Articulations, dynamics, and text

Articulations

Use parentheses. Square brackets have other jobs, including chords and changes of musical context.

Type	Mark
Staccato	`(.)`
Staccatissimo	`(..)`
Accent	`(>)`
Tenuto	`(-)`
Marcato	`(^)`
Portato	`(.-)`
Fermata	`(!)`
Breath	`(,)`
Caesura	`(caesura)`

Notation for the preceding Articulations, dynamics, and text example — ScoreScript sourceDownload source

Several articulations may share a group, such as (>.). An articulation normally belongs to one note. Its side follows the engraving rules for the staff and voices; moving it before or after the pitch is not a general manual placement command for articulations.

Breaths and caesuras mark a point in the phrase without adding a written rest duration. Write the breath after its note: 4C5 (,) means breathe after C. 4C5(,) and (,)4C5 have the same attachment; formatting writes the separated trailing form. The mark always prints above the staff, in the following gap; at a line ending it stays before the closing barline. Its spacing follows the line automatically.

Note shapes, arpeggios, and release ties

(notehead-cross), (notehead-diamond), (notehead-triangle), and (notehead-slash) change the attached note's head while retaining its written value. On a chord, the shape applies to all its pitches.

(arpeggio-up), (arpeggio-down), and (arpeggio-unmarked) draw the chord's arpeggio; they do not spread its playback attacks. (tie-lv) draws a local laissez-vibrer release curve, including on a final note, without inventing a following tied note. These marks retain their meaning in MusicXML.

Paired (beam-begin) and (beam-end) join their notes through the native beam model, including across beats and bars. An unmatched or undrawable pair warns by name. (beam-break) starts a new beam group on its carrying note, cutting every beam level before it; a note already starting its group stays unchanged. For example, 8C5 D(beam-break) E F 2r leaves C flagged and beams D–E–F together. A paired tremolo keeps its own ribbons and warns if a cut cannot be drawn there. (stem-none), (cue-size), and (tie-open) warn with notation.not-drawn while their drawing remains unimplemented; the warning does not refuse the score or its export. A selected font that lacks a requested duration-specific head reports that omission rather than substituting another head.

Repeat an articulation

(sim) continues the articulation in force. (non) ends that run. Rests receive no articulation and do not by themselves end a run. An explicit new articulation group interrupts it.

Dynamics and expression

Common dynamics include (ppp), (pp), (p), (mp), (mf), (f), (ff), (fff), and (sfz). A dynamic stays in force until another changes it. Expression words include (dolce) and (cresc). Instrument techniques such as (cup-mute), (pizz), (flutter-tongue) and (non-vibrato) also carry playback meaning for capable hosts; see Expressive playback. Use a quoted string for your own text, such as ("sul pont.").

(cresc) / (cresc.) and (crescendo) print italic words. The falling forms are (dim) / (dim.), (dimin) / (dimin.), (diminuendo), (decresc) / (decresc.) and (decrescendo). They never turn into a drawn hairpin. Use < ... < or > ... > when you want that line. Recognized loudness words can still shape playback; quoted ("cresc.") stays literal text and does not request a playback ramp.

To name the instrument a played passage borrows from, write (source "Bsn. 1")4C4 D E F. The label prints small and italic, in the same style as cue labels, while the notes remain full size. Use ((source "Bsn. 1")) for an editorial label. The quoted name is required. The addressed form, text tbn m1:0 above source "Bsn. 1", remains available when you prefer to label a passage without editing its music line.

For dynamics, expression, and text, before the node means above the staff; after the node means below. Touch the intended node to avoid ambiguous attachment. A detached floating mark binds left.

Source	Placement and attachment
`4C5(p) D E F`	Below C
`4C5 (p)D E F`	Above D
`4C5 (p) D E F`	Detached; binds left, below C

One parenthesized group prints as one line. Put the dynamic and description together when you want them together. ((p)) is an editorial dynamic, printed with an enclosure.

A word that qualifies a dynamic stands before it, however you wrote the group: (sub. f), (f sub.) and (subito f) all print sub. f / subito f, and (sempre p), (poco f), (molto f), (piu f), (meno f) print the word first for the same reason. A word that describes the sound — (f dolce), (p espressivo) — follows the dynamic. sub. is accepted as the abbreviation of subito and prints with its period — as do rit., rall., accel., cresc., dim., espr., sim. and pizz.: inside a mark group the period after one of these words belongs to the word, not to a staccato.

Who is playing — the player and divisi words

A part two players share is one staff and two people, so its page has to say which of them is playing. Four words say it, and they are marks like any other.

Source	Printed	Meaning
`(1.)` `(2.)` …	`1.` `2.`	only that player plays
`(a2)` `(a3)` …	`a2` `a3`	all of them, one line, in unison
`(div)`	`div.`	the players divide
`(unis)`	`unis.`	and back to one line

The number is the roster's, so a desk written horn-f 3,4 says (3.) and (4.). Each word holds until the next one, or until the end of the part.

div and unis are written without the dot the page prints: a bare . inside a mark group is the staccato. A player number keeps its dot, because the digits in front of it say the dot is not an articulation.

These are not quoted text. ("Tbn. 2") prints those characters and means nothing more; (2.) is a word the engraver understands, and the desk's own page uses it — see the desk's own page. Write one and the page prints it exactly where you put it; write nothing and the page works the word out for itself.

Ornaments and tremolo

(tr) marks a trill, (mord) a mordent, (turn) a turn, and (iturn) an inverted turn. For a trill extending over several notes, use a trill line.

(trem), (trem2), and (trem3) select stem tremolo marks. (z) marks a buzz roll. These are single-note marks; they do not spell an alternating two-note tremolo.

Printing an ornament does not guarantee a particular sampled performance. Check the sound you intend to deliver.