If you have a MIDI keyboard,

you can use it to enter notes in 
MuseScore 4 quickly and intuitively

First, you’ll need to check that MuseScore
recognises your MIDI keyboard.

Go to Preferences, and select “I/O” 
(short for input/output).

Then in the MIDI section, open the dropdown
menus next to “MIDI input” and “MIDI output”,

and select your device. 
Then click OK.

MuseScore 4 should recognise 
your device straight away,

so you shouldn’t need to restart 
the program before using it.

Next, go over to this settings icon 
in the playback toolbar,

and ensure that 
“Enable MIDI input” is checked.

Now you’re ready to enter notes 
using your MIDI keyboard.

First, enter note input mode by clicking 
on the note input mode button,

or by using the keyboard shortcut “N”.

It’s important to remember to set 
the note duration you wish to use

before you play a note 
on your MIDI keyboard.

To enter one note at a time, 
press and release each key completely

before pressing down the key 
for the next note.

If you press and hold multiple 
keys at the same time,

MuseScore will enter all these notes 
together as a chord.

It’s worth mentioning that the on-screen
piano keyboard will visually reflect the keys

you press on your own MIDI keyboard.

You can also use it to enter 
notes into your score,

by clicking on the piano keys 
with your mouse.

You can show or hide the piano keyboard

by going to "View" and 
selecting "Piano Keyboard",

or by using the shortcut P.

Depending on the model of your MIDI keyboard,

you may be able to assign some of its controls
to a range of actions for entering notes

and playing back scores.

For example, I can assign some of these playback
controls to switches on my keyboard.

Go to Preferences, and select 
“MIDI device mapping”.

I’ll select the play action and then click
“Assign MIDI mapping…”.

Now when I press an assignable control on
my MIDI keyboard,

MuseScore will recognise it and 
assign it to the play control.

You can also assign actions to actual keys
on your MIDI keyboard.

For example, I might assign these note durations
to the lowest note on my keyboard.

This will allow me to set durations 
with my left hand

while entering notes 
with my right hand,

meaning my hands never have to leave
the keys while I’m entering music.

If you liked this tutorial and want to learn
more about MuseScore,

check out some of our later chapters 
on our YouTube channel

or look through our online handbook,

which is linked in the description below.