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Articulation direction indicators

By default some directions are always up or always down (e.g., dynamics or fermata), while other things can alternate between up or down based on the stem direction (like slurs or accents).

The default action may be overridden by prefixing the articulation by a direction indicator. Three direction indicators are available: ^ (meaning “up”), _ (meaning “down”) and - (meaning “use default direction”). The direction indicator can usually be omitted, in which case - is assumed, but a direction indicator is always required before

• \tweak commands
• \markup commands
• \tag commands
• string markups, e.g., -"string"
• fingering instructions, e.g., -1
• articulation shortcuts, e.g., -., ->, --

Direction indicators affect only the next note:

\relative {
  c''2( c)
  c2_( c)
  c2( c)
  c2^( c)
}