Re: Rule of the stem up and stem
Reply #5 –
Normally, if you have split stems for the two parts, the dynamics "follow the stems". That means that the Soprano part, which will be stems up, has dynamics etc above the staff (occaisionally lyrics too) and the Alto part (stems down) will have dynamics etc below the staff. NB this is definitely not a hard and fast rule, it's just something that is commonly done.
Also remember, for correct playback each staff needs its own dynamics and dynamic variances.