What do octave up/down Key Commands do?

Dorico
1

The Key Commands screen shows two options called Octave Up and Octave Down (under Input). They’re not mentioned in the manual(s), at least under those names. They’re separate from Lower/Raise Pitch By An Octave, and don’t appear to perform any obvious function. What do they do?

Mike

2

I’m not in front of Dorico at the moment, but I believe they are the proactive way of designating the next note’s octave placement that differs from the default placement. (I know… wordy). In other words, if the next note would normally go up a 4th and you really want it to be down a 5th, Octave Down will get you this. The default keyboard shortcuts are control (control-alt for Windows) for Octave Down, and Shift-option (Shift-alt) for Octave Up.

3

Thanks Musicmaven. Definitely non-obvious, but makes sense now that you’ve explained it.