Creating with
MuseScore
Step 3
Adding Articulations, Tempi, Dynamics, and Text
Our next step is to add expressive markings, like tempo, dynamics, and articulations, to indicate to the performers how they should be played.
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1. To set a tempo, click on the arrow next to Tempo. You can use either text descriptions (Andante, Allegro, etc.) or metronome markings. Click on the marking you want and drag it to where you want it in the score. To adjust a metronome marking, double click it, select the number and type to replace it. The playback tempo will adjust automatically.​​
As an aside, numerical metronome markings were unknown before Beethoven. see this article on the history of the metronome for more information,
2. Dynamics work the same way. Click the arrow next to Dynamics and drag the dynamic to wher you want it to start. Note that dynamics are per instrument.
3. If you add a crescendo or decrescendo, the marking will have handles that you can drag to resize it. This will also change when the crescendo or decrescendo begins and ends in playback.
4. Accents, slurs and the like are found in the articulation palette. Like crescendos, slurs have resizing handles.
5. You can also select multiple notes and then click an articulation to add that articulation to all the notes at once.
6. To add text to your score, use the text palette. System text will appear above the top staff of a system, no matter which note it's attached to. To change the text style, click on the properties tab.
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7. Since we have an instrumental piece, we need to create individual instrument parts. Click on the
icon then click on "Open all" button in the popup window. This will open each part in a separate tab. The parts are linked to the score so if you make a change in the score, the affected part(s) will also change and vice-versa.
