Hairpins
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Hairpins are symbols used to indicate gradual changes of volume in the score. There are two kinds: crescendo (getting louder) and decrescendo (getting quieter).
There are also crescendo and diminuendo lines which do the same thing:
All can be found in the Lines or Dynamics palettes.
To enter a hairpin from a palette use one of the following options:
Select a range of notes or measures, then click on a hairpin in the palette.
Drag and drop a hairpin onto a notehead. The hairpin will extend to the end of the measure.
To enter a hairpin using a keyboard shortcut:
Select a range of notes or measures;
Use one of the following options:
For a crescendo hairpin press <
("less than" sign).
For a diminuendo hairpin press >
("greater than" sign).
To extend or contract the range of a hairpin, see Changing range of a line.
To change the height, select the height adjustment handle (shaded in the image below) …
… then use keyboard arrows, offsets (Properties panel), or dragging, to move the handle into the desired position. (See Basics: Adjusting elements directly.)
Alternatively you can adjust the "Height" in the Hairpin: Style section of the Properties panel.
To allow the hairpin to slope at a diagonal, check the "Allow diagonal" box in Hairpin: Style in the Properties panel. Then move the start/end adjustment handles to get the desired slope.
See Hairpin properties.
You can edit properties specific to hairpins in the Hairpins section of the Properties panel.
Niente circle: Places a small circle at the point of the hairpin. Allow diagonal: Allows the hairpin to be set at an angle; see Changing appearance of hairpins (above). Line style: Choose solid, dashed or dotted lines. Thickness / Height: Height (new system): Specify the height of subsequent hairpins if the first one spans a system. Position: Above or Below.
Properties here allow you to specify beginning, end, and continuation texts and their vertical offsets.
See Templates and styles and Dynamics style