Changing the properties of individual notes and items

You can change the properties of individual notes and notations independently of your project-wide settings, for example, if you want crescendos to appear as hairpins by default but require a single crescendo to appear as text.

Note

In Write mode, you can only change the properties of complete notes and notations. For example, if a pedal line extends across multiple systems, you cannot change its line style on one system but keep the original line style on another system. In Engrave mode, you can change individual parts of notes and notations separately.

Procedure

  1. Select a note or notation item in the music area.
  2. Optional: If the Properties panel is hidden, show it in any of the following ways:

    • Press Ctrl/Cmd-8.

    • Click the disclosure arrow at the bottom of the window.

    • Choose Window > Show Bottom Panel.

  3. In the Properties panel, change the properties you want.

Result

The complete note or notation item is changed. The changes are immediately displayed in the music area.

Note

  • Many properties are layout-specific. For example, if you change the placement of an item relative to the staff in a full score layout, this does not affect the placement of the item in the corresponding part layout. However, you can copy property settings to other layouts.

  • You can change the default settings for how notes are notated in each flow independently, such as the default note and beam grouping in different meters, in Write > Notation Options.

  • You can change the default appearance and position of all notes and notations project-wide in Engrave > Engraving Options.