to enter melismas and make other corrections as you go along.

See also

• Text
• Chord symbol

External links

• How to insert Lyrics (MuseScore HowTo)
• How to move lyrics (MuseScore HowTo)
• How to add a block of text to a score (MuseScore HowTo)
• How to copy lyrics, or lyrics with rhythm (MuseScore HowTo)
• How to add lyrics in columns (MuseScore HowTo)
• Video tutorial: MuseScore in Minutes: Lesson 6 - Text, Lyrics and Chords

how to add lyrics in musescore

Source: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/lyrics

Posted by: hurleydickclonsund1952.blogspot.com

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