Brackets

Overview

Brackets are used to visually group multiple adjacent staves together (usually instruments of the same family, e.g. woodwind or brass), and braces are used to group multiple staves of a single instrument (e.g. the grand staff of a piano) or adjacent instruments of the same or similar type.

Brackets and braces are automatically added when you create a score via the New Score dialog, but you can easily add, remove or change them.

Note that brackets and braces are drawn on all systems. You can add, remove or modify them on any system, but the changes will affect every system where they appear. They are added from the Brackets palette.

Adding brackets

To add a bracket or brace:

1. Select a range of staves by clicking a measure on the staff where you want the bracket or brace to start, then hold Shift and click on a measure on the staff where you want it to end

2. Click the icon representing the desired bracket type in the Brackets palette.

Alternatively:

1. Select a measure on the topmost staff which you wish the bracket to span

2. Click the desired bracket in the Brackets palette (you can also drag it directly from the palette to the staff)

3. Select the bracket at the start of the system, then click the adjustment handle at the bottom and drag it down to the lowest staff you wish it to span. When you release the mouse button the bracket will snap into place.

You an apply nested brackets using any of these methods. Newly created brackets are drawn outside of existing ones, so it usually easiest to start with the innermost and work outwards. However, you can edit the order later using the Column property (see below).

Editing brackets

If you select a bracket/brace, you can edit its properties in the Properties panel (sidebar).

• Column: Moves the bracket inwards/outwards.

• Span: Extends or retracts the end of the bracket/brace.

Changing bracket span

The top position of a bracket is fixed. If you need to move it, you must delete the bracket and create a new one.

To change the bottom position, use any of these methods:

• Select the bracket, click the adjustments handle, and drag it to the new position

• Select the bracket, click the adjustment handle, and press Shift+Up/Down to move it from staff to staff

• Select the bracket, go to the Properties panel, and change the Span property, which specifies how many staves the bracket should enclose.

Changing bracket type

• Select the bracket or brace that you wish to change

• Click on a new bracket or brace in the Brackets palette.

Customizing bracket appearance

There are a few global properties for brackets and braces which are available in Format -> Style -> System under System brackets:

• Bracket thickness: The thickness of a thick bracket

• Bracket distance: The distance between a thick bracket and the staff

• Brace thickness: The thickness (total width) of a brace. Note that this only applies when the Emmentaler and Gonville fonts are used, as these fonts do not include brace symbols and so the braces are drawn algorithmically

• Brace distance: The distance between a brace and the staff.

Deleting brackets

To delete a bracket or brace, select it and press Del.

Brackets and vertical justification

Brackets and braces can affect the vertical spacing of staves: usually, extra space is given between bracketed groups, and staves enclosed by a brace are kept closer together. This behaviour can be configured in Format -> Page. See Vertical spacing for details.