Nested slurs

Nested slurs are two or more slurs used simultaneously, where the overarching slur shows the structure of the phrase and the inner slurs show the articulation within the phrase. They are also known as “slurs within slurs”.

Depending on the stem directions within the overarching outer slur and your settings on the Slurs page in Engraving Options, inner slurs may appear on the opposite side of the staff to the outer slur.

Figure 1. A phrase with nested slurs

If you want to change the default distance between the endpoints of nested slurs, you can increase/decrease the project-wide value for Minimum vertical gap between two slurs starting or ending on the same note in the Avoiding Collisions section of the Slurs page in Engraving Options.

You can input nested slurs in the same ways as inputting standard slurs. By default, Dorico Pro makes automatic adjustments to their positioning to avoid collisions.