The direction property

The position or direction of many layout objects is controlled by the direction property.

The value of the direction property may be set to 1, meaning “up” or “above”, or to -1, meaning “down” or “below”. The symbols UP and DOWN may be used instead of 1 and -1 respectively. The default direction may be specified by setting direction to 0 or CENTER. Alternatively, in many cases predefined commands exist to specify the direction. These are of the form

\xxxUp, \xxxDown or \xxxNeutral

where \xxxNeutral means “use the default” direction. See Within-staff objects.

In a few cases, arpeggio for example, the value of the direction property can specify whether the object is to be placed to the right or left of the parent. In this case -1 or LEFT means “to the left” and 1 or RIGHT means “to the right”. 0 or CENTER means “use the default” direction.

These indications affect all notes until they are canceled.

\relative {
  c''2( c)
  \slurDown
  c2( c)
  c2( c)
  \slurNeutral
  c2( c)
}

In polyphonic music, it is generally better to specify an explicit voice than change an object’s direction. For more information, see Multiple voices.

See also

Learning Manual: Within-staff objects.

Notation Reference: Multiple voices.