General placement conventions for tremolos

Single-note tremolos are positioned on note stems, whereas multi-note tremolos are positioned between the stems of two or more notes. When multi-note tremolos cross three or more notes, the tremolo strokes are positioned between all the notes.

Tremolo strokes are slightly thinner than beams, so that the gaps between strokes are large enough and the number of strokes can be instantly recognized.

Dorico Elements automatically avoids collisions between tremolo strokes and ledger lines or stem flags.

Tremolo strokes within the staff are positioned so that they are at least one staff space clear of noteheads, and at valid positions relative to staff lines and staff spaces. This means that tremolo strokes might not move every time you change the pitch of notes.

Figure 1. The positions of the tremolo strokes on the first two notes and the last two notes are the same, although the pitches are all different.

In Dorico Elements, the angle of single-note tremolo strokes is always the same, no matter the direction of the phrase. The angles of multi-note tremolo strokes are determined by the height of the stems to which the multi-note tremolos apply. You can change the angles of multi-note tremolo strokes individually by lengthening/shortening the stems at the start/end of the tremolo.