@cindex brace, vertical
@cindex grand staff
@cindex staff group
+@cindex staff, choir
Many scores consist of more than one staff. These staves can be
-joined in three different ways
+joined in four different ways
@itemize @bullet
@item The group is started with a brace at the left, and bar lines are
>>
@end lilypond
+@item The group is started with a bracket, but bar lines are not
+connected. This is done with the @internalsref{ChoirStaff} context.
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,raggedright,quote]
+\new ChoirStaff
+\relative <<
+ \new Staff { c1 c }
+ \new Staff { c c }
+>>
+@end lilypond
+
@item The group is started with a vertical line. Bar lines are not
connected. This is the default for the score.
@menu
* Suggestions for writing LilyPond files::
* Extending the templates::
+* Fixing overlapping notation::
@end menu
@end lilypond
+
+@node Fixing overlapping notation
+@section Fixing overlapping notation
+
+This may come as a surprise, but LilyPond isn't perfect. Some notation
+elements can overlap. This is unfortunate, but (in most cases) is easily
+solved.
+
+@lilypond[quote,fragment,raggedright,verbatim,relative=2]
+e4^\markup{ \italic ritenuto } g b e
+@end lilypond
+
+@cindex padding
+
+The easiest solution is to increase the distance between the object
+(in this case text, but it could easily be fingerings or dynamics
+instead) and the note. In LilyPond, this is called the
+@code{padding} property. For most objects, it is around 1.0 or
+less (it varies with each object). We want to increase it, so let's
+try 1.5
+
+@lilypond[quote,fragment,raggedright,verbatim,relative=2]
+\once \override TextScript #'padding = #1.5
+e4^\markup{ \italic ritenuto } g b e
+@end lilypond
+
+That looks better, but it isn't quite big enough. After experimenting
+with a few values, I think 2.3 is the best number. I leave this as an
+exercise for the reader.
+
+@cindex extra-offset
+
+Another solution gives us complete control over placing the object -- we
+can move it horizontally or vertically. This is done with the
+@code{extra-offset} property. It is slightly more complicated and can
+cause other problems. When we move objects with @code{extra-offset},
+the movement is done after LilyPond has placed all other objects. This means
+that the result can overlap with other objects.
+
+@lilypond[quote,fragment,raggedright,verbatim,relative=2]
+\once \override TextScript #'extra-offset = #'( 1.0 . -1.0 )
+e4^\markup{ \italic ritenuto } g b e
+@end lilypond
+
+With @code{extra-offset}, the first number controls the horizontal
+movement (left is negative); the second number controls the vertial
+movement (up is positive). After a bit of experimenting, I decided
+that these values look good
+
+@lilypond[quote,fragment,raggedright,verbatim,relative=2]
+\once \override TextScript #'extra-offset = #'( -1.6 . 1.0 )
+e4^\markup{ \italic ritenuto } g b e
+@end lilypond
+
+
+@seealso
+
+This manual: @ref{The \override command}, @ref{Common tweaks}.
+
+