Changing the angle of hairpins

By default, hairpins are horizontal and are automatically adjusted to avoid collisions with other objects, such as noteheads and slurs. You can change the angle of individual hairpins as required for your music.

Note

Changing only the start offset position with the keyboard or activating Start offset only changes the vertical position of the whole hairpin not its angle. You must change the end offset position or activate End offset as well to change the angle of hairpins.

Dragging handles with the mouse always changes the angle.

Procedure

In Engrave mode, select the middle handles of the hairpins whose angle you want to change.
Tip
- The hairpins you select do not have to be the same direction, or on the same staff.
- You can show handles on all items, not just selected items, by choosing Engrave > Show Handles > Always. This can make it easier to select individual handles on multiple items.
Move the handles in any of the following ways:
- Press Alt/Opt-Up Arrow to move them upwards.
- Press Alt/Opt-Down Arrow to move them downwards.
  
  Tip
  If you want to move handles by larger increments, you can press Ctrl/Cmd as well as the standard key command, for example, Ctrl/Cmd-Alt/Opt-Up Arrow.
- Click and drag them upwards/downwards.

Result

The angle of the selected hairpins is changed. Each end can be moved independently of the other.

Tip

The following properties in the Dynamics group of the Properties panel are activated automatically when you move the corresponding handles on hairpins vertically:

Start offset Y moves the start handles of hairpins vertically.
End offset Y moves the end handles of hairpins vertically.

For example, if you move a whole hairpin upwards, both handles are moved so both properties are activated. You can also use these properties to change the angles of hairpins by changing the values in the value fields.

Deactivating the properties resets the selected hairpins to their default positions.