Loading…
Loading…
Right hand.
Printed as m.d. or M.D. over notes the right hand should take — usually notes on the lower staff, or a crossing. Two collisions: Italian scores also print m.d. for mano destra (beside m.s. for the left), with the same meaning; German m. D. means mit Dämpfer, with mute.
Abbreviations: m.d., M.D., m. d., M. D.
Use m.d. where the hand distribution is not what the staff layout suggests — a right-hand note written in the bass, interlocking figures, a melody shared between hands. Marking both hands at a crossing avoids hesitation. Keep to one language in a score: m.d. and m.g. for French, m.d. and m.s. for Italian, r.H. and l.H. for German.
Boulanger, Clairières dans le ciel, “Demain fera un an”, piano, m. 53: “m.d.”, with “m.g.” in the same bar, just after “animez”.
Main droite is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
Browse the full dictionary →