@menu
* First steps:: Music language of LilyPond
-* Simple legend:: Small table of music language symbols
+* Cheat sheet::
* Running LilyPond:: Printing music
* The first real tune:: The first real tune
* Lyrics and chords:: Lyrics and chords
* More movements :: Joining separate pieces of music
* A piano excerpt:: Piano music
+* Fine tuning a piece::
* An orchestral score:: Conductor's score and individual parts
* Other ways to run LilyPond:: Other ways to run LilyPond
* Integrating text and music:: Integrating text and music
* End of tutorial:: The end
@end menu
-
-The music is described in a text file, using a simple music language.
-LilyPond reads that text file and generates music that you can print or
-view.
-
-Therefore, creating music notation with LilyPond is done in two steps.
-Using a text editor, you write down the notes to print. Then, you run
-LilyPond to get your printed output.
+Operating lilypond is done through text files: to print a piece of
+music, you enter the music in a file. When you run lilypond, that
+file is read, and after some computations, the program produces a file
+containing the sheet music that you can print or view.
This tutorial starts with a small introduction to the LilyPond music
language. After this first contact, we will show you how to run
LilyPond to produce printed output; you should then be able to create
-your first sheets of music.
-
-The tutorial continues with a slightly more elaborate example of real music.
-This piece introduces and explains some finer details of LilyPond.
-Then, a number of more complex examples follow, that will help you to
-produce most complex music with LilyPond.
+your first sheets of music. The tutorial continues with more and more
+complex examples.
@c title?
@c @node Music language of LilyPond
@c @section Music language of LilyPond
-This section shows how easy writing music with LilyPond actually is. If
-you have not seen LilyPond input source before, this section is for you.
-
-The next section has a table (see @ref{Simple legend}) of all symbols
-that are introduced here, you may want to keep an eye on that.
-
-Writing music with LilyPond is explained below by a number of small
-examples. Each example has a small piece of text; the LilyPond input
-that you should type, with the resulting music printed below it.
+In this section, we show how can make small, very simple examples in
+LilyPond. If you have not seen LilyPond input files before, this
+section is for you. The contents of this section are summarized in the
+Cheat Sheet (See @ref{Cheat sheet}).
You get a simple note by typing its note name, from @code{a} through
-@code{g}:
-
+@code{g}. So if you enter
@quotation
@example
c d e f g a b
@end example
-
+then the result looks like this:
@lilypond[fragment]
\property Score.timing = ##f
\property Staff.TimeSignature = \turnOff
@end quotation
@separate
+We continue showing LilyPond input like we did previously: first a
+snippet of input, then the resulting output.
+
The length of a note is specified by adding a number, ``@code{1}'' for a
whole note, ``@code{2}'' for a half note, and so on:
@end quotation
@separate
-If you don't specify a duration, the previous duration is used:
-
+If you don't specify a duration, the previous one is used:
@quotation
@example
a a a2 a
@c as these are snippets anyway
@lilypond[fragment]
\property Score.timing = ##f
-\property Staff.TimeSignature = \turnOff
+\property Staff.TimeSignature \set #'transparent = ##t
%\property Staff.Clef = \turnOff
\transpose c'' { a2. a4 a8. a16 }
s16_" "
@end quotation
@separate
-The meter (or time signature) can be set with the ``@code{\time}'' command:
+The meter (or time signature) can be set with the @code{\time} command:
@quotation
@example
@c a clef here may lead to confusion
@lilypond[fragment]
-\property Staff.Clef = \turnOff
+\property Staff.Clef \set #'transparent = ##t
\time 3/4
s4_" "
\time 6/8
At this point, the piece of music is ready to be printed. This is done
by combining the music with a printing command.
-The printing command is the so-called ``@code{\paper}'' block. You will
-see later that the \paper block is necessary to customize all kinds of
-printing specifics. The music and the \paper block are combined by
-enclosing them in ``@code{\score @{ ... @}}''. This is what a full
-LilyPond source file looks like:
+The printing command is the so-called ``@code{\paper}'' block. You
+will see later that the \paper block is necessary to customize all
+kinds of printing specifics. The music and the \paper block are
+combined by enclosing them in ``@code{\score @{ ... @}}''. This is
+what a full LilyPond source file looks like:
@quotation
@example
@end ignore
Of course, you can combine beams and ties with chords. Notice that
-beam and tie markings are placed outside the chord markers:
+beam and tie markings must be placed outside the chord markers:
@quotation
@lilypond[relative 0, fragment,verbatim]
r4 [<c8 e g> <c8 f a>] ~ <c8 f a>
@end lilypond
@end quotation
-When you want to combine chords with slurs and dynamics, an annoying
-technical detail crops up: you have type these commands next to the
-notes, which means that they have to be inside the @code{< >}:
+When you want to combine chords with slurs and dynamics, technical
+detail crops up: you have type these commands next to the notes, which
+means that they have to be inside the @code{< >}:
@quotation
@lilypond[relative 0, fragment,verbatim]
@end quotation
@separate
-A nasty technical detail also crops up when you start a score with a
-chord:
-
+There is one golden rule that you should keep in mind when writing
+LilyPond input:
+@quotation
+@strong{DO NOT START A PIECE WITH A CHORD}
+@end quotation
+Of course, it is a allowed, but the result might not be what you expect:
@quotation
@lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
-\score { \notes <c'1 e'1> }
+\score { \notes <c'2 e'2> }
@end lilypond
@end quotation
@separate
-The program can not guess that you want the notes on only one staff. To
-force the chord on a staff, add @code{\context Staff} like this:
+Of course, it is possible to typeset pieces that start with a chord,
+but you must make explicit that the notes of chord are to be put on
+the same staff, in the same voice. This is done by specifying
+@code{\context Staff} for the notes:
@quotation
@lilypond[verbatim,singleline]
-\score { \notes \context Staff <c'1 e'1> }
+\score { \notes \context Voice <c'2 e'2> }
@end lilypond
@end quotation
@separate
@c refer to this section
-@node Simple legend
-@section Simple legend
+@node Cheat sheet
+@section Cheat sheet
@c need texinfo-4.0a or later for this
@quotation
-@multitable @columnfractions .10 .20 .40
+@multitable @columnfractions .20 .20 .40
+
+
+@item @code{1 2 8 16}
+@tab durations
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment, relative 1]
+c1 c2 c8 c16
+@end lilypond
+
+@item @code{. ..}
+@tab augmentation dots
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment, relative 1]
+c4. c4..
+@end lilypond
+
+@item @code{c d e f g a b }
+@tab scale
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment, relative 1]
+c d e f g a b
+@end lilypond
+
+@item @code{es is}
+@tab flat/sharp
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment, relative 2]
+bes4 cis4
+@end lilypond
+
+@item @code{-. -^ ->}
+@tab articulations (1)
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment, relative 2]
+c-. c-^ c->
+@end lilypond
+
+
+@item @code{-\trill -\fermata}
+@tab articulations (2)
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment, relative 2]
+c-\trill c-\fermata
+@end lilypond
+
+
+@item @code{\time 3/4 \time 6/8 \time 4/4 }
+@tab time signature
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment]
+\property Staff.Clef \set #'transparent = ##t
+\time 3/4
+s4_" "
+\time 6/8
+s4_" "
+\time 4/4
+s16_" "
+@end lilypond
+
+
+@item @code{\clef treble \clef bass }
+@tab clefs
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment]
+\property Staff.TimeSignature \set #'transparent = ##t
+\clef treble
+s4_" "
+\clef bass
+s4_" "
+@end lilypond
+
+
+@item @code{\sfz \mf }
+@tab dynamics
+@tab
+@lilypond[fragment,relative 1]
+c\sfz c\mf
+@end lilypond
@item @code{[ ]}
@tab beam
@node Running LilyPond
@section Running LilyPond
-You write music with LilyPond as follows: first you edit a text file
-containing a description of the notes. Then you run LilyPond on the
-file. This leaves you with an output file, which you can view or print.
-
-In this section we explain how to run LilyPond, and view or print the
-output. If you have not used LilyPond before, want to test your setup
-of LilyPond, or try to run an example file yourself, then read this
-section.
-
-The instructions that follow are for running LilyPond on Unix-like
-systems. Some additional instructions for running LilyPond on Windows
-are given at the end of this section.
+In the last section, we explained what kind of things you could enter
+in a lilypond file. In this section we explain how to run LilyPond,
+and how view or print the output. If you have not used LilyPond
+before, want to test your setup of LilyPond, or try to run an example
+file yourself, then read this section. The instructions that follow
+are for running LilyPond on Unix-like systems. Some additional
+instructions for running LilyPond on Windows are given at the end of
+this section.
You begin with opening a terminal window, and start up a text editor.
For example, open an xterm and execute @code{joe}. In your text editor,
@c now this is weird, running ly2dvi to run LilyPond
@c (therefore name change proposal)
-To run LilyPond, you invoke ly2dvi to compile your LilyPond source file:
+LilyPond is the program that computes the sheet music. All other
+things, such as titles and page layout, are done by a small wrapper
+program called @code{ly2dvi}. @code{ly2dvi} calls lilypond to render
+the music, and then adds the titling and page layout instructions. To
+process @file{test.ly} with ly2dvi, proceed as follows:
@quotation
@example
% and is ignored by LilyPond
@end example
Percent signs introduce comments: everything after a percent sign is
-ignored. You can use this to write down mental notes to yourself. You
-can also make longer comments by enclosing text in @code{%@{} and
-@code{%@}}.
+ignored. You can use this If you want to write down mental notes to
+yourself in a file, then you can enter preceded with a @code{%} sign.
+These lines are called comments. If you have long winded mental notes,
+you can make comments that span several lines by enclosing text in
+@code{%@{} and @code{%@}}.
@cindex comment
@cindex block comment
@cindex line comment
@c octave higher is @code{c''}. One and two octaves below the central C is
@c denoted by @code{c} and @code{c,} respectively.
-Even though a piece of music often spans a range of several octaves, it
-mostly moves in small intervals. LilyPond has a special entry mode to
-save typing in this situation. In this ``relative'' octave mode,
-octaves of notes without quotes are chosen such that a note is as close
-as possible (graphically, on the staff) to the preceding note. If you
-add a high-quote an extra octave is added. A lowered quote (a comma)
-will subtract an extra octave.
-
-Because the first note has no predecessor,
-you have to give the (absolute) pitch of the note to start with.
+Even though a piece of music often spans a range of several octaves,
+often melodies move in small intervals. Such melodies can be entered
+easily using @code{\relative}. In this ``relative octave mode'',
+octaves of notes without quotes are chosen such that a note is as
+close as possible (graphically, on the staff) to the preceding note.
+If you add a high-quote an extra octave is added. A lowered quote (a
+comma) will subtract an extra octave.
+
+Absolute starting pitch for this relative mode is given as the
+argument to @code{\relative}. In this case it is the @code{c''}, one
+octave above central C.
+
@separate
@example
@end example
@cindex time signature, setting
@cindex @code{\time}
-Set (or change) the time signature of the current piece: a 3/4 sign is
-printed. The time signature setting is also used to generate bar lines
-at the right spots.
+The @code{\time} command sets (or changes) the time signature of the
+current piece: a 3/4 sign is printed. This setting is also used to
+generate bar lines at the right spots.
@separate
@example
c8 d e fis
@end example
-So far, no notes were chromatically altered. Here is the first one that
-is: @code{fis}. LilyPond by default uses Dutch@footnote{Note names are
-available in several languages, but we find the Dutch names quite
-convenient.} note names, and ``Fis'' is the Dutch note name for ``F
-sharp''. However, there is no sharp sign in the output. The program
-keeps track of key signatures, and will only print accidentals if they
-are needed.
+So far, no notes were chromatically altered. Here is the first one
+that is: @code{fis}. LilyPond uses Dutch note names, and ``Fis'' is
+the name for ``F sharp''. There is no sharp sign in the output. The
+program keeps track of key signatures, and will only print accidentals
+if they are needed. If you can not get used to Dutch names, then
+there also are names available in several other languages.
+
For groups of eighth notes and shorter, LilyPond can determine how the
notes should form a beam. In this case, the 4 eights are automatically
@end example
@cindex articulation
-You can enter articulation signs either in a verbose form or using a
-shorthand. Here we demonstrate the shorthand: it is formed by a dash
-and the character for the articulation to use, e.g. @code{-.} for
-staccato as shown above.
+Staccato signs are entered as a dash and a period. Some other
+articulations may also be entered in this short form.
@separate
@example
@cindex assignments
@cindex identifier assignment
the @code{\header} block contains assignments. In each assignment, a
-variable is set to a value. Lexically, both the variable name and the
-assigned value are strings. The values have to be quoted here, because
-they contain spaces. The variable names could also be put within quotes
-but it is not necessary.
+variable is set to a value.
@separate
@example
@separate
@example
- The4 ri -- ver is flo- __ wing, flo -- wing and gro -- wing, the
+ The ri -- ver is flo- __ wing, flo -- wing and gro -- wing, the
ri- ver is flo- __ wing down to the sea.
@}
@cindex hyphens, lyric
The syllables themselves are separated by spaces. You can get syllable
extenders by entering @code{__}, and centered hyphens with
-@code{-}@code{-}. We enter the syllables as if they are all quarter notes
-in length (hence the @code{4}), and use a feature to align the
-syllables to the music, which obviously isn't all quarter notes.
+@code{-}@code{-}. We don't enter durations for the syllables. They
+are aligned with the melody later.
@separate
@example
@separate
@example
- c2:3- f:3-.7
+ c2:3-
@end example
@cindex tonic
@cindex chord modifier
@cindex modifier, chord
-A chord is started by the tonic of the chord. The
-first one lasts a half note. An unadorned note creates a major
-triad. Since a minor triad is wanted, @code{3-} is added to modify the
-third to be small. @code{7} modifies (adds) a seventh, which is small by
+This is a c minor chord, lasting half a note. Chord are entered by
+entering the tonic. Then notes can be changed. In this case, a small third
+is used. The cod for this is @code{3-}.
+
+@separate
+@example
+f:3-.7
+@end example
+Similarly, @code{7} modifies (adds) a seventh, which is small by
default to create the @code{f a c es} chord. Multiple modifiers must be
separated by dots.
@separate
d:min es4 c8:min r8
@end example
-
Some modifiers have predefined names, e.g. @code{min} is the same as
@code{3-}, so @code{d-min} is a minor @code{d} chord.
@separate
(`notation context') and for generating sound (`performance
context'). These objects only exist during a run of LilyPond.
-By default, LilyPond will create a Staff context for you. If you would
-remove the @code{%} sign in the previous line, you would see that
-mechanism in action.
+When LilyPond interprets music, it will create a Staff context. If
+the @code{%} sign in the previous line were removed, you could see
+that mechanism in action.
We don't want that default here, because we want chord names. The
command above explicitly creates an interpretation context of
combining both with @code{\addlyrics}. @code{\addlyrics} takes two
pieces of music (usually a melody and lyrics, in that order) and
aligns the syllables of the second piece under the notes of the
-first piece. If you would reverse the order, the notes would be
-aligned on the lyrics, which is not very useful, and looks
-silly.
+first piece.
@separate
@example
@end example
-The first argument of @code{\addlyrics} is the melody. We instantiate
-a @code{Staff} context explicitly: should you choose to remove the
-comment before the ``note heads'' version of the accompaniment, the
-accompaniment will be on a nameless staff. The melody has to be on
-staff different from the accompaniment. This is accomplished by giving
-the melody and accompaniment staves different names.
+We place the melody on a staff called @code{mel}. We give it a name to
+differentiate it from the one that would contain note heads for the
+chords, if you would remove the comment before the ``note heads''
+version of the accompaniment. By giving this staff a name, it is
+forced to be different.
@separate
@example
this @code{Staff}'s property to @code{##f}, which is the boolean value
@var{false}, turns the automatic beaming mechanism off for the current
staff.
+
+@ignore
@cindex GUILE
@cindex Scheme
@cindex accessing Scheme
If Scheme scares you, don't worry. You don't need to know Scheme to
create beautiful sheet music.
-
+@end ignore
@separate
For example, consider the following file (@file{miniatures.ly})
@example
-\version "1.4.0"
+\version "1.5.60"
\header @{
title = "Two miniatures"
tagline = "small is beautiful"
@end ignore
+@node Fine tuning a piece
+@section Fine tuning a piece
+
+
+
+@lilypondfile{brahms-original.ly}
+
+@lilypondfile{brahms-tweaked.ly}
+
+
+
@node An orchestral score
@section An orchestral score
projects / lilypond.git / commitdiff