Once you have created a new project, you can begin entering notation using the "Note Input" bar.
The simplest way to start is to click on a duration first
and then hover over the score and click to place it.
This enters you into "Note Input" mode.
If you want to exit this mode so you can select other elements on the score,
you can either de-select the "Note Input" button or simply press Escape.
You can now select notes on the score and edit them,
changing the duration, adding accidentals, augmenting the duration,
or adding common articulations, like accents or staccato marks.
This "Slur" button allows you to add a slur over a selected range of notes.
You can also use the very handy shortcut "S" to do this.
This "Tie" button allows you to tie two durations together.
And you can change between voices here.
Then there's the "Tuplet" button.
To use this, you’ll need to select a duration, and then click on the "Tuplet" button
to choose the type you want.
You can also select the duration and use the shortcut Ctrl 3 on Windows
(or Command 3 on a Mac). The number you choose determines the division of the tuplet.
This "Add" button allows you to quickly access multiple other kinds of elements,
like titles or lyrics.
Lastly, this "Settings" button lets you choose the options you'd like to be displayed
in this bar by default.
For example, you can choose to display an option for a 3rd and a 4th voice.
You can use shortcuts to quickly specify durations as you are writing.
By default, MuseScore uses a linear system assigned to the numbers on your keyboard.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
You can quickly specify pitches like this:
A, B, C, D, and so on.
If you hold the Shift key while adding a new pitch,
it will stack it on an existing note to create a chord.
You can press Up and Down to alter the pitch of a selected note,
and if you hold Control or Command while doing this, you can alter the octave.
There are many more shortcuts that you can learn
by going our online handbook or searching our forum.
If you want to change an existing shortcut, you can do so in the preferences,
which, on a Mac can be found by clicking on this "MuseScore" menu item.
For PC or Linux users, you'll find it in the "Edit" menu.
The next most important interface in MuseScore is the palettes panel.
This is where you can find any type of element that you would like to add to your score.
For example, if you wanted to add a dynamic,
the best way to do this would be to select the note where you'd like it to be placed,
then click on the dynamic to see it appear on your score.
Alternatively, you can drag it directly from the palettes menu onto the score.
If you don't need a palette in this default list,
you can select it and press the backspace or delete button to hide it.
All hidden palettes can be accessed by clicking on the "Add palettes" button here.
Clicking on one of these "Add" buttons will promote a palette so it is shown in the main list.
The last core interface you'll need for score writing is the "Properties" panel
(which used to be called the "Inspector" in previous versions of MuseScore).
The "Properties" panel displays useful options for anything you can place on your score.
For example, if you select a note,
you can use the "Properties" panel to quickly alter the notehead
or the beaming properties.
If I select a hairpin, I can add a "niente" marking quickly.
If you select a measure, there's a useful option to quickly delete it or add new measures.
You can toggle the visibility of any item on your score
and you quickly change notation to be cue sized too.
If you select multiple elements at the same time,
the "Properties" panel will smartly package its options
so that you can still access any setting you need.
Apart from that, the "Properties" panel has plenty of useful default options
when nothing is selected.
You can quickly toggle the visibility of markings that won't be printed,
like frames around text boxes or invisible items.
You can also hide or show empty staves
and you can access your page and style settings too.
This is a really basic overview of the key concepts for score writing.
For more detailed tutorials,
check out some of our later chapters on our YouTube channel,
or look through our online handbook, which is linked in the description below.