Is this the only way the legato can be displayed?
I would write it slurring to the starting note of the tie chain.
I do not know if it is wrong for musical theory (I do not think so) but it is ugly to see that kind of slurring for notes that are not a phrase.
Is there an option?
It’s unusual to slur to the start of a tied note rather than the end - the exception is when a tied note is very long (typically spanning multiple systems).
It’s also unusual to rhythmically spell quarter/crotchet + dotted half/minim in 4/4 like this. Unless you have a dynamic or playing technique that changes/starts/finishes on the third beat, there’s no good reason not to spell the second note as a dotted half/minim, as Dorico will do in 4/4 with default Notation Options.
@am74 , while agreeing with what @pianoleo said, here is the global Engraving Options to customise this as desired:
or, locally, using the properties panel (where you can define overrides to the global options):
Thank you @pianoleo
If I notated that way, why cannot I slur as I want? I think that constraints maybe are academically right (I am not expert to counter your saying in this specialized field of engraving rules) but I would like to have that kind of notation.
I have attached another image depicting a different set of notes with the slur being from the left, with similar issue (ugly).
Let’s say that the notes are there for teaching purpose. I think that I could want the slur being on the right as legit necessity.
Did you read my reply?
@Christian_R I read after posting. Thank you.
I have to say that those options are global only. However I apply them and I have no effect, both on the current slur or the next I create.
Did you read my reply, carefully???
You can slur as you want. Christian’s already told you how, above.
Dorico’s defaults here align with Elaine Gould’s recommendations in Behind Bars:
along with the Boosey Style Guide:
and Kurt Stone’s Music Notation In The Twentieth Century:
and pretty much any other theory book you care to look at.
The way that Dorico treats tied notes as single entities does mean that should you wish to set your global options and then want to do something locally, you do need to flick on a property, as you don’t have the option of grabbing a single notehead in a tie chain. The flipside is that if you select a passage and apply, for instance, an articulation to the whole passage, the software can be clever enough to only put the articulation at one (again customisable) end of the tie chain, in a way that competing programs still get wrong.
Please get to understand the basics of how Dorico works:
@pianoleo
Thanks, I see that your examples are for slurring across an entire phrase, that means “legato” for the entire phrase. In this case it is prettier than the cramped version. In my case the notation is very simple and encompasses only two/three notes, so it is ugly in that case (in my opinion and for my taste).
As I said I recognize your competence so there is no reason to present book exerpts.
@Christian_R
Yes I read your reply, indeed I answered including your username.
You have “all” selected. You can easily realize that those options are global only.
@Janus
You will agree that the basics of Dorico reclaim a huge amount of time to grasp and to retain. It is why many application use different UX/UI.
However, as I said it does not work, it is not applied in my case.
So I am doing somethin wrong. I think I have to study the global/local property stuff, because it is not straightforward, to say the least.
I think the Boosey example is close enough to yours, and has strong enough wording, no?
The (Show) “all” you are referring to is just the Show mode of the properties*: it has nothing to do (and makes no difference) with the concept of Global vs Local. I just cropped my screenshot (as a courtesy) to the particular property that we are discussing.
*this setting merely says Dorico if you want to see only the changed properties, or all the properties that are changeable on the selected item.
@pianoleo You follow professional rules I recognize, but for simple notes like in the example I think there is still freedom how to notate. Indeed Dorico allowes normal tying notation as desired. I just have to figure out how to force it, according to @Christian_R suggestions.
Now I am overwhelmed by all the responses to my question. I read them carefully and apply them.
Thank you
how to force it= how to adjust it to my desired result
Factory options are only a starting point (that follows established conventions), that you can customise and save as your Defaults (there is a button pretty much in every dialogue for this, being it Save as Default button or a star icon).
Showing a slur across the entire rhythmic duration of the notes in the phrase, even if they’re tied, helps convey at a glance how long the phrase is. For wind players, this is relevant information for them to ration their breath; for string players, their bow speed; for everyone, it conveys something about the direction and pace of the music.
In short: unless you desperately need to restrict vertical spacing, it’s worth showing slurs spanning the full length of ties.
Dorico does this by default, but you can either change this for individual one-off slurs using Properties, or change the defaults for all slurs in the project in Engraving Options.
