These functions change the chord octave position up or down.

Here are a couple points about these function:

  There is no undo for changing octave position.  To fix an error simply reverse directions.

  Melody notes are not affected, only the underlying chord is.

  To change the octave position of a group of chords, use the
Selection > Raise Octave or Selection > Lower Octave menu option.  See Selecting a Range of Chords.

Depending on preferences, the 8ve operation affects the chord in the keyboard, or the chord in the chord table.  See Preference Settings.

If clicking on one of the 8ve button has no effect on the current chord in the chord table as might expect, that's a sign that the preferences are set for just affecting the chord in the big keyboard.

When preferences are set to "apply to chord in table", the 8ve buttons have a red dot on their face.