+@lilypond[verbatim,quote,ragged-right]
+<<
+ \relative c'' {
+ \key g \major
+ \time 6/8
+ d4 b8 c4 a8 d4 b8 g4
+ }
+ \addlyrics {
+ Girls and boys come out to play,
+ }
+>>
+@end lilypond
+
+Note the curly brackets delimiting both the music and the lyrics,
+and the angle brackets @code{<< ... >>} around the whole piece to
+show that the music and lyrics are to occur at the same time.
+
+@node Aligning lyrics to a melody
+@subsection Aligning lyrics to a melody
+
+Music Glossary: @rglos{melisma}, @rglos{extender line}.
+
+@cindex melisma
+@cindex extender line
+@cindex hyphens
+@cindex underscore
+
+The next line in the nursery rhyme is @q{The moon doth shine as
+bright as day}. Let's extend it:
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,quote,ragged-right]
+<<
+ \relative c'' {
+ \key g \major
+ \time 6/8
+ d4 b8 c4 a8 d4 b8 g4
+ g8 a4 b8 c b a d4 b8 g4.
+ }
+ \addlyrics {
+ Girls and boys come out to play,
+ The moon doth shine as bright as day;
+ }
+>>
+@end lilypond
+
+We see the extra lyrics do not align properly with the notes. The
+word @q{shine} should be sung on two notes, not one. This is
+called a @notation{melisma}, a single syllable sung to more than one
+note. There are several ways to spread a syllable over multiple
+notes, the simplest being to add a slur across them (see @ref{Ties
+and slurs}):
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,quote,ragged-right]
+<<
+ \relative c'' {
+ \key g \major
+ \time 6/8
+ d4 b8 c4 a8 d4 b8 g4
+ g8 a4 b8 c([ b)] a d4 b8 g4.
+ }
+ \addlyrics {
+ Girls and boys come out to play,
+ The moon doth shine as bright as day;
+ }
+>>
+@end lilypond
+
+Here we have also used manual beaming (the square brackets @code{[
+]} ) to generate the beaming which is customarily used with lyrics
+(see @ref{Automatic and manual beams}).
+
+If a syllable extends over several notes or a single very long
+note an @notation{extender line} is usually drawn from the syllable
+extending under all the notes for that syllable. It is entered as
+two underscores @code{__}. Here is an example from the first
+three bars of Dido's Lament, from Purcell's Dido and Æneas:
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,quote,ragged-right]
+<<
+ \relative c'' {
+ \key g \minor
+ \time 3/2
+ g2 a bes bes( a)
+ b c4.( bes8 a4. g8 fis4.) g8 fis1
+ }
+ \addlyrics {
+ When I am laid,
+ am laid __ in earth,
+ }
+>>
+@end lilypond
+
+None of the examples so far have involved words containing more
+than one syllable. Such words are usually split one syllable to a
+note, with hyphens between syllables. Such hyphens are entered as
+two dashes, resulting in a centered hyphen between the syllables.
+Here is an example showing this and everything we have learned so
+far about aligning lyrics to notes.
+
+@c no ragged-right here because otherwise the hyphens get lost,
+@c but the example is long enough to avoid looking strange.
+@lilypond[verbatim,quote]
+<<
+ \relative c' {
+ \key g \major
+ \time 3/4
+ \partial 4
+ d4 g4 g a8( b) g4 g4
+ b8( c) d4 d e4 c2
+ }
+ \addlyrics {
+ A -- way in a __ man -- ger,
+ no __ crib for a bed, __
+ }
+>>
+@end lilypond
+
+Some lyrics, especially those in Italian, require the opposite:
+setting more than one syllable to a single note. This is
+achieved by linking the syllables together with a single
+underscore @code{_} (with no spaces), or enclosing them in
+quotes. Here's an example from Rossini's Figaro, where
+@q{al} has to be sung on the same note as the @q{go} of
+@q{Largo} in Figaro's aria @q{Largo al factotum}:
+
+@c no ragged-right here because otherwise the hyphens get lost,
+@c but the example is long enough to avoid looking strange.
+@lilypond[verbatim,quote]
+<<
+ \relative c' {
+ \clef bass
+ \key c \major
+ \time 6/8
+ c4.~ c8 d b c([ d)] b c d b c
+ }
+ \addlyrics {
+ Lar -- go_al fac -- to -- tum del -- la cit -- tà
+ }
+>>
+@end lilypond
+
+
+@seealso
+
+Notation Reference: @ruser{Vocal music}.
+
+
+@node Lyrics to multiple staves
+@subsection Lyrics to multiple staves
+
+The simple approach using @code{\addlyrics} can be used for
+placing lyrics under more than one staff. Here is an
+example from Handel's Judas Maccabæus:
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,quote,ragged-right]
+<<
+ {
+ \time 6/8
+ \partial 8
+ }
+ \relative c'' {
+ \key f \major
+ c8 c([ bes)] a a([ g)] f f'4. b, c4.~ c4
+ }
+ \addlyrics {
+ Let flee -- cy flocks the hills a -- dorn, __
+ }
+ \relative c' {
+ \key f \major
+ r8 r4. r4 c8 a'([ g)] f f([ e)] d e([ d)] c bes'4
+ }
+ \addlyrics {
+ Let flee -- cy flocks the hills a -- dorn,
+ }
+>>
+@end lilypond
+
+but scores any more complex than this simple example are
+better produced by separating out the staff structure
+from the notes and lyrics with variables. These are
+discussed later (see @ref{Organizing pieces with variables}).