Hiding/Showing bar rests in empty bars

You can hide/show bar rests in empty bars in each layout in your project independently of other layouts. For example, you can hide bar rests in full score layouts but show bar rests in part layouts.

Bar rests are usually shown in empty bars in music to indicate to performers that they have nothing to play. However, there are contexts in which it is preferable to hide bar rests in empty bars, and instead leave the bar completely empty.

For example, hiding bar rests in empty bars is sometimes the preferred visual aesthetic in large scores, so that it is quicker to identify bars containing music. You can also hide bar rests in layouts where you want to include other instructions, such as verbal indications for performers to do something other than play notated pitches.

Procedure

  1. In Setup mode, choose Setup > Layout Options.

    The Layout Options dialog opens.

  2. In the Layouts list, select the layouts in which you want to hide/show bar rests in empty bars in one of the following ways:
    • Click Select All.

    • Click Select All Full Score Layouts.

    • Click Select All Part Layouts.

    • Click Select All Custom Score Layouts.

    • Ctrl/Cmd-click individual layouts.

    • Shift-click adjacent layouts.

    By default, the layout currently open in the music area is selected when you open the dialog.

  3. Select Players from the Category menu.
  4. In the Bar Rests and Multi-bar Rests section, activate/deactivate Show bar rests in empty bars.

Result

All bar rests in empty bars in the selected layouts are shown when the checkbox is activated, and hidden when the checkbox is deactivated.