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Slurs

Note: Slurs and phrase markings technically serve different musical purposes. However, you use the same PrintMusic techniques to create both. In this discussion, the term slur refers to both kinds of markings.

A Smart Shape slur expands and contracts with the music and automatically breaks in two if it straddles a line break.

To create a slur

Choose the Smart Shape tool . The Smart Shape palette and Smart Shape menu appear.
Click on the Slur tool in the Smart Shape palette, then position the cursor on the slur’s beginning note.
Double-click the mouse, holding the mouse button down on the second click. The note will be highlighted and a small slur line will appear. Continuing to hold down the button, drag the slur to the right until you reach the beat marking the end of the attachment. When PrintMusic highlights that note, let go of the mouse button. The new slur appears.

To create a slur spanning only two consecutive notes, just double-click the mouse on the first note. PrintMusic places the slur on the adjacent notes.

To move, reshape, or delete Smart Shape slurs

Click the Smart Shape tool . The Smart Shape palette and the Smart Shape menu appear. A small handle appears on all existing Smart Shapes in the score.
Click the handle of the slur you want to modify. You can also use the TAB key to select the desired slur, then hit ENTER to modify the slur. The slur displays a several diamond handles and a polygon connecting the handles.
To move the slur or change its arc or its end points, drag the appropriate handle.
You can modify the slur in a few additional ways if you press shift while dragging: SHIFT-drag an outer curve diamond handle to limit the direction you reshape the slur to one direction. SHIFT-click an outer curve diamond handle or Bezier control handle and drag it to the right or left to reshape the slur and change the “sharpness” of the slur’s inset; dragging away from the center of the slur makes the slur “fatter”, and dragging inward makes the slur more “pointed.” SHIFT-click a Bezier control handle and drag it up or down to reshape the arc of the curve.
To remove the slur from the score press DELETE.

To change a slur’s direction

Select the slur whose direction you want to change
Choose the direction (Automatic, Over, Under) from the Direction submenu in the Smart Shape menu that you want PrintMusic to place this slur. Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+F to flip the slur.