Table of Contents
Notation reference
Grace notes
Grace notes are notes without a fixed duration, which are intended to be played quickly. They are scaled-down versions of normal notes, and are commonly shown with a slash through their stem.
General placement conventions for grace notes
Grace notes function like normal notes in many ways, but there are some specific conventions about their stem direction, position relative to noteheads, and the placement of stem slashes.
Grace note placement in multiple-voice contexts
According to accepted notation convention, grace notes appear stem up by default when there is only one voice on a staff, even if the notehead to which they are attached is stem down.

Grace note placement in multiple-voice contexts

According to accepted notation convention, grace notes appear stem up by default when there is only one voice on a staff, even if the notehead to which they are attached is stem down.

However, when there are multiple voices on the staff, all notes in the upper voices appear stem up and all notes in the lower voices appear stem down, including all grace notes. This adjustment happens automatically in Dorico Elements, but you can also override the stem direction of grace notes in multiple voices and change their directions individually if necessary.