Staff and system text

Overview

Staff text and System text is general purpose text attached to a staff. It can be used for a variety of purposes not covered by other more specific types of text, e.g.

• Musical expressions.
• Performance indications.
• Applying titles to movements.
• Capo playback for guitarists (staff text only).
• Applying swing and straight time (staff or system text).

and so on.

Staff text appears on only one staff in a system, applies only to that staff, and is present in its instrument part.

System text appears above the top staff of a system, applies to all staves, and is present in all the instrument parts.

Staff and system text can also be found incorporated into lines.

Adding staff text to your score

1. Select a note
2. Use one of the following methods:
   • Press Ctrl+T.
   • From the menu, select Add→Text→Staff text.
   • Click on the "Staff text" icon in the Text palette
3. Enter the desired text in the bounding box.

Alternatively, drag the "Staff text" icon onto a note in the score before entering the desired text.

Adding expression text to your score

1. Select a note
2. Use one of the following methods:
   • Press Ctrl+E.
   • From the menu, select Add→Text→Expression text.
   • Click on the "Expression text" icon in the Text palette
3. Enter the desired text in the bounding box.

Alternatively, drag the "Expression text" icon onto a note in the score before entering the desired text.

Adding system text to your score

1. Select a note
2. Use one of the following methods:
   • Press Ctrl+Shift+T.
   • From the menu, select Add→Text→System text.
   • Click on the "System text" icon in the Text palette
3. Enter the desired text in the bounding box.

Alternatively, drag the "System text" icon onto a note in the score before entering the desired text.

Repeating system text on other staves

System text automatically appears above the top staff of the system. If you need a similar indication on a lower staff, add it to that staff using staff text.

[Adding automatically via a template? – to be added]

Staff and system text properties

Staff text properties, for swing and capo settings, can be accessed as follows:

1. Right-click on the text object
2. Select Staff text properties
3. Choose one of the following tabs:
   • Swing settings
   • Capo settings

System text only has one property, swing, and this is applied using a similar context menu.

Staff and system text style

Some default properties for all staff text in the score can be set from Format→Style→Staff text.

And for system text lines, from Format→Style→System text line.