3 @c A menu is needed before every deeper *section nesting of @node's; run
4 @c M-x texinfo-all-menus-update
5 @c to automagically fill in these menus before saving changes
7 @c FIXME: singular vs. plural: Beams/Beam
16 @c .{Reference Manual}
18 @node Reference Manual
19 @chapter Reference Manual
22 <!--- @@WEB-TITLE@@=Reference Manual --->
25 This document describes GNU LilyPond and its input format. The last
26 revision of this document was made for LilyPond 1.4.1. It supposes a
27 passing familiarity with how LilyPond input works. New users are
28 encouraged to study the tutorial first.
33 * Easier music entry::
53 @c FIXME: Note entry vs Music entry at top level menu is confusing.
59 The most basic forms of music are notes. Notes on their own don't
60 form valid input, but for the sake of brevity we omit @code{\score}
61 blocks and @code{\paper} declarations.
67 * Chromatic alterations::
72 * Automatic note splitting ::
74 * Easy Notation note heads ::
82 A note is printed by specifying its pitch, and then its duration.
83 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
92 @cindex Note specification
94 @cindex entering notes
96 The verbose syntax for pitch specification is
100 \pitch @var{scmpitch}
103 @var{scmpitch} is a pitch scheme object.
105 In Note and Chord mode, pitches may be designated by names. The default
106 names are the Dutch note names. The notes are specified by the letters
107 @code{a} through @code{g} (where the octave is formed by notes ranging
108 from @code{c} to @code{b}). The pitch @code{c} is an octave below
109 middle C and the letters span the octave above that C.
111 @cindex note names, Dutch
113 In Dutch, a sharp is formed by adding @code{-is} to the end of a pitch
114 name and a flat is formed by adding @code{-es}. Double sharps and double
115 flats are obtained by adding @code{-isis} or @code{-eses}. @code{aes}
116 and @code{ees} are contracted to @code{as} and @code{es} in Dutch, but
117 both forms are accepted.
119 LilyPond has predefined sets of note names for various other languages.
120 To use them, simply include the language specific init file. For
121 example: @code{\include "english.ly"}. The available language files and
122 the names they define are:
125 Note Names sharp flat
126 nederlands.ly c d e f g a bes b -is -es
127 english.ly c d e f g a bf b -s/-sharp -f/-flat
128 deutsch.ly c d e f g a b h -is -es
129 norsk.ly c d e f g a b h -iss/-is -ess/-es
130 svenska.ly c d e f g a b h -iss -ess
131 italiano.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si -d -b
132 catalan.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si -d/-s -b
133 espanol.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si -s -b
142 The optional octave specification takes the form of a series of
143 single quote (`@code{'}') characters or a series of comma
144 (`@code{,}') characters. Each @code{'} raises the pitch by one
145 octave; each @code{,} lowers the pitch by an octave.
147 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
148 c' c'' es' g' as' gisis' ais'
151 @node Chromatic alterations
152 @subsection Chromatic alterations
154 Normally, accidentals are printed automatically, but you may force
155 accidentals in the following ways: A reminder accidental
156 @cindex reminder accidental
158 can be forced by adding an exclamation mark @code{!} after the pitch. A
159 cautionary accidental,
160 @cindex cautionary accidental
161 @cindex parenthesized accidental
162 i.e., an accidental within parentheses can be obtained by adding the
163 question mark `@code{?}' after the pitch.
165 The automatic production of accidentals can be tuned in many
166 ways. Refer to @ref{Accidentals} for more information.
173 A rest is entered like a note, with note name `@code{r}':
175 @lilypond[singleline,verbatim]
179 Whole bar rests centered in the bar are specified using @code{R}, see
180 @ref{Multi measure rests}. See also @seeinternals{Rest}.
182 For polyphonic music, it can be convenient to specify the rest position
183 directly. You can do that by entering a note, with the keyword
184 @code{\rest} appended, e.g. Rest collisions will leave these rests alone.
186 @lilypond[singleline,verbatim]
196 @cindex Invisible rest
199 An invisible rest, or skip, can be entered like a note with note name
200 @code{s}, or with @code{\skip @var{duration}}:
202 @lilypond[singleline,verbatim]
206 The @code{s} syntax is only available in Note mode and Chord mode.
207 In other situations, you should use the @code{\skip} command, and it is
208 only available in Note mode and Chord mode.
210 @c FIXME: in lyrics mode, we have " " and _
212 In Lyrics mode, you can use `@code{" "}' and `@code{_}':
213 @lilypond[singleline,verbatim]
215 \context Lyrics \lyrics { lah2 di4 " " dah2 _4 di }
216 \notes\relative c'' { a2 a4 a a2 a4 a }
220 The unabbreviated `@code{\skip} @var{duration}' also works outside of
223 @lilypond[singleline,verbatim]
226 { \time 4/8 \skip 2 \time 4/4 }
227 \notes\relative c'' { a2 a1 }
232 The skip command is merely a empty musical placeholder. It does not
233 produce any output, not even transparent output.
238 @subsection Durations
242 @cindex @code{\duration}
245 In Note, Chord, and Lyrics mode, durations may be designated by numbers
246 and dots: durations are entered as their reciprocal values. For notes
247 longer than a whole you must use identifiers.
251 c'1 c'2 c'4 c'8 c'16 c'32 c'64 c'64
253 r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r64
259 \notes \relative c'' {
261 a1 a2 a4 a8 a16 a32 a64 a64
263 r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r64
268 \remove "Clef_engraver"
269 \remove "Staff_symbol_engraver"
270 \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
271 \consists "Pitch_squash_engraver"
278 If the duration is omitted then it is set to the previous duration
279 entered. At the start of parsing a quarter note is assumed. The
280 duration can be followed by dots (`@code{.}') to obtain dotted note
284 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
290 You can alter the length of duration by a fraction @var{N/M} by
291 appending `@code{*}@var{N/M}' (or `@code{*}@var{N}' if @var{M=1}). This
292 will not affect the appearance of the notes or rests produced.
294 Durations can also be produced through GUILE extension mechanism.
295 @lilypond[verbatim,fragment]
296 c\duration #(make-duration 2 1)
307 A tie connects two adjacent note heads of the same pitch. The tie in
308 effect extends the length of a note. A tie is entered with @code{~}.
310 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
311 e' ~ e' <c' e' g'> ~ <c' e' g'>
314 When ties are used with chords, all note heads whose pitches match are
315 connected. Ties are indicated using the tilde symbol `@code{~}'. If
316 you try to tie together chords which have no common pitches then no
317 ties will be created.
319 If you want less ties created for a chord, you can set
320 @code{Voice.sparseTies} to true. In this case, a single tie is used
321 for every tied chord.
322 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
323 \property Voice.sparseTies = ##t
324 <c' e' g'> ~ <c' e' g'>
327 In its meaning a tie is just a way of extending a note duration, similar
328 to the augmentation dot: the following example are two ways of notating
329 exactly the same concept.
331 @lilypond[fragment, singleline]
332 \time 3/4 c'2. c'2 ~ c'4
334 Ties should not be confused with slurs, which indicate articulation,
335 and phrasing slurs, which indicate musical phrasing.
337 See also @seeinternals{Tie}.
342 At present, the tie is represented as a separate event, temporally
343 located in between the notes. Tieing only a subset of the note heads
344 of a chord is not supported in a simple way. It can be achieved by
345 moving the tie-engraver into the Thread context and turning on and off
348 @node Automatic note splitting
349 @subsection Automatic note splitting
350 @c FIXME: This subsection doesn't belong in @ref{Note entry}.
352 There is a facility for automatically converting long notes to tied
353 notes. This is done by replacing the @code{Note_heads_engraver} by the
354 @code{Completion_heads_engraver}.
356 @lilypond[verbatim,center]
358 \notes\relative c'{ \time 2/4
359 c2. c8 d4 e f g a b c8 c2 b4 a g16 f4 e d c8. c2
363 \remove "Note_heads_engraver"
364 \consists "Completion_heads_engraver"
368 This engraver splits all running notes at the bar line, and inserts
369 ties. One of its uses is to debug complex scores: if the measures are
370 not entirely filled, then the ties exactly show how much each measure
375 Not all durations (especially those containing tuplets) can be
376 represented exactly; the engraver will not insert tuplets.
383 @cindex @code{\times}
385 Tuplets are made out of a music expression by multiplying all duration
388 @cindex @code{\times}
390 \times @var{fraction} @var{musicexpr}
393 The duration of @var{musicexpr} will be multiplied by the fraction.
394 In print, the fraction's denominator will be printed over the notes,
395 optionally with a bracket. The most common tuplet is the triplet in
396 which 3 notes have the length of 2, so the notes are 2/3 of
397 their written length:
399 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
400 g'4 \times 2/3 {c'4 c' c'} d'4 d'4
403 The property @code{tupletSpannerDuration} specifies how long each bracket
404 should last. With this, you can make lots of tuplets while typing
405 @code{\times} only once, thus saving typing work.
407 @lilypond[fragment, relative, singleline, verbatim]
408 \property Voice.tupletSpannerDuration = #(make-moment 1 4)
409 \times 2/3 { c'8 c c c c c }
412 The format of the number is determined by the property
413 @code{tupletNumberFormatFunction}. The default prints only the
414 denominator, but if you set it to the Scheme function
415 @code{fraction-tuplet-formatter}, Lilypond will print @var{num}:@var{den}
419 @cindex @code{tupletNumberFormatFunction}
420 @cindex tuplet formatting
422 See also @seeinternals{TupletBracket}.
426 Nested tuplets are not formatted automatically. In this case, outer
427 tuplet brackets should be moved automatically.
429 @node Easy Notation note heads
430 @subsection Easy Notation note heads
432 @cindex easy notation
435 A entirely different type of note head is the "easyplay" note head: a
436 note head that includes a note name. It is used in some publications by
437 Hal-Leonard Inc. music publishers.
439 @lilypond[singleline,verbatim,26pt]
441 \notes { c'2 e'4 f' | g'1 }
442 \paper { \translator { \EasyNotation } }
446 Note that @code{EasyNotation} overrides a @internalsref{Score} context. You
447 probably will want to print it with magnification or a large font size to make it more
454 If you view the result with Xdvi, then staff lines will show through
455 the letters. Printing the postscript file obtained with ly2dvi does
456 produce the correct result.
459 @node Easier music entry
460 @section Easier music entry
466 * Skipping corrected music::
469 When entering music with LilyPond, it is easy to introduce errors. This
470 section deals with tricks and features that help you enter music, and
471 find and correct mistakes.
474 @node Relative octaves
475 @subsection Relative octaves
477 @cindex relative octave specification
479 Octaves are specified by adding @code{'} and @code{,} to pitch names.
480 When you copy existing music, it is easy to accidentally put a pitch in
481 the wrong octave and hard to find such an error. To prevent these
482 errors, LilyPond features octave entry.
484 @cindex @code{\relative}
486 \relative @var{startpitch} @var{musicexpr}
489 The octave of notes that appear in @var{musicexpr} are calculated as
490 follows: If no octave changing marks are used, the basic interval
491 between this and the last note is always taken to be a fourth or less
492 (This distance is determined without regarding alterations; a
493 @code{fisis} following a @code{ceses} will be put above the
496 The octave changing marks @code{'} and @code{,} can be added to raise or
497 lower the pitch by an extra octave. Upon entering relative mode, an
498 absolute starting pitch must be specified that will act as the
499 predecessor of the first note of @var{musicexpr}.
501 Entering music that changes octave frequently is easy in relative mode.
502 @lilypond[fragment,singleline,verbatim,center]
508 And octave changing marks are used for intervals greater than a fourth.
509 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
514 If the preceding item is a chord, the first note of the chord is used
515 to determine the first note of the next chord. However, other notes
516 within the second chord are determined by looking at the immediately
519 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
526 @cindex @code{\notes}
528 The pitch after the @code{\relative} contains a note name. To parse
529 the pitch as a note name, you have to be in note mode, so there must
530 be a surrounding @code{\notes} keyword (which is not
533 The relative conversion will not affect @code{\transpose},
534 @code{\chords} or @code{\relative} sections in its argument. If you
535 want to use relative within transposed music, you must place an
536 additional @code{\relative} inside the @code{\transpose}.
541 @subsection Bar check
545 @cindex @code{barCheckSynchronize}
549 Whenever a bar check is encountered during interpretation, a warning
550 message is issued if it doesn't fall at a measure boundary. This can
551 help you find errors in the input. Depending on the value of
552 @code{barCheckSynchronize}, the beginning of the measure will be
553 relocated, so this can also be used to shorten measures.
555 A bar check is entered using the bar symbol, @code{|}:
557 \time 3/4 c2 e4 | g2.
562 @cindex skipTypesetting
564 Failed bar checks are most often caused by entering incorrect
565 durations. Incorrect durations often completely garble up the score,
566 especially if it is polyphonic, so you should start correcting the score
567 by scanning for failed bar checks and incorrect durations. To speed up
568 this process, you can use @code{skipTypesetting} (See @ref{Skipping
571 @c . {Point and click}
572 @node Point and click
573 @subsection Point and click
574 @cindex poind and click
576 Point and click lets you find notes in the input by clicking on them in
577 the Xdvi window. This makes it very easy to find input that causes some
578 error in the sheet music.
580 To use it, you need the following software
583 @item A dvi viewer that supports src specials.
585 @item Plain Xdvi, version 22.36 or newer. Available from
586 @uref{ftp://ftp.math.berkeley.edu/pub/Software/TeX/xdvi.tar.gz,ftp.math.berkeley.edu}.
588 Note that most @TeX{} distributions ship with xdvik, which is a
589 different and less well maintained program. To find out which xdvi you
590 are running, try @code{xdvi --version} or @code{xdvi.bin --version}.
591 @item KDVI. A dvi viewer for KDE. You need KDVI from KDE 3.0 or newer.
593 @item An editor with a client/server interface (or a lightweight GUI editor).
595 @item Emacs. Emacs is an extensible text-editor. It is available from
596 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/}. You need version 21 to use
598 @item GVim. GVim is a lightweight GUI variant of VIM, the popular VI
599 clone. It is available from @uref{http://www.vim.org}.
600 @item NEdit. NEdit is a somewhat Windows like editor, that has recently
601 become Free Software. It is available from @uref{http://www.nedit.org}.
605 Xdvi must be configured to find the @TeX{} fonts and music
606 fonts. Refer to the Xdvi documentation for more information.
608 To use point-and-click, add one of these lines to the top of your .ly
611 #(set! point-and-click line-location)
613 @cindex line-location
615 When viewing, Control-Mousebutton 1 will take you to the originating
616 spot in the @file{.ly} file. Control-Mousebutton 2 will show all
619 If you correct large files with point-and-click, be sure to start
620 correcting at the end of the file. When you start at the top, and
621 insert one line, all following locations will be off by a line.
625 In your emacs startup file (usually @file{~/.emacs}), add the following
630 Make sure that the environment variable @var{XEDITOR} is set to
632 emacsclient --no-wait +%l %f
634 use this argument with xdvi's @code{-editor} option.
635 @cindex @var{XEDITOR}
637 If you use Emacs version 21, you can make emacs jump to the exact spot
638 (and not just the line) on a click. To use this feature, you must
639 enable column positioning. At the top of the @code{ly} file, replace
640 the @code{set!} line with the following line
642 #(set! point-and-click line-column-location)
644 @cindex line-colomn-location
645 Set @var{XEDITOR} to @code{emacsclient --no-wait +%l:%c %f}, or
646 use this argument with xdvi's @file{-editor} option.
650 Set @var{XEDITOR} to @code{gvim +%l %f}, or
651 use this argument with xdvi's @code{-editor} option.
655 Set @var{XEDITOR} to @code{nc -noask +%l %f}, or
656 use this argument with xdvi's @code{-editor} option.
661 When you convert the @TeX{} file to PostScript using @code{dvips}, it
662 will complain about not finding @code{src:X:Y} files. These complaints
663 are harmless, and can be ignored.
665 @node Skipping corrected music
666 @subsection Skipping corrected music
668 The property @code{Score.skipTypesetting} can be used to switch on and
669 off typesetting completely during the interpretation phase. When
670 typesetting is switched off, the music is processed much more quickly.
671 You can use this to skip over the parts of a score that you have already
674 @lilypond[fragment,singleline,verbatim]
676 \property Score.skipTypesetting = ##t
678 \property Score.skipTypesetting = ##f
686 @section Staff notation
688 This section deals with music notation that occurs on staff level,
689 such as keys, clefs and time signatures.
691 @cindex Staff notation
703 @subsection Key signature
708 Setting or changing the key signature is done with the @code{\key}
711 @code{\key} @var{pitch} @var{type}
714 @cindex @code{\minor}
715 @cindex @code{\major}
716 @cindex @code{\minor}
717 @cindex @code{\ionian}
718 @cindex @code{\locrian}
719 @cindex @code{\aeolian}
720 @cindex @code{\mixolydian}
721 @cindex @code{\lydian}
722 @cindex @code{\phrygian}
723 @cindex @code{\dorian}
725 Here, @var{type} should be @code{\major} or @code{\minor} to get
726 @var{pitch}-major or @var{pitch}-minor, respectively.
727 The standard mode names @code{\ionian},
728 @code{\locrian}, @code{\aeolian}, @code{\mixolydian}, @code{\lydian},
729 @code{\phrygian}, and @code{\dorian} are also defined.
731 This command sets the context property @code{Staff.keySignature}.
732 Non-standard key signatures can be specified by setting this property
735 The printed signature is a @internalsref{KeySignature} grob, typically
736 created in @internalsref{Staff} context.
738 @cindex @code{keySignature}
745 The clef can be set or changed with the @code{\clef} command:
746 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
747 \key f\major c''2 \clef alto g'2
750 Supported clef-names include
751 @c Moved standard clefs to the top /MB
753 @item treble, violin, G, G2
762 G clef on 1st line, so-called French violin clef
777 By adding @code{_8} or @code{^8} to the clef name, the clef is
778 transposed one octave down or up, respectively. Note that you have to
779 enclose @var{clefname} in quotes if you use underscores or digits in the
785 The grob for this symbol is @internalsref{Clef}.
788 This command is equivalent to setting @code{clefGlyph},
789 @code{clefPosition} (which controls the Y position of the clef),
790 @code{centralCPosition} and @code{clefOctavation}. A clef is created
791 when any of these properties are changed.
794 @c . {Time signature}
796 @subsection Time signature
797 @cindex Time signature
801 The time signature is set or changed by the @code{\time}
803 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
804 \time 2/4 c'2 \time 3/4 c'2.
807 The actual symbol that's printed can be customized with the @code{style}
808 property. Setting it to @code{#'()} uses fraction style for 4/4 and
812 The grob for this symbol is @internalsref{TimeSignature}. There are
813 many more options for its layout. They are selected through the
814 @code{style} grob property. See @file{input/test/time.ly} for more
817 This command sets the property @code{timeSignatureFraction},
818 @code{beatLength} and @code{measureLength}. The property
819 @code{timeSignatureFraction} determine where bar lines should be
820 inserted, and how automatic beams should be generated. Changing the
821 value of @code{timeSignatureFraction} also causes a time signature
822 symbol to be printed.
829 @cindex partial measure
830 @cindex measure, partial
831 @cindex shorten measures
832 @cindex @code{\partial}
834 Partial measures, for example in upbeats, are entered using the
835 @code{\partial} command:
836 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
837 \partial 4* 5/16 c'16 c4 f16 a'2. ~ a'8. a'16 | g'1
840 The syntax for this command is
842 \partial @var{duration}
844 This is internally translated into
846 \property Score.measurePosition = -@var{length of duration}
849 The property @code{measurePosition} contains a rational number
850 indicating how much of the measure has passed at this point.
853 @node Unmetered music
854 @subsection Unmetered music
856 Bar lines and bar numbers are calculated automatically. For unmetered
857 music (e.g. cadenzas), this is not desirable. The commands
858 @code{\cadenzaOn} and @code{\cadenzaOff} can be used to switch off the
861 @lilypond[fragment,relative,singleline,verbatim]
869 The property @code{Score.timing} can be used to switch off this
874 @subsection Bar lines
878 @cindex measure lines
881 Bar lines are inserted automatically, but if you need a special type
882 of barline, you can force one using the @code{\bar} command:
883 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim] c4 \bar "|:" c4
886 The following bar types are available
887 @lilypond[fragment, relative, singleline, verbatim]
899 You are encouraged to use @code{\repeat} for repetitions. See
902 In scores with many staffs, the barlines are automatically placed at
903 top level, and they are connected between different staffs of a
904 @internalsref{StaffGroup}:
905 @lilypond[fragment, verbatim]
906 < \context StaffGroup <
907 \context Staff = up { e'4 d'
910 \context Staff = down { \clef bass c4 g e g } >
911 \context Staff = pedal { \clef bass c2 c2 } >
914 The grobs that are created at @internalsref{Staff} level. The name is
915 @internalsref{BarLine}.
917 The command @code{\bar @var{bartype}} is a short cut for
918 doing @code{\property Score.whichBar = @var{bartype}}
919 Whenever @code{whichBar} is set to a string, a bar line of that type is
920 created. @code{whichBar} is usually set automatically: at the start of
921 a measure it is set to @code{defaultBarType}. The contents of
922 @code{repeatCommands} is used to override default measure bars.
924 @code{whichBar} can also be set directly, using @code{\property} or
925 @code{\bar }. These settings take precedence over the automatic
926 @code{whichBar} settings.
929 @cindex Bar_line_engraver
931 @cindex repeatCommands
932 @cindex defaultBarType
941 The easiest way to enter such fragments with more than one voice on a
942 staff is to split chords using the separator @code{\\}. You can use
943 it for small, short-lived voices (make a chord of voices) or for
946 @lilypond[verbatim,fragment]
947 \context Voice = VA \relative c'' {
948 c4 < { f d e } \\ { b c2 } > c4 < g' \\ b, \\ f \\ d >
952 The separator causes @internalsref{Voice} contexts to be instantiated,
953 bearing the names @code{"1"}, @code{"2"}, etc.
955 Sometimes, it is necessary to instantiate these contexts by hand: For
956 Instantiate a separate Voice context for each part, and use
957 @code{\voiceOne}, up to @code{\voiceFour} to assign a stem directions
958 and horizontal shift for each part.
961 @lilypond[singleline, verbatim]
963 \context Staff < \context Voice = VA { \voiceOne cis2 b }
964 \context Voice = VB { \voiceThree b4 ais ~ ais4 gis4 }
965 \context Voice = VC { \voiceTwo fis4~ fis4 f ~ f } >
968 The identifiers @code{\voiceOne} to @code{\voiceFour} set directions
969 ties, slurs and stems, and set shift directions.
971 If you want more than four voices, you can also manually set
972 horizontal shifts and stem directions, as is shown in the following example:
973 @lilypond[fragment, verbatim]
974 \context Staff \notes\relative c''<
981 \context Voice=three {
982 \shiftOnn \stemUp ais
984 \context Voice=four {
985 \shiftOnnn \stemUp fis
991 Normally, note heads with a different number of dots are not merged, but
992 if you set the grob property @code{merge-differently-dotted}, they are:
993 @lilypond[verbatim,fragment,singleline]
996 \property Staff.NoteCollision \override
997 #'merge-differently-dotted = ##t
999 } \\ { [g'8. f16] [g'8. f'16] }
1003 Similarly, you can merge half note heads with eighth notes, by setting
1004 @code{merge-differently-headed}:
1005 @lilypond[fragment, relative=2,verbatim]
1008 \property Staff.NoteCollision
1009 \override #'merge-differently-headed = ##t
1010 c8 c4. } \\ { c2 c2 } >
1013 LilyPond also vertically shifts rests that are opposite of a stem.
1015 @lilypond[singleline,fragment,verbatim]
1016 \context Voice < c''4 \\ r4 >
1019 See also @internalsref{NoteCollision} and @internalsref{RestCollision}
1023 Resolving collisions is a very intricate subject, and LilyPond only
1024 handles a few situations. When it can not cope, you are advised to use
1025 @code{force-hshift} of the @internalsref{NoteColumn} grob and pitched
1026 rests to override typesetting decisions.
1031 Beams are used to group short notes into chunks that are aligned with
1032 the metrum. They are inserted automatically in most cases.
1034 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim, relative=2]
1035 \time 2/4 c8 c c c \time 6/8 c c c c8. c16 c8
1038 If you're not satisfied with the automatic beaming, you can enter the
1039 beams explicitly. If you have beaming patterns that differ from the
1040 defaults, you can also set the patterns for automatic beamer.
1042 See also @internalsref{Beam}.
1045 @cindex Automatic beams
1046 @subsection Manual beams
1047 @cindex beams, manual
1051 In some cases it may be necessary to override LilyPond's automatic
1052 beaming algorithm. For example, the auto beamer will not beam over
1053 rests or bar lines, If you want that, specify the begin and end point
1054 manually using a @code{[} before the first beamed note and a @code{]}
1055 after the last note:
1057 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
1059 r4 [r8 g' a r8] r8 [g | a] r8
1063 @cindex @code{stemLeftBeamCount}
1065 Normally, beaming patterns within a beam are determined automatically.
1066 When this mechanism fouls up, the properties
1067 @code{Voice.stemLeftBeamCount} and @code{Voice.stemRightBeamCount} can
1068 be used to control the beam subdivision on a stem. If you set either
1069 property, its value will be used only once, and then it is erased.
1071 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
1074 [f8 r16 \property Voice.stemLeftBeamCount = #1 f g a]
1077 @cindex @code{stemRightBeamCount}
1080 The property @code{subdivideBeams} can be set in order to subdivide
1081 all 16th or shorter beams at beat positions. This accomplishes the
1082 same effect as twiddling with @code{stemLeftBeamCount} and
1083 @code{stemRightBeamCount}, but it take less typing.
1088 \property Voice.subdivideBeams = ##t
1090 [c32 c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c]
1091 \property Score.beatLength = #(make-moment 1 8)
1092 [c32 c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c]
1096 \notes \relative c' {
1098 \property Voice.subdivideBeams = ##t
1100 [c32 c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c]
1101 \property Score.beatLength = #(make-moment 1 8)
1102 [c32 c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c]
1106 @cindex subdivideBeams
1108 Kneed beams are inserted automatically, when a large gap between two
1109 adjacent beamed notes is detected. This behavior can be tuned through
1110 the grob property @code{auto-knee-gap}.
1112 @cindex beams, kneed
1114 @cindex auto-knee-gap
1118 @c TODO -> why this ref? Document?
1119 @cindex @code{neutral-direction}
1123 Auto knee beams can not be used together with hara kiri staffs.
1126 * Setting automatic beam behavior ::
1130 @no de Beam typography
1131 @sub section Beam typography
1133 One of the strong points of LilyPond is how beams are formatted. Beams
1134 are quantized, meaning that the left and right endpoints beams start
1135 exactly on staff lines. Without quantization, small wedges of white
1136 space appear between the beam and staff line, and this looks untidy.
1138 Beams are also slope-damped: melodies that go up or down should also
1139 have beams that go up or down, but the slope of the beams should be
1140 less than the slope of the notes themselves.
1142 Some beams should be horizontal. These are so-called concave beams.
1144 [TODO: some pictures.]
1147 @c . {Automatic beams}
1148 @node Setting automatic beam behavior
1149 @subsection Setting automatic beam behavior
1151 @cindex @code{autoBeamSettings}
1152 @cindex @code{(end * * * *)}
1153 @cindex @code{(begin * * * *)}
1154 @cindex automatic beams, tuning
1155 @cindex tuning automatic beaming
1157 In normal time signatures, automatic beams can start on any note but can
1158 only end in a few positions within the measure: beams can end on a beat,
1159 or at durations specified by the properties in
1160 @code{Voice.autoBeamSettings}. The defaults for @code{autoBeamSettings}
1161 are defined in @file{scm/auto-beam.scm}.
1163 The value of @code{autoBeamSettings} is changed using
1164 @code{\override} and unset using @code{\revert}:
1166 \property Voice.autoBeamSettings \override #'(@var{BE} @var{P} @var{Q} @var{N} @var{M}) = @var{dur}
1167 \property Voice.autoBeamSettings \revert #'(@var{BE} @var{P} @var{Q} @var{N} @var{M})
1169 Here, @var{BE} is the symbol @code{begin} or @code{end}. It determines
1170 whether the rule applies to begin or end-points. The quantity
1171 @var{P}/@var{Q} refers to the length of the beamed notes (and `@code{*
1172 *}' designates notes of any length), @var{N}/@var{M} refers to a time
1173 signature (wildcards, `@code{* *}' may be entered to designate all time
1176 For example, if you want automatic beams to end on every quarter note,
1177 you can use the following:
1179 \property Voice.autoBeamSettings \override
1180 #'(end * * * *) = #(make-moment 1 4)
1182 Since the duration of a quarter note is 1/4 of a whole note, it is
1183 entered as @code{(make-moment 1 4)}.
1185 The same syntax can be used to specify beam starting points. In this
1186 example, automatic beams can only end on a dotted quarter note.
1188 \property Voice.autoBeamSettings \override
1189 #'(end * * * *) = #(make-moment 3 8)
1191 In 4/4 time signature, this means that automatic beams could end only on
1192 3/8 and on the fourth beat of the measure (after 3/4, that is 2 times
1193 3/8 has passed within the measure).
1195 You can also restrict rules to specific time signatures. A rule that
1196 should only be applied in @var{N}/@var{M} time signature is formed by
1197 replacing the second asterisks by @var{N} and @var{M}. For example, a
1198 rule for 6/8 time exclusively looks like
1200 \property Voice.autoBeamSettings \override
1201 #'(begin * * 6 8) = ...
1204 If you want a rule to apply to certain types of beams, you can use the
1205 first pair of asterisks. Beams are classified according to the shortest
1206 note they contain. For a beam ending rule that only applies to beams
1207 with 32nd notes (and no shorter notes), you would use @code{(end 1
1211 @c Automatic beams can not be put on the last note in a score.
1213 If a score ends while an automatic beam has not been ended and is still
1214 accepting notes, this last beam will not be typeset at all.
1216 @cindex automatic beam generation
1218 @cindex @code{Voice.autoBeaming}
1221 For melodies that have lyrics, you may want to switch off
1222 automatic beaming. This is done by setting @code{Voice.autoBeaming} to
1228 It is not possible to specify beaming parameters for beams with mixed
1229 durations, that differ from the beaming parameters of all separate
1230 durations, i.e., you'll have to specify manual beams to get:
1231 @lilypond[fragment,singleline,relative]
1232 \property Voice.autoBeamSettings
1233 \override #'(end * * * *) = #(make-moment 3 8)
1234 \time 12/8 c'8 c c c16 c c c c c [c c c c] c8 c c4
1237 It is not possible to specify beaming parameters that act differently in
1238 different parts of a measure. This means that it is not possible to use
1239 automatic beaming in irregular meters such as @code{5/8}.
1242 @section Accidentals
1244 This section describes how to change the way that LilyPond automatically
1245 inserts accidentals before the running notes.
1248 * Using the predefined accidental macros::
1249 * Defining your own accidental typesettings::
1252 @node Using the predefined accidental macros
1253 @subsection Using the predefined accidental macros
1254 The constructs for describing the accidental typesetting rules are
1255 quite hairy, so non-experts should stick to the macros defined in
1256 @file{ly/property-init.ly}.
1257 @cindex @file{property-init.ly}
1259 The normal way of using the macros is to enter the macro name right after the
1260 creation of the context in which the accidental typesetting described
1261 by the macro is to take effect. I.e. if you want to use
1262 piano-accidentals in a pianostaff then you issue
1263 @code{\pianoAccidentals} first thing after the creation of the piano
1267 \notes \relative c'' <
1268 \context Staff = sa @{ cis4 d e2 @}
1269 \context GrandStaff <
1271 \context Staff = sb @{ cis4 d e2 @}
1272 \context Staff = sc @{ es2 c @}
1274 \context Staff = sd @{ es2 c @}
1278 @lilypond[singleline]
1280 \notes \relative c'' <
1281 \context Staff = sa { cis4 d e2 }
1282 \context GrandStaff <
1284 \context Staff = sb { cis4 d e2 }
1285 \context Staff = sc { es2 c }
1287 \context Staff = sd { es2 c }
1292 minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-4.0 . 4.0)
1300 @item \defaultAccidentals
1301 @cindex @code{\defaultAccidentals}
1302 This is the default typesetting behaviour. It should correspond
1303 to 18th century common practice: Accidentals are
1304 remembered to the end of the measure in which they occur and
1305 only on their own octave.
1307 @item \voiceAccidentals
1308 @cindex @code{\voiceAccidentals}
1309 The normal behaviour is to remember the accidentals on
1311 This macro, however, typesets accidentals individually for each
1313 Apart from that the rule is similar to
1314 @code{\defaultAccidentals}.
1316 Warning: This leads to some weird and often unwanted results
1317 because accidentals from one voice DO NOT get cancelled in other
1319 @lilypond[singleline,relative,fragment,verbatim]
1322 \context Voice=va { \voiceOne es g }
1323 \context Voice=vb { \voiceTwo c, e }
1326 Hence you should only use @code{\voiceAccidentals}
1327 if the voices are to be read solely by
1328 individual musicians. if the staff should be readable also
1329 by one musician/conductor then you should use
1330 @code{\modernVoiceAccidentals} or @code{\modernVoiceCautionaries}
1333 @item \modernAccidentals
1334 @cindex @code{\modernAccidentals}
1335 This rule should correspond to the common practice in the 20th
1337 The rule is a bit more complex than @code{\defaultAccidentals}:
1338 You get all the same accidentals, but temporary
1339 accidentals also get cancelled in other octaves. Further more,
1340 in the same octave, they also get cancelled in the following measure:
1341 @lilypond[singleline,fragment,verbatim]
1343 cis' c'' cis'2 | c'' c'
1346 @item \modernCautionaries
1347 @cindex @code{\modernCautionaries}
1348 This rule is similar to @code{\modernAccidentals}, but the
1349 ``extra'' accidentals (the ones not typeset by
1350 @code{\defaultAccidentals}) are typeset as cautionary accidentals
1351 (i.e. in reduced size):
1352 @lilypond[singleline,fragment,verbatim]
1354 cis' c'' cis'2 | c'' c'
1357 @item \modernVoiceAccidentals
1358 @cindex @code{\modernVoiceAccidentals}
1359 Multivoice accidentals to be read both by musicians playing one voice
1360 and musicians playing all voices.
1362 Accidentals are typeset for each voice, but they ARE cancelled
1363 across voices in the same @internalsref{Staff}.
1365 @item \modernVoiceCautionaries
1366 @cindex @code{\modernVoiceCautionaries}
1367 The same as @code{\modernVoiceAccidentals}, but with the
1368 extra accidentals (the ones not typeset by
1369 @code{\voiceAccidentals}) typeset as cautionaries.
1370 Notice that even though all accidentals typeset by
1371 @code{\defaultAccidentals} ARE typeset by this macro then some
1372 of them are typeset as cautionaries.
1374 @item \pianoAccidentals
1375 @cindex @code{\pianoAccidentals}
1376 20th century practice for piano notation. Very similar to
1377 @code{\modernAccidentals} but accidentals also get cancelled
1378 across the staves in the same @internalsref{GrandStaff} or
1379 @internalsref{PianoStaff}.
1381 @item \pianoCautionaries
1382 @cindex @code{\pianoCautionaries}
1383 As @code{\pianoAccidentals} but with the extra accidentals
1384 typeset as cationaries.
1387 @cindex @code{\noResetKey}
1388 Same as @code{\defaultAccidentals} but with accidentals lasting
1389 ``forever'' and not only until the next measure:
1390 @lilypond[singleline,fragment,verbatim,relative]
1395 @item \forgetAccidentals
1396 @cindex @code{\forgetAccidentals}
1397 This is sort of the opposite of @code{\noResetKey}: Accidentals
1398 are not remembered at all - and hence all accidentals are
1399 typeset relative to the key signature, regardless of what was
1400 before in the music:
1401 @lilypond[singleline,fragment,verbatim,relative]
1403 \key d\major c4 c cis cis d d dis dis
1407 @node Defining your own accidental typesettings
1408 @subsection Defining your own accidental typesettings
1410 This section must be considered gurus-only, and hence it must be
1411 sufficient with a short description of the system and a reference to
1412 the internal documentation.
1414 The idea of the algorithm is to try several different rules and then
1415 use the rule that gives the highest number of accidentals.
1416 Each rule cosists of
1419 In which context is the rule applied. I.e. if context is
1420 @internalsref{Score} then all staves share accidentals, and if
1421 context is @internalsref{Staff} then all voices in the same
1422 staff share accidentals, but staves don't - like normally.
1424 Whether the accidental changes all octaves or only the current
1427 Over how many barlines the accidental lasts.
1428 If lazyness is @code{-1} then the accidental is forget
1429 immidiately, and if lazyness is @code{#t} then the accidental
1433 As described in the internal documentation of
1434 @reng{Accidental_engraver}, the properties @code{autoAccidentals} and
1435 @code{autoCautionaries} contain lists of rule descriptions. Notice
1436 that the contexts must be listed from in to out - that is
1437 @internalsref{Thread} before @internalsref{Voice},
1438 @internalsref{Voice} before @internalsref{Staff}, etc.
1439 see the macros in @file{ly/property-init.ly} for examples of how the
1444 Currently the simultaneous notes are considered to be entered in
1445 sequential mode. This means that in a chord the accidentals are
1446 typeset as if the notes in the chord happened one at a time - in the
1447 order in which they appear in the input file.
1449 Of course this is only a problem when you have simultainous notes
1450 which accidentals should depend on each other.
1451 Notice that the problem only occurs when using non-default accidentals
1452 - as the default accidentals only depend on other accidentals on the
1453 same staff and same pitch and hence cannot depend on other
1456 This example shows two examples of the same music giving different
1457 accidentals depending on the order in which the notes occur in the
1460 @lilypond[singleline,fragment,verbatim]
1461 \property Staff.autoAccidentals = #'( Staff (any-octave . 0) )
1462 cis'4 <c'' c'> r2 | cis'4 <c' c''> r2 | <cis' c''> r | <c'' cis'> r |
1465 The only solution is to manually insert the problematic
1466 accidentals using @code{!} and @code{?}.
1468 @node Expressive marks
1469 @section Expressive marks
1484 A slur indicates that notes are to be played bound or @emph{legato}.
1485 They are entered using parentheses:
1486 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
1487 f'()g'()a' [a'8 b'(] a'4 g'2 )f'4
1490 See also @seeinternals{Slur}.
1492 Slurs avoid crossing stems, and are generally attached to note heads.
1493 However, in some situations with beams, slurs may be attached to stem
1494 ends. If you want to override this layout you can do this through the
1495 grob-property @code{attachment} of @internalsref{Slur} in
1496 @internalsref{Voice} context It's value is a pair of symbols, specifying
1497 the attachment type of the left and right end points.
1499 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
1501 \property Voice.Stem \set #'length = #5.5
1503 \property Voice.Slur \set #'attachment = #'(stem . stem)
1507 If a slur would strike through a stem or beam, the slur will be moved
1508 away upward or downward. If this happens, attaching the slur to the
1509 stems might look better:
1511 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
1514 \property Voice.Slur \set #'attachment = #'(stem . stem)
1519 Similarly, the curvature of a slur is adjusted to stay clear of note
1520 heads and stems. When that would increase the curvature too much, the
1521 slur is reverted to its default shape. The threshold for this
1522 decision is in @internalsref{Slur}'s grob-property @code{beautiful}.
1523 It is loosely related to the enclosed area between the slur and the
1524 notes. Usually, the default setting works well, but in some cases you
1525 may prefer a curved slur when LilyPond decides for a vertically moved
1526 one. You can indicate this preference by increasing the
1527 @code{beautiful} value:
1529 @lilyp ond[verbatim,singleline,relative]
1531 c16( a' f' a a f a, )c,
1532 c( a' f' a a f d, )c
1533 \property Voice.Slur \override #'beautiful = #5.0
1534 c( a' f' a a f d, )c
1540 Producing nice slurs is a difficult problem, and LilyPond currently
1541 uses a simple, empiric method to produce slurs. In some cases, the
1542 results of this method are ugly.
1545 This is reflected by the
1546 @code{beautiful} property, which it is an arbitrary parameter in the
1547 slur formatter. Useful values can only be determined by trial and
1551 @cindex Adjusting slurs
1553 @node Phrasing slurs
1554 @subsection Phrasing slurs
1556 @cindex phrasing slurs
1557 @cindex phrasing marks
1559 A phrasing slur (or phrasing mark) connects chords and is used to
1560 indicate a musical sentence. It is started using @code{\(} and @code{\)}
1563 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center,relative]
1564 \time 6/4 c' \( d () e f () e \) d
1567 Typographically, the phrasing slur behaves almost exactly like a normal
1568 slur. See also @seeinternals{PhrasingSlur}.
1572 @subsection Breath marks
1574 Breath marks are entered using @code{\breathe}. See also
1575 @seeinternals{BreathingSign}.
1577 @lilypond[fragment,relative]
1586 @cindex beats per minute
1587 @cindex metronome marking
1589 Metronome settings can be entered as follows:
1591 @cindex @code{\tempo}
1593 \tempo @var{duration} = @var{perminute}
1596 For example, @code{\tempo 4 = 76} requests output with 76 quarter notes
1601 The tempo setting is not printed, but is only used in the MIDI
1602 output. You can trick lily into producing a metronome mark,
1603 though. Details are in @ref{Text markup}.
1608 @subsection Text spanners
1609 @cindex Text spanners
1611 Some textual indications, e.g. rallentando or accelerando, often extend
1612 over many measures. This is indicated by following the text with a
1613 dotted line. You can create such texts using text spanners. The syntax
1616 \spanrequest \start "text"
1617 \spanrequest \stop "text"
1619 LilyPond will respond by creating a @internalsref{TextSpanner} grob (typically
1620 in @internalsref{Voice} context). The string to be printed, as well as the
1621 style is set through grob properties.
1623 An application---or rather, a hack---is to fake octavation indications.
1624 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
1625 \relative c' { a''' b c a
1626 \property Voice.TextSpanner \set #'type = #'dotted-line
1627 \property Voice.TextSpanner \set #'edge-height = #'(0 . 1.5)
1628 \property Voice.TextSpanner \set #'edge-text = #'("8va " . "")
1629 \property Staff.centralCPosition = #-13
1630 a\spanrequest \start "text" b c a \spanrequest \stop "text" }
1648 @subsection Articulations
1649 @cindex Articulations
1651 @cindex articulations
1655 A variety of symbols can appear above and below notes to indicate
1656 different characteristics of the performance. They are added to a note
1657 by adding a dash and the the character signifying the
1658 articulation. They are demonstrated here.
1659 @lilypond[singleline]
1661 \notes \context Voice {
1662 \property Voice.TextScript \set #'font-family = #'typewriter
1663 \property Voice.TextScript \set #'font-shape = #'upright
1669 c''4-^_"c-\\^{ }" s4
1674 The script is automatically placed, but if you need to force
1675 directions, you can use @code{_} to force them down, or @code{^} to
1677 @lilypond[fragment, verbatim]
1682 Other symbols can be added using the syntax
1683 @var{note}@code{-\}@var{name}. Again, they can be forced up or down
1684 using @code{^} and @code{_}.
1688 @cindex staccatissimo
1696 @cindex organ pedal marks
1705 @cindex prallmordent
1709 @cindex thumb marking
1716 \property Score.LyricText \override #'font-family =#'typewriter
1717 \property Score.LyricText \override #'font-shape = #'upright
1718 \context Staff \notes {
1719 c''-\accent c''-\marcato c''-\staccatissimo c''^\fermata
1720 c''-\stopped c''-\staccato c''-\tenuto c''-\upbow
1721 c''-\downbow c''^\lheel c''-\rheel c''^\ltoe
1722 c''-\rtoe c''-\turn c''-\open c''-\flageolet
1723 c''-\reverseturn c''-\trill c''-\prall c''-\mordent
1724 c''-\prallprall c''-\prallmordent c''-\upprall c''-\downprall
1725 c''-\upmordent c''-\downmordent c''-\pralldown c''-\prallup
1726 c''-\lineprall c''-\thumb c''-\segno c''-\coda
1728 \context Lyrics \lyrics {
1729 accent__ marcato__ staccatissimo__ fermata
1730 stopped__ staccato__ tenuto__ upbow
1731 downbow__ lheel__ rheel__ ltoe
1732 rtoe__ turn__ open__ flageolet
1733 reverseturn__ trill__ prall__ mordent
1734 prallprall__ prallmordent__ uprall__ downprall
1735 upmordent__ downmordent__ pralldown__ prallup__
1736 lineprall__ thumb__ segno__ coda
1740 linewidth = 5.875\in
1749 Fingering instructions can also be entered in this shorthand. For
1750 finger changes, use markup texts:
1752 @lilypond[verbatim, singleline, fragment]
1753 c'4-1 c'4-2 c'4-3 c'4-4
1758 @cindex @code{\script}
1763 See also @seeinternals{Script} and @seeinternals{Fingering}.
1767 All of these note ornaments appear in the printed output but have no
1768 effect on the MIDI rendering of the music.
1770 Unfortunately, there is no support for adding fingering instructions or
1771 ornaments to individual note heads. Some hacks exist, though. See
1772 @file{input/test/script-horizontal.ly}.
1777 @subsection Text scripts
1778 @cindex Text scripts
1780 In addition, it is possible to place arbitrary strings of text or markup
1781 text (see @ref{Text markup}) above or below notes by using a string:
1784 By default, these indications do not influence the note spacing, but
1785 by using the command @code{\fatText}, the widths will be taken into
1788 @lilypond[fragment,singleline,verbatim] \relative c' {
1789 c4^"longtext" \fatText c4_"longlongtext" c4 }
1792 It is possible to use @TeX{} commands in the strings, but this should be
1793 avoided because it makes it impossible for LilyPond to compute the
1794 exact length of the string, which may lead to collisions. Also, @TeX{}
1795 commands won't work with direct PostScript output (see @ref{PostScript
1798 Text scripts are created in form of @internalsref{TextScript} grobs, in
1799 @internalsref{Voice} context.
1801 @ref{Text markup} describes how to change the font or access
1802 special symbols in text scripts.
1807 @subsection Grace notes
1811 @cindex @code{\grace}
1815 Grace notes are ornaments are written out ornaments
1816 @lilypond[relative=2,verbatim,ifragment]
1817 c4 \grace c16 c4 \grace { [c16 d16] } c4
1820 In normal notation, grace notes are supposed to take up no logical
1821 time in a measure. Such an idea is practical for normal notation, but
1822 is not strict enough to put it into a program. The model that LilyPond
1823 uses for grace notes internally is that all timing is done in two
1826 Every point in musical time consists of two rational numbers: one
1827 denotes the logical time, one denotes the grace timing. The above
1828 example is shown here with timing tuples.
1831 \score { \notes \relative c''{
1832 c4^"(0,0)" \grace c16_" "_"(1/4,-1/16)" c4^"(1/4,0)" \grace {
1833 [c16_"(2/4,-1/8)" d16^"(2/4,-1/16)" ] } c4_" "_"(2/4,0)"
1835 \paper { linewidth = 8.\cm }
1839 The advantage of this approach is that you can use almost any lilypond
1840 construction together with grace notes, for example slurs and clef
1841 changes may appear halfway in between grace notes:
1843 @lilypond[relative=2,verbatim,fragment]
1844 c4 \grace { [ c16 c, \clef bass c, b(] } )c4
1847 The placement of these grace notes is synchronized between different
1848 staffs, using this grace timing.
1850 @lilypond[relative=2,verbatim,fragment]
1851 < \context Staff = SA { e4 \grace { c16 d e f } e4 }
1852 \context Staff = SB { c4 \grace { g8 b } c4 } >
1856 Unbeamed eighth notes and shorter by default have a slash through the
1857 stem. This can be controlled with grob property @code{flag-style} of
1858 @internalsref{Stem}. The change in formatting is accomplished by
1859 inserting @code{\startGraceMusic} before handling the grace notes, and
1860 @code{\stopGraceMusic} after finishing the grace notes. You can add to
1861 these definitions to globally change grace note formatting. The
1862 standard definitions are in @file{ly/grace-init.ly}.
1865 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
1866 \relative c'' \context Voice {
1867 \grace c8 c4 \grace { [c16 c16] } c4
1869 \property Voice.Stem \override #'flag-style = #'()
1871 \property Voice.Stem \revert #'flag-style
1878 Grace note synchronization can also lead to surprises. Staff notation,
1879 such as key signatures, barlines, etc. are also synchronized. Take
1880 care when you mix staffs with grace notes and staffs without.
1882 @lilypond[relative=2,verbatim,fragment]
1883 < \context Staff = SA { e4 \bar "|:" \grace c16 d4 }
1884 \context Staff = SB { c4 \bar "|:" d4 } >
1887 Grace sections should only be used within sequential music
1888 expressions. Nesting, juxtaposing, or ending sequential music with a
1889 grace section is not supported, and might produce crashes or other
1901 @subsection Glissando
1904 @cindex @code{\glissando}
1906 A glissando line can be requested by attaching a @code{\glissando} to
1909 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
1915 Printing of an additional text (such as @emph{gliss.}) must be done
1916 manually. See also @seeinternals{Glissando}.
1922 @subsection Dynamics
1935 @cindex @code{\ffff}
1945 Absolute dynamic marks are specified using an identifier after a
1946 note: @code{c4-\ff}. The available dynamic marks are: @code{\ppp},
1947 @code{\pp}, @code{\p}, @code{\mp}, @code{\mf}, @code{\f}, @code{\ff},
1948 @code{\fff}, @code{\fff}, @code{\fp}, @code{\sf}, @code{\sff},
1949 @code{\sp}, @code{\spp}, @code{\sfz}, and @code{\rfz}.
1951 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline,fragment,relative]
1952 c'\ppp c\pp c \p c\mp c\mf c\f c\ff c\fff
1958 @cindex @code{\decr}
1959 @cindex @code{\rced}
1965 A crescendo mark is started with @code{\cr} and terminated with
1966 @code{\rc} (the textual reverse of @code{cr}). A decrescendo mark is
1967 started with @code{\decr} and terminated with @code{\rced}. There are
1968 also shorthands for these marks. A crescendo can be started with
1969 @code{\<} and a decrescendo can be started with @code{\>}. Either one
1970 can be terminated with @code{\!}. Note that @code{\!} must go before
1971 the last note of the dynamic mark whereas @code{\rc} and @code{\rced} go
1972 after the last note. Because these marks are bound to notes, if you
1973 want several marks during one note, you have to use spacer notes.
1975 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
1976 c'' \< \! c'' d'' \decr e'' \rced
1977 < f''1 { s4 s4 \< \! s4 \> \! s4 } >
1980 You can also use a text saying @emph{cresc.} instead of hairpins. Here
1981 is an example how to do it:
1983 @lilypond[fragment,relative=2,verbatim]
1984 c4 \cresc c4 \endcresc c4
1991 You can also supply your own texts:
1992 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
1994 \property Voice.crescendoText = "cresc. poco"
1995 \property Voice.crescendoSpanner = #'dashed-line
2002 Dynamics are grobs of @internalsref{DynamicText} and
2003 @internalsref{Hairpin}. Vertical positioning of these symbols is
2004 handled by the @internalsref{DynamicLineSpanner} grob. If you want to
2005 adjust padding or vertical direction of the dynamics, you must set
2006 properties for the @internalsref{DynamicLineSpanner} grob. Predefined
2007 identifiers to set the vertical direction are \dynamicUp and
2010 @cindex direction, of dynamics
2011 @cindex @code{\dynamicDown}
2012 @cindex @code{\dynamicUp}
2020 @cindex @code{\repeat}
2022 To specify repeats, use the @code{\repeat} keyword. Since repeats
2023 should work differently when played or printed, there are a few
2024 different variants of repeats.
2028 Repeated music is fully written (played) out. Useful for MIDI
2029 output, and entering repetitive music.
2032 This is the normal notation: Repeats are not written out, but
2033 alternative endings (voltas) are printed, left to right.
2036 Alternative endings are written stacked. This has limited use but may be
2037 used to typeset two lines of lyrics in songs with repeats, see
2038 @file{input/star-spangled-banner.ly}.
2044 Make beat or measure repeats. These look like percent signs.
2050 * Repeats and MIDI::
2051 * Manual repeat commands::
2053 * Tremolo subdivisions::
2058 @subsection Repeat syntax
2060 The syntax for repeats is
2063 \repeat @var{variant} @var{repeatcount} @var{repeatbody}
2066 If you have alternative endings, you may add
2067 @cindex @code{\alternative}
2069 \alternative @code{@{} @var{alternative1}
2071 @var{alternative3} @dots{} @code{@}}
2073 where each @var{alternative} is a music expression.
2075 Normal notation repeats are used like this:
2076 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2078 \repeat volta 2 { c'4 d' e' f' }
2079 \repeat volta 2 { f' e' d' c' }
2082 With alternative endings:
2083 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2085 \repeat volta 2 {c'4 d' e' f'}
2086 \alternative { {d'2 d'} {f' f} }
2089 Folded repeats look like this:
2092 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2094 \repeat fold 2 {c'4 d' e' f'}
2095 \alternative { {d'2 d'} {f' f} }
2099 If you don't give enough alternatives for all of the repeats, then
2100 the first alternative is assumed to be repeated often enough to equal
2101 the specified number of repeats.
2103 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2107 \repeat volta 4 { e | c2 d2 | e2 f2 | }
2108 \alternative { { g4 g g } { a | a a a a | b2. } }
2113 @node Repeats and MIDI
2114 @subsection Repeats and MIDI
2116 @cindex expanding repeats
2118 For instructions on how to unfoldi repeats for MIDI output, see
2119 the example file @file{input/test/unfold-all-repeats.ly}.
2124 Notice that timing information is not remembered at the start of an
2125 alternative, so you have to reset timing information after a repeat,
2126 e.g. using a bar-check (See @ref{Bar check}), setting
2127 @code{Score.measurePosition} or entering @code{\partial}. Slurs or ties
2128 are also not repeated.
2130 It is possible to nest @code{\repeat}s, although this probably is only
2131 meaningful for unfolded repeats.
2133 Folded repeats offer little more over simultaneous music.
2135 @node Manual repeat commands
2136 @subsection Manual repeat commands
2138 @cindex @code{repeatCommands}
2140 The property @code{repeatCommands} can be used to control the layout of
2141 repeats. Its value is a Scheme list of repeat commands, where each repeat
2149 @item (volta . @var{text})
2150 Print a volta bracket saying @var{text}.
2152 Stop a running volta bracket
2155 @lilypond[verbatim, fragment]
2157 \property Score.repeatCommands = #'((volta "93") end-repeat)
2159 \property Score.repeatCommands = #'((volta #f))
2164 Repeats brackets are @internalsref{VoltaBracket} grobs.
2166 @node Tremolo repeats
2167 @subsection Tremolo repeats
2168 @cindex tremolo beams
2170 To place tremolo marks between notes, use @code{\repeat} with tremolo
2172 @lilypond[verbatim,center,singleline]
2174 \context Voice \notes\relative c' {
2175 \repeat "tremolo" 8 { c16 d16 }
2176 \repeat "tremolo" 4 { c16 d16 }
2177 \repeat "tremolo" 2 { c16 d16 }
2178 \repeat "tremolo" 4 c16
2183 Tremolo beams are @internalsref{Beam} grobs. Single stem tremolos are
2184 @internalsref{StemTremolo}. The single stem tremolo @emph{must} be
2185 entered without @code{@{} and @code{@}}.
2189 Only powers of two and undotted notes are supported repeat counts.
2191 @node Tremolo subdivisions
2192 @subsection Tremolo subdivisions
2193 @cindex tremolo marks
2194 @cindex @code{tremoloFlags}
2196 Tremolo marks can be printed on a single note by adding
2197 `@code{:}[@var{length}]' after the note. The length must be at least 8.
2198 A @var{length} value of 8 gives one line across the note stem. If the
2199 length is omitted, then then the last value (stored in
2200 @code{Voice.tremoloFlags}) is used.
2202 @lilypond[verbatim,fragment,center]
2203 c'2:8 c':32 | c': c': |
2209 Tremolos in this style do not carry over into the MIDI output.
2212 @node Measure repeats
2213 @subsection Measure repeats
2215 @cindex percent repeats
2216 @cindex measure repeats
2218 In the @code{percent} style, a note pattern can be repeated. It is
2219 printed once, and then the pattern is replaced with a special sign.
2220 Patterns of a one and two measures are replaced by percent-like signs,
2221 patterns that divide the measure length are replaced by slashes.
2223 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
2224 \context Voice { \repeat "percent" 4 { c'4 }
2225 \repeat "percent" 2 { c'2 es'2 f'4 fis'4 g'4 c''4 }
2229 The signs are represented by these grobs: @internalsref{RepeatSlash} and
2230 @internalsref{PercentRepeat} and @internalsref{DoublePercentRepeat}.
2234 You can not nest percent repeats, e.g. by filling in the first measure
2235 with slashes, and repeating that measure with percents.
2237 @node Rhythmic music
2238 @section Rhythmic music
2240 Sometimes you might want to show only the rhythm of a melody. This can
2241 be done with the rhythmic staff. All pitches of notes on such a staff
2242 are squashed, and the staff itself looks has a single staff line:
2244 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
2245 \context RhythmicStaff {
2247 c4 e8 f g2 | r4 g r2 | g1:32 | r1 |
2252 * Percussion staves::
2255 @node Percussion staves
2256 @subsection Percussion staves
2259 To typeset more than one piece of percussion to be played by the same
2260 musician one typically uses a multiline staff where each staff
2261 position refers to a specific piece of percussion.
2263 LilyPond is shipped with a bunch of scheme functions which allows you
2264 to do this fairly easily.
2266 The system is based on the general midi drum-pitches.
2267 In order to use the drum pitches you include
2268 @file{ly/drumpitch-init.ly}. This file defines the pitches from the scheme
2269 variable @code{drum-pitch-names} - which definition can be read in
2270 @file{scm/drums.scm}. You see that each piece of percussion has a full
2271 name and an abbreviated name - and you may freely select whether to
2272 refer to the full name or the abbreviation in your music definition.
2274 To typeset the music on a staff you apply the scheme function
2275 @code{drums->paper} to the percussion music. This function takes a
2276 list of percussion instrument names, notehead scripts and staff
2277 positions (that is: pitches relative to the C-clef) and uses this to
2278 transform the input music by moving the pitch, changing the notehead
2279 and (optionally) adding a script:
2280 @lilypond[singleline,verbatim]
2281 \include "drumpitch-init.ly"
2282 up = \notes { crashcymbal4 hihat8 halfopenhihat hh hh hh openhihat }
2283 down = \notes { bassdrum4 snare8 bd r bd sn4 }
2285 \apply #(drums->paper 'drums) \context Staff <
2287 \context Voice = up { \voiceOne \up }
2288 \context Voice = down { \voiceTwo \down }
2293 In the above example the music was transformed using the list @code{'drums}.
2294 Currently the following lists are defined in @file{scm/drums.scm}:
2297 To typeset a typical drum kit on a five line staff.
2299 \include "drumpitch-init.ly"
2300 nam = \lyrics { cymc cyms cymr hh hhc hho hhho hhp cb hc
2301 bd sn ss tomh tommh tomml toml tomfh tomfl }
2302 mus = \notes { cymc cyms cymr hh hhc hho hhho hhp cb hc
2303 bd sn ss tomh tommh tomml toml tomfh tomfl s16 }
2306 \apply #(drums->paper 'drums) \context Staff <
2310 \context Lyrics \nam
2315 \remove Bar_engraver
2316 \remove Time_signature_engraver
2317 minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-4.0 . 5.0)
2321 \remove Stem_engraver
2326 Notice that the scheme supports six different toms.
2327 If you are using fewer toms then you simply select the toms that produce
2328 the desired result - i.e. to get toms on the three middle lines you
2329 use @code{tommh}, @code{tomml} and @code{tomfh}.
2331 Because the general midi contain no rimshots we use the sidestick for
2332 this purpose instead.
2334 To typeset timbales on a two line staff.
2335 @lilypond[singleline]
2336 \include "drumpitch-init.ly"
2337 nam = \lyrics { timh ssh timl ssl cb }
2338 mus = \notes { timh ssh timl ssl cb s16 }
2341 \apply #(drums->paper 'timbales) \context Staff <
2345 \context Lyrics \nam
2350 \remove Bar_engraver
2351 \remove Time_signature_engraver
2352 StaffSymbol \override #'line-count = #2
2353 StaffSymbol \override #'staff-space = #2
2354 minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-3.0 . 4.0)
2358 \remove Stem_engraver
2365 To typeset congas on a two line staff.
2366 @lilypond[singleline]
2367 \include "drumpitch-init.ly"
2368 nam = \lyrics { cgh cgho cghm ssh cgl cglo cglm ssl }
2369 mus = \notes { cgh cgho cghm ssh cgl cglo cglm ssl s16 }
2372 \apply #(drums->paper 'congas) \context Staff <
2376 \context Lyrics \nam
2381 \remove Bar_engraver
2382 \remove Time_signature_engraver
2383 StaffSymbol \override #'line-count = #2
2384 StaffSymbol \override #'staff-space = #2
2385 minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-3.0 . 4.0)
2389 \remove Stem_engraver
2395 To typeset bongos on a two line staff.
2396 @lilypond[singleline]
2397 \include "drumpitch-init.ly"
2398 nam = \lyrics { boh boho bohm ssh bol bolo bolm ssl }
2399 mus = \notes { boh boho bohm ssh bol bolo bolm ssl s16 }
2402 \apply #(drums->paper 'bongos) \context Staff <
2406 \context Lyrics \nam
2411 \remove Bar_engraver
2412 \remove Time_signature_engraver
2413 StaffSymbol \override #'line-count = #2
2414 StaffSymbol \override #'staff-space = #2
2415 minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-3.0 . 4.0)
2419 \remove Stem_engraver
2425 To typeset all kinds of simple percussion on one line staves.
2426 @lilypond[singleline]
2427 \include "drumpitch-init.ly"
2428 nam = \lyrics { tri trio trim gui guis guil cb cl tamb cab mar hc }
2429 mus = \notes { tri trio trim gui guis guil cb cl tamb cab mar hc s16 }
2432 \apply #(drums->paper 'percussion) \context Staff <
2436 \context Lyrics \nam
2441 \remove Bar_engraver
2442 \remove Time_signature_engraver
2443 StaffSymbol \override #'line-count = #1
2444 minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-2.0 . 3.0)
2448 \remove Stem_engraver
2455 If you don't like any of the predefined lists you can define your own
2456 list at the top of your file:
2458 @lilypond[singleline, verbatim]
2460 (bassdrum default #f ,(make-pitch -1 2 0))
2461 (snare default #f ,(make-pitch 0 1 0))
2462 (hihat cross #f ,(make-pitch 0 5 0))
2463 (pedalhihat xcircle "stopped" ,(make-pitch 0 5 0))
2464 (lowtom diamond #f ,(make-pitch -1 6 0))
2466 \include "drumpitch-init.ly"
2467 up = \notes { hh8 hh hh hh hhp4 hhp }
2468 down = \notes { bd4 sn bd toml8 toml }
2470 \apply #(drums->paper 'mydrums) \context Staff <
2472 \context Voice = up { \voiceOne \up }
2473 \context Voice = down { \voiceTwo \down }
2478 To use a modified existing list instead of building your own from
2479 scratch you can append your modifications to the start of the existing
2483 #(define mydrums (append `(
2484 (bassdrum default #f ,(make-pitch -1 2 0))
2485 (lowtom diamond #f ,(make-pitch -1 6 0))
2489 @c FIXME: Too many levels of headers when using subsubsections.
2490 @c Perhaps junk subsection ``Percussion staves''
2491 @subsubsection Percussion staves with normal staves
2492 When you include @file{drumpitch-init.ly} then the default pitches
2493 are overridden so that you after the inclusion cannot use the common
2494 dutch pitch names anymore. Hence you might wan't to reinclude
2495 @file{nederlands.ly} after the drum-pattern-definitions:
2496 @lilypond[singleline,verbatim]
2497 \include "drumpitch-init.ly"
2498 up = \notes { crashcymbal4 hihat8 halfopenhihat hh hh hh openhihat }
2499 down = \notes { bassdrum4 snare8 bd r bd sn4 }
2500 \include "nederlands.ly"
2501 bass = \notes \transpose c, { a4. e8 r e g e }
2504 \apply #(drums->paper 'drums) \context Staff = drums <
2506 \context Voice = up { \voiceOne \up }
2507 \context Voice = down { \voiceTwo \down }
2509 \context Staff = bass { \clef "F_8" \bass }
2514 @subsubsection Percussion midi output
2515 In order to produce correct midi output you need to produce two score
2516 blocks - one for the paper and one for the midi.
2517 To use the percussion channel you set the property @code{instrument}
2518 to @code{'drums}. Because the drum-pitches themself are similar to the
2519 general midi pitches all you have to do is to insert the voices with
2520 none of the scheme functions to get the correct midi output:
2524 \apply #(drums->paper 'mydrums) \context Staff <
2526 \context Voice = up @{ \voiceOne \up @}
2527 \context Voice = down @{ \voiceTwo \down @}
2533 \property Staff.instrument = #'drums
2542 This scheme is to be considered a temporary implementation. Even
2543 though the scheme will probably keep on working then the future might
2544 bring some other way of typesetting drums, and probably
2545 there will be made no great efforts in keeping things downwards
2550 @section Piano music
2552 Piano music is an odd type of notation. Piano staves are two normal
2553 staves coupled with a brace. The staves are largely independent, but
2554 sometimes voices can cross between the two staves. The
2555 @internalsref{PianoStaff} is especially built to handle this cross-staffing
2556 behavior. In this section we discuss the @internalsref{PianoStaff} and some
2557 other pianistic peculiarities.
2560 * Automatic staff changes::
2561 * Manual staff switches::
2564 * Voice follower lines::
2568 @c . {Automatic staff changes}
2569 @node Automatic staff changes
2570 @subsection Automatic staff changes
2571 @cindex Automatic staff changes
2573 Voices can switch automatically between the top and the bottom
2574 staff. The syntax for this is
2576 \autochange Staff \context Voice @{ @dots{}@var{music}@dots{} @}
2578 The autochanger switches on basis of pitch (central C is the turning
2579 point), and it looks ahead skipping over rests to switch rests in
2580 advance. Here is a practical example:
2582 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
2583 \score { \notes \context PianoStaff <
2584 \context Staff = "up" {
2585 \autochange Staff \context Voice = VA < \relative c' {
2586 g4 a b c d r4 a g } > }
2587 \context Staff = "down" {
2592 Spacer rests are used to prevent the bottom staff from
2593 terminating too soon.
2596 @node Manual staff switches
2597 @subsection Manual staff switches
2599 @cindex manual staff switches
2600 @cindex staff switch, manual
2602 Voices can be switched between staves manually, using the following command:
2604 \translator Staff = @var{staffname} @var{music}
2606 The string @var{staffname} is the name of the staff. It switches the
2607 current voice from its current staff to the Staff called
2608 @var{staffname}. Typically @var{staffname} is @code{"up"} or
2616 Piano pedal instruction can be expressed using
2617 @code{\sustainDown}, @code{\sustainUp}, @code{\unaCorda},
2618 @code{\treCorde}, @code{\sostenutoDown} and @code{\sostenutoUp}.
2620 These identifiers are shorthands for spanner commands of the types
2621 @internalsref{Sustain}, @internalsref{UnaCorda} and @internalsref{Sostenuto}:
2623 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2624 c''4 \spanrequest \start "Sustain" c''4
2625 c''4 \spanrequest \stop "Sustain"
2628 The symbols that are printed can be modified by setting
2629 @code{pedal@var{X}Strings}, where @var{X} is one of the pedal types:
2630 Sustain, Sostenuto or UnaCorda. Refer to the generated documentation of
2631 @rgrob{SustainPedal}, for example, for more information.
2633 Pedals can also be indicated by a sequence of brackets, by setting the
2634 @code{pedal-type} property of SustainPedal grobs:
2636 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2637 \property Staff.SustainPedal \override #'pedal-type = #'bracket
2638 c''4 \sustainDown d''4 e''4 a'4
2639 \sustainUp \sustainDown
2640 f'4 g'4 a'4 \sustainUp
2643 A third style of pedal notation is a mixture of text and brackets,
2644 obtained by setting @code{pedal-type} to @code{mixed}:
2646 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2647 \property Staff.SustainPedal \override #'pedal-type = #'mixed
2648 c''4 \sustainDown d''4 e''4 c'4
2649 \sustainUp \sustainDown
2650 f'4 g'4 a'4 \sustainUp
2653 The default '*Ped' style for sustain and damper pedals corresponds to
2654 @code{\pedal-type = #'text}. However, @code{mixed} is the default style
2655 for a sostenuto pedal:
2657 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2658 c''4 \sostenutoDown d''4 e''4 c'4 f'4 g'4 a'4 \sostenutoUp
2661 For fine-tuning of the appearance of a pedal bracket, the properties
2662 @code{edge-width}, @code{edge-height}, and @code{shorten-pair} of
2663 @code{PianoPedalBracket} grobs (see the detailed documentation of
2664 @rgrob{PianoPedalBracket}) can be modified. For example, the bracket
2665 may be extended to the end of the note head.
2667 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2668 \property Staff.PianoPedalBracket \override
2669 #'shorten-pair = #'(0 . -1.0)
2670 c''4 \sostenutoDown d''4 e''4 c'4
2671 f'4 g'4 a'4 \sostenutoUp
2678 @subsection Arpeggio
2681 @cindex broken arpeggio
2682 @cindex @code{\arpeggio}
2684 You can specify an arpeggio sign on a chord by attaching an
2685 @code{\arpeggio} to a note of the chord.
2688 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
2689 \context Voice <c\arpeggio e g c>
2692 When an arpeggio crosses staves in piano music, you attach an arpeggio
2693 to the chords in both staves, and set
2694 @code{PianoStaff.connectArpeggios}.
2696 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
2697 \context PianoStaff <
2698 \property PianoStaff.connectArpeggios = ##t
2699 \context Voice = one { <c'\arpeggio e g c> }
2700 \context Voice = other { \clef bass <c,,\arpeggio e g>}
2704 This command creates @internalsref{Arpeggio} grobs. Cross staff arpeggios
2705 are @code{PianoStaff.Arpeggio}.
2707 To add an arrow head to explicitly specify the direction of the
2708 arpeggio, you should set the arpeggio grob property
2709 @code{arpeggio-direction}.
2711 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
2713 \property Voice.Arpeggio \set #'arpeggio-direction = #1
2715 \property Voice.Arpeggio \set #'arpeggio-direction = #-1
2720 A square bracket on the left indicates that the player should not
2721 arpeggiate the chord. To draw these brackets, set the
2722 @code{molecule-callback} property of @code{Arpeggio} or
2723 @code{PianoStaff.Arpeggio} grobs to @code{\arpeggioBracket}, and use
2724 @code{\arpeggio} statements within the chords as before.
2726 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
2727 \context PianoStaff <
2728 \property PianoStaff.connectArpeggios = ##t
2729 \property PianoStaff.Arpeggio \override
2730 #'molecule-callback = \arpeggioBracket
2731 \context Voice = one { <c'\arpeggio e g c> }
2732 \context Voice = other { \clef bass <c,,\arpeggio e g>}
2739 It is not possible to mix connected arpeggios and unconnected
2740 arpeggios in one PianoStaff at the same time.
2744 @node Voice follower lines
2745 @subsection Voice follower lines
2747 @cindex follow voice
2748 @cindex staff switching
2751 @cindex @code{followVoice}
2753 Whenever a voice switches to another staff a line connecting the notes
2754 can be printed automatically. This is enabled if the property
2755 @code{PianoStaff.followVoice} is set to true:
2757 @lilypond[fragment,relative,verbatim]
2758 \context PianoStaff <
2759 \property PianoStaff.followVoice = ##t
2760 \context Staff \context Voice {
2762 \translator Staff=two
2765 \context Staff=two {\clef bass \skip 1*2 }
2769 The associated grob is @internalsref{VoiceFollower}.
2775 Tablature notation is used music for plucked string instruments. It
2776 notates pitches not by using note heads, but by indicating on which
2777 string and fret a note must be played. LilyPond offers limited
2778 support for tablature, by abusing the fingering system.
2781 * Tablatures basic::
2782 * Non-guitar tablatures::
2783 * Tablature in addition to normal staff::
2786 @node Tablatures basic
2787 @subsection Tablatures basic
2788 @cindex Tablatures basic
2790 Tablature can be typeset with Lilypond by using the
2791 @internalsref{TabStaff} and @internalsref{TabVoice} contexts. As
2792 tablature is a recent feature in Lilypond, most of the guitar special
2793 effects such as hammer, pull, bend are not yet supported.
2795 With the @internalsref{TabStaff}, the string number associated to a note
2796 is given though the fingering mechanism, e.g. @code{c4-3} for a C
2797 quarter on the third string. The string 1 is the lowest one, and the
2798 tuning defaults to the standard guitar tuning (with 6 strings).
2800 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2803 \property Staff.Stem \override #'direction = #1
2812 @node Non-guitar tablatures
2813 @subsection Non-guitar tablatures
2814 @cindex Non-guitar tablatures
2816 There are many ways to customize Lilypond tablatures.
2818 First you can change the number of strings, by setting the number of
2819 lines in the @internalsref{TabStaff}. You can change the strings
2820 tuning. A string tuning is given as a Scheme list with one integer
2821 number for each string, the number being the pitch of an open string.
2823 Finally, it is possible to change the Scheme function to format the
2824 tablature note text. The default is @var{fret-number-tablature-format},
2825 which uses the fret number, but for some instruments that may not use
2826 this notation, just create your own tablature-format function. This
2827 function takes three argument: the string number, the string tuning and
2831 @node Tablature in addition to normal staff
2832 @subsection Tablature in addition to normal staff
2833 @cindex Tablature in addition to normal staff
2835 It is possible to typeset both tablature and a "normal" staff, as
2836 commonly done in many parts.
2838 A common trick for that is to put the notes in a variables, and to hide
2839 the fingering information (which correspond to the string number) for
2848 \context StaffGroup <
2850 % Hide fingering number
2851 \property Staff.Fingering \override #'transparent = ##t
2856 \property Staff.Stem \override #'direction = #1
2870 LilyPond has support for both entering and printing chords.
2871 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
2872 twoWays = \notes \transpose c'' {
2882 < \context ChordNames \twoWays
2883 \context Voice \twoWays > }
2886 This example also shows that the chord printing routines do not try to
2887 be intelligent. If you enter @code{f bes d}, it does not interpret
2888 this as an inversion.
2890 As you can see chords really are a set of pitches. They are internally
2891 stored as simultaneous music expressions. This means you can enter
2892 chords by name and print them as notes, enter them as notes and print
2893 them as chord names, or (the most common case) enter them by name, and
2898 * Printing named chords::
2903 @subsection Chords mode
2906 Chord mode is a mode where you can input sets of pitches using common
2907 names. It is introduced by the keyword @code{\chords}. It is similar
2908 to note mode, but words are also looked up in a chord modifier table
2909 (containing @code{maj}, @code{dim}, etc). Dashes and carets are used
2910 to indicate chord additions and subtractions, so articulation scripts
2911 can not be entered in Chord mode.
2913 Throughout these examples, chords have been shifted around the staff
2914 using @code{\transpose}.
2916 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2920 c:9 c:9-.5+.7+ c:3-.5-
2930 The second type of modifier that may appear after the @code{:} is a
2931 named modifier. Named modifiers are listed in the file
2932 @file{chord-modifiers.ly}. The available modifiers are @code{m} and
2933 @code{min} which lower the 3rd half a step, `@code{aug}' which
2934 raises the 5th, `@code{dim}' which lowers the 5th,
2935 `@code{maj}' which adds a raised 7th, and `@code{sus}'
2936 which replaces the 5th with a 4th.
2938 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
2941 c1:m c:min7 c:maj c:aug c:dim c:sus
2947 Chord subtractions are used to eliminate notes from a chord. The
2948 notes to be subtracted are listed after a @code{^} character,
2951 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
2960 Chord inversions can be specified by appending `@code{/}' and the name
2961 of a single note to a chord. In a chord inversion, the inverted note is
2962 transposed down until it is the lowest note in the chord. If the note
2963 is not in the chord, a warning will be printed.
2965 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
2975 Bass notes can be added by `@code{/+}' and
2976 the name of a single note to a chord. This has the effect of
2977 adding the specified note to the chord, lowered by an octave,
2978 so it becomes the lowest note in the chord.
2980 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,center]
2989 The formal syntax for named chords is as follows:
2991 @var{tonic}[@var{duration}][@code{-}@var{modifiers}][@code{^}@var{subtractions}][@code{/}@var{inversion}][@code{/+}@var{bass}].
2994 @var{tonic} should be the tonic note of the chord, and @var{duration} is
2995 the chord duration in the usual notation. There are two kinds of
2996 modifiers. One type is formed by @emph{chord additions}. Additions are
2997 obtained by listing intervals separated by dots. An interval is written
2998 by its number with an optional @code{+} or @code{-} to indicate raising
2999 or lowering by half a step. Chord additions have two effects: they adds
3000 the specified interval and all lower odd numbered intervals to the
3001 chord, and they may lower or raise the specified interval.
3006 Implementation details are gory. For example @code{c:4} not only adds
3007 a fourth, but also removes the third.
3010 @c . {Printing named chords}
3011 @node Printing named chords
3012 @subsection Printing named chords
3014 @cindex printing chord names
3018 For displaying printed chord names, use the @internalsref{ChordNames} context.
3019 The chords may be entered either using the notation described above, or
3020 directly using simultaneous music.
3022 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
3024 \chords {a1 b c} <d f g> <e g b>
3028 \context ChordNames \scheme
3029 \context Staff \transpose c'' \scheme
3034 You can make the chord changes stand out by setting
3035 @code{ChordNames.chordChanges} to true. This will only display chord
3036 names when there's a change in the chords scheme and at the start of a
3041 c1:m c:m \break c:m c:m d
3045 \context ChordNames {
3046 \property ChordNames.chordChanges = ##t
3048 \context Staff \transpose c'' \scheme
3050 \paper{linewidth= 9.\cm}
3054 LilyPond examines chords specified as lists of notes to determine a name
3055 to give the chord. LilyPond will not try to identify chord inversions or
3056 an added bass note, which may result in strange chord names when chords
3057 are entered as a list of pitches:
3059 @lilypond[verbatim,center,singleline]
3068 \context ChordNames \scheme
3069 \context Staff \scheme
3075 By default, a chord name system proposed by Harald Banter (See
3076 @ref{Literature}) is used. The system is very regular and predictable.
3077 Typical American style chord names may be selected by setting the
3078 @code{style} property of the @code{ChordNames.ChordName} grob to
3079 @code{'american}. Similarly @code{'jazz} selects Jazz chordnames.
3081 Routines that determine the names to be printed are written in Scheme,
3082 and may be customized by the user. The code can be found in
3083 @file{scm/chord-name.scm}. Here's an example showing the differences in
3087 @c maybe just junk verbatim option?
3088 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
3098 \context ChordNames = banter \scheme
3099 \context ChordNames = american {
3100 \property ChordNames.ChordName \override
3101 #'style = #'american \scheme }
3102 \context ChordNames = jazz {
3103 \property ChordNames.ChordName \override
3104 #'style = #'jazz \scheme }
3105 \context Staff \transpose c'' \scheme
3112 @section Writing parts
3114 Orchestral music involves some special notation, both in the full score,
3115 as in the individual parts. This section explains how to tackle common
3116 problems in orchestral music.
3123 * Instrument names::
3125 * Multi measure rests::
3126 * Automatic part combining::
3127 * Hara kiri staves::
3128 * Sound output for transposing instruments::
3131 @c . {Rehearsal marks}
3132 @node Rehearsal marks
3133 @subsection Rehearsal marks
3134 @cindex Rehearsal marks
3136 @cindex @code{\mark}
3138 To print a rehearsal mark, use the @code{\mark} command.
3139 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
3146 c1 \mark #'(music "scripts-segno")
3151 As you can see, the mark is incremented automatically if you use
3152 @code{\mark \default}. The value to use is stored in the property
3153 @code{rehearsalMark} is used and automatically incremented. The grob
3154 is @internalsref{RehearsalMark} in @internalsref{Score} context. See
3155 @code{input/test/boxed-molecule.ly} if you need boxes around the
3159 @subsection Bar numbers
3163 @cindex measure numbers
3164 @cindex currentBarNumber
3166 Bar numbers are printed by default at the start of the line. The
3167 number itself is a property that can be set by modifying the
3168 @code{currentBarNumber} property, i.e.
3170 \property Score.currentBarNumber = #217
3173 If you want boxed bar numbers, see the example file
3174 @code{input/test/boxed-molecule.ly}.
3176 See also @seeinternals{BarNumber}.
3180 Printing bar numbers at regular intervals is not implemented.
3181 Barnumbers can collide with the StaffGroup, if there is one at the
3182 top. To solve this, You have to twiddle with the
3183 @internalsref{padding} property of @internalsref{BarNumber} if your
3184 score starts with a @internalsref{StaffGroup}.
3186 @node Instrument names
3187 @subsection Instrument names
3189 In scores, the instrument name is printed before the staff. This can
3190 be done by setting @code{Staff.instrument} and
3191 @code{Staff.instr}. This will print a string before the start of the
3192 staff. For the first start, @code{instrument} is used, for the next
3193 ones @code{instr} is used.
3195 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
3196 \property Staff.instrument = "ploink " { c''4 }
3199 You can also use markup texts to construct more complicated instrument
3203 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
3205 '((font-relative-size . -2 ) (music "accidentals--1")))
3208 \property Staff.instrument = #`((kern . 0.5) (lines
3209 "2 Clarinetti" (columns " (B" ,text-flat ")")))
3217 When you put a name on a grand staff or piano staff the width of the
3218 brace is not taken into account. You must add extra spaces to the end of
3219 the name to avoid a collision.
3222 @subsection Transpose
3224 @cindex transposition of pitches
3225 @cindex @code{\transpose}
3227 A music expression can be transposed with @code{\transpose}. The syntax
3230 \transpose @var{pitch} @var{musicexpr}
3233 This means that middle C in @var{musicexpr} is transposed to
3236 @code{\transpose} distinguishes between enharmonic pitches: both
3237 @code{\transpose cis'} or @code{\transpose des'} will transpose up half
3238 a tone. The first version will print sharps and the second version
3241 @lilypond[singleline, verbatim]
3242 mus =\notes { \key d \major cis d fis g }
3243 \score { \notes \context Staff {
3251 If you want to use both @code{\transpose} and @code{\relative}, then
3252 you must use @code{\transpose} first. @code{\relative} will have no
3253 effect music that appears inside a @code{\transpose}.
3255 @c . {Multi measure rests}
3256 @node Multi measure rests
3257 @subsection Multi measure rests
3258 @cindex Multi measure rests
3262 Multi measure rests are entered using `@code{R}'. It is specifically
3263 meant for full bar rests and for entering parts: the rest can expand to
3265 rests, or it can be printed as a single multimeasure rest This expansion
3266 is controlled by the property @code{Score.skipBars}. If this is set to true,
3267 Lily will not expand empty measures, and the appropriate number is added
3270 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim]
3271 \time 3/4 r2. | R2. | R2.*2
3272 \property Score.skipBars = ##t R2.*17 R2.*4
3275 Notice that the @code{R2.} is printed as a whole rest, centered in the
3278 @cindex whole rests for a full measure
3280 The grob for this object is @internalsref{MultiMeasureRest}.
3284 Currently, there is no way to automatically condense multiple rests
3285 into a single multimeasure rest. Multi measure rests do not take part
3288 @cindex condensing rests
3290 @node Automatic part combining
3291 @subsection Automatic part combining
3292 @cindex automatic part combining
3293 @cindex part combiner
3296 Automatic part combining is used to merge two parts of music onto a
3297 staff in an intelligent way. It is aimed primarily at typesetting
3298 orchestral scores. When the two parts are identical for a period of
3299 time, only one is shown. In places where the two parts differ, they
3300 are typeset as separate voices, and stem directions are set
3301 automatically. Also, solo and @emph{a due} parts can be identified
3304 The syntax for part combining is
3307 \partcombine @var{context} @var{musicexpr1} @var{musicexpr2}
3309 where the pieces of music @var{musicexpr1} and @var{musicexpr2} will be
3310 combined into one context of type @var{context}. The music expressions
3311 must be interpreted by contexts whose names should start with @code{one}
3314 The most useful function of the part combiner is to combine parts into
3315 one voice, as common for wind parts in orchestral scores:
3317 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline,fragment]
3319 \context Voice=one \partcombine Voice
3320 \context Thread=one \relative c'' {
3323 \context Thread=two \relative c'' {
3329 Notice that the first @code{g} appears only once, although it was
3330 specified twice (once in each part). Stem, slur and tie directions are
3331 set automatically, depending whether there is a solo or unisono. The
3332 first part (with context called @code{one}) always gets up stems, and
3333 `solo', while the second (called @code{two}) always gets down stems and
3336 If you just want the merging parts, and not the textual markings, you
3337 may set the property @var{soloADue} to false.
3339 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline,fragment]
3341 \property Staff.soloADue = ##f
3342 \context Voice=one \partcombine Voice
3343 \context Thread=one \relative c'' {
3346 \context Thread=two \relative c'' {
3352 There are a number of other properties that you can use to tweak the
3353 behavior of part combining, refer to the automatically generated
3354 documentation of @reng{Thread_devnull_engraver} and
3355 @reng{Voice_devnull_engraver}. Look at the documentation of the
3356 responsible engravers, @code{Thread_devnull_engraver},
3357 @code{Voice_devnull_engraver} and @code{A2_engraver}.
3361 In @code{soloADue} mode, when the two voices play the same notes on and
3362 off, the part combiner may typeset @code{a2} more than once in a
3365 @lilypond[fragment,singleline]
3367 \context Voice=one \partcombine Voice
3368 \context Thread=one \relative c'' {
3371 \context Thread=two \relative c'' {
3377 @cindex @code{Thread_devnull_engraver}
3378 @cindex @code{Voice_engraver}
3379 @cindex @code{A2_engraver}
3381 @node Hara kiri staves
3382 @subsection Hara kiri staves
3384 In orchestral scores, staff lines that only have rests are usually removed.
3385 This saves some space. LilyPond also supports this through the hara
3386 kiri@footnote{Hara kiri, also called Seppuku, is the ritual suicide of
3387 the Japanese Samourai warriors.} staff. This staff commits suicide when
3388 it finds itself to be empty after the line-breaking process. It will
3389 not disappear when it contains normal rests, you must use multi measure
3392 The hara kiri staff is specialized version of the @internalsref{Staff}
3393 context. It is available as the context identifier
3394 @code{\HaraKiriStaffContext}. Observe how the second staff in this
3395 example disappears in the second line.
3399 \notes \relative c' <
3400 \context Staff = SA { e4 f g a \break c1 }
3401 \context Staff = SB { c4 d e f \break R1 }
3405 \translator { \HaraKiriStaffContext }
3411 @node Sound output for transposing instruments
3412 @subsection Sound output for transposing instruments
3414 When you want to make a MIDI file from a score containing transposed
3415 and untransposed instruments, you have to instruct LilyPond the pitch
3416 offset (in semitones) for the transposed instruments. This is done
3417 using the @code{transposing} property. It does not affect printed
3420 @cindex @code{transposing}
3423 \property Staff.instrument = #"Cl. in B-flat"
3424 \property Staff.transposing = #-2
3430 @node Ancient notation
3431 @section Ancient notation
3434 * Ancient note heads::
3441 @node Ancient note heads
3442 @subsection Ancient note heads
3444 To get a longa note head, you have to use mensural note heads. This
3445 is accomplished by setting the @code{style} property of the
3446 NoteHead grob to @code{mensural}. There is also a note head style
3447 @code{baroque} which gives mensural note heads for @code{\longa} and
3448 @code{\breve} but standard note heads for shorter notes.
3450 @lilypond[fragment,singleline,verbatim]
3451 \property Voice.NoteHead \set #'style = #'mensural
3452 \property Voice.NoteHead \set #'font-family = #'ancient
3457 @subsection Custodes
3462 A @emph{custos} (plural: @emph{custodes}; latin word for `guard') is a
3463 staff context symbol that appears at the end of a staff line. It
3464 anticipates the pitch of the first note(s) of the following line and
3465 thus helps the player or singer to manage line breaks during
3466 performance, thus enhancing readability of a score.
3471 \property Staff.Custos \set #'style = #'mensural
3476 \consists Custos_engraver
3482 Custodes were frequently used in music notation until the 17th century.
3483 There were different appearances for different notation styles.
3484 Nowadays, they have survived only in special forms of musical notation
3485 such as via the @emph{editio vaticana} dating back to the beginning of
3488 For typesetting custodes, just put a @code{Custos_engraver} into the
3489 @internalsref{Staff} context when declaring the @code{\paper} block. In this
3490 block, you can also globally control the appearance of the custos symbol
3491 by setting the custos @code{style} property. Currently supported styles
3492 are @code{vaticana}, @code{medicaea}, @code{hufnagel} and
3499 \consists Custos_engraver
3500 Custos \override #'style = #'mensural
3505 The property can also be set locally, for example in a @code{\notes}
3510 \property Staff.Custos \override #'style = #'vaticana
3511 c'1 d' e' d' \break c' d' e' d'
3516 @subsection Ancient clefs
3518 LilyPond supports a variety of clefs, many of them ancient. These can
3519 be selected from the @code{ancient} font family, by setting
3520 @code{Staff.clefGlyph}) to one of the following values
3529 @item clefs-vaticana_do
3530 Editio Vaticana style do clef
3531 @item clefs-vaticana_fa
3532 Editio Vaticana style fa clef
3533 @item clefs-medicaea_do
3534 Editio Medicaea style do clef
3535 @item clefs-medicaea_fa
3536 Editio Medicaea style fa clef
3537 @item clefs-mensural1_c
3538 modern style mensural C clef
3539 @item clefs-mensural2_c
3540 historic style small mensural C clef
3541 @item clefs-mensural3_c
3542 historic style big mensural C clef
3543 @item clefs-mensural1_f
3544 historic style traditional mensural F clef
3545 @item clefs-mensural2_f
3546 historic style new mensural F clef
3547 @item clefs-mensural_g
3548 historic style mensural G clef
3549 @item clefs-hufnagel_do
3550 historic style hufnagel do clef
3551 @item clefs-hufnagel_fa
3552 historic style hufnagel fa clef
3553 @item clefs-hufnagel_do_fa
3554 historic style hufnagel combined do/fa clef
3555 @item clefs-percussion
3556 modern style percussion clef
3559 @emph{Modern style} means ``as is typeset in current editions.''
3560 @emph{Historic style} means ``as was typeset or written in contemporary
3561 historic editions''. @emph{Editio XXX style} means ``as is/was printed in
3564 @cindex Vaticana, Editio
3565 @cindex Medicaea, Editio
3566 @cindex hufnagel clefs
3570 @subsection Figured bass
3572 @cindex Basso continuo
3574 LilyPond has limited support for figured bass:
3576 @lilypond[verbatim,fragment]
3578 \context FiguredBass
3583 \context Voice { c4 g8 }
3587 The support for figured bass consists of two parts: there is an input
3588 mode, introduced by @code{\figures}, where you can enter bass figures
3589 as numbers, and there is a context called @internalsref{FiguredBass}
3590 that takes care of making @internalsref{BassFigure} grobs.
3592 In figures input mode, a group of bass figures is delimited by
3593 @code{<} and @code{>}. The duration is entered after the @code{>}.
3598 \context FiguredBass
3602 Accidentals are added to the numbers if you alterate them by
3603 appending @code{-}, @code{!} and @code{+}.
3609 \context FiguredBass
3610 \figures { <4- 6+ 7!> }
3613 Spaces or dashes may be inserted by using @code{_}. Brackets are
3614 introduced with @code{[} and @code{]}.
3620 \context FiguredBass
3621 \figures { < [4 6] 8 [_ 12]> }
3624 Although the support for figured bass may superficially resemble chord
3625 support, it works much simpler: in figured bass simply stores the
3626 numbers, and then prints the numbers you entered. There is no
3627 conversion to pitches, and no realizations of the bass are played in
3631 @c . {Tuning output}
3633 @section Tuning output
3635 LilyPond tries to take as much formatting as possible out of your
3636 hands. Nevertheless, there are situations where it needs some help, or
3637 where you want to override its decisions. In this section we discuss
3638 ways to do just that.
3640 Formatting is internally done by manipulating so called grobs (graphic
3641 objects). Each grob carries with it a set of properties (grob
3642 properties) specific to that object. For example, a stem grob has
3643 properties that specify its direction, length and thickness.
3645 The most direct way of tuning the output is by altering the values of
3646 these properties. There are two ways of doing that: first, you can
3647 temporarily change the definition of a certain type of grob, thus
3648 affecting a whole set of objects. Second, you can select one specific
3649 object, and set a grob property in that object.
3652 * Tuning groups of grobs ::
3653 * Tuning per grob ::
3658 @node Tuning groups of grobs
3659 @subsection Tuning groups of grobs
3661 @cindex grob description
3665 A grob definition is a Scheme association list, that is stored in a
3666 context property. By assigning to that property (using plain
3667 @code{\property}), you can change the resulting grobs.
3669 @lilypond[verbatim, fragment]
3670 c'4 \property Voice.Stem = #'()
3673 The @code{\property} assignment effectively empties the definition of
3674 the Stem object. One of the effects is that the recipe of how it should be
3675 printed is erased, with the effect of rendering it invisible. The above
3676 assignment is available as a standard identifier, for the case that you
3680 \property Voice.Stem = \turnOff
3687 This mechanism is fairly crude, since you can only set, but not modify,
3688 the definition of a grob. For this reason, there is a more advanced
3691 The definition of a grob is actually a list of default grob
3692 properties. For example, the definition of the Stem grob (available in
3693 @file{scm/grob-description.scm}), defines the following values for
3698 (beamed-lengths . (0.0 2.5 2.0 1.5))
3699 (Y-extent-callback . ,Stem::height)
3703 You can add a property on top of the existing definition, or remove a
3704 property, thus overriding the system defaults:
3706 c'4 \property Voice.Stem \override #'thickness = #4.0
3707 c'4 \property Voice.Stem \revert #'thickness
3710 You should balance @code{\override} and @code{\revert}. If that's too
3711 much work, you can use the @code{\set} shorthand. It performs a revert
3712 followed by an override. The following example gives exactly the same
3713 result as the previous one.
3715 c'4 \property Voice.Stem \set #'thickness = #4.0
3716 c'4 \property Voice.Stem \set #'thickness = #0.8
3719 If you use @code{\set}, you must explicitly restore the default.
3722 Formally the syntax for these constructions is
3724 \property @var{context}.@var{grobname} \override @var{symbol} = @var{value}
3725 \property @var{context}.@var{grobname} \set @var{symbol} = @var{value}
3726 \property @var{context}.@var{grobname} \revert @var{symbol}
3728 Here @var{symbol} is a Scheme expression of symbol type, @var{context}
3729 and @var{grobname} are strings and @var{value} is a Scheme expression.
3732 If you revert a setting which was not set in the first place, then it
3733 has no effect. However, if the setting was set as a system default, it
3734 may remove the default value, and this may give surprising results,
3735 including crashes. In other words, @code{\override} and @code{\revert},
3736 must be carefully balanced.
3738 These are examples of correct nesting of @code{\override}, @code{\set},
3741 A clumsy but correct form:
3743 \override \revert \override \revert \override \revert
3746 Shorter version of the same:
3748 \override \set \set \revert
3751 A short form, using only @code{\set}. This requires you to know the
3754 \set \set \set \set @var{to default value}
3757 If there is no default (i.e. by default, the grob property is unset),
3760 \set \set \set \revert
3763 For the digirati, the grob description is an Scheme association
3764 list. Since a Scheme list is a singly linked list, we can treat it as a
3765 stack, and @code{\override} and @code{\revert} are just push and pop
3766 operations. This pushing and popping is also used for overriding
3767 automatic beaming settings.
3771 LilyPond will hang or crash if @var{value} contains cyclic references.
3772 The backend is not very strict in type-checking grob properties. If you
3773 @code{\revert} properties that are expected to be set by default,
3777 @cindex adjusting staff symbol
3778 @cindex StaffSymbol, using \property
3779 @cindex staff lines, setting number of
3781 Some grobs are created at the moment that their context is created. An
3782 example of such a grob is the staff itself (i.e. the horizontal lines).
3783 You can not change the appearance of the staff symbol by manipulating
3784 @code{\property Staff.StaffSymbol}. At the moment that @code{\property
3785 Staff} is interpreted, a Staff context is made, and the StaffSymbol is
3786 created before any @code{\override} is effective. You can deal with this
3787 either overriding properties in a @code{\translator} definition, or by
3788 using @code{\outputproperty}.
3793 @node Tuning per grob
3794 @subsection Tuning per grob
3796 @cindex \outputproperty
3798 A second way of tuning grobs is the more arcane @code{\outputproperty}
3799 feature. The syntax is as follows:
3801 \outputproperty @var{predicate} @var{symbol} = @var{value}
3803 Here @code{predicate} is a Scheme function taking a grob argument, and
3804 returning a boolean. This statement is processed by the
3805 @code{Output_property_engraver}. It instructs the engraver to feed all
3806 grobs that it sees to @var{predicate}. Whenever the predicate returns
3807 true, the grob property @var{symbol} will be set to @var{value}.
3809 You will need to combine this statement with @code{\context} to select
3810 the appropriate context to apply this to.
3812 Here are some random examples.
3815 In the following example, all note heads occurring at current staff
3816 level, are shifted up and right by setting their @code{extra-offset}
3819 @lilypond[fragment,verbatim,singleline]
3821 \context Staff \outputproperty
3822 #(make-type-checker 'note-head-interface)
3823 #'extra-offset = #'(0.5 . 0.75)
3827 @cindex @code{extra-offset}
3829 In this example, the predicate checks the @code{text} grob property, to
3830 shift only the `m.d.' text, but not the fingering instruction "2".
3831 @lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
3832 #(define (make-text-checker text)
3833 (lambda (grob) (equal? text (ly-get-grob-property grob 'text))))
3836 \notes\relative c''' {
3837 \property Voice.Stem \set #'direction = #1
3838 \outputproperty #(make-text-checker "m.d.")
3839 #'extra-offset = #'(-3.5 . -4.5)
3847 If possible, avoid this feature: the semantics are not very clean, and
3848 the syntax and semantics are up for rewrite.
3853 @node Font selection
3854 @subsection Font selection
3856 The most common thing to change about the appearance of fonts is
3857 their size. The font size of a @internalsref{Voice},
3858 @internalsref{Staff} or @internalsref{Thread} context, can be easily
3859 changed by setting the @code{fontSize} property for that context:
3860 @lilypond[fragment,relative=1]
3861 c4 c4 \property Voice.fontSize = #-1
3864 This command will not change the size of variable symbols, such as
3865 beams or slurs. You can use this command to get smaller symbol for
3866 cue notes, but that involves some more subtleties. An elaborate
3867 example of those is in @file{input/test/cue-notes.ly}.
3873 The font used for printing a grob can be selected by setting
3874 @code{font-name}, e.g.
3876 \property Staff.TimeSignature
3877 \set #'font-name = #"cmr17"
3879 You may use any font which is available to @TeX{}, such as foreign
3880 fonts or fonts that do not belong to the Computer Modern font family.
3881 Font selection for the standard fonts, @TeX{}'s Computer Modern fonts,
3882 can also be adjusted with a more fine-grained mechanism. By setting
3883 the grob properties described below, you can select a different font.
3884 All three mechanisms work for every grob that supports
3885 @code{font-interface}.
3889 A symbol indicating the general class of the typeface. Supported are
3890 @code{roman} (Computer Modern), @code{braces} (for piano staff
3891 braces), @code{music} (the standard music font), @code{ancient} (the
3892 ancient notation font) @code{dynamic} (font for dynamic signs) and
3896 A symbol indicating the shape of the font, there are typically several
3897 font shapes available for each font family. Choices are @code{italic},
3898 @code{caps} and @code{upright}
3901 A symbol indicating the series of the font. There are typically several
3902 font series for each font family and shape. Choices are @code{medium}
3905 @item font-relative-size
3906 A number indicating the size relative the standard size. For example,
3907 with 20pt staff height, relative size -1 corresponds to 16pt staff
3908 height, and relative size +1 corresponds to 23 pt staff height.
3910 @item font-design-size
3911 A number indicating the design size of the font.
3913 This is a feature of the Computer Modern Font: each point size has a
3914 slightly different design. Smaller design sizes are relatively wider,
3915 which enhances readability.
3918 For any of these properties, the value @code{*} (i.e. the @emph{symbol},
3919 @code{*}, entered as @code{#'*}), acts as a wildcard. This can be used
3920 to override default setting, which are always present. For example:
3922 \property Lyrics . LyricText \override #'font-series = #'bold
3923 \property Lyrics . LyricText \override #'font-family = #'typewriter
3924 \property Lyrics . LyricText \override #'font-shape = #'*
3927 @cindex @code{font-style}
3929 There are also pre-cooked font selection qualifiers. These are
3930 selected through the grob property @code{font-style}. For example,
3931 the style @code{finger} selects family @code{number} and relative size
3932 @code{-3}. Styles available include @code{volta}, @code{finger},
3933 @code{tuplet}, @code{timesig}, @code{mmrest}, @code{script},
3934 @code{large}, @code{Large} and @code{dynamic}. The style sheets and
3935 tables for selecting fonts are located in @file{scm/font.scm}. Refer
3936 to this file for more information.
3938 @cindex magnification
3940 The size of the font may be scaled with the grob property
3941 @code{font-magnification}. For example, @code{2.0} blows up all
3942 letters by a factor 2 in both directions.
3946 Relative size is not linked to any real size.
3948 There is no style sheet provided for other fonts besides the @TeX{}
3949 family, and the style sheet can not be modified easiyl.
3951 @cindex font selection
3952 @cindex font magnification
3953 @cindex @code{font-interface}
3957 @subsection Text markup
3961 LilyPond has an internal mechanism to typeset texts. You can
3962 form text markup expressions by composing scheme expressions
3963 in the following way.
3965 @lilypond[verbatim, singleline]
3970 c^#'(italic "italic")
3971 d_#'((bold italic) "ff")
3973 f_#'(lines "one" (bold "two"))
3974 g^#'(music "noteheads-2" ((raise . 2.4) "flags-u3"))
3978 Normally, the Scheme markup text is stored in the @code{text} property
3979 of a grob. Formally, it is defined as follows:
3982 text: string | (head? text+)
3983 head: markup | (markup+)
3984 markup-item: property | abbrev
3985 property: (@var{key} . @var{value})
3986 abbrev: @code{columns lines roman music bold italic named super sub}
3987 @code{overstrike text finger volta timesig mmrest mark script}
3988 @code{large Large dynamic}
3991 The markup is broken down and converted into a list of grob properties,
3992 which are prepended to the property list. The @var{key}-@var{value}
3993 pair is a grob property. A list of properties available is included in
3994 the generated documentation for @rint{Text_interface}.
3996 The following abbreviations are defined:
3999 horizontal mode: set all text on one line (default)
4001 vertical mode: set every text on a new line
4005 selects the Feta font (the standard font for music notation glyphs),
4006 and uses named lookup
4013 lookup by character name
4015 plain text lookup (by character value)
4021 the next text or character overstrikes this one
4023 select fingering number fontstyle
4025 select volta number fontstyle
4027 select time signature number fontstyle
4029 select multi measure rest number fontstyle
4031 select mark number fontstyle
4033 select scriptsize roman fontstyle
4035 select large roman fontstyle
4037 select Large roman fontstyle
4039 select dynamics fontstyle
4043 @cindex metronome mark
4045 One practical application of complicated markup is to fake a metronome
4049 #(define note '(columns
4050 (music "noteheads-2" ((kern . -0.1) "flags-stem"))))
4051 #(define eight-note `(columns ,note ((kern . -0.1)
4052 (music ((raise . 3.5) "flags-u3")))))
4053 #(define dotted-eight-note
4054 `(columns ,eight-note (music "dots-dot")))
4057 \notes\relative c'' {
4058 a1^#`((columns (font-relative-size . -1)) ,dotted-eight-note " = 64")
4064 TextScript \override #'font-shape = #'upright
4072 The syntax and semantics of markup texts are not clean, and both
4073 syntax and semantics are slated for a rewrite.
4076 @section Global layout
4078 The global layout determined by three factors: the page layout, the
4079 line breaks and the spacing. These all influence each other: The
4080 choice of spacing determines how densely each system of music is set,
4081 whree line breaks breaks are chosen, and thus ultimately how many
4082 pages a piece of music takes. In this section we will explain how the
4083 lilypond spacing engine works, and how you can tune its results.
4085 Globally spoken, this procedure happens in three steps: first,
4086 flexible distances (``springs'') are chosen, based on durations. All
4087 possible line breaking combination are tried, and the one with the
4088 best results---a layout that has uniform density and requires as
4089 little stretching or cramping as possible---is chosen. When the score
4090 is processed by @TeX{}, page are filled with systems, and page breaks
4091 are chosen whenever the page gets full.
4103 The spacing engine translates differences in durations into
4104 stretchable distances (``springs'') of differing lengths. Longer
4105 durations get more space, shorter durations get less. The basis for
4106 assigning spaces to durations, is that the shortest durations get a
4107 fixed amount of space, and the longer durations get more: doubling a
4108 duration adds a fixed amount of space to the note.
4110 For example, the following piece contains lots of half, quarter and
4111 8th notes, the eighth note is followed by 1 note head width. The The
4112 quarter note is followed by 2 NHW, the half by 3 NHW, etc.
4113 @lilypond[fragment, verbatim, relative=1]
4114 c2 c4. c8 c4. c8 c4. c8 c8 c8 c4 c4 c4
4117 These two amounts of space are @code{shortest-duration-space}
4118 @code{spacing-increment}, grob properties of
4119 @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}. Normally @code{spacing-increment} is
4120 set to 1.2, which is the width of a note head, and
4121 @code{shortest-duration-space} is set to 2.0, meaning that the
4122 shortest note gets 2 noteheads of space. For normal notes, this space
4123 is always counted from the left edge of the symbol, so the short notes
4124 in a score is generally followed by one note head width of space.
4126 If one would follow the above procedure exactly, then adding a single
4127 32th note to a score that uses 8th and 16th notes, would widen up the
4128 entire score a lot. The shortest note is no longer a 16th, but a 64th,
4129 thus adding 2 noteheads of space to every note. To prevent this, the
4130 shortest duration for spacing is not the shortest note in the score,
4131 but the most commonly found shortest note. Notes that are even
4132 shorter this are followed by a space that is proportonial to their
4133 duration relative to the common shortest note. So if we were to add
4134 only a few 16th notes to the example above, they would be followed by
4137 @lilypond[fragment, verbatim, relative=1]
4138 c2 c4. c8 c4. [c16 c] c4. c8 c8 c8 c4 c4 c4
4141 The most common shortest duration is determined as follows: in every
4142 measure, the shortest duration is determined. The most common short
4143 duration, is taken as the basis for the spacing, with the stipulation
4144 that this shortest duration should always be equal to or shorter than
4145 1/8th note. The shortest duration is printed when you run lilypond
4146 with @code{--verbose}. These durations may also be customized. If you
4147 set the @code{common-shortest-duration} in
4148 @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, then this sets the base duration for
4149 spacing. The maximum duration for this base (normally 1/8th), is set
4150 through @code{base-shortest-duration}.
4152 @cindex @code{common-shortest-duration}
4153 @cindex @code{base-shortest-duration}
4154 @cindex @code{stem-spacing-correction}
4155 @cindex @code{spacing}
4157 In the introduction it was explained that stem directions influence
4158 spacing. This is controlled with @code{stem-spacing-correction} in
4159 @internalsref{NoteSpacing}. The @code{StaffSpacing} grob contains the
4160 same property for controlling the stem/barline spacing. In the
4161 following example shows these corrections, once with default settings,
4162 and once with exaggerated corrections.
4168 \property Staff.NoteSpacing \override #'stem-spacing-correction
4170 \property Staff.StaffSpacing \override #'stem-spacing-correction
4175 \paper { linewidth = -1. } }
4182 Spacing is determined on a score wide basis. If you have a score that
4183 changes its character (measured in durations) half way during the
4184 score, the part containing the longer durations will be spaced too
4187 Generating optically pleasing spacing is black magic. LilyPond tries
4188 to deal with a number of frequent cases. Here is an example that is
4189 not handled correctly, due to the combination of chord collisions and
4194 \context PianoStaff \notes \transpose c''' <
4195 \context Staff = up { s1 }
4196 \context Staff = down { [c8 c \translator Staff=up <c d> c
4197 \translator Staff=down c c c] }
4199 \paper { linewidth = -1 }
4206 @subsection Font size
4207 @cindex font size, setting
4208 @cindex staff size, setting
4209 @cindex @code{paper} file
4211 The Feta font provides musical symbols at seven different sizes.
4212 These fonts are 11 point, 13 point, 16 point, 19 pt, 20 point, 23
4213 point, and 26 point. The point size of a font is the height of the
4214 five lines in a staff when displayed in the font.
4216 Definitions for these sizes are the files @file{paperSZ.ly}, where
4217 @code{SZ} is one of 11, 13, 16, 19, 20, 23 and 26. If you include any
4218 of these files, the identifiers @code{paperEleven},
4219 @code{paperThirteen}, @code{paperSixteen}, @code{paperNineteen},
4220 @code{paperTwenty}, @code{paperTwentythree}, and @code{paperTwentysix}
4221 are defined respectively. The default @code{\paper} block is also
4222 set. These files should be imported at toplevel, i.e.
4224 \include "paper26.ly"
4228 The font definitions are generated using a Scheme function. For more
4229 details, see the file @file{scm/font.scm}.
4234 @subsection Line breaking
4237 @cindex breaking lines
4239 Line breaks are normally computed automatically. They are chosen such
4240 that it looks neither cramped nor loose, and that consecutive lines have
4243 Occasionally you might want to override the automatic breaks; you can
4244 do this by specifying @code{\break}. This will force a line break at
4245 this point. Line breaks can only occur at places where there are bar
4246 lines. If you want to have a line break where there is no bar line,
4247 you can force an invisible bar line by entering @code{\bar
4248 ""}. Similarly, @code{\noBreak} forbids a line break at a certain
4251 If you want linebreaks at regular intervals, you can use the following:
4253 < \repeat 7 unfold @{ s1 * 4 \break @}
4257 This makes the following 28 measures (assuming 4/4 time) be broken every
4261 @subsection Page layout
4264 @cindex breaking pages
4266 @cindex @code{indent}
4267 @cindex @code{linewidth}
4269 The most basic settings influencing the spacing are @code{linewidth}
4270 and @code{indent}, both set in the @code{\paper} block. They control
4271 the indentation of the first line of music, and the lengths of the
4272 lines. If @code{linewidth} set to a negative value, a single
4273 unjustified line is produced. A similar effect for scores that are
4274 longer than one line, can be produced by setting @code{raggedright} to
4275 true in the @code{\paper} block.
4279 The page layout process happens outside lilypond. Ly2dvi sets page
4280 layout instructions. Ly2dvi responds to the following variables in the
4281 @code{\paper} block. The variable @code{textheight} sets the total
4282 height of the music on each page. The spacing between systems is
4283 controlled with @code{interscoreline}, its default is 16pt.
4284 The distance between the score lines will stretch in order to fill the
4285 full page @code{interscorelinefill} is set to a positive number. In
4286 that case @code{interscoreline} specifies the minimum spacing.
4288 @cindex @code{textheight}
4289 @cindex @code{interscoreline}
4290 @cindex @code{interscorelinefill}
4292 Page breaks are normally computed by @TeX{}, so they are not under
4293 direct control of LilyPond. However, you can insert a commands into
4294 the @file{.tex} output to instruct @TeX{} where to break pages. You
4295 can insert a @code{\newpage} from within lilypond. This is done by
4296 setting the @code{between-systems-strings} on the
4297 @internalsref{NonMusicalPaperColumn} where the system is broken.
4301 @cindex @code{papersize}
4303 To change the paper size, you must first set the
4304 @code{papersize} paper variable variable. Set it to
4305 the strings @code{a4}, @code{letter}, or @code{legal}. After this
4306 specification, you must set the font as described above. If you want
4307 the default font, then use the 20 point font.
4310 \paper@{ papersize = "a4" @}
4311 \include "paper16.ly"
4314 The file @code{paper16.ly} will now include a file named @file{a4.ly}, which
4315 will set the paper variables @code{hsize} and @code{vsize} (used by
4316 Lilypond and @code{ly2dvi})
4326 LilyPond can produce MIDI output. The performance lacks lots of
4327 interesting effects, such as swing, articulation, slurring, etc., but it
4328 is good enough for proof-hearing the music you have entered. Ties,
4329 dynamics and tempo changes are interpreted.
4331 Dynamic marks, crescendi and decrescendi translate into MIDI volume
4332 levels. Dynamic marks translate to a fixed fraction of the available
4333 MIDI volume range, crescendi and decrescendi make the the volume vary
4334 linearly between their two extremities. The fractions be adjusted by
4335 overriding the @code{absolute-volume-alist} defined in
4336 @file{scm/midi.scm}.
4338 For each type of musical instrument (that MIDI supports), a volume range
4339 can be defined. This gives you basic equalizer control, which can
4340 enhance the quality of the MIDI output remarkably. You can add
4341 instruments and ranges or change the default settings by overriding the
4342 @code{instrument-equalizer-alist} defined in @file{scm/midi.scm}.
4344 Both loudness controls are combined to produce the final MIDI volume.
4350 * MIDI instrument names::
4355 @subsection MIDI block
4359 The MIDI block is analogous to the paper block, but it is somewhat
4360 simpler. The @code{\midi} block can contain:
4364 @item a @code{\tempo} definition
4365 @item context definitions
4368 Assignments in the @code{\midi} block are not allowed.
4372 @cindex context definition
4374 Context definitions follow precisely the same syntax as within the
4375 \paper block. Translation modules for sound are called performers.
4376 The contexts for MIDI output are defined in @file{ly/performer-init.ly}.
4379 @node MIDI instrument names
4380 @subsection MIDI instrument names
4382 @cindex instrument names
4383 @cindex @code{Staff.midiInstrument}
4384 @cindex @code{Staff.instrument}
4386 The MIDI instrument name is set by the @code{Staff.midiInstrument}
4387 property or, if that property is not set, the @code{Staff.instrument}
4388 property. The instrument name should be chosen from the list in
4389 @ref{MIDI instruments}.
4393 If the selected string does not exactly match, then LilyPond uses the
4394 default (Grand Piano). It is not possible to select an instrument by