LilyPond — Guida alla Notazione

Appendici

1. Notazione musicale

Questo capitolo spiega come creare la notazione musicale.

1.1 Altezze

Questa sezione tratta il modo in cui si determina l’altezza delle note. Occorre considerare tre aspetti: input, modifica e output.

1.1.1 Inserimento delle altezze

Questa sezione spiega come indicare l’altezza delle note. Ci sono due modi di collocare le note in una determinata ottava: il modo assoluto e il modo relativo. Nella maggioranza dei casi il modo relativo è più funzionale.

Ottava assoluta

Le altezze, se non si adotta una lingua diversa, sono scritte in notazione olandese, che usa le lettere minuscole dalla a (La) alla g (Sol). Le note c (Do) e b (Si) vengono scritte un’ottava sotto il Do centrale.

{
  \clef bass
  c4 d e f
  g4 a b c
  d4 e f g
}

Si possono indicare altre ottave con l’apice singolo (') o la virgola (,). Ogni ' alza l’altezza di un’ottava; ogni , abbassa l’altezza di un’ottava.

{
  \clef treble
  c'4 c'' e' g
  d''4 d' d c
  \clef bass
  c,4 c,, e, g
  d,,4 d, d c
}

Vedi anche

Glossario musicale: Nomi delle altezze.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Ottava relativa

Quando si indicano le ottave in modalità assoluta è facile collocare un’altezza nell’ottava sbagliata. Il metodo d’inserimento in ottava relativa riduce questi errori, perché il più delle volte non è necessario specificare alcuna ottava. Inoltre, in modalità assoluta un singolo errore può essere difficile da individuare, mentre in modalità relativa un singolo errore sposta tutto il resto del pezzo di un’ottava.

\relative altezza_di_riferimento espressione_musicale

In modalità relativa ogni nota è collocata il più vicino possibile a quella precedente. Questo significa che l’ottava di ogni altezza all’interno di espressione_musicale viene calcolata nel modo seguente:

• In assenza di segni di cambiamento d’ottava, l’ottava di un’altezza viene calculata in modo che l’intervallo con la nota precedente sia inferiore a una quinta. Tale intervallo è determinato senza considerare gli accidenti.
• Si può aggiungere un segno di cambiamento d’ottava ' o , per collocare l’altezza di una nota all’ottava superiore o inferiore a quella di riferimento.
• È possibile usare più di un segno di cambiamento d’ottava. Per esempio, '' e ,, modificano l’altezza di due ottave.
• L’altezza della prima nota è relativa a altezza_di_riferimento. altezza_di_riferimento è specificato nel modo di ottava assoluta. Vi raccomandiamo di fare riferimento a un Do (c).

Ecco il modo relativo in azione:

\relative c {
  \clef bass
  c d e f
  g a b c
  d e f g
}

I segni di cambiamento d’ottava si impiegano per gli intervalli più ampi di quello di quarta:

\relative c'' {
  c g c f,
  c' a, e'' c
}

Una sequenza di note senza segni di ottava può tuttavia comprendere intervalli di grande estensione:

\relative c {
  c f b e
  a d g c
}

Nel caso di blocchi \relative annidati, si considera il blocco \relative più interno.

\relative c' {
  c d e f
  \relative c'' {
    c d e f
  }
}

\relative non ha effetto sui blocchi \chordmode.

\new Staff {
  \relative c''' {
    \chordmode { c1 }
  }
  \chordmode { c1 }
}

\relative non può essere inserito all’interno dei blocchi \chordmode.

La musica all’interno di un blocco \transpose è considerata in notazione d’ottava assoluta, a meno che non sia incluso il blocco \relative.

\relative c' {
  d e
  \transpose f g {
    d e
    \relative c' {
      d e
    }
  }
}

Se l’elemento precedente è un accordo, il posizionamento dell’ottava della nota o dell’accordo che segue è riferito alla prima nota dell’accordo stesso. All’interno degli accordi la nota successiva è sempre relativa a quella precedente. Esaminate con attenzione l’esempio seguente, e in particolare le note c.

\relative c' {
  c
  <c e g>
  <c' e g'>
  <c, e, g''>
}

Come spiegato sopra, il riferimento delle altezze a un’ottava è calcolato in base ai soli nomi delle note, senza considerare le alterazioni. Dunque un Mi doppio diesis che segue un Si verrà posizionato sopra, mentre un Fa doppio bemolle sarà posizionato sotto. In altre parole, un intervallo di quarta aumentata due volte viene considerato più piccolo di una quinta diminuita due volte, indipendentemente dal numero di semitoni contenuto in ogni intervallo.

\relative c'' {
  c2 fis
  c2 ges
  b2 eisis
  b2 feses
}

Ne consegue che la prima nota di un blocco \relative f venga interpretata come se fosse scritta nel modo di ottava assoluta.

Vedi anche

Glossario musicale: quinta, intervallo, Nomi delle altezze.

Guida alla notazione: Controlli di ottava.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: RelativeOctaveMusic.

Se non viene specificata una altezza_di_riferimento per \relative, allora si assume che corrisponda a  c'. Tuttavia, questa è un’opzione deprecata e potrebbe essere tolta nelle future versioni; il suo impiego è quindi sconsigliato.

Alterazioni

Nella modalità di notazione predefinita un diesis si ottiene aggiungendo is al nome della nota, un bemolle aggiungendo es. Come potete immaginare, un doppio diesis o doppio bemolle si ottengono aggiungendo isis o eses. Questa sintassi è desunta dalla notazione olandese. Per usare altri nomi per le alterazioni, si veda Nomi delle note in altre lingue.

ais1 aes aisis aeses

Un bequadro cancella l’effetto di un’alterazione o di un’armatura di chiave. Tuttavia, nella sintassi di Lilypond, non occorre specificare i bequadri mediante l’aggiunta di un particolare suffisso: un’altezza naturale è indicata con il semplice nome della nota:

a4 aes a2

È possibile indicare alterazioni di quarti di tono. Ecco una serie di Do con altezza crescente:

ceseh1 ces ceh c cih cis cisih

Di norma le alterazioni vengono mostrate automaticamente, ma è possibile anche inserirle manualmente. Si può forzare l’inserimento di un’alterazione di sicurezza aggiungendo il punto esclamativo ! dopo l’altezza. Un’alterazione di cortesia (ovvero un’alterazione compresa tra parentesi) si ottiene aggiungendo il punto interrogativo ? dopo l’altezza. Questi segni possono essere usati anche per produrre dei bequadri.

cis cis cis! cis? c c c! c?

Se una nota è prolungata attraverso una legatura di valore, l’alterazione viene ripetuta solo all’inizio di un nuovo sistema:

cis1~ cis~
\break
cis

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Nascondere le alterazioni delle note con legatura di valore all’inizio di un nuovo sistema

Questo frammento mostra come nascondere le alterazioni delle note con legatura di valore all’inizio di un nuovo sistema

\relative c'' {
  \override Accidental #'hide-tied-accidental-after-break = ##t
  cis1~ cis~
  \break
  cis
}

Impedire l’inserimento automatico dei bequadri supplementari

Secondo le norme tipografiche standard, un segno di bequadro viene inserito prima di un diesis o di un bemolle se un’alterazione precedente sulla stessa nota deve essere cancellata. Per cambiare questo comportamento si imposta la proprietà extraNatural su f (falso) nel contesto Staff.

\relative c'' {
  aeses4 aes ais a
  \set Staff.extraNatural = ##f
  aeses4 aes ais a
}

Vedi anche

Glossario musicale: diesis, bemolle, doppio diesis, doppio bemolle, Nomi delle altezze, quarto di tono.

Manuale di apprendimento: Alterazioni e armature di chiave.

Guida alla notazione: Alterazioni automatiche, Annotational accidentals (musica ficta), Nomi delle note in altre lingue.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: Accidental_engraver, Accidental, AccidentalCautionary, accidental-interface.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Poiché non esistono standard universalmente accettati per indicare le alterazioni di quarto di tono, il simbolo impiegato da LilyPond non si riferisce ad alcuno standard.

Nomi delle note in altre lingue

Lilypond comprende insiemi predefiniti di nomi di note e alterazioni in altre lingue. La scelta della lingua si fa solitamente all’inizio del file; l’esempio seguente è scritto in notazione italiana:

\language "italiano"

\relative do' {
  do re mi sib
}

Le lingue disponibili e i tipi di notazione che definiscono sono:

Lingua	Nomi delle note
nederlands	c d e f g a bes b
catalan	do re mi fa sol la sib si
deutsch	c d e f g a b h
english	c d e f g a bf b
espanol	do re mi fa sol la sib si
italiano	do re mi fa sol la sib si
norsk	c d e f g a b h
portugues	do re mi fa sol la sib si
suomi	c d e f g a b h
svenska	c d e f g a b h
vlaams	do re mi fa sol la sib si

Oltre ai nomi delle note, anche i suffissi per le alterazioni possono variare a seconda della lingua adottata:

Lingua	diesis	bemolle	doppio diesis	doppio bemolle
nederlands	-is	-es	-isis	-eses
catalan	-d/-s	-b	-dd/-ss	-bb
deutsch	-is	-es	-isis	-eses
english	-s/-sharp	-f/-flat	-ss/-x/-sharpsharp	-ff/-flatflat
espanol	-s	-b	-ss/-x	-bb
italiano	-d	-b	-dd	-bb
norsk	-iss/-is	-ess/-es	-ississ/-isis	-essess/-eses
portugues	-s	-b	-ss	-bb
suomi	-is	-es	-isis	-eses
svenska	-iss	-ess	-ississ	-essess
vlaams	-k	-b	-kk	-bb

In olandese, aes viene contratto in as, ma entrambe le forme sono accettate in LilyPond. Analogalmente, sia es che ees sono accettati. Lo stesso vale per aeses / ases e eeses / eses. Talvolta solo questi nomi contratti sono definiti nei corrispondenti file della lingua.

a2 as e es a ases e eses

In alcune forme musicali vengono usati i microtoni, le cui alterazioni sono frazioni di un ‘normale’ diesis o bemolle. La seguente tabella elenca i nomi delle note per le alterazioni di un quarto di tono in varie lingue; i prefissi semi- e sesqui- significano rispettivamente ‘metà’ e ‘uno e mezzo’. Le lingue che non compaiono in questa tabella non hanno ancora dei nomi per le note speciali.

Lingua	semi-diesis	semi-bemolle	sesqui-diesis	sesqui-bemolle
nederlands	-ih	-eh	-isih	-eseh
deutsch	-ih	-eh	-isih	-eseh
english	-qs	-qf	-tqs	-tqf
espanol	-cs	-cb	-tcs	-tcb
italiano	-sd	-sb	-dsd	-bsb
portugues	-sqt	-bqt	-stqt	-btqt

Gran parte delle lingue presentate qui sono comunemente associate alla musica classica occidentale, nota anche come Common Practice Period. Sono tuttavia supportati anche altezze e sistemi di accordatura alternativi: si veda Common notation for non-Western music.

Vedi anche

Glossario musicale: Nomi delle altezze, Periodo di pratica comune.

Guida alla notazione: Common notation for non-Western music.

File installati: ‘scm/define-note-names.scm’.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

1.1.2 Modifica di più altezze

Questa sezione tratta il modo di modificare le altezze delle note.

Controlli di ottava

In modalità relativa è facile dimenticare un segno di cambiamento d’ottava. I controlli di ottava permettono di rilevare questi errori più facilmente: infatti, generano un avviso e correggono l’ottava se una nota si trova in un’ottava diversa dal previsto.

Per controllare l’ottava di una nota, occorre specificare l’ottava assoluta dopo il simbolo =. Questo esempio genererà un avviso (e cambierà l’altezza) perché la seconda nota è l’ottava assoluta d'' invece di d', come indicato dalla correzione di ottava.

\relative c'' {
  c2 d='4 d
  e2 f
}

L’ottava in cui si trovano le note può essere controllata anche col comando \octaveCheck altezza_di_controllo. L’altezza_di_controllo è specificata in modo assoluto. Questo comando controlla che l’intervallo tra la nota precedente e l’altezza_di_controllo sia compresa in una quinta (ovvero secondo il normale calcolo della modalità relativo). Se il controllo fallisce, compare un avviso, ma la nota precedente non viene modificata. Le note successive sono relative all’altezza_di_controllo.

\relative c'' {
  c2 d
  \octaveCheck c'
  e2 f
}

Nelle due battute che seguono, il primo e il terzo \octaveCheck falliscono, mentre il secondo non fallisce.

\relative c'' {
  c4 f g f

  c4
  \octaveCheck c'
  f
  \octaveCheck c'
  g
  \octaveCheck c'
  f
}

Vedi anche

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: RelativeOctaveCheck.

Trasposizione

Un’espressione musicale può essere trasposta con \transpose. La sintassi è

\transpose altezza_di_partenza altezza_di_arrivo espressione_musicale

Significa che espressione_musicale viene trasposto dell’intervallo compreso tra le altezze altezza_di_partenza e altezza_di_arrivo: qualsiasi nota che presenti un’altezza corrispondente all’altezza_di_partenza viene modificata in altezza_di_arrivo, e qualsiasi altra nota viene trasposta dello stesso intervallo. Entrambe le altezze sono inserite in modalità assoluta.

Prendiamo come esempio un brano scritto in Re maggiore. Possiamo trasportarlo in Mi maggiore; si noti come anche l’armatura di chiave venga trasposta automaticamente.

\transpose d e {
  \relative c' {
    \key d \major
    d4 fis a d
  }
}

Se una parte scritta in Do (l’intonazione reale abituale) deve essere suonata su un clarinetto in La (per il quale un La viene rappresentato da un Do e dunque suona una terza minore più basso), la trasposizione sarà ottenuta con:

\transpose a c' {
  \relative c' {
    \key c \major
    c4 d e g
  }
}

Si noti che \key c \major è specificato esplicitamente. Se non si specifica un’armatura di chiave, le note verranno trasposte ma non apparirà alcuna armatura.

\transpose fa distinzione tra altezze enarmoniche: sia \transpose c cis che \transpose c des traspongono un brano di un semitono più alto. La prima versione mostrerà i diesis e le note rimarranno sullo stesso grado della scala, mentre la seconda versione mostrerà i bemolle sul grado superiore della scala.

music = \relative c' { c d e f }
\new Staff {
  \transpose c cis { \music }
  \transpose c des { \music }
}

\transpose può essere usato anche in un altro modo, ovvero per inserire note scritte per uno strumento traspositore. Gli esempi precedenti mostrano come inserire altezze in Do (o intonazione reale) e mostrare le note di uno strumento traspositore, ma è possibile anche il contrario: per esempio, se da un insieme di parti strumentali si volesse ricavare una partitura per il direttore. Così, per inserire la parte per una tromba in Si bemolle che inizia con un Mi (intonazione reale Re), si può scrivere:

musicInBflat = { e4 … }
\transpose c bes, \musicInBflat

Per stampare questa musica in Fa (ad esempio per riarrangiarla per corno) si può avvolgere la musica esistente in un altro \transpose:

musicInBflat = { e4 … }
\transpose f c' { \transpose c bes, \musicInBflat }

Per maggiori informazioni sugli strumenti traspositori, si veda Trasporto strumentale.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Trasposizione delle altezze con numero minimo di alterazioni

Questo esempio usa del codice Scheme per imporre delle modifiche enarmoniche alle note che permettano di avere il numero minimo di alterazioni. In questo caso si applica la seguente regola:

Le doppie alterazioni devono essere eliminate

Si diesis -> Do

Mi diesis -> Fa

Do bemolle -> Si

Fa bemolle -> Mi

In questo modo vengono scelti i suoni enarmonici più semplici.

#(define (naturalize-pitch p)
   (let ((o (ly:pitch-octave p))
         (a (* 4 (ly:pitch-alteration p)))
         ;; alteration, a, in quarter tone steps,
         ;; for historical reasons
         (n (ly:pitch-notename p)))
     (cond
      ((and (> a 1) (or (eq? n 6) (eq? n 2)))
       (set! a (- a 2))
       (set! n (+ n 1)))
      ((and (< a -1) (or (eq? n 0) (eq? n 3)))
       (set! a (+ a 2))
       (set! n (- n 1))))
     (cond
      ((> a 2) (set! a (- a 4)) (set! n (+ n 1)))
      ((< a -2) (set! a (+ a 4)) (set! n (- n 1))))
     (if (< n 0) (begin (set! o (- o 1)) (set! n (+ n 7))))
     (if (> n 6) (begin (set! o (+ o 1)) (set! n (- n 7))))
     (ly:make-pitch o n (/ a 4))))

#(define (naturalize music)
   (let ((es (ly:music-property music 'elements))
         (e (ly:music-property music 'element))
         (p (ly:music-property music 'pitch)))
     (if (pair? es)
         (ly:music-set-property!
          music 'elements
          (map (lambda (x) (naturalize x)) es)))
     (if (ly:music? e)
         (ly:music-set-property!
          music 'element
          (naturalize e)))
     (if (ly:pitch? p)
         (begin
           (set! p (naturalize-pitch p))
           (ly:music-set-property! music 'pitch p)))
     music))

naturalizeMusic =
#(define-music-function (parser location m)
   (ly:music?)
   (naturalize m))

music = \relative c' { c4 d e g }

\score {
  \new Staff {
    \transpose c ais { \music }
    \naturalizeMusic \transpose c ais { \music }
    \transpose c deses { \music }
    \naturalizeMusic \transpose c deses { \music }
  }
  \layout { }
}

Vedi anche

Guida alla notazione: Trasporto strumentale, Inversione, Trasposizioni modali, Ottava relativa, Retrogradazione.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: TransposedMusic.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

La conversione relativa non avrà effetto sulle sezioni \transpose, \chordmode e \relative comprese all’interno di un blocco \relative. Per usare la modalità relativa all’interno di musica trasposta, occorre inserire un ulteriore blocco \relative all’interno di \transpose.

Il comando \transpose impedisce di stampare le alterazioni triple. Le sostituisce con un’altezza ‘enarmonicamente equivalente’ (per esempio, Re bemolle al posto di Mi triplo bemolle).

Inversione

Un’espressione musicale può essere invertita e trasposta in una singola operazione con:

\inversion altezza-di-riferimento altezza-di-arrivo espressione_musicale

L’espressione_musicale viene invertita intervallo per intervallo intorno all’altezza-di-riferimento e poi trasposta in modo che ci sia una corrispondenza tra altezza-di-riferimento e altezza-di-arrivo.

music = \relative c' { c d e f }
\new Staff {
  \music
  \inversion d' d' \music
  \inversion d' ees' \music
}

Vedi anche

Guida alla notazione: Trasposizioni modali, Retrogradazione, Trasposizione.

Retrogradazione

Un’espressione musicale può essere invertita in modo da produrre il proprio retrogrado:

music = \relative c' { c8. ees16( fis8. a16 b8.) gis16 f8. d16 }

\new Staff {
  \music
  \retrograde \music
}

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Le legature di valore manuali in \retrograde saranno spezzate e genereranno degli avvisi. Alcune legature di valore possono essere generate automaticamente abilitando Automatic note splitting.

Vedi anche

Guida alla notazione: Inversione, Trasposizioni modali, Trasposizione.

Trasposizioni modali

In una composizione musicale basata su una scala, un motivo viene frequentemente trasportato in differenti modi. Può essere trasposto per iniziare in punti diversi della scala o può essere invertito rispetto a un punto cardine della scala. Può anche essere rovesciato per produrre il retrogrado, si veda Retrogradazione.

Trasposizione modale

Un motivo può essere trasposto entro una certa scala con:

\modalTranspose altezza-di-partenza altezza-di-arrivo scala motif

Le note di motif vengono spostate, se all’interno della scala, del numero di gradi della scala dati dall’intervallo tra altezza-di-arrivo e altezza-di-partenza:

diatonicScale = \relative c' { c d e f g a b }
motif = \relative c' { c8 d e f g a b c }

\new Staff {
  \motif
  \modalTranspose c f \diatonicScale \motif
  \modalTranspose c b, \diatonicScale \motif
}

È possibile indicare una scala ascendente di qualsiasi lunghezza e con qualsiasi intervallo:

pentatonicScale = \relative c' { ges aes bes des ees }
motif = \relative c' { ees8 des ges,4 <ges' bes,> <ges bes,> }

\new Staff {
  \motif
  \modalTranspose ges ees' \pentatonicScale \motif
}

Se usato con una scala cromatica, \modalTranspose ha un effetto simile a \transpose, con in più la possibilità di specificare i nomi delle note da usare:

chromaticScale = \relative c' { c cis d dis e f fis g gis a ais b }
motif = \relative c' { c8 d e f g a b c }

\new Staff {
  \motif
  \transpose c f \motif
  \modalTranspose c f \chromaticScale \motif
}

Inversione modale

Una sequenza di note può essere invertita all’interno di una data scala intorno a una determinata nota cardine e quindi trasposto, in un’unica operazione, con:

\modalInversion altezza-cardine altezza-di-arrivo scala motif

Le note di motif vengono spostate dello stesso numero di gradi dalla nota dell’altezza-cardine all’interno della scala, ma nella direzione opposta, e il risultato viene poi spostato all’interno della scala per il numero di gradi dato dall’intervallo tra altezza-di-arrivo e altezza-cardine.

Dunque, per invertire intorno a una particolare nota della scala, è necessario usare il medesimo valore per altezza-cardine e altezza-di-arrivo:

octatonicScale = \relative c' { ees f fis gis a b c d }
motif = \relative c' { c8. ees16 fis8. a16 b8. gis16 f8. d16 }

\new Staff {
  \motif
  \modalInversion fis' fis' \octatonicScale \motif
}

Per invertire intorno a una nota cardine posta tra altre due note, si inverte intorno a una della note e poi si traspone di un grado della scala. Le due note specificate possono essere interpretate come parentesi del punto cardine:

scale = \relative c' { c g' }
motive = \relative c' { c c g' c, }

\new Staff {
  \motive
  \modalInversion c' g' \scale \motive
}

L’operazione combinata di inversione e retrogradazione produce la retrogradazione inversa:

octatonicScale = \relative c' { ees f fis gis a b c d }
motif = \relative c' { c8. ees16 fis8. a16 b8. gis16 f8. d16 }

\new Staff {
  \motif
  \retrograde \modalInversion c' c' \octatonicScale \motif
}

Vedi anche

Guida alla notazione: Inversione, Retrogradazione, Trasposizione.

1.1.3 Aspetto delle altezze

Questa sezione tratta il modo di modificare l’aspetto delle altezze delle note.

Chiave

È possibile cambiare la chiave impiegata. Negli esempi seguenti mostriamo il Do centrale. I seguenti nomi di chiave possono (ma non devono) essere racchiusi tra virgolette.

\clef treble
c2 c
\clef alto
c2 c
\clef tenor
c2 c
\clef bass
c2 c

Altre chiavi:

\clef french
c2 c
\clef soprano
c2 c
\clef mezzosoprano
c2 c
\clef baritone
c2 c

\break

\clef varbaritone
c2 c
\clef subbass
c2 c
\clef percussion
c2 c

\break

\clef G   % synonym for treble
c2 c
\clef F   % synonym for bass
c2 c
\clef C   % synonym for alto
c2 c

Aggiungendo _8 o ^8 al nome della chiave, la sua adozione comporta il trasporto all’ottava rispettivamente inferiore o superiore, mentre _15 e ^15 traspongono di due ottave. È possibile usare altri numeri interi, se necessario. I nomi di chiave contenenti caratteri non alfabetici devono essere racchiusi tra virgolette

\clef treble
c2 c
\clef "treble_8"
c2 c
\clef "bass^15"
c2 c
\clef "alto_2"
c2 c
\clef "G_8"
c2 c
\clef "F^5"
c2 c

Alcune chiavi particolari sono descritte in Mensural clefs, Gregorian clefs, Default tablatures e Custom tablatures. Per alternare chiavi diverse nelle citazioni in corpo più piccolo all’interno di una partitura, si vedano le funzioni \cueClef e \cueDuringWithClef in Formatting cue notes.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Modifiche manuali della proprietà della chiave

Il comando \clef "treble_8" equivale a impostare clefGlyph, clefPosition (che regola la posizione verticale della chiave), middleCPosition e clefOctavation. Viene stampata una chiave quando cambia una di queste proprietà, eccetto middleCPosition.

La modifica del glifo, della posizione della chiave o dell’ottavazione non è sufficiente per cambiare la posizione delle note che seguono sul rigo: bisogna anche specificare la posizione del Do centrale (middle C). I parametri di posizione sono relativi alla linea centrale del rigo, con i numeri positivi che indicano la parte superiore: ogni linea e spazio valgono uno. Il valore clefOctavation di norma è impostato su 7, -7, 15 o -15, ma altri valori sono considerati validi.

Quando un cambio di chiave avviene in corrispondenza di un’interruzione di linea, di norma il simbolo della nuova chiave viene inserito sia alla fine del rigo precedente sia all’inizio di quello successivo. Se la chiave di avvertimento a fine rigo non fosse necessaria, può essere nascosta impostando la proprietà explicitClefVisibility del contesto Staff su end-of-line-invisible. Il comportamento predefinito può essere ripristinato con \unset Staff.explicitClefVisibility.

Gli esempi seguenti mostrano le possibilità date dall’impostazione manuale di tali proprietà. Sulla prima linea le modifiche manuali preservano il posizionamento relativo standard di chiavi e note, mentre sulla seconda linea non lo fanno.

\layout { ragged-right = ##t }

{
  % The default treble clef
  c'1
  % The standard bass clef
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.F"
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #2
  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #6
  c'1
  % The baritone clef
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.C"
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #4
  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #4
  c'1
  % The standard choral tenor clef
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.G"
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #-2
  \set Staff.clefOctavation = #-7
  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #1
  c'1
  % A non-standard clef
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #0
  \set Staff.clefOctavation = #0
  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #-4
  c'1 \break

  % The following clef changes do not preserve
  % the normal relationship between notes and clefs:

  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.F"
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #2
  c'1
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.G"
  c'1
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.C"
  c'1
  \set Staff.clefOctavation = #7
  c'1
  \set Staff.clefOctavation = #0
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #0
  c'1

  % Return to the normal clef:

  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #0
  c'1
}

Vedi anche

Guida alla notazione: Mensural clefs, Gregorian clefs, Default tablatures, Custom tablatures, Formatting cue notes.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: Clef_engraver, Clef, OctavateEight, clef-interface.

Armatura di chiave

L’armatura di chiave indica la tonalità di un brano. È costituita da un insieme di alterazioni (bemolle o diesis) all’inizio del rigo. L’armatura di chiave può essere modificata:

\key altezza modo

modo deve essere \major o \minor per ottenere rispettivamente un’armatura di altezza-maggiore o altezza-minore. È anche possibile usare i nomi tradizionali dei modi, chiamati anche modi ecclesiastici: \ionian, \dorian, \phrygian, \lydian, \mixolydian, \aeolian e \locrian.

\key g \major
fis1
f
fis

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Impedire l’inserimento dei segni di bequadro quando cambia l’armatura di chiave

Quando l’armatura di chiave cambia, vengono inseriti automaticamente i segni di bequadro per annulare le alterazioni di precedenti armature. Si può evitare questo comportamento impostando su f (falso) la proprietà printKeyCancellation nel contesto Staff.

\relative c' {
  \key d \major
  a4 b cis d
  \key g \minor
  a4 bes c d
  \set Staff.printKeyCancellation = ##f
  \key d \major
  a4 b cis d
  \key g \minor
  a4 bes c d
}

Armature di chiave non tradizionali

Il comando \key comunemente usato imposta la proprietà keySignature, che fa parte del contesto Staff.

Per creare armature di chiave non standard, tale proprietà va impostata esplicitamente. Il formato di questo comando è una lista:

\set Staff.keySignature = #`(((ottava . grado) . alterazione) ((ottava . grado) . alterazione) ...) dove, per ogni elemento della lista, ottava indica l’ottava (0 è l’ottava dal Do centrale al Si precedente), grado indica la nota all’interno dell’ottava (0 significa Do e 6 significa Si) e alterazione può essere ,SHARP ,FLAT ,DOUBLE-SHARP etc. (Si noti la virgola iniziale.)

Altrimenti, usando, per ogni elemento della lista, il formato breve (grado . alterazione), ciò indica che la stessa alterazione deve essere presente in tutte le ottave.

Ecco un esempio di una possibile armatura per generare una scala a tono intero:

\relative c' {
  \set Staff.keySignature = #`(((0 . 6) . ,FLAT)
                               ((0 . 5) . ,FLAT)
                               ((0 . 3) . ,SHARP))
  c4 d e fis
  aes4 bes c2
}

Vedi anche

Glossario musicale: church mode, scordatura.

Manuale di apprendimento: Alterazioni e armature di chiave.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: KeyChangeEvent, Key_engraver, Key_performer, KeyCancellation, KeySignature, key-cancellation-interface, key-signature-interface.

Segni di ottavazione

I segni di ottavazione introducono un’ulteriore trasposizione di ottava nel rigo:

a2 b
\ottava #-2
a2 b
\ottava #-1
a2 b
\ottava #0
a2 b
\ottava #1
a2 b
\ottava #2
a2 b

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Testo dell’ottava

Internamente, \ottava imposta le proprietà ottavation (ad esempio, su 8va o 8vb) e middleCPosition. Per sovrascrivere il testo della parentesi, occorre specificare ottavation dopo il comando \ottava.

{
  \ottava #1
  \set Staff.ottavation = #"8"
  c''1
  \ottava #0
  c'1
  \ottava #1
  \set Staff.ottavation = #"Text"
  c''1
}

Vedi anche

Glossario musicale: ottavazione.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: Ottava_spanner_engraver, OttavaBracket, ottava-bracket-interface.

Trasporto strumentale

Quando si scrivono partiture che comprendono strumenti traspositori, alcune parti possono essere scritte a un’altezza diversa dall’intonazione reale. In questi casi, è necessario specificare la chiave dello strumento traspositore, altrimenti l’output MIDI e le citazioni in altre parti produrranno altezze errate. Per maggiori informazioni sulle citazioni, si veda Quoting other voices.

\transposition altezza

L’altezza da usare per \transposition deve corrispondere al suono effettivamente prodotto quando un c' scritto sul rigo viene suonato dallo strumento traspositore. Tale altezza viene inserita in modalità assoluta; dunque, uno strumento che produce un suono reale un tono sopra la notazione deve usare \transposition d'. \transposition va usato soltanto se le altezze non sono scritte in intonazione reale.

Ecco un frammento per violino e clarinetto in Si bemolle, le cui parti sono inserite usando le note e l’armatura di chiave che appaiono nei rispettivi righi sulla partitura del direttore. I due strumenti suonano all’unisono.

\new GrandStaff <<
  \new Staff = "violin" {
    \relative c'' {
      \set Staff.instrumentName = #"Vln"
      \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin"
      % not strictly necessary, but a good reminder
      \transposition c'

      \key c \major
      g4( c8) r c r c4
    }
  }
  \new Staff = "clarinet" {
    \relative c'' {
      \set Staff.instrumentName = \markup { Cl (B\flat) }
      \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"clarinet"
      \transposition bes

      \key d \major
      a4( d8) r d r d4
    }
  }
>>

\transposition può essere modificato nel corso di un brano. Ad esempio, un clarinettista potrebbe passare da un clarinetto in La a uno in Si bemolle.

\set Staff.instrumentName = #"Cl (A)"
\key a \major
\transposition a
c d e f
\textLengthOn
<>^\markup { Switch to B\flat clarinet }
R1

\key bes \major
\transposition bes
c2 g

Vedi anche

Glossario musicale: intonazione reale, strumento traspositore.

Guida alla notazione: Quoting other voices, Trasposizione.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Alterazioni automatiche

Esistono diverse convenzioni sul modo di scrivere le alterazioni. LilyPond ha una funzione per specificare lo stile di gestione delle alterazioni adottato. Questa funzione viene richiamata nel modo seguente:

\new Staff <<
  \accidentalStyle "voice"
  { … }
>>

La gestione delle alterazioni si applica di norma all’attuale Staff (con l’eccezione degli stili piano e piano-cautionary, che sono spiegati dopo). Questa funzione accetta un secondo argomento opzionale che determina in quale ambito debba essere cambiato lo stile. Ad esempio, per usare lo stesso stile in tutti i righi dell’attuale StaffGroup, si usa:

\accidentalStyle #'StaffGroup "voice"

Sono supportati i seguenti modi di gestire le alterazioni. Il seguente esempio mostra tutti gli stili:

musicA = {
  <<
    \relative c' {
      cis'8 fis, bes4 <a cis>8 f bis4 |
      cis2. <c, g'>4 |
    }
    \\
    \relative c' {
      ais'2 cis, |
      fis8 b a4 cis2 |
    }
  >>
}

musicB = {
  \clef bass
  \new Voice {
    \voiceTwo \relative c' {
      <fis, a cis>8[ <fis a cis>
      \change Staff = up
      cis' cis
      \change Staff = down
      <fis, a> <fis a>]
      \showStaffSwitch
      \change Staff = up
      dis'4 |
      \change Staff = down
      <fis, a cis>4 gis <f a d>2 |
    }
  }
}

\new PianoStaff {
  <<
    \context Staff = "up" {
      \accidentalStyle "default"
      \musicA
    }
    \context Staff = "down" {
      \accidentalStyle "default"
      \musicB
    }
  >>
}

Si noti che le ultime linee di questo esempio possono essere sostituite dal seguente frammento, se si vuole usare lo stesso stile in entrambi i righi.

\new PianoStaff {
  <<
    \context Staff = "up" {
      %%% change the next line as desired:
      \accidentalStyle #'Score "default"
      \musicA
    }
    \context Staff = "down" {
      \musicB
    }
  >>
}

default

Questo è il comportamento predefinito del compositore tipografico. Corrisponde alla pratica comunemente impiegata dal diciottesimo secolo: le alterazioni vengono ricordate fino alla fine della misura in cui si trovano, limitatamente all’ottava di appartenenza. Quindi, nell’esempio seguente non compare alcun segno di bequadro prima del b nella seconda misura o prima dell’ultimo c:

voice

Normalmente le alterazioni mantengono la propria validità a livello di Staff. Tuttavia in questo stile le alterazioni vengono gestite individualmente per ogni voce. Al di fuori di quest’aspetto, lo stile è analogo a default.

Di conseguenza, le alterazioni relative a una voce non vengono cancellate nelle altre voci. Un risultato spesso non desiderabile: nell’esempio seguente è difficile capire se il secondo a sia naturale o diesis. L’opzione voice deve essere quindi usata solo se ogni voce è destinata a un esecutore diverso. Se la partitura deve essere letta da un unico musicista (come nel caso della partitura del direttore, o di uno spartito per pianoforte), allora è preferibile usare modern o modern-cautionary.

modern

Questa regola corrisponde alla pratica comune del ventesimo secolo. Omette i segni di bequadro supplementari che in passato erano di norma anteposti al diesis che segue un doppio diesis o a un bemolle che segue un doppio bemolle. La regola modern presenta le stesse alterazioni di default, con due aggiunte che servono a evitare ambiguità: i segni di annullamento delle alterazioni temporanee sono anteposti alle note sulla stessa ottava della misura successiva e alle note in ottave diverse nella stessa misura. In questo esempio, dunque, i bequadri del b e del c nella seconda misura del rigo superiore:

modern-cautionary

Questa regola è simile a modern, ma le alterazioni ‘supplementari’ (quelle non mostrate da default) sono segnate come alterazioni di precauzione. Di norma, sono poste tra parentesi; altrimenti, possono essere ridotte in corpo più piccolo definendo la proprietà cautionary-style di AccidentalSuggestion.

modern-voice

Questa regola viene usata per le alterazioni su più voci destinate sia agli esecutori che suonano una singola voce sia a quelli che suonano tutte le voci. Le alterazioni sono mostrate su tutte le voci, ma sono annullate su ogni voce dello stesso rigo (Staff). Quindi, l’alterazione dell’ a nell’ultima misura viene annullata perché l’annullamento precedente si trovava in una voce diversa, mentre quella del d nel rigo inferiore viene annullata a causa dell’alterazione in un’altra voce della misura precedente:

modern-voice-cautionary

Questa regola è analoga a modern-voice, ma con le alterazioni supplementari (quelle non mostrate da voice) segnate come alterazioni di precauzione. Tutte le alterazioni mostrate da default sono mostrate con questa regola, ma alcune di esse sono indicate come alterazioni di precauzione.

piano

Questa regola riflette la pratica del ventesimo secolo per la notazione per pianoforte. Il suo comportamento è molto simile allo stile modern, ma in questo caso le alterazioni vengono annullate in tutti i righi che si trovano nello stesso GrandStaff o PianoStaff, dunque tutte gli annullamenti delle note finali.

È lo stile predefinito per gli attuali GrandStaff e PianoStaff.

piano-cautionary

È uguale a piano ma con le alterazioni supplementari mostrate come alterazioni di precauzione.

neo-modern

Questa regola si riferisce a una pratica tipica della musica contemporanea: le alterazioni sono mostrate come in modern, ma vengono ripetute se la stessa nota appare in seguito nella stessa misura – a meno che la seconda occorrenza non segua direttamente la prima.

neo-modern-cautionary

Questa regola è simile a neo-modern, ma le alterazioni supplementari sono mostrate come alterazioni di precauzione.

neo-modern-voice

Questa regola viene usata per le alterazioni su più di una voce che devono essere lette sia da musicisti che suonano una singola voce sia da musicisti che suonano tutte le voci. Le alterazioni per ogni voce sono mostrate come nello stile neo-modern, ma vengono annullate attraverso le voci nello stesso rigo (Staff).

neo-modern-voice-cautionary

Questa regola è simile a neo-modern-voice, ma le alterazioni supplementari sono indicate come alterazioni di precauzione.

dodecaphonic

Questa regola riflette una regola introdotta dai compositori all’inizio del ventesimo secolo nel tentativo di abolire la gerarchia tra suoni naturali e non naturali. Con questo stile, ogni nota presenta un segno di alterazione, anche i suoni naturali.

teaching

Questa regola è pensata per gli studenti: permette di generare facilmente degli spartiti di scale con le alterazioni di precauzione inserite in modo automatico. Alle alterazioni, indicate come nello stile modern, vengono aggiunte ulteriori segni di precauzione per tutti i diesis e bemolle specificati dall’armatura di chiave, fuorché nel caso di ripetizioni immediatamente successive di una stessa nota.

no-reset

È identico a default, ma le alterazioni mantengono la propria validità ‘per sempre’, non solo all’interno della singola misura:

forget

È il contrario di no-reset: le alterazioni non vengono ricordate affatto – pertanto, tutte le alterazioni si riferiscono all’armatura di chiave, indipendentemente dal materiale musicale precedente.

Vedi anche

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: Accidental, Accidental_engraver, GrandStaff, PianoStaff, Staff, AccidentalSuggestion, AccidentalPlacement, accidental-suggestion-interface.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Le note simultanee non vengono considerate nell’individuazione automatica delle alterazioni; vengono prese come riferimento solo le note precedenti e l’armatura di chiave. Se la stessa nota occorre simultaneamente con alterazioni diverse, può essere necessario forzare le alterazioni con ! o ?: ‘<f! fis!>’.

L’annullamento di precauzione delle alterazioni avviene in relazione alla misura precedente. Tuttavia, nel blocco \alternative che segue una sezione \repeat volta N, è auspicabile che l’annullamento sia calcolato in base alla precedente misura eseguita, non alla precedente misura stampata. Nell’esempio seguente il Do naturale della seconda volta non richiede il segno di bequadro:

Si può usare il seguente espediente: si definisce una funzione che imposti localmente lo stile delle alterazioni su forget:

forget = #(define-music-function (parser location music) (ly:music?) #{
  \accidentalStyle "forget"
  #music
  \accidentalStyle "modern"
#})
{
  \accidentalStyle "modern"
  \time 2/4
  \repeat volta 2 {
    c'2
  }
  \alternative {
     cis'
     \forget c'
  }
}

Ambitus

Il termine ambitus (pl. ambitus) indica l’ambito di altezze di una determinata voce all’interno di una composizione musicale. Può indicare anche l’estensione di uno strumento musicale, ovvero l’intera gamma di suoni che può produrre. L’ambitus viene usato nelle parti vocali in modo che gli esecutori possano capire facilmente se siano adeguate alle loro possibilità.

L’ambitus viene indicato all’inizio del brano, prima della chiave iniziale. L’intervallo è individuato graficamente da due teste di nota che rappresentano l’altezza più bassa e più alta. Le alterazioni sono mostrate solo se non fanno parte dell’armatura di chiave.

\layout {
  \context {
    \Voice
    \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  }
}

\relative c'' {
  aes c e2
  cis,1
}

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Un ambitus per voce

L’ambitus può essere specificato per voce. In tal caso occorre spostarlo manualmente per evitare collisioni.

\new Staff <<
  \new Voice \with {
    \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  } \relative c'' {
    \override Ambitus #'X-offset = #2.0
    \voiceOne
    c4 a d e
    f1
  }
  \new Voice \with {
    \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  } \relative c' {
    \voiceTwo
    es4 f g as
    b1
  }
>>

Ambitus su più voci

Se si aggiunge l’incisore Ambitus_engraver al contesto Staff viene creato un solo ambitus per il rigo, anche nel caso di righi che hanno più voci.

\new Staff \with {
  \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  }
<<
  \new Voice \relative c'' {
    \voiceOne
    c4 a d e
    f1
  }
  \new Voice \relative c' {
    \voiceTwo
    es4 f g as
    b1
  }
>>

Modifica dell’intervallo dell’ambitus

È possibile cambiare le impostazioni predefinite dell’intervallo dell’ambitus.

\layout {
  \context {
    \Voice
    \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  }
}

\new Staff {
  \time 2/4
  % Default setting
  c'4 g''
}

\new Staff {
  \time 2/4
  \override AmbitusLine #'gap = #0
  c'4 g''
}

\new Staff {
  \time 2/4
  \override AmbitusLine #'gap = #1
  c'4 g''
}

\new Staff {
  \time 2/4
  \override AmbitusLine #'gap = #1.5
  c'4 g''
}

Vedi anche

Glossario musicale: ambitus.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: Ambitus_engraver, Voice, Staff, Ambitus, AmbitusAccidental, AmbitusLine, AmbitusNoteHead, ambitus-interface.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Le collisioni non vengono gestite in presenza di un ambitus multiplo su più di una voce.

1.1.4 Teste di nota

Questa sezione suggerisce i modi in cui modificare la testa di una nota.

Teste di nota speciali

L’aspetto delle teste delle note può essere modificato:

c4 b
\override NoteHead #'style = #'cross
c4 b
\revert NoteHead #'style
a b
\override NoteHead #'style = #'harmonic
a b
\revert NoteHead #'style
c4 d e f

L’elenco di tutti gli stili per le teste di nota è in Note head styles.

Lo stile barrato (cross) viene usato per rappresentare varie intenzioni musicali. I seguenti comandi generici predefiniti modificano la testa della nota nei contesti del rigo e dell’intavolatura e possono essere usati per rappresentare qualsiasi significato musicale:

c4 b
\xNotesOn
 a b c4 b
\xNotesOff
c4 d

Questo comando può essere usato all’interno e all’esterno degli accordi per generare teste barrate sia nel contesto del rigo che in quello dell’intavolatura:

c4 b
\xNote { e f }
c b < g \xNote c f > b

Potete utilizzare, al posto di \xNote, \xNotesOn e \xNotesOff, i comandi \deadNote, \deadNotesOn e \deadNotesOff. Il termine dead note è di uso comune tra i chitarristi.

Esiste anche una scorciatoia per le forme a diamante. Può essere usata solo all’interno di un accordo:

<c f\harmonic>2 <d a'\harmonic>4 <c g'\harmonic>

Comandi predefiniti

\harmonic, \xNotesOn, \xNotesOff, \xNote.

Vedi anche

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida alla notazione: Note head styles, Chorded notes, Indicating harmonics and dampened notes.

Guida al funzionamento interno: note-event, Note_heads_engraver, Ledger_line_engraver, NoteHead, LedgerLineSpanner, note-head-interface, ledger-line-spanner-interface.

Testa di nota con nome della nota

La nota ‘easy play’ inserisce il nome della nota dentro la testa. Viene usata nella musica per principianti. Per rendere le lettere leggibili, occorrerebbe usare un carattere più grande. A questo proposito si veda Setting the staff size.

#(set-global-staff-size 26)
\relative c' {
  \easyHeadsOn
  c2 e4 f
  g1
  \easyHeadsOff
  c,1
}

Comandi predefiniti

\easyHeadsOn, \easyHeadsOff.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Numeri dentro le teste di nota

Le teste di nota con nome della nota usano la proprietà note-names dell’oggetto NoteHead per determinare cosa appaia all’interno della testa. È possibile sovrascrivere questa proprietà e mostrare numeri che corrispondano ai gradi della scala.

Si può creare un semplice incisore che faccia questo per oggni oggetto testa di nota che incontra.

#(define Ez_numbers_engraver
   (make-engraver
    (acknowledgers
     ((note-head-interface engraver grob source-engraver)
      (let* ((context (ly:translator-context engraver))
	     (tonic-pitch (ly:context-property context 'tonic))
	     (tonic-name (ly:pitch-notename tonic-pitch))
	     (grob-pitch
	      (ly:event-property (event-cause grob) 'pitch))
	     (grob-name (ly:pitch-notename grob-pitch))
	     (delta (modulo (- grob-name tonic-name) 7))
	     (note-names
	      (make-vector 7 (number->string (1+ delta)))))
	(ly:grob-set-property! grob 'note-names note-names))))))

#(set-global-staff-size 26)

\layout {
  ragged-right = ##t
  \context {
    \Voice
    \consists \Ez_numbers_engraver
  }
}

\relative c' {
  \easyHeadsOn
  c4 d e f
  g4 a b c \break

  \key a \major
  a,4 b cis d
  e4 fis gis a \break

  \key d \dorian
  d,4 e f g
  a4 b c d
}

Vedi anche

Guida alla notazione: Setting the staff size.

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: note-event, Note_heads_engraver, NoteHead, note-head-interface.

Teste di nota a forma variabile

In alcune notazioni, la forma della testa della nota corrisponde alla funzione armonica di una nota nella scala. Questa notazione era comune nei canzonieri americani del diciannovesimo secolo. Gli stili possibili sono Sacred Harp, Southern Harmony, Funk (Harmonica Sacra), Walker e Aiken (Christian Harmony):

\aikenHeads
c, d e f g2 a b1 c \break
\sacredHarpHeads
c,4 d e f g2 a b1 c \break
\southernHarmonyHeads
c,4 d e f g2 a b1 c \break
\funkHeads
c,4 d e f g2 a b1 c \break
\walkerHeads
c,4 d e f g2 a b1 c \break

Le forme variano in base al grado della scala; la scala è determinata dal comando \key. Se si scrive in tonalità minore, il grado della scala può essere determinato in base alla relativa maggiore:

\key a \minor
\aikenHeads
a b c d e2 f g1 a \break
\aikenHeadsMinor
a,4 b c d e2 f g1 a \break
\sacredHarpHeadsMinor
a,2 b c d \break
\southernHarmonyHeadsMinor
a2 b c d \break
\funkHeadsMinor
a2 b c d \break
\walkerHeadsMinor
a2 b c d \break

Comandi predefiniti

\aikenHeads, \aikenHeadsMinor, \funkHeads, \funkHeadsMinor, \sacredHarpHeads, \sacredHarpHeadsMinor, \southernHarmonyHeads, \southernHarmonyHeadsMinor, \walkerHeads, \walkerHeadsMinor.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Applicazione degli stili delle teste di nota in base al grado della scala

La proprietà shapeNoteStyles può essere usata per definire vari stili di teste di nota per ogni grado della scala (definita dall’armatura di chiave o dalla proprietà tonic). Questa proprietà richiede un insieme di simboli, che può essere puramente arbitrario (sono permesse espressioni geometriche come triangle, cross e xcircle) o basato sull’antica tradizione tipografica americana (sono consentiti anche alcuni nomi di nota latini).

Detto questo, per imitare gli antichi canzionieri americani, ci sono vari stili predefiniti disponibili attraverso dei comodi comandi come \aikenHeads o \sacredHarpHeads.

Questo esempio mostra modi diversi di ottenere teste di nota di varie forme e illustra la possibilità di trasporre una melodia senza perdere la corrispondenza tra le funzioni armoniche e gli stili delle teste.

fragment = {
  \key c \major
  c2 d
  e2 f
  g2 a
  b2 c
}

\new Staff {
  \transpose c d
  \relative c' {
    \set shapeNoteStyles = #'#(do re mi fa
                               #f la ti)
    \fragment
  }

  \break

  \relative c' {
    \set shapeNoteStyles = #'#(cross triangle fa #f
                               mensural xcircle diamond)
    \fragment
  }
}

La lista completa di tutti gli stili delle teste si trova in Note head styles.

Vedi anche

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida alla notazione: Note head styles.

Guida al funzionamento interno: note-event, Note_heads_engraver, NoteHead, note-head-interface.

Improvvisazione

L’improvvisazione viene talvolta indicata con teste tagliate: l’esecutore può scegliere qualsiasi nota ma deve seguire il ritmo indicato. Si possono creare queste teste:

\new Voice \with {
  \consists "Pitch_squash_engraver"
} {
  e8 e g a a16( bes) a8 g
  \improvisationOn
  e8 ~
  e2 ~ e8 f4 f8 ~
  f2
  \improvisationOff
  a16( bes) a8 g e
}

Comandi predefiniti

\improvisationOn, \improvisationOff.

Vedi anche

Frammenti di codice: Altezze.

Guida al funzionamento interno: Pitch_squash_engraver, Voice, RhythmicStaff.

1.2 Rhythms

This section discusses rhythms, rests, durations, beaming and bars.

1.2.1 Writing rhythms

Durations

Durations are designated by numbers and dots. Durations are entered as their reciprocal values. For example, a quarter note is entered using a 4 (since it is a 1/4 note), and a half note is entered using a 2 (since it is a 1/2 note). For notes longer than a whole you must use the \longa (a double breve) and \breve commands. Durations as short as 128th notes may be specified. Shorter values are possible, but only as beamed notes.

\time 8/1
c\longa c\breve c1 c2
c4 c8 c16 c32 c64 c128 c128

Here are the same durations with automatic beaming turned off.

\time 8/1
\autoBeamOff
c\longa c\breve c1 c2
c4 c8 c16 c32 c64 c128 c128

A note with the duration of a quadruple breve may be entered with \maxima, but this is supported only within ancient music notation. For details, see Ancient notation.

If the duration is omitted, it is set to the previously entered duration. The default for the first note is a quarter note.

a a a2 a a4 a a1 a

To obtain dotted note lengths, place a dot (.) after the duration. Double-dotted notes are specified by appending two dots, and so on.

a4 b c4. b8 a4. b4.. c8.

Some durations cannot be represented with just binary durations and dots; they can be represented only by tying two or more notes together. For details, see Ties.

For ways of specifying durations for the syllables of lyrics and ways of aligning lyrics to notes, see Vocal music.

Optionally, notes can be spaced strictly proportionately to their duration. For details of this and other settings which control proportional notation, see Proportional notation.

Dots are normally moved up to avoid staff lines, except in polyphonic situations. Dots may be manually placed above or below the staff; see Direction and placement.

Comandi predefiniti

\autoBeamOn, \autoBeamOff, \dotsUp, \dotsDown, \dotsNeutral.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Alternative breve note

This code demonstrates how to use the alternative breve note with two vertical lines on each side of the notehead instead of one line.

\relative c'' {
  \time 4/2
  c\breve |
  \override Staff.NoteHead #'style = #'altdefault
  b\breve
  \revert Staff.NoteHead #'style
  a\breve
}

Changing the number of augmentation dots per note

This code demonstrates how to change the number of augmentation dots on a single note.

\relative c' {
  c4.. a16 r2 |
  \override Dots #'dot-count = #4
  c4.. a16 r2 |
  \override Dots #'dot-count = #0
  c4.. a16 r2 |
  \revert Dots #'dot-count
  c4.. a16 r2 |
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: breve, longa, maxima, note value, Duration names notes and rests.

Notation Reference: Automatic beams, Ties, Stems, Writing rhythms, Writing rests, Vocal music, Ancient notation, Proportional notation.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: Dots, DotColumn.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

There is no fundamental limit to rest durations (both in terms of longest and shortest), but the number of glyphs is limited: rests from 128th to maxima (8 x whole) may be printed.

Tuplets

Tuplets are made from a music expression by multiplying all the durations with a fraction:

\times fraction { music }

The duration of music will be multiplied by the fraction. The fraction’s denominator will be printed over or under the notes, optionally with a bracket. The most common tuplet is the triplet in which 3 notes have the duration of 2, so the notes are 2/3 of their written length.

a2 \times 2/3 { b4 b b }
c4 c \times 2/3 { b4 a g }

Tuplet brackets may be manually placed above or below the staff; see Direction and placement.

Tuplets may be nested:

\autoBeamOff
c4 \times 4/5 { f8 e f \times 2/3 { e[ f g] } } f4

Modifying nested tuplets which begin at the same musical moment must be done with \tweak.

To modify the duration of notes without printing a tuplet bracket, see Scaling durations.

Comandi predefiniti

\tupletUp, \tupletDown, \tupletNeutral.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Entering several tuplets using only one \times command

The property tupletSpannerDuration sets how long each of the tuplets contained within the brackets after \times should last. Many consecutive tuplets can then be placed within a single \times expression, thus saving typing.

In the example, two triplets are shown, while \times was entered only once.

Read the relevant sections of the Notation Reference for more information about ly:make-moment.

\relative c' {
  \time 2/4
  \set tupletSpannerDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 4)
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c c c c }
}

Changing the tuplet number

By default, only the numerator of the tuplet number is printed over the tuplet bracket, i.e., the denominator of the argument to the \times command. Alternatively, num:den of the tuplet number may be printed, or the tuplet number may be suppressed altogether.

\relative c'' {
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c }
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c }
  \override TupletNumber #'text = #tuplet-number::calc-fraction-text
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c }
  \override TupletNumber #'stencil = ##f
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c }
}

Non-default tuplet numbers

LilyPond also provides formatting functions to print tuplet numbers different than the actual fraction, as well as to append a note value to the tuplet number or tuplet fraction.

\relative c'' {
  \once \override TupletNumber #'text =
    #(tuplet-number::non-default-tuplet-denominator-text 7)
  \times 2/3  { c4. c4. c4. c4. }
  \once \override TupletNumber #'text =
    #(tuplet-number::non-default-tuplet-fraction-text 12 7)
  \times 2/3  { c4. c4. c4. c4. }
  \once \override TupletNumber #'text =
    #(tuplet-number::append-note-wrapper
      (tuplet-number::non-default-tuplet-fraction-text 12 7) "8")
  \times 2/3  { c4. c4. c4. c4. }

  \once \override TupletNumber #'text =
    #(tuplet-number::append-note-wrapper
      tuplet-number::calc-denominator-text "4")
  \times 2/3  { c8 c8 c8 c8 c8 c8 }
  \once \override TupletNumber #'text =
    #(tuplet-number::append-note-wrapper
      tuplet-number::calc-fraction-text "4")
  \times 2/3  { c8 c8 c8 c8 c8 c8 }

  \once \override TupletNumber #'text =
    #(tuplet-number::fraction-with-notes "4." "8")
  \times 2/3  { c4. c4. c4. c4. }
  \once \override TupletNumber #'text =
    #(tuplet-number::non-default-fraction-with-notes 12 "8" 4 "4")
  \times 2/3  { c4. c4. c4. c4. }
}

Controlling tuplet bracket visibility

The default behavior of tuplet-bracket visibility is to print a bracket unless there is a beam of the same length as the tuplet. To control the visibility of tuplet brackets, set the property 'bracket-visibility to either #t (always print a bracket), #f (never print a bracket) or #'if-no-beam (only print a bracket if there is no beam).

music = \relative c'' {
  \times 2/3 { c16[ d e } f8]
  \times 2/3 { c8 d e }
  \times 2/3 { c4 d e }
}

\new Voice {
  \relative c' {
    << \music s4^"default" >>
    \override TupletBracket #'bracket-visibility = #'if-no-beam
    << \music s4^"'if-no-beam" >>
    \override TupletBracket #'bracket-visibility = ##t
    << \music s4^"#t" >>
    \override TupletBracket #'bracket-visibility = ##f
    << \music s4^"#f" >>
  }
}

Permitting line breaks within beamed tuplets

This artificial example shows how both manual and automatic line breaks may be permitted to within a beamed tuplet. Note that such off-beat tuplets have to be beamed manually.

\layout {
  \context {
    \Voice
    % Permit line breaks within tuplets
    \remove "Forbid_line_break_engraver"
    % Allow beams to be broken at line breaks
    \override Beam #'breakable = ##t
  }
}
\relative c'' {
  a8
  \repeat unfold 5 { \times 2/3 { c[ b a] } }
  % Insert a manual line break within a tuplet
  \times 2/3 { c[ b \bar "" \break a] }
  \repeat unfold 5 { \times 2/3 { c[ b a] } }
  c8
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: triplet, tuplet, polymetric.

Learning Manual: Tweaking methods.

Notation Reference: Time administration, Scaling durations, The \tweak command, Polymetric notation.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: TupletBracket, TupletNumber, TimeScaledMusic.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Grace notes may be placed within tuplet brackets, except when a staff begins with a grace note followed by a tuplet. In this particular case, the grace note must be placed before the \times command to avoid errors.

When using a tuplet at the beginning of a piece with a \tempo mark, the music must be explicitly entered in a \new Voice block, as discussed in Voices contain music.

Scaling durations

The duration of single notes, rests or chords may be multiplied by a fraction N/M by appending *N/M (or *N if M is 1) to the duration. This will not affect the appearance of the notes or rests produced, but the altered duration will be used in calculating the position within the measure and setting the duration in the MIDI output. Multiplying factors may be combined like *L*M/N. Factors are part of the duration: if a duration is not specified for subsequent notes, the default duration taken from the preceding note will include any scaling factor.

In the following example, the first three notes take up exactly two beats, but no triplet bracket is printed.

\time 2/4
% Alter durations to triplets
a4*2/3 gis a
% Normal durations
a4 a
% Double the duration of chord
<a d>4*2
% Duration of quarter, appears like sixteenth
b16*4 c4

The duration of spacer rests may also be modified by a multiplier. This is useful for skipping many measures, e.g., s1*23.

Longer stretches of music may be compressed by a fraction in the same way, as if every note, chord or rest had the fraction as a multiplier. This leaves the appearance of the music unchanged but the internal duration of the notes will be multiplied by the fraction num/den. Here is an example showing how music can be compressed and expanded:

\time 2/4
% Normal durations
<c a>4 c8 a
% Scale music by *2/3
\scaleDurations 2/3 {
  <c a f>4. c8 a f
}
% Scale music by *2
\scaleDurations 2/1 {
  <c' a>4 c8 b
}

One application of this command is in polymetric notation, see Polymetric notation.

Vedi anche

Notation Reference: Tuplets, Invisible rests, Polymetric notation.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Ties

A tie connects two adjacent note heads of the same pitch. The tie in effect extends the duration of a note.

A tie is entered using the tilde symbol (~).

a2 ~ a

Ties are used either when the note crosses a bar line, or when dots cannot be used to denote the rhythm. Ties should also be used when note values cross larger subdivisions of the measure:

\relative c' {
  r8 c8 ~ c2 r4 |
  r8^"not" c2 ~ c8 r4
}

If you need to tie many notes across bar lines, it may be easier to use automatic note splitting, see Automatic note splitting. This mechanism automatically splits long notes, and ties them across bar lines.

When a tie is applied to a chord, all note heads whose pitches match are connected. When no note heads match, no ties will be created. Chords may be partially tied by placing the tie inside the chord.

<c e g> ~ <c e g>
<c~ e g~ b> <c e g b>

When a second alternative of a repeat starts with a tied note, you have to specify the repeated tie as follows:

\repeat volta 2 { c g <c e>2 ~ }
\alternative {
  % First alternative: following note is tied normally
  { <c e>2. r4 }
  % Second alternative: following note has a repeated tie
  { <c e>2\repeatTie d4 c } }

L.v. ties (laissez vibrer) indicate that notes must not be damped at the end. It is used in notation for piano, harp and other string and percussion instruments. They can be entered as follows:

<c f g>1\laissezVibrer

Ties may be manually placed above or below the staff; see Direction and placement.

Ties may be made dashed, dotted, or a combination of solid and dashed.

\tieDotted
c2 ~ c
\tieDashed
c2 ~ c
\tieHalfDashed
c2 ~ c
\tieHalfSolid
c2 ~ c
\tieSolid
c2 ~ c

Custom dash patterns can be specified:

\tieDashPattern #0.3 #0.75
c2 ~ c
\tieDashPattern #0.7 #1.5
c2 ~ c
\tieSolid
c2 ~ c

Dash pattern definitions for ties have the same structure as dash pattern definitions for slurs. For more information about complex dash patterns, see Slurs.

Override whiteout and layer layout properties for ties that collide with other objects in a staff.

\override Tie #'layer = #-2
\override Staff.TimeSignature #'layer = #-1
\override Staff.KeySignature #'layer = #-1
\override Staff.TimeSignature #'whiteout = ##t
\override Staff.KeySignature #'whiteout = ##t
b2 b~
\time 3/4
\key a \major
b r4

Comandi predefiniti

\tieUp, \tieDown, \tieNeutral, \tieDotted, \tieDashed, \tieDashPattern, \tieHalfDashed, \tieHalfSolid, \tieSolid.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Using ties with arpeggios

Ties are sometimes used to write out arpeggios. In this case, two tied notes need not be consecutive. This can be achieved by setting the tieWaitForNote property to #t. The same feature is also useful, for example, to tie a tremolo to a chord, but in principle, it can also be used for ordinary consecutive notes.

\relative c' {
  \set tieWaitForNote = ##t
  \grace { c16[ ~ e ~ g] ~ } <c, e g>2
  \repeat tremolo 8 { c32 ~ c' ~ } <c c,>1
  e8 ~ c ~ a ~ f ~ <e' c a f>2
  \tieUp
  c8 ~ a
  \tieDown
  \tieDotted
  g8 ~ c g2
}

Engraving ties manually

Ties may be engraved manually by changing the tie-configuration property of the TieColumn object. The first number indicates the distance from the center of the staff in half staff-spaces, and the second number indicates the direction (1 = up, -1 = down).

\relative c' {
  <c e g>2~ <c e g>
  \override TieColumn #'tie-configuration =
    #'((0.0 . 1) (-2.0 . 1) (-4.0 . 1))
  <c e g>2~ <c e g>
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: tie, laissez vibrer.

Notation Reference: Slurs, Automatic note splitting.

Snippets: Expressive marks, Rhythms.

Internals Reference: LaissezVibrerTie, LaissezVibrerTieColumn, TieColumn, Tie.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Switching staves when a tie is active will not produce a slanted tie.

Changing clefs or ottavations during a tie is not really well-defined. In these cases, a slur may be preferable.

1.2.2 Writing rests

Rests are entered as part of the music in music expressions.

Rests

Rests are entered like notes with the note name r. Durations longer than a whole rest use the following predefined commands:

\new Staff {
  % These two lines are just to prettify this example
  \time 16/1
  \override Staff.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
  % Print a maxima rest, equal to four breves
  r\maxima
  % Print a longa rest, equal to two breves
  r\longa
  % Print a breve rest
  r\breve
  r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128
}

Whole measure rests, centered in the middle of the measure, must be entered as multi-measure rests. They can be used for a single measure as well as many measures and are discussed in Full measure rests.

To explicitly specify a rest’s vertical position, write a note followed by \rest. A rest of the duration of the note will be placed at the staff position where the note would appear. This allows for precise manual formatting of polyphonic music, since the automatic rest collision formatter will not move these rests.

a4\rest d4\rest

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Rest styles

Rests may be used in various styles.

\layout {
  indent = 0
  \context {
    \Staff
    \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
  }
}

\new Staff \relative c {
  \cadenzaOn
  \override Staff.Rest #'style = #'mensural
  r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { mensural }
  r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 s32 s64 s128 s128
  \bar ""

  \override Staff.Rest #'style = #'neomensural
  r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { neomensural }
  r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 s32 s64 s128 s128
  \bar ""

  \override Staff.Rest #'style = #'classical
  r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { classical }
  r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 s128
  \bar ""

  \override Staff.Rest  #'style = #'default
  r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { default }
  r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 s128
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: breve, longa, maxima.

Notation Reference: Full measure rests.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: Rest.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

There is no fundamental limit to rest durations (both in terms of longest and shortest), but the number of glyphs is limited: there are rests from 128th to maxima (8 x whole).

Invisible rests

An invisible rest (also called a ‘spacer rest’) can be entered like a note with the note name s:

c4 c s c
s2 c

Spacer rests are available only in note mode and chord mode. In other situations, for example, when entering lyrics, the command \skip is used to skip a musical moment. \skip requires an explicit duration, but this is ignored if the lyrics derive their durations from the notes in an associated melody through \addlyrics or \lyricsto.

<<
  {
    a2 \skip2 a2 a2
  }
  \new Lyrics {
    \lyricmode {
      foo2 \skip 1 bla2
    }
  }
>>

Because \skip is a command, it does not affect the default durations of following notes, unlike s.

<<
  {
    \repeat unfold 8 { a4 }
  }
  {
    a4 \skip 2 a |
    s2 a
  }
>>

A spacer rest implicitly causes Staff and Voice contexts to be created if none exist, just like notes and rests do:

s1 s s

\skip simply skips musical time; it creates no output of any kind.

% This is valid input, but does nothing
\skip 1 \skip1 \skip 1

Vedi anche

Learning Manual: Visibility and color of objects.

Notation Reference: Hidden notes, Visibility of objects.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: SkipMusic.

Full measure rests

Rests for one or more full measures are entered like notes with the note name uppercase R:

% Rest measures contracted to single measure
\compressFullBarRests
R1*4
R1*24
R1*4
b2^"Tutti" b4 a4

The duration of full-measure rests is identical to the duration notation used for notes. The duration in a multi-measure rest must always be an integral number of measure-lengths, so augmentation dots or fractions must often be used:

\compressFullBarRests
\time 2/4
R1 | R2 |
\time 3/4
R2. | R2.*2 |
\time 13/8
R1*13/8 | R1*13/8*12 |
\time 10/8
R4*5*4 |

A full-measure rest is printed as either a whole or breve rest, centered in the measure, depending on the time signature.

\time 4/4
R1 |
\time 6/4
R1*3/2 |
\time 8/4
R1*2 |

By default a multi-measure rest is expanded in the printed score to show all the rest measures explicitly. Alternatively, a multi-measure rest can be shown as a single measure containing a multi-measure rest symbol, with the number of measures of rest printed above the measure:

% Default behavior
\time 3/4 r2. | R2.*2 |
\time 2/4 R2 |
\time 4/4
% Rest measures contracted to single measure
\compressFullBarRests
r1 | R1*17 | R1*4 |
% Rest measures expanded
\expandFullBarRests
\time 3/4
R2.*2 |

Markups can be added to multi-measure rests. The predefined command \fermataMarkup is provided for adding fermatas.

\compressFullBarRests
\time 3/4
R2.*10^\markup { \italic "ad lib." }
R2.^\fermataMarkup

% This fails, as the wrong object name is specified
\override TextScript #'padding = #5
R1^"wrong"
% This is the correct object name to be specified
\override MultiMeasureRestText #'padding = #5
R1^"right"

When a multi-measure rest immediately follows a \partial setting, resulting bar-check warnings may not be displayed.

Comandi predefiniti

\textLengthOn, \textLengthOff, \fermataMarkup, \compressFullBarRests, \expandFullBarRests.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Changing form of multi-measure rests

If there are ten or fewer measures of rests, a series of longa and breve rests (called in German “Kirchenpausen” - church rests) is printed within the staff; otherwise a simple line is shown. This default number of ten may be changed by overriding the expand-limit property.

\relative c'' {
  \compressFullBarRests
  R1*2 | R1*5 | R1*9
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'expand-limit = #3
  R1*2 | R1*5 | R1*9
}

Positioning multi-measure rests

Unlike ordinary rests, there is no predefined command to change the staff position of a multi-measure rest symbol of either form by attaching it to a note. However, in polyphonic music multi-measure rests in odd-numbered and even-numbered voices are vertically separated. The positioning of multi-measure rests can be controlled as follows:

\relative c'' {
  % Multi-measure rests by default are set under the fourth line
  R1
  % They can be moved using an override
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #-2
  R1
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #0
  R1
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #2
  R1
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #3
  R1
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #6
  R1
  \revert MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position
  \break

  % In two Voices, odd-numbered voices are under the top line
  << { R1 } \\ { a1 } >>
  % Even-numbered voices are under the bottom line
  << { a1 } \\ { R1 } >>
  % Multi-measure rests in both voices remain separate
  << { R1 } \\ { R1 } >>

  % Separating multi-measure rests in more than two voices
  % requires an override
  << { R1 } \\ { R1 } \\
     \once \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #0
     { R1 }
  >>

  % Using compressed bars in multiple voices requires another override
  % in all voices to avoid multiple instances being printed
  \compressFullBarRests
  <<
   \revert MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position
    { R1*3 }
    \\
   \revert MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position
    { R1*3 }
  >>
}

Multi-measure rest markup

Markups attached to a multi-measure rest will be centered above or below it. Long markups attached to multi-measure rests do not cause the measure to expand. To expand a multi-measure rest to fit the markup, use a spacer rest with an attached markup before the multi-measure rest.

Note that the spacer rest causes a bar line to be inserted. Text attached to a spacer rest in this way is left-aligned to the position where the note would be placed in the measure, but if the measure length is determined by the length of the text, the text will appear to be centered.

\relative c' {
  \compressFullBarRests
  \textLengthOn
  s1*0^\markup { [MAJOR GENERAL] }
  R1*19
  s1*0_\markup { \italic { Cue: ... it is yours } }
  s1*0^\markup { A }
  R1*30^\markup { [MABEL] }
  \textLengthOff
  c4^\markup { CHORUS } d f c
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: multi-measure rest.

Notation Reference: Durations, Text, Formatting text, Text scripts.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: MultiMeasureRest, MultiMeasureRestNumber, MultiMeasureRestText.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Fingerings over multi-measure rests (e.g. R1*10-4) may result in the fingering numeral colliding with the bar counter numeral.

There is no way to automatically condense multiple ordinary rests into a single multi-measure rest.

Multi-measure rests do not take part in rest collisions.

1.2.3 Displaying rhythms

Time signature

The time signature is set as follows:

\time 2/4 c2
\time 3/4 c2.

Time signatures are printed at the beginning of a piece and whenever the time signature changes. If a change takes place at the end of a line a warning time signature sign is printed there. This default behavior may be changed, see Visibility of objects.

\time 2/4
c2 c
\break
c c
\break
\time 4/4
c c c c

The time signature symbol that is used in 2/2 and 4/4 time can be changed to a numeric style:

% Default style
\time 4/4 c1
\time 2/2 c1
% Change to numeric style
\numericTimeSignature
\time 4/4 c1
\time 2/2 c1
% Revert to default style
\defaultTimeSignature
\time 4/4 c1
\time 2/2 c1

Mensural time signatures are covered in Mensural time signatures.

In addition to setting the printed time signature, the \time command also sets the values of the time-signature-based properties baseMoment, beatStructure, and beamExceptions. The predefined default values for these properties can be found in ‘scm/time-signature-settings.scm’.

The default value of beatStructure can be overridden in the \time command itself by supplying it as the optional first argument:

\score {
  \new Staff {
    \relative c' {
      \time #'(2 2 3) 7/8
      \repeat unfold 7 { c8 } |
      \time #'(3 2 2) 7/8
      \repeat unfold 7 { c8 } |
    }
  }
}

Alternatively, the default values of all these time-signature-based variables, including baseMoment and beamExceptions, can be set together. The values can be set independently for several different time signatures. The new values take effect when a subsequent \time command with the same value of the time signature is executed:

\score {
  \new Staff {
    \relative c' {
      \overrideTimeSignatureSettings
        4/4        % timeSignatureFraction
        1/4        % baseMomentFraction
        #'(3 1)    % beatStructure
        #'()       % beamExceptions
      \time 4/4
      \repeat unfold 8 { c8 } |
    }
  }
}

\overrideTimeSignatureSettings takes four arguments:

1. timeSignatureFraction, a fraction describing the time signature to which these values apply.
2. baseMomentFraction, a fraction containing the numerator and denominator of the basic timing unit for the time signature.
3. beatStructure, a Scheme list indicating the structure of the beats in the measure, in units of the base moment.
4. beamExceptions, an alist containing any beaming rules for the time signature that go beyond ending at every beat, as described in Setting automatic beam behavior.

The context containing \overrideTimeSignatureSettings must be instantiated before the \overrideTimeSignatureSettings call is executed. That means it must either be explicitly instantiated or there must be music in the context before the \overrideTimeSignatureSettings call:

\score {
  \relative c' {
    % This call will fail because the context isn't yet instantiated
    \overrideTimeSignatureSettings
      4/4        % timeSignatureFraction
      1/4        % baseMomentFraction
      #'(3 1)    % beatStructure
      #'()       % beamExceptions
    \time 4/4
    c8^\markup {"Beamed (2 2)"}
    \repeat unfold 7 { c8 } |
    % This call will succeed
    \overrideTimeSignatureSettings
      4/4        % timeSignatureFraction
      1/4        % baseMomentFraction
      #'(3 1)    % beatStructure
      #'()       % beamExceptions
    \time 4/4
    c8^\markup {"Beamed (3 1)"}
    \repeat unfold 7 { c8 } |
  }
}

Changed values of default time signature properties can be restored to the original values:

\score{
  \relative c' {
    \repeat unfold 8 { c8 } |
    \overrideTimeSignatureSettings
      4/4        % timeSignatureFraction
      1/4        % baseMomentFraction
      #'(3 1)    % beatStructure
      #'()       % beamExceptions
    \time 4/4
    \repeat unfold 8 { c8 } |
    \revertTimeSignatureSettings 4/4
    \time 4/4
    \repeat unfold 8 { c8 } |
  }
}

Different values of default time signature properties can be established for different staves by moving the Timing_translator and the Default_bar_line_engraver from the Score context to the Staff context.

\score {
  \new StaffGroup <<
     \new Staff {
        \overrideTimeSignatureSettings
          4/4        % timeSignatureFraction
          1/4        % baseMomentFraction
          #'(3 1)    % beatStructure
          #'()       % beamExceptions
        \time 4/4
        \repeat unfold 8 {c''8}
     }
     \new Staff {
        \overrideTimeSignatureSettings
          4/4        % timeSignatureFraction
          1/4        % baseMomentFraction
          #'(1 3)    % beatStructure
          #'()       % beamExceptions
        \time 4/4
        \repeat unfold 8 {c''8}
     }
  >>
  \layout {
    \context {
      \Score
      \remove "Timing_translator"
      \remove "Default_bar_line_engraver"
    }
    \context {
      \Staff
      \consists "Timing_translator"
      \consists "Default_bar_line_engraver"
    }
  }
}

A further method of changing these time-signature-related variables, which avoids reprinting the time signature at the time of the change, is shown in Setting automatic beam behavior.

Comandi predefiniti

\numericTimeSignature, \defaultTimeSignature.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Time signature printing only the numerator as a number (instead of the fraction)

Sometimes, a time signature should not print the whole fraction (e.g. 7/4), but only the numerator (7 in this case). This can be easily done by using \override Staff.TimeSignature #'style = #'single-digit to change the style permanently. By using \revert Staff.TimeSignature #'style, this setting can be reversed. To apply the single-digit style to only one time signature, use the \override command and prefix it with a \once.

\relative c'' {
  \time 3/4
  c4 c c
  % Change the style permanently
  \override Staff.TimeSignature #'style = #'single-digit
  \time 2/4
  c4 c
  \time 3/4
  c4 c c
  % Revert to default style:
  \revert Staff.TimeSignature #'style
  \time 2/4
  c4 c
  % single-digit style only for the next time signature
  \once \override Staff.TimeSignature #'style = #'single-digit
  \time 5/4
  c4 c c c c
  \time 2/4
  c4 c
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: time signature

Notation Reference: Mensural time signatures, Setting automatic beam behavior, Time administration.

Installed Files: ‘scm/time-signature-settings.scm’.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: TimeSignature, Timing_translator.

Metronome marks

A basic metronome mark is simple to write:

\tempo 4 = 120
c2 d
e4. d8 c2

Metronome marks may also be printed as a range of two numbers:

\tempo 4 = 40 ~ 46
c4. e8 a4 g
b,2 d4 r

Tempo indications with text can be used instead:

\tempo "Allegretto"
c4 e d c
b4. a16 b c4 r4

Combining a metronome mark and text will automatically place the metronome mark within parentheses:

\tempo "Allegro" 4 = 160
g4 c d e
d4 b g2

In general, the text can be any markup object:

\tempo \markup { \italic Faster } 4 = 132
a8-. r8 b-. r gis-. r a-. r

A parenthesized metronome mark with no textual indication may be written by including an empty string in the input:

\tempo "" 8 = 96
d4 g e c

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Printing metronome and rehearsal marks below the staff

By default, metronome and rehearsal marks are printed above the staff. To place them below the staff simply set the direction property of MetronomeMark or RehearsalMark appropriately.

\layout { ragged-right = ##f }

{
  % Metronome marks below the staff
  \override Score.MetronomeMark #'direction = #DOWN
  \tempo 8. = 120
  c''1

  % Rehearsal marks below the staff
  \override Score.RehearsalMark #'direction = #DOWN
  \mark \default
  c''1
}

Changing the tempo without a metronome mark

To change the tempo in MIDI output without printing anything, make the metronome mark invisible.

\score {
  \new Staff \relative c' {
    \tempo 4 = 160
    c4 e g b
    c4 b d c
    \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
    \tempo 4 = 96
    d,4 fis a cis
    d4 cis e d
  }
  \layout { }
  \midi { }
}

Creating metronome marks in markup mode

New metronome marks can be created in markup mode, but they will not change the tempo in MIDI output.

\relative c' {
  \tempo \markup {
    \concat {
      (
      \smaller \general-align #Y #DOWN \note #"16." #1
      " = "
      \smaller \general-align #Y #DOWN \note #"8" #1
      )
    }
  }
  c1
  c4 c' c,2
}

For more details, see Formatting text.

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: metronome, metronomic indication, tempo indication, metronome mark.

Notation Reference: Formatting text, MIDI output.

Snippets: Staff notation.

Internals Reference: MetronomeMark.

Upbeats

Partial or pick-up measures, such as an anacrusis or an upbeat, are entered using the \partial command,

\partial duration

where duration is the remaining length of the partial measure before the start of the next full measure.

\time 3/4
\partial 8
e8 | a4 c8 b c4 |

The duration can be any value less than a full measure:

\time 3/4
\partial 4.
r4 e8 | a4 c8 b c4 |

The \partial duration can also be written as;

\set Timing.measurePosition -duration

So \partial 8 becomes:

\time 3/4
\set Timing.measurePosition = #(ly:make-moment -1 8)
e8 | a4 c8 b c4 |

The property measurePosition contains a rational number indicating how much of the measure has passed at this point. Note that this is set to a negative number by the \partial command: i.e., \partial 4 is internally translated to -4, meaning “there is a quarter note left in the measure.”

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: anacrusis.

Notation Reference: Grace notes.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internal Reference: Timing_translator.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

The \partial command should be used only at the beginning of a piece. If you use it after the beginning, warnings or problems may occur, so use \set Timing.measurePosition instead.

\time 6/8
\partial 8
e8 | a4 c8 b[ c b] |
\set Timing.measurePosition = #(ly:make-moment -1 4)
r8 e,8 | a4 c8 b[ c b] |

Unmetered music

In metered music bar lines are inserted and bar numbers are calculated automatically. In unmetered music (i.e. cadenzas), this is not desirable and can be ‘switched off’ using the command \cadenzaOn, then ‘switched back on’ at the appropriate place using \cadenzaOff.

c4 d e d
\cadenzaOn
c4 c d8[ d d] f4 g4.
\cadenzaOff
\bar "|"
d4 e d c

Bar numbering is resumed at the end of the cadenza.

% Show all bar numbers
\override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #all-visible
c4 d e d
\cadenzaOn
c4 c d8[ d d] f4 g4.
\cadenzaOff
\bar "|"
d4 e d c

A new bar is never started within a cadenza, even if one or more \bar commands are inserted within it. Therefore, reminder accidentals will need to be added manually. See Alterazioni.

c4 d e d
\cadenzaOn
cis4 d cis d
\bar "|"
cis4 d cis! d
\cadenzaOff
\bar "|"

Automatic beaming is disabled by \cadenzaOn. Therefore, all beaming in cadenzas must be entered manually. See Manual beams.

\repeat unfold 8 { c8 }
\cadenzaOn
cis8 c c c c
\bar"|"
c8 c c
\cadenzaOff
\repeat unfold 8 { c8 }

These predefined commands affect all staves in the score, even when placed in just one Voice context. To change this, move the Timing_translator from the Score context to the Staff context. See Polymetric notation.

Comandi predefiniti

\cadenzaOn, \cadenzaOff.

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: cadenza.

Notation Reference: Visibility of objects, Polymetric notation, Manual beams, Alterazioni.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Automatic line and page breaks are inserted only at bar lines, so ‘invisible’ bar lines will need to be inserted manually in long stretches of unmetered music to permit breaking:

\bar ""

Explicitly create a Voice context when starting a piece with \cadenzaOn, else unexpected errors may occur.

\new Voice {
  \relative c' {
    \cadenzaOn
    c16[^"Solo Free Time" d e f] g2.
    \bar "||"
    \cadenzaOff
  }
}

Polymetric notation

Polymetric notation is supported explicitly or by manually modifying the visible time signature symbol and/or scaling note durations.

Different time signatures with equal-length measures

Set a common time signature for each staff, and set the timeSignatureFraction to the desired fraction. Then use the \scaleDurations function to scale the durations of the notes in each staff to the common time signature.

In the following example, music with the time signatures of 3/4, 9/8 and 10/8 are used in parallel. In the second staff, shown durations are multiplied by 2/3 (because 2/3 * 9/8 = 3/4) and in the third staff, the shown durations are multiplied by 3/5 (because 3/5 * 10/8 = 3/4). It may be necessary to insert beams manually, as the duration scaling will affect the autobeaming rules.

\relative c' <<
  \new Staff {
    \time 3/4
    c4 c c |
    c4 c c |
  }
  \new Staff {
    \time 3/4
    \set Staff.timeSignatureFraction = 9/8
    \scaleDurations 2/3
      \repeat unfold 6 { c8[ c c] }
  }
  \new Staff {
    \time 3/4
    \set Staff.timeSignatureFraction = 10/8
    \scaleDurations 3/5 {
      \repeat unfold 2 { c8[ c c] }
      \repeat unfold 2 { c8[ c] } |
      c4. c \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] } c4
    }
  }
>>

Different time signatures with unequal-length measures

Each staff can be given its own independent time signature by moving the Timing_translator and the Default_bar_line_engraver to the Staff context.

\layout {
  \context {
    \Score
    \remove "Timing_translator"
    \remove "Default_bar_line_engraver"
  }
  \context {
    \Staff
    \consists "Timing_translator"
    \consists "Default_bar_line_engraver"
  }
}

% Now each staff has its own time signature.

\relative c' <<
  \new Staff {
    \time 3/4
    c4 c c |
    c4 c c |
  }
  \new Staff {
    \time 2/4
    c4 c |
    c4 c |
    c4 c |
  }
  \new Staff {
    \time 3/8
    c4. |
    c8 c c |
    c4. |
    c8 c c |
  }
>>

Compound time signatures

These are created using the \compoundMeter function. The syntax for this is:

\compoundMeter #'(list of lists)

The simplest construction is a single list, where the last number indicates the bottom number of the time signature and those that come before it, the top numbers.

\relative c' {
  \compoundMeter #'((2 2 2 8))
  \repeat unfold 6 c8 \repeat unfold 12 c16
}

More complex meters can be constructed using additional lists. Also, automatic beaming settings will be adjusted depending on the values.

\relative c' {
  \compoundMeter #'((1 4) (3 8))
  \repeat unfold 5 c8 \repeat unfold 10 c16
}

\relative c' {
  \compoundMeter #'((1 2 3 8) (3 4))
  \repeat unfold 12 c8
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: polymetric, polymetric time signature, meter.

Notation Reference: Automatic beams, Manual beams, Time signature, Scaling durations.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: TimeSignature, Timing_translator, Default_bar_line_engraver, Staff.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

When using different time signatures in parallel, notes at the same moment will be placed at the same horizontal location. However, the bar lines in the different staves will cause the note spacing to be less regular in each of the individual staves than would be normal without the different time signatures.

Automatic note splitting

Long notes which overrun bar lines can be converted automatically to tied notes. This is done by replacing the Note_heads_engraver with the Completion_heads_engraver. Similarly, long rests which overrun bar lines are split automatically by replacing the Rest_engraver with the Completion_rest_engraver. In the following example, notes and rests crossing the bar lines are split, notes are also tied.

\new Voice \with {
  \remove "Note_heads_engraver"
  \consists "Completion_heads_engraver"
  \remove "Rest_engraver"
  \consists "Completion_rest_engraver"
}

{ c2. c8 d4 e f g a b c8 c2 b4 a g16 f4 e d c8. c2 r1*2 }

These engravers split all running notes and rests at the bar line, and inserts ties for notes. One of its uses is to debug complex scores: if the measures are not entirely filled, then the ties show exactly how much each measure is off.

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: tie

Learning Manual: Engravers explained, Adding and removing engravers.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: Note_heads_engraver, Completion_heads_engraver, Rest_engraver, Completion_rest_engraver, Forbid_line_break_engraver.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Not all durations (especially those containing tuplets) can be represented exactly with normal notes and dots, but the Completion_heads_engraver will not insert tuplets.

The Completion_heads_engraver only affects notes; it does not split rests.

Showing melody rhythms

Sometimes you might want to show only the rhythm of a melody. This can be done with the rhythmic staff. All pitches of notes on such a staff are squashed, and the staff itself has a single line

<<
  \new RhythmicStaff {
    \new Voice = "myRhythm" {
      \time 4/4
      c4 e8 f g2
      r4 g g f
      g1
    }
  }
  \new Lyrics {
    \lyricsto "myRhythm" {
      This is my song
      I like to sing
    }
  }
>>

Guitar chord charts often show the strumming rhythms. This can be done with the Pitch_squash_engraver and \improvisationOn.

<<
  \new ChordNames {
    \chordmode {
      c1 f g c
    }
  }
  \new Voice \with {
    \consists "Pitch_squash_engraver"
  } \relative c'' {
    \improvisationOn
    c4 c8 c c4 c8 c
    f4 f8 f f4 f8 f
    g4 g8 g g4 g8 g
    c4 c8 c c4 c8 c
  }
>>

Comandi predefiniti

\improvisationOn, \improvisationOff.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Guitar strum rhythms

For guitar music, it is possible to show strum rhythms, along with melody notes, chord names and fret diagrams.

\include "predefined-guitar-fretboards.ly"
<<
  \new ChordNames {
    \chordmode {
      c1 | f | g | c
    }
  }
  \new FretBoards {
    \chordmode {
      c1 | f | g | c
    }
  }
  \new Voice \with {
    \consists "Pitch_squash_engraver"
  } {
    \relative c'' {
      \improvisationOn
      c4 c8 c c4 c8 c
      f4 f8 f f4 f8 f
      g4 g8 g g4 g8 g
      c4 c8 c c4 c8 c
    }
  }
  \new Voice = "melody" {
    \relative c'' {
      c2 e4 e4
      f2. r4
      g2. a4
      e4 c2.
    }
  }
  \new Lyrics {
    \lyricsto "melody" {
      This is my song.
      I like to sing.
    }
  }
>>

Vedi anche

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: RhythmicStaff, Pitch_squash_engraver.

1.2.4 Beams

Automatic beams

By default, beams are inserted automatically:

\time 2/4 c8 c c c
\time 6/8 c8 c c c8. c16 c8

If these automatic decisions are not satisfactory, beaming can be entered explicitly; see Manual beams. Beams must be entered manually if beams are to be extended over rests.

If automatic beaming is not required, it may be turned off with \autoBeamOff and on with \autoBeamOn:

c4 c8 c8. c16 c8. c16 c8
\autoBeamOff
c4 c8 c8. c16 c8.
\autoBeamOn
c16 c8

Beaming patterns that differ from the automatic defaults can be created; see Setting automatic beam behavior.

Comandi predefiniti

\autoBeamOff, \autoBeamOn.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Beams across line breaks

Line breaks are normally forbidden when beams cross bar lines. This behavior can be changed as shown:

\relative c'' {
  \override Beam #'breakable = ##t
  c8 c[ c] c[ c] c[ c] c[ \break
  c8] c[ c] c[ c] c[ c] c
}

Changing beam knee gap

Kneed beams are inserted automatically when a large gap is detected between the note heads. This behavior can be tuned through the auto-knee-gap property. A kneed beam is drawn if the gap is larger than the value of auto-knee-gap plus the width of the beam object (which depends on the duration of the notes and the slope of the beam). By default auto-knee-gap is set to 5.5 staff spaces.

{
  f8 f''8 f8 f''8
  \override Beam #'auto-knee-gap = #6
  f8 f''8 f8 f''8
}

Partcombine and autoBeamOff

The function of \autoBeamOff when used with \partcombine can be difficult to understand.

It may be preferable to use

\set Staff.autoBeaming = ##f

instead, to ensure that autobeaming will be turned off for the entire staff.

\partcombine apparently works with 3 voices – stem up single, stem down single, stem up combined.

An \autoBeamOff call in the first argument to partcombine will apply to the voice that is active at the time the call is processed, either stem up single or stem up combined. An \autoBeamOff call in the second argument will apply to the voice that is stem down single.

In order to use \autoBeamOff to stop all autobeaming when used with \partcombine, it will be necessary to use three calls to \autoBeamOff.

{
  %\set Staff.autoBeaming = ##f % turns off all autobeaming
  \partcombine
  {
    \autoBeamOff % applies to split up stems
    \repeat unfold 4 a'16
    %\autoBeamOff % applies to combined up stems
    \repeat unfold 4 a'8
    \repeat unfold 4 a'16
  }
  {
    \autoBeamOff % applies to down stems
    \repeat unfold 4 f'8
    \repeat unfold 8 f'16 |
  }
}

Vedi anche

Notation Reference: Manual beams, Setting automatic beam behavior.

Installed Files: ‘scm/auto-beam.scm’.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: Auto_beam_engraver, Beam_engraver, Beam, BeamEvent, BeamForbidEvent, beam-interface, unbreakable-spanner-interface.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

The properties of a beam are determined at the start of its construction and any additional beam-property changes that occur before the beam has been completed will not take effect until the next, new beam starts.

Setting automatic beam behavior

When automatic beaming is enabled, the placement of automatic beams is determined by three context properties: baseMoment, beatStructure, and beamExceptions. The default values of these variables may be overridden as described below, or alternatively the default values themselves may be changed as explained in Time signature.

If a beamExceptions rule is defined for the time signature in force, that rule is used to determine the beam placement. If no beamExceptions rule is defined for the time signature in force, the beam placement is determined by the settings of baseMoment and beatStructure.

By default, beamExceptions rules are defined for most common time signatures, so the beamException rules must be disabled if automatic beaming is to be based on baseMoment and beatStructure. The beamExceptions rules are disabled by

\set Timing.beamExceptions = #'()

Beaming based on baseMoment and beatStructure

In most instances, automatic beams will end at the end of a beat. The ending points for beats are determined by the context properties baseMoment and beatStructure. beatStructure is a scheme list that defines the length of each beat in the measure in units of baseMoment. By default, baseMoment is one over the denominator of the time signature. By default, each unit of length baseMoment is a single beat.

\time 5/16
c16^"default" c c c c |
\set Timing.beatStructure = #'(2 3)
c16^"(2+3)" c c c c |
\set Timing.beatStructure = #'(3 2)
c16^"(3+2)" c c c c |

If a common time signature is being used, beamExceptions must be disabled to enable beatStructure to work. The \set Timing.beamExceptions = #'() command can always be included if beaming is being determined by beatStructure.

\time 4/4
a8^"default" a a a a a a a

\set Timing.baseMoment = #(ly:make-moment 1 4)
\set Timing.beatStructure = #'(1 1 1 1)
a8^"no change" a a a a a a a

\set Timing.beamExceptions = #'()
\set Timing.baseMoment = #(ly:make-moment 1 4)
\set Timing.beatStructure = #'(1 1 1 1)
a8^"changed" a a a a a a a

Beam setting changes can be limited to specific contexts. If no setting is included in a lower-level context, the setting of the enclosing context will apply.

\new Staff {
  \time 7/8
  \set Staff.beatStructure = #'(2 3 2)
  <<
    \new Voice = one {
      \relative c'' {
        a8 a a a a a a
      }
    }
    \new Voice = two {
      \relative c' {
        \voiceTwo
        \set Voice.beatStructure = #'(1 3 3)
        f8 f f f f f f
      }
    }
  >>
}

When multiple voices are used the Staff context must be specified if the beaming is to be applied to all voices in the staff:

\time 7/8
% rhythm 3-1-1-2
% Change applied to Voice by default --  does not work correctly
% Because of autogenerated voices, all beating will
% be at baseMoment (1 . 8)
\set beatStructure = #'(3 1 1 2)
<< {a8 a a a16 a a a a8 a} \\ {f4. f8 f f f} >>

% Works correctly with context Staff specified
\set Staff.beatStructure = #'(3 1 1 2)
<< {a8 a a a16 a a a a8 a} \\ {f4. f8 f f f} >>

The value of baseMoment can be adjusted to change the beaming behavior, if desired. When this is done, the value of beatStructure must be set to be compatible with the new value of baseMoment.

\time 5/8
\set Timing.baseMoment = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
\set Timing.beatStructure = #'(7 3)
\repeat unfold 10 { a16 }

baseMoment is a moment; a unit of musical duration. A quantity of type moment is created by the scheme function ly:make-moment. For more information about this function, see Time administration.

By default baseMoment is set to one over the denominator of the time signature. Any exceptions to this default can be found in ‘scm/time-signature-settings.scm’.

Beaming based on beamExceptions

Special autobeaming rules (other than ending a beam on a beat) are defined in the beamExceptions property.

\time 3/16
\set Timing.beatStructure = #'(2 1)
\set Timing.beamExceptions =
  #'(                         ;start of alist
     (end .                   ;entry for end of beams
      (                       ;start of alist of end points
       ((1 . 32) . (2 2 2))   ;rule for 1/32 beams -- end each 1/16
      )))                     %close all entries
c16 c c |
\repeat unfold 6 { c32 } |

beamExceptions is an alist with a key of rule-type and a value of beaming-rules.

At this time the only available value of rule-type is 'end for beam ending.

Beaming-rules is a scheme alist (or list of pairs) that indicates the beam type and the grouping to be applied to beams containing notes with a shortest duration of that beam type.

#'((beam-type1 . grouping-1)
   (beam-type2 . grouping-2)
   (beam-type3 . grouping-3))

Beam type is a scheme pair indicating the duration of the beam, e.g., (1 . 16).

Grouping is a scheme list indicating the grouping to be applied to the beam. The grouping is in units of the beam type.

When the time signature is changed, default values of Timing.baseMoment, Timing.beatStructure, and Timing.beamExceptions are set. Setting the time signature will reset the automatic beaming settings for the Timing context to the default behavior.

\time 6/8
\repeat unfold 6 { a8 }
% group (4 + 2)
\set Timing.beatStructure = #'(4 2)
\repeat unfold 6 { a8 }
% go back to default behavior
\time 6/8
\repeat unfold 6 { a8 }

The default automatic beaming settings for a time signature are determined in ‘scm/time-signature-settings.scm’. Changing the default automatic beaming settings for a time signature is described in Time signature.

Many automatic beaming settings for a time signature contain an entry for beamExceptions. For example, 4/4 time tries to beam the measure in two if there are only eighth notes. The beamExceptions rule can override the beatStructure setting if beamExceptions is not reset.

\time 4/4
\set Timing.baseMoment = #(ly:make-moment 1 8)
\set Timing.beatStructure = #'(3 3 2)
% This won't beam (3 3 2) because of beamExceptions
\repeat unfold 8 {c8} |
% This will beam (3 3 2) because we clear beamExceptions
\set Timing.beamExceptions = #'()
\repeat unfold 8 {c8}

In a similar fashion, eighth notes in 3/4 time are beamed as a full measure by default. To beam eighth notes in 3/4 time on the beat, reset beamExceptions.

\time 3/4
% by default we beam in (6) due to beamExceptions
\repeat unfold 6 {a8} |
% This will beam (1 1 1) due to beatLength
\set Timing.beamExceptions = #'()
\repeat unfold 6 {a8}

In engraving from the Romantic and Classical periods, beams often begin midway through the measure in 3/4 time, but modern practice is to avoid the false impression of 6/8 time (see Gould, p. 153). Similar situations arise in 3/8 time. This behavior is controlled by the context property beamHalfMeasure, which has effect only in time signatures with 3 in the numerator:

\time 3/4
r4. a8 a a |
\set Timing.beamHalfMeasure = ##f
r4. a8 a a |

How automatic beaming works

When automatic beaming is enabled, the placement of automatic beams is determined by the context properties baseMoment, beatStructure, and beamExceptions.

The following rules, in order of priority, apply when determining the appearance of beams:

• If a manual beam is specified with [..] set the beam as specified, otherwise
• if a beam-ending rule is defined in beamExceptions for the beam-type, use it to determine the valid places where beams may end, otherwise
• if a beam-ending rule is defined in beamExceptions for a longer beam-type, use it to determined the valid places where beams may end, otherwise
• use the values of baseMoment and beatStructure to determine the ends of the beats in the measure, and end beams at the end of beats.

In the rules above, the beam-type is the duration of the shortest note in the beamed group.

The default beaming rules can be found in ‘scm/time-signature-settings.scm’.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Subdividing beams

The beams of consecutive 16th (or shorter) notes are, by default, not subdivided. That is, the three (or more) beams stretch unbroken over entire groups of notes. This behavior can be modified to subdivide the beams into sub-groups by setting the property subdivideBeams. When set, multiple beams will be subdivided at intervals defined by the current value of baseMoment by reducing the multiple beams to just one beam between the sub-groups. Note that baseMoment defaults to one over the denominator of the current time signature if not set explicitly. It must be set to a fraction giving the duration of the beam sub-group using the ly:make-moment function, as shown in this snippet. Also, when baseMoment is changed, beatStructure should also be changed to match the new baseMoment:

\relative c'' {
  c32[ c c c c c c c]
  \set subdivideBeams = ##t
  c32[ c c c c c c c]

  % Set beam sub-group length to an eighth note
  \set baseMoment = #(ly:make-moment 1 8)
  \set beatStructure = #'(2 2 2 2)
  c32[ c c c c c c c]

  % Set beam sub-group length to a sixteenth note
  \set baseMoment = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
  \set beatStructure = #'(4 4 4 4)
  c32[ c c c c c c c]
}

Strict beat beaming

Beamlets can be set to point in the direction of the beat to which they belong. The first beam avoids sticking out flags (the default); the second beam strictly follows the beat.

\relative c'' {
  \time 6/8
  a8. a16 a a
  \set strictBeatBeaming = ##t
  a8. a16 a a
}

Conducting signs measure grouping signs

Beat grouping within a measure is controlled by the context property beatStructure. Values of beatStructure are established for many time signatures in ‘scm/time-signature-settings.scm’. Values of beatStructure can be changed or set with \set. Alternatively, \time can be used to both set the time signature and establish the beat structure. For this, you specify the internal grouping of beats in a measure as a list of numbers (in Scheme syntax) before the time signature.

\time applies to the Timing context, so it will not reset values of beatStructure or baseMoment that are set in other lower-level contexts, such as Voice.

If the Measure_grouping_engraver is included in one of the display contexts, measure grouping signs will be created. Such signs ease reading rhythmically complex modern music. In the example, the 9/8 measure is grouped in two different patterns using the two different methods, while the 5/8 measure is grouped according to the default setting in ‘scm/time-signature-settings.scm’:

\score {
  \new Voice \relative c'' {
    \time 9/8
    g8 g d d g g a( bes g) |
    \set Timing.beatStructure = #'(2 2 2 3)
    g8 g d d g g a( bes g) |
    \time #'(4 5) 9/8
    g8 g d d g g a( bes g) |
    \time 5/8
    a4. g4 |
  }
  \layout {
    \context {
      \Staff
      \consists "Measure_grouping_engraver"
    }
  }
}

Beam endings in Score context

Beam-ending rules specified in the Score context apply to all staves, but can be modified at both Staff and Voice levels:

\relative c'' {
  \time 5/4
  % Set default beaming for all staves
  \set Score.baseMoment = #(ly:make-moment 1 8)
  \set Score.beatStructure = #'(3 4 3)
  <<
    \new Staff {
      c8 c c c c c c c c c
    }
    \new Staff {
      % Modify beaming for just this staff
      \set Staff.beatStructure = #'(6 4)
      c8 c c c c c c c c c
    }
    \new Staff {
      % Inherit beaming from Score context
      <<
        {
          \voiceOne
          c8 c c c c c c c c c
        }
        % Modify beaming for this voice only
        \new Voice {
          \voiceTwo
          \set Voice.beatStructure = #'(6 4)
          a8 a a a a a a a a a
        }
      >>
    }
  >>
}

Vedi anche

Notation Reference: Time signature.

Installed Files: ‘scm/time-signature-settings.scm’.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: Auto_beam_engraver, Beam, BeamForbidEvent, beam-interface.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

If a score ends while an automatic beam has not been ended and is still accepting notes, this last beam will not be typeset at all. The same holds for polyphonic voices, entered with << … \\ … >>. If a polyphonic voice ends while an automatic beam is still accepting notes, it is not typeset. The workaround for these problems is to manually beam the last beam in the voice or score.

By default, the Timing translator is aliased to the Score context. This means that setting the time signature in one staff will affect the beaming of the other staves as well. Thus, a time signature setting in a later staff will reset custom beaming that was set in an earlier staff. One way to avoid this problem is to set the time signature in only one staff.

<<
  \new Staff {
    \time 3/4
    \set Timing.baseMoment = #(ly:make-moment 1 8)
    \set Timing.beatStructure = #'(1 5)
    \repeat unfold 6 { a8 }
  }
  \new Staff {
    \repeat unfold 6 { a8 }
  }
>>

The default beam settings for the time signature can also be changed, so that the desired beaming will always be used. Changes in automatic beaming settings for a time signature are described in Time signature.

<<
  \new Staff {
    \overrideTimeSignatureSettings
      3/4               % timeSignatureFraction
      1/8               % baseMomentFraction
      #'(1 5)           % beatStructure
      #'()		% beamExceptions
    \time 3/4
    \repeat unfold 6 { a8 }
  }
  \new Staff {
    \time 3/4
    \repeat unfold 6 { a8 }
  }
>>

Manual beams

In some cases it may be necessary to override the automatic beaming algorithm. For example, the autobeamer will not put beams over rests or bar lines, and in choral scores the beaming is often set to follow the meter of the lyrics rather than the notes. Such beams can be specified manually by marking the begin and end point with [ and ].

r4 r8[ g' a r] r g[ | a] r

Beaming direction can be set manually using direction indicators:

c8^[ d e] c,_[ d e f g]

Individual notes may be marked with \noBeam to prevent them from being beamed:

\time 2/4
c8 c\noBeam c c

Grace note beams and normal note beams can occur simultaneously. Unbeamed grace notes are not put into normal note beams.

c4 d8[
\grace { e32[ d c d] }
e8] e[ e
\grace { f16 }
e8 e]

Even more strict manual control with the beams can be achieved by setting the properties stemLeftBeamCount and stemRightBeamCount. They specify the number of beams to draw on the left and right side, respectively, of the next note. If either property is set, its value will be used only once, and then it is erased. In this example, the last f is printed with only one beam on the left side, i.e., the eighth-note beam of the group as a whole.

a8[ r16 f g a]
a8[ r16
\set stemLeftBeamCount = #2
\set stemRightBeamCount = #1
f16
\set stemLeftBeamCount = #1
g16 a]

Comandi predefiniti

\noBeam.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Flat flags and beam nibs

Flat flags on lone notes and beam nibs at the ends of beamed figures are both possible with a combination of stemLeftBeamCount, stemRightBeamCount and paired [] beam indicators.

For right-pointing flat flags on lone notes, use paired [] beam indicators and set stemLeftBeamCount to zero (see Example 1).

For left-pointing flat flags, set stemRightBeamCount instead (Example 2).

For right-pointing nibs at the end of a run of beamed notes, set stemRightBeamCount to a positive value. And for left-pointing nibs at the start of a run of beamed notes, set stemLeftBeamCount instead (Example 3).

Sometimes it may make sense for a lone note surrounded by rests to carry both a left- and right-pointing flat flag. Do this with paired [] beam indicators alone (Example 4).

(Note that \set stemLeftBeamCount is always equivalent to \once \set. In other words, the beam count settings are not “sticky”, so the pair of flat flags attached to the lone c'16[] in the last example have nothing to do with the \set two notes prior.)

\score {
  <<
    % Example 1
    \new RhythmicStaff {
      \set stemLeftBeamCount = #0
      c16[]
      r8.
    }
    % Example 2
    \new RhythmicStaff {
      r8.
      \set stemRightBeamCount = #0
      c16[]
    }
    % Example 3
    \new RhythmicStaff {
      c16 c
      \set stemRightBeamCount = #2
      c16 r r
      \set stemLeftBeamCount = #2
      c16 c c
    }
    % Example 4
    \new RhythmicStaff {
      c16 c
      \set stemRightBeamCount = #2
      c16 r
      c16[]
      r16
      \set stemLeftBeamCount = #2
      c16 c
    }
  >>
}

Vedi anche

Notation Reference: Direction and placement, Grace notes.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: Beam, BeamEvent, Beam_engraver, beam-interface, Stem_engraver.

Feathered beams

Feathered beams are used to indicate that a small group of notes should be played at an increasing (or decreasing) tempo, without changing the overall tempo of the piece. The extent of the feathered beam must be indicated manually using [ and ], and the beam feathering is turned on by specifying a direction to the Beam property grow-direction.

If the placement of the notes and the sound in the MIDI output is to reflect the ritardando or accelerando indicated by the feathered beam the notes must be grouped as a music expression delimited by braces and preceded by a featherDurations command which specifies the ratio between the durations of the first and last notes in the group.

The square brackets show the extent of the beam and the braces show which notes are to have their durations modified. Normally these would delimit the same group of notes, but this is not required: the two commands are independent.

In the following example the eight 16th notes occupy exactly the same time as a half note, but the first note is one half as long as the last one, with the intermediate notes gradually lengthening. The first four 32nd notes gradually speed up, while the last four 32nd notes are at a constant tempo.

\override Beam #'grow-direction = #LEFT
\featherDurations #(ly:make-moment 2 1)
{ c16[ c c c c c c c] }
\override Beam #'grow-direction = #RIGHT
\featherDurations #(ly:make-moment 2 3)
{ c32[ d e f] }
% revert to non-feathered beams
\override Beam #'grow-direction = #'()
{ g32[ a b c] }

The spacing in the printed output represents the note durations only approximately, but the MIDI output is exact.

Comandi predefiniti

\featherDurations.

Vedi anche

Snippets: Rhythms.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

The \featherDurations command only works with very short music snippets, and when numbers in the fraction are small.

1.2.5 Bars

Bar lines

Bar lines delimit measures, and are also used to indicate repeats. Normally, simple bar lines are automatically inserted into the printed output at places based on the current time signature.

The simple bar lines inserted automatically can be changed to other types with the \bar command. For example, a closing double bar line is usually placed at the end of a piece:

e4 d c2 \bar "|."

It is not invalid if the final note in a measure does not end on the automatically entered bar line: the note is assumed to carry over into the next measure. But if a long sequence of such carry-over measures appears the music can appear compressed or even flowing off the page. This is because automatic line breaks happen only at the end of complete measures, i.e., where all notes end before the end of a measure.

Line breaks are also permitted at manually inserted bar lines even within incomplete measures. To allow a line break without printing a bar line, use the following:

\bar ""

This will insert an invisible bar line and allow (but not force) a line break to occur at this point. The bar number counter is not increased. To force a line break see Line breaking.

This and other special bar lines may be inserted manually at any point. When they coincide with the end of a measure they replace the simple bar line which would have been inserted there automatically. When they do not coincide with the end of a measure the specified bar line is inserted at that point in the printed output.

Note that manual bar lines are purely visual. They do not affect any of the properties that a normal bar line would affect, such as measure numbers, accidentals, line breaks, etc. They do not affect the calculation and placement of subsequent automatic bar lines. When a manual bar line is placed where a normal bar line already exists, the effects of the original bar line are not altered.

Two types of simple bar lines and five types of double bar lines are available for manual insertion:

f1 \bar "|"
f1 \bar "."
g1 \bar "||"
a1 \bar ".|"
b1 \bar ".|."
c1 \bar "|.|"
d1 \bar "|."
e1

together with dotted and dashed bar lines:

f1 \bar ":"
g1 \bar "dashed"
a1

and five types of repeat bar line:

f1 \bar "|:"
g1 \bar ":|:"
a1 \bar ":|.|:"
b1 \bar ":|.:"
c1 \bar ":|"
e1

Additionally, a bar line can be printed as a simple tick:

f1 \bar "'"

However, as such ticks are typically used in Gregorian chant, it is preferable to use \divisioMinima there instead, described in the section Divisiones in Gregorian chant.

For in-line segno signs, there are three types of bar lines which differ in their behavior at line breaks:

c4 c c c
\bar "S"
c4 c c c \break
\bar "S"
c4 c c c
\bar "|S"
c4 c c c \break
\bar "|S"
c4 c c c
\bar "S|"
c4 c c c \break
\bar "S|"
c1

Although the bar line types signifying repeats may be inserted manually they do not in themselves cause LilyPond to recognize a repeated section. Such repeated sections are better entered using the various repeat commands (see Repeats), which automatically print the appropriate bar lines.

In addition, you can specify "||:", which is equivalent to "|:" except at line breaks, where it gives a double bar line at the end of the line and a start repeat at the beginning of the next line.

c4 c c c
\bar "||:"
c4 c c c \break
\bar "||:"
c4 c c c

For combinations of repeats with the segno sign, there are six different variations:

c4 c c c
\bar ":|S"
c4 c c c \break
\bar ":|S"
c4 c c c
\bar ":|S."
c4 c c c \break
\bar ":|S."
c4 c c c
\bar "S|:"
c4 c c c \break
\bar "S|:"
c4 c c c
\bar ".S|:"
c4 c c c \break
\bar ".S|:"
c4 c c c
\bar ":|S|:"
c4 c c c \break
\bar ":|S|:"
c4 c c c
\bar ":|S.|:"
c4 c c c \break
\bar ":|S.|:"
c1

Additionally there is an \inStaffSegno command which creates a segno bar, placed in cooperation with the \repeat volta command.

In scores with many staves, a \bar command in one staff is automatically applied to all staves. The resulting bar lines are connected between different staves of a StaffGroup, PianoStaff, or GrandStaff.

<<
  \new StaffGroup <<
    \new Staff {
      e4 d
      \bar "||"
      f4 e
    }
    \new Staff { \clef bass c4 g e g }
  >>
  \new Staff { \clef bass c2 c2 }
>>

Frammenti di codice selezionati

The command ‘\bar bartype’ is a shortcut for ‘\set Timing.whichBar = bartype’. A bar line is created whenever the whichBar property is set.

The default bar type used for automatically inserted bar lines is "|". This may be changed at any time with ‘\set Timing.defaultBarType = bartype’.

Vedi anche

Notation Reference: Line breaking, Repeats, Grouping staves.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: BarLine (created at Staff level), SpanBar (across staves), Timing_translator (for Timing properties).

Bar numbers

Bar numbers are typeset by default at the start of every line except the first line. The number itself is stored in the currentBarNumber property, which is normally updated automatically for every measure. It may also be set manually:

c1 c c c
\break
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #50
c1 c c c

Bar numbers can be typeset at regular intervals instead of just at the beginning of every line. To do this the default behavior must be overridden to permit bar numbers to be printed at places other than the start of a line. This is controlled by the break-visibility property of BarNumber. This takes three values which may be set to #t or #f to specify whether the corresponding bar number is visible or not. The order of the three values is end of line visible, middle of line visible, beginning of line visible. In the following example bar numbers are printed at all possible places:

\override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #'#(#t #t #t)
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #11
% Permit first bar number to be printed
\bar ""
c1 | c | c | c
\break
c1 | c | c | c

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Printing the bar number for the first measure

By default, the first bar number in a score is suppressed if it is less than or equal to ‘1’. By setting barNumberVisibility to all-bar-numbers-visible, any bar number can be printed for the first measure and all subsequent measures. Note that an empty bar line must be inserted before the first note for this to work.

\relative c' {
  \set Score.barNumberVisibility = #all-bar-numbers-visible
  \bar ""
  c1 | d | e | f \break
  g1 | e | d | c
}

Printing bar numbers at regular intervals

Bar numbers can be printed at regular intervals by setting the property barNumberVisibility. Here the bar numbers are printed every two measures except at the end of the line.

\relative c' {
  \override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #end-of-line-invisible
  \set Score.currentBarNumber = #11
  % Permit first bar number to be printed
  \bar ""
  % Print a bar number every second measure
  \set Score.barNumberVisibility = #(every-nth-bar-number-visible 2)
  c1 | c | c | c | c
  \break
  c1 | c | c | c | c
}

Printing bar numbers inside boxes or circles

Bar numbers can also be printed inside boxes or circles.

\relative c' {
  % Prevent bar numbers at the end of a line and permit them elsewhere
  \override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #end-of-line-invisible
  \set Score.barNumberVisibility = #(every-nth-bar-number-visible 4)

  % Increase the size of the bar number by 2
  \override Score.BarNumber #'font-size = #2

  % Draw a box round the following bar number(s)
  \override Score.BarNumber #'stencil
    = #(make-stencil-boxer 0.1 0.25 ly:text-interface::print)
  \repeat unfold 5 { c1 }

  % Draw a circle round the following bar number(s)
  \override Score.BarNumber #'stencil
    = #(make-stencil-circler 0.1 0.25 ly:text-interface::print)
  \repeat unfold 4 { c1 } \bar "|."
}

Alternative bar numbering

Two alternative methods for bar numbering can be set, especially for when using repeated music.

\relative c'{
  \set Score.alternativeNumberingStyle = #'numbers
  \repeat volta 3 { c4 d e f | }
    \alternative {
      { c4 d e f | c2 d \break }
      { f4 g a b | f4 g a b | f2 a | \break }
      { c4 d e f | c2 d }
    }
  c1 \break
  \set Score.alternativeNumberingStyle = #'numbers-with-letters
  \repeat volta 3 { c,4 d e f | }
    \alternative {
      { c4 d e f | c2 d \break }
      { f4 g a b | f4 g a b | f2 a | \break }
      { c4 d e f | c2 d }
    }
  c1
}

Aligning bar numbers

Bar numbers by default are right-aligned to their parent object. This is usually the left edge of a line or, if numbers are printed within a line, the left hand side of a bar line. The numbers may also be positioned directly over the bar line or left-aligned to the bar line.

\relative c' {
  \set Score.currentBarNumber = #111
  \override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #all-visible
  % Increase the size of the bar number by 2
  \override Score.BarNumber #'font-size = #2
  % Print a bar number every second measure
  \set Score.barNumberVisibility = #(every-nth-bar-number-visible 2)
  c1 | c1
  % Center-align bar numbers
  \override Score.BarNumber #'self-alignment-X = #CENTER
  c1 | c1
  % Left-align bar numbers
  \override Score.BarNumber #'self-alignment-X = #LEFT
  c1 | c1
}

Removing bar numbers from a score

Bar numbers can be removed entirely by removing the Bar_number_engraver from the Score context.

\layout {
  \context {
    \Score
    \remove "Bar_number_engraver"
  }
}

\relative c'' {
  c4 c c c \break
  c4 c c c
}

Vedi anche

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: BarNumber, Bar_number_engraver.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Bar numbers may collide with the top of the StaffGroup bracket, if there is one. To solve this, the padding property of BarNumber can be used to position the number correctly. See StaffGroup and BarNumber for more.

Bar and bar number checks

Bar checks help detect errors in the entered durations. A bar check may be entered using the bar symbol, |, at any place where a bar line is expected to fall. If bar check lines are encountered at other places, a list of warnings is printed in the log file, showing the line numbers and lines in which the bar checks failed. In the next example, the second bar check will signal an error.

\time 3/4 c2 e4 | g2 |

Bar checks can also be used in lyrics:

\lyricmode {
  \time 2/4
  Twin -- kle | Twin -- kle |
}

An incorrect duration can result in a completely garbled score, especially if the score is polyphonic, so a good place to start correcting input is by scanning for failed bar checks and incorrect durations.

If successive bar checks are off by the same musical interval, only the first warning message is displayed. This allows the warning to focus on the source of the timing error.

It is also possible to redefine the action taken when a bar check or pipe symbol, |, is encountered in the input, so that it does something other than a bar check. This is done by assigning a music expression to pipeSymbol. In the following example | is set to insert a double bar line wherever it appears in the input, rather than checking for end of bar.

pipeSymbol = \bar "||"
{
  c'2 c' |
  c'2 c'
  c'2 | c'
  c'2 c'
}

When copying large pieces of music, it can be helpful to check that the LilyPond bar number corresponds to the original that you are entering from. This can be checked with \barNumberCheck, for example,

\barNumberCheck #123

will print a warning if the currentBarNumber is not 123 when it is processed.

Vedi anche

Snippets: Rhythms.

Rehearsal marks

To print a rehearsal mark, use the \mark command.

c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark \default

The mark is incremented automatically if you use \mark \default, but you can also use an integer argument to set the mark manually. The value to use is stored in the property rehearsalMark.

c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark #8
c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark \default

The letter ‘I’ is skipped in accordance with engraving traditions. If you wish to include the letter ‘I’, then use one of the following commands, depending on which style of rehearsal mark you want (letters only, letters in a hollow box, or letters in a hollow circle).

\set Score.markFormatter = #format-mark-alphabet
\set Score.markFormatter = #format-mark-box-alphabet
\set Score.markFormatter = #format-mark-circle-alphabet

\set Score.markFormatter = #format-mark-box-alphabet
c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark #8
c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark \default

The style is defined by the property markFormatter. It is a function taking the current mark (an integer) and the current context as argument. It should return a markup object. In the following example, markFormatter is set to a pre-defined procedure. After a few measures, it is set to a procedure that produces a boxed number.

\set Score.markFormatter = #format-mark-numbers
c1 \mark \default
c1 \mark \default
\set Score.markFormatter = #format-mark-box-numbers
c1 \mark \default
\set Score.markFormatter = #format-mark-circle-numbers
c1 \mark \default
\set Score.markFormatter = #format-mark-circle-letters
c1

The file ‘scm/translation-functions.scm’ contains the definitions of format-mark-numbers (the default format), format-mark-box-numbers, format-mark-letters and format-mark-box-letters. These can be used as inspiration for other formatting functions.

You may use format-mark-barnumbers, format-mark-box-barnumbers, and format-mark-circle-barnumbers to get bar numbers instead of incremented numbers or letters.

Other styles of rehearsal mark can be specified manually:

\mark "A1"

Note that Score.markFormatter does not affect marks specified in this manner. However, it is possible to apply a \markup to the string.

\mark \markup{ \box A1 }

Music glyphs (such as the segno sign) may be printed inside a \mark

c1 \mark \markup { \musicglyph #"scripts.segno" }
c1 \mark \markup { \musicglyph #"scripts.coda" }
c1 \mark \markup { \musicglyph #"scripts.ufermata" }
c1

See The Feta font, for a list of symbols which may be printed with \musicglyph.

For common tweaks to the positioning of rehearsal marks, see Formatting text. For more precise control, see break-alignable-interface in Aligning objects.

The file ‘scm/translation-functions.scm’ contains the definitions of format-mark-numbers and format-mark-letters. They can be used as inspiration for other formatting functions.

Vedi anche

Notation Reference: The Feta font, Formatting text, Aligning objects.

Installed Files: ‘scm/translation-functions.scm’.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: MarkEvent, Mark_engraver, RehearsalMark.

1.2.6 Special rhythmic concerns

Grace notes

Grace notes are musical ornaments, printed in a smaller font, that take up no additional logical time in a measure.

c4 \grace b16 a4(
\grace { b16[ c16] } a2)

There are three other types of grace notes possible; the acciaccatura – an unmeasured grace note indicated by a slurred note with a slashed stem – and the appoggiatura, which takes a fixed fraction of the main note it is attached to and prints without the slash. It is also possible to write a grace note with a slashed stem, like the acciaccatura but without the slur, so as to place it between notes that are slurred themselves, using the \slashedGrace function.

\acciaccatura d8 c4
\appoggiatura e8 d4
\acciaccatura { g16[ f] } e2
\slashedGrace a,8 g4
\slashedGrace b16 a4(
\slashedGrace b8 a2)

The placement of grace notes is synchronized between different staves. In the following example, there are two sixteenth grace notes for every eighth grace note

<<
  \new Staff { e2 \grace { c16[ d e f] } e2 }
  \new Staff { c2 \grace { g8[ b] } c2 }
>>

If you want to end a note with a grace, use the \afterGrace command. It takes two arguments: the main note, and the grace notes following the main note.

c1 \afterGrace d1 { c16[ d] } c1

This will put the grace notes after a space lasting 3/4 of the length of the main note. The default fraction 3/4 can be changed by setting afterGraceFraction. The following example shows the results from setting the space at the default, at 15/16, and finally at 1/2 of the main note.

<<
  \new Staff {
    c1 \afterGrace d1 { c16[ d] } c1
  }
  \new Staff {
    #(define afterGraceFraction (cons 15 16))
    c1 \afterGrace d1 { c16[ d] } c1
  }
  \new Staff {
    #(define afterGraceFraction (cons 1 2))
    c1 \afterGrace d1 { c16[ d] } c1
  }
>>

The space between the main note and the grace note may also be specified using spacers. The following example places the grace note after a space lasting 7/8 of the main note.

\new Voice {
  <<
    { d1^\trill_( }
    { s2 s4. \grace { c16[ d] } }
  >>
  c1)
}

A \grace music expression will introduce special typesetting settings, for example, to produce smaller type, and set directions. Hence, when introducing layout tweaks to override the special settings, they should be placed inside the grace expression. The overrides should also be reverted inside the grace expression. Here, the grace note’s default stem direction is overridden and then reverted.

\new Voice {
  \acciaccatura {
    \stemDown
    f16->
    \stemNeutral
  }
  g4 e c2
}

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Using grace note slashes with normal heads

The slash through the stem found in acciaccaturas can be applied in other situations.

\relative c'' {
  \override Flag #'stroke-style = #"grace"
  c8( d2) e8( f4)
}

Tweaking grace layout within music

The layout of grace expressions can be changed throughout the music using the functions add-grace-property and remove-grace-property. The following example undefines the Stem direction for this grace, so that stems do not always point up, and changes the default note heads to crosses.

\relative c'' {
  \new Staff {
    $(remove-grace-property 'Voice 'Stem 'direction)
    $(add-grace-property 'Voice 'NoteHead 'style 'cross)
    \new Voice {
       \acciaccatura { f16 } g4
       \grace { d16[ e] } f4
       \appoggiatura { f,32[ g a] } e2
    }
  }
}

Redefining grace note global defaults

The global defaults for grace notes are stored in the identifiers startGraceMusic, stopGraceMusic, startAcciaccaturaMusic, stopAcciaccaturaMusic, startAppoggiaturaMusic and stopAppoggiaturaMusic, which are defined in the file ly/grace-init.ly. By redefining them other effects may be obtained.

startAcciaccaturaMusic = {
  <>(
  \override Flag #'stroke-style = #"grace"
  \slurDashed
}

stopAcciaccaturaMusic = {
  \revert Flag #'stroke-style
  \slurSolid
  <>)
}

\relative c'' {
  \acciaccatura d8 c1
}

Positioning grace notes with floating space

Setting the property 'strict-grace-spacing makes the musical columns for grace notes ’floating’, i.e., decoupled from the non-grace notes: first the normal notes are spaced, then the (musical columns of the) graces are put left of the musical columns for the main notes.

\relative c'' {
  <<
    \override Score.SpacingSpanner #'strict-grace-spacing = ##t
    \new Staff \new Voice {
      \afterGrace c4 { c16[ c8 c16] }
      c8[ \grace { b16[ d] } c8]
      c4 r
    }
    \new Staff {
      c16 c c c c c c c c4 r
    }
  >>
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: grace notes, acciaccatura, appoggiatura.

Notation Reference: Scaling durations, Manual beams.

Installed Files: ‘ly/grace-init.ly’.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: GraceMusic, Grace_beam_engraver, Grace_engraver, Grace_spacing_engraver.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

A multi-note beamed acciaccatura is printed without a slash, and looks exactly the same as a multi-note beamed appoggiatura.

Grace note synchronization can also lead to surprises. Staff notation, such as key signatures, bar lines, etc., are also synchronized. Take care when you mix staves with grace notes and staves without, for example,

<<
  \new Staff { e4 \bar "|:" \grace c16 d2. }
  \new Staff { c4 \bar "|:" d2. }
>>

This can be remedied by inserting grace skips of the corresponding durations in the other staves. For the above example

<<
  \new Staff { e4 \bar "|:" \grace c16 d2. }
  \new Staff { c4 \bar "|:" \grace s16 d2. }
>>

The use of grace notes within voice contexts confuses the way the voice is typeset. This can be overcome by inserting a rest or note between the voice command and the grace note.

accMusic = {
  \acciaccatura { f8 } e8 r8 \acciaccatura { f8 } e8 r4
}

\new Staff {
  <<
    \new Voice {
      \relative c'' {
        r8 r8 \voiceOne \accMusic \oneVoice r8 |
        r8 \voiceOne r8 \accMusic \oneVoice r8 |
      }
    }
    \new Voice {
      \relative c' {
        s8 s8 \voiceTwo \accMusic \oneVoice s8 |
        s8 \voiceTwo r8 \accMusic \oneVoice s8 |
      }
    }
  >>
}

Grace sections should only be used within sequential music expressions. Nesting or juxtaposing grace sections is not supported, and might produce crashes or other errors.

Each grace note in MIDI output has a length of 1/4 of its actual duration. If the combined length of the grace notes is greater than the length of the preceding note a “Going back in MIDI time” error will be generated. Either make the grace notes shorter in duration, for example:

\acciaccatura { c'8[ d' e' f' g'] }

becomes:

\acciaccatura { c'16[ d' e' f' g'] }

Or explicitly change the musical duration:

\acciaccatura { \scaleDurations 1/2 { c'8[ d' e' f' g'] } }

See Scaling durations.

Aligning to cadenzas

In an orchestral context, cadenzas present a special problem: when constructing a score that includes a measured cadenza or other solo passage, all other instruments should skip just as many notes as the length of the cadenza, otherwise they will start too soon or too late.

One solution to this problem is to use the functions mmrest-of-length and skip-of-length. These Scheme functions take a defined piece of music as an argument and generate a multi-measure rest or \skip exactly as long as the piece.

MyCadenza = \relative c' {
  c4 d8 e f g g4
  f2 g4 g
}

\new GrandStaff <<
  \new Staff {
    \MyCadenza c'1
    \MyCadenza c'1
  }
  \new Staff {
    #(mmrest-of-length MyCadenza)
    c'1
    #(skip-of-length MyCadenza)
    c'1
  }
>>

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: cadenza.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Time administration

Time is administered by the Timing_translator, which by default is to be found in the Score context. An alias, Timing, is added to the context in which the Timing_translator is placed. To ensure that the Timing alias is available, you may need to explicitly instantiate the containing context (such as Voice or Staff).

The following properties of Timing are used to keep track of timing within the score.

currentBarNumber

The current measure number. For an example showing the use of this property see Bar numbers.

measureLength

The length of the measures in the current time signature. For a 4/4 time this is 1, and for 6/8 it is 3/4. Its value determines when bar lines are inserted and how automatic beams should be generated.

measurePosition

The point within the measure where we currently are. This quantity is reset by subtracting measureLength whenever measureLength is reached or exceeded. When that happens, currentBarNumber is incremented.

timing

If set to true, the above variables are updated for every time step. When set to false, the engraver stays in the current measure indefinitely.

Timing can be changed by setting any of these variables explicitly. In the next example, the default 4/4 time signature is printed, but measureLength is set to 5/4. At 4/8 through the third measure, the measurePosition is advanced by 1/8 to 5/8, shortening that bar by 1/8. The next bar line then falls at 9/8 rather than 5/4.

\new Voice \relative c' {
  \set Timing.measureLength = #(ly:make-moment 5 4)
  c1 c4 |
  c1 c4 |
  c4 c
  \set Timing.measurePosition = #(ly:make-moment 5 8)
  b4 b b8 |
  c4 c1 |
}

As the example illustrates, ly:make-moment n m constructs a duration of n/m of a whole note. For example, ly:make-moment 1 8 is an eighth note duration and ly:make-moment 7 16 is the duration of seven sixteenths notes.

Vedi anche

Notation Reference: Bar numbers, Unmetered music.

Snippets: Rhythms.

Internals Reference: Timing_translator, Score.

1.3 Expressive marks

This section lists various expressive marks that can be created in a score.

1.3.1 Expressive marks attached to notes

This section explains how to create expressive marks that are attached to notes: articulations, ornamentations, and dynamics. Methods to create new dynamic markings are also discussed.

Articulations and ornamentations

A variety of symbols that denote articulations, ornamentations, and other performance indications can be attached to a note using this syntax:

note\name

The possible values for name are listed in List of articulations. For example:

c4\staccato c\mordent b2\turn
c1\fermata

Some of these articulations have shorthands for easier entry. Shorthands are appended to the note name, and their syntax consists of a dash - followed by a symbol signifying the articulation. Predefined shorthands exist for marcato, stopped, tenuto, staccatissimo, accent, staccato, and portato. Their corresponding output appears as follows:

c4-^ c-+ c-- c-|
c4-> c-. c2-_

The rules for the default placement of articulations are defined in ‘scm/script.scm’. Articulations and ornamentations may be manually placed above or below the staff; see Direction and placement.

Articulations are Script objects. Their properties are described more fully in Script.

Articulations can be attached to rests as well as notes but they cannot be attached to multi-measure rests. A special predefined command, \fermataMarkup, is available for attaching a fermata to a multi-measure rest (and only a multi-measure rest). This creates a MultiMeasureRestText object.

\override Script #'color = #red
\override MultiMeasureRestText #'color = #blue
a2\fermata r\fermata
R1\fermataMarkup

In addition to articulations, text and markups can be attached to notes. See Text scripts.

For more information about the ordering of Scripts and TextScripts that are attached to the notes, see Placement of objects.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Modifying default values for articulation shorthand notation

The shorthands are defined in ‘ly/script-init.ly’, where the variables dashHat, dashPlus, dashDash, dashBar, dashLarger, dashDot, and dashUnderscore are assigned default values. The default values for the shorthands can be modified. For example, to associate the -+ (dashPlus) shorthand with the trill symbol instead of the default + symbol, assign the value trill to the variable dashPlus:

\relative c'' { c1-+ }

dashPlus = "trill"

\relative c'' { c1-+ }

Controlling the vertical ordering of scripts

The vertical ordering of scripts is controlled with the 'script-priority property. The lower this number, the closer it will be put to the note. In this example, the TextScript (the sharp symbol) first has the lowest priority, so it is put lowest in the first example. In the second, the prall trill (the Script) has the lowest, so it is on the inside. When two objects have the same priority, the order in which they are entered determines which one comes first.

\relative c''' {
  \once \override TextScript #'script-priority = #-100
  a2^\prall^\markup { \sharp }

  \once \override Script #'script-priority = #-100
  a2^\prall^\markup { \sharp }
}

Creating a delayed turn

Creating a delayed turn, where the lower note of the turn uses the accidental, requires several overrides. The outside-staff-priority property must be set to #f, as otherwise this would take precedence over the avoid-slur property. The value of halign is used to position the turn horizontally.

\relative c'' {
  \once \override TextScript #'avoid-slur = #'inside
  \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
  c2(^\markup \tiny \override #'(baseline-skip . 1) {
    \halign #-4
    \center-column {
      \sharp
      \musicglyph #"scripts.turn"
    }
  }
  d4.) c8
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: tenuto, accent, staccato, portato.

Learning Manual: Placement of objects.

Notation Reference: Text scripts, Direction and placement, List of articulations, Trills.

Installed Files: ‘scm/script.scm’.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

Internals Reference: Script, TextScript.

Dynamics

Absolute dynamic marks are specified using a command after a note, such as c4\ff. The available dynamic marks are \ppppp, \pppp, \ppp, \pp, \p, \mp, \mf, \f, \ff, \fff, \ffff, \fffff, \fp, \sf, \sff, \sp, \spp, \sfz, and \rfz. Dynamic marks may be manually placed above or below the staff; see Direction and placement.

c2\ppp c\mp
c2\rfz c^\mf
c2_\spp c^\ff

A crescendo mark is started with \< and terminated with \!, an absolute dynamic, or an additional crescendo or decrescendo mark. A decrescendo mark is started with \> and is also terminated with \!, an absolute dynamic, or another crescendo or decrescendo mark. \cr and \decr may be used instead of \< and \>. Hairpins are engraved by default using this notation.

c2\< c\!
d2\< d\f
e2\< e\>
f2\> f\!
e2\> e\mp
d2\> d\>
c1\!

A hairpin that is terminated with \! will end at the right edge of the note that has the \! assigned to it. In the case where it is terminated with the start of another crescendo or decrescendo mark, it will end at the centre of the note that has the next \< or \> assigned to it. The next hairpin will then start at the right edge of the same note instead of the usual left edge had it been terminated with \! before.

c1\< | c4 a c\< a | c4 a c\! a\< | c4 a c a\!

Hairpins that are terminated with absolute dynamic marks instead of \! will also be engraved in a similar way. However, the length of the absolute dynamic itself can alter where the preceding hairpin ends.

c1\< | c4 a c\mf a | c1\< | c4 a c\ffff a

Spacer rests are needed to engrave multiple marks on one note. This is particularly useful when adding a crescendo and decrescendo to the same note:

c4\< c\! d\> e\!
<< f1 { s4 s4\< s4\> s4\! } >>

The \espressivo command can be used to indicate a crescendo and decrescendo on the same note. However, be warned that this is implemented as an articulation, not a dynamic.

c2 b4 a
g1\espressivo

Textual crescendo marks begin with \cresc. Textual decrescendos begin with \decresc or \dim. Extender lines are engraved as required.

g8\cresc a b c b c d e\mf |
f8\decresc e d c e\> d c b |
a1\dim ~ |
a2. r4\! |

Textual marks for dynamic changes can also replace hairpins:

\crescTextCresc
c4\< d e f\! |
\dimTextDecresc
g4\> e d c\! |
\dimTextDecr
e4\> d c b\! |
\dimTextDim
d4\> c b a\! |
\crescHairpin
\dimHairpin
c4\< d\! e\> d\! |

To create new absolute dynamic marks or text that should be aligned with dynamics, see New dynamic marks.

Vertical positioning of dynamics is handled by DynamicLineSpanner.

A Dynamics context is available to engrave dynamics on their own horizontal line. Use spacer rests to indicate timing. (Notes in a Dynamics context will also take up musical time, but will not be engraved.) The Dynamics context can usefully contain some other items such as text scripts, text spanners, and piano pedal marks.

<<
  \new Staff \relative c' {
    c2 d4 e |
    c4 e e,2 |
    g'4 a g a |
    c1 |
  }
  \new Dynamics {
    s1\< |
    s1\f |
    s2\dim s2-"rit." |
    s1\p |
  }
>>

Comandi predefiniti

\dynamicUp, \dynamicDown, \dynamicNeutral, \crescTextCresc, \dimTextDim, \dimTextDecr, \dimTextDecresc, \crescHairpin, \dimHairpin.

Frammenti di codice selezionati

Setting hairpin behavior at bar lines

If the note which ends a hairpin falls on a downbeat, the hairpin stops at the bar line immediately preceding. This behavior can be controlled by overriding the 'to-barline property.

\relative c'' {
  e4\< e2.
  e1\!
  \override Hairpin #'to-barline = ##f
  e4\< e2.
  e1\!
}

Setting the minimum length of hairpins

If hairpins are too short, they can be lengthened by modifying the minimum-length property of the Hairpin object.

\relative c'' {
  c4\< c\! d\> e\!
  \override Hairpin #'minimum-length = #5
  << f1 { s4 s\< s\> s\! } >>
}

Printing hairpins using al niente notation

Hairpin dynamics may be printed with a circled tip (“al niente” notation) by setting the circled-tip property of the Hairpin object to #t.

\relative c'' {
  \override Hairpin #'circled-tip = ##t
  c2\< c\!
  c4\> c\< c2\!
}

Vertically aligned dynamics and textscripts

By setting the 'Y-extent property to a suitable value, all DynamicLineSpanner objects (hairpins and dynamic texts) can be aligned to a common reference point, regardless of their actual extent. This way, every element will be vertically aligned, thus producing a more pleasing output.

The same idea is used to align the text scripts along their baseline.

music = \relative c' {
  a'2\p b\f
  e4\p f\f\> g, b\p
  c2^\markup { \huge gorgeous } c^\markup { \huge fantastic }
}

{
  \music
  \break
  \override DynamicLineSpanner #'staff-padding = #2.0
  \override DynamicLineSpanner #'Y-extent = #'(-1.5 . 1.5)
  \override TextScript #'Y-extent = #'(-1.5 . 1.5)
  \music
}

Hiding the extender line for text dynamics

Text style dynamic changes (such as cresc. and dim.) are printed with a dashed line showing their extent. This line can be suppressed in the following way:

\relative c'' {
  \override DynamicTextSpanner #'style = #'none
  \crescTextCresc
  c1\< | d | b | c\!
}

Changing text and spanner styles for text dynamics

The text used for crescendos and decrescendos can be changed by modifying the context properties crescendoText and decrescendoText.

The style of the spanner line can be changed by modifying the 'style property of DynamicTextSpanner. The default value is 'dashed-line, and other possible values include 'line, 'dotted-line and 'none.

\relative c'' {
  \set crescendoText = \markup { \italic { cresc. poco } }
  \set crescendoSpanner = #'text
  \override DynamicTextSpanner #'style = #'dotted-line
  a2\< a
  a2 a
  a2 a
  a2 a\mf
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: al niente, crescendo, decrescendo, hairpin.

Learning Manual: Articulation and dynamics.

Notation Reference: Direction and placement, New dynamic marks, What goes into the MIDI output?, Controlling MIDI dynamics.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

Internals Reference: DynamicText, Hairpin, DynamicLineSpanner, Dynamics.

New dynamic marks

The easiest way to create dynamic indications is to use \markup objects.

moltoF = \markup { molto \dynamic f }

\relative c' {
  <d e>16_\moltoF <d e>
  <d e>2..
}

In markup mode, editorial dynamics (within parentheses or square brackets) can be created. The syntax for markup mode is described in Formatting text.

roundF = \markup {
    \center-align \concat { \bold { \italic ( }
           \dynamic f \bold { \italic ) } } }
boxF = \markup { \bracket { \dynamic f } }
\relative c' {
  c1_\roundF
  c1_\boxF
}

Simple, centered dynamic marks are easily created with the make-dynamic-script function.

sfzp = #(make-dynamic-script "sfzp")
\relative c' {
  c4 c c\sfzp c
}

In general, make-dynamic-script takes any markup object as its argument. The dynamic font only contains the characters f,m,p,r,s and z, so if a dynamic mark that includes plain text or punctuation symbols is desired, markup commands that reverts font family and font encoding to normal text should be used, for example \normal-text. The interest of using make-dynamic-script instead of an ordinary markup is ensuring the vertical alignment of markup objects and hairpins that are attached to the same note head.

roundF = \markup { \center-align \concat {
           \normal-text { \bold { \italic ( } }
           \dynamic f
           \normal-text { \bold { \italic ) } } } }
boxF = \markup { \bracket { \dynamic f } }
mfEspress = \markup { \center-align \line {
              \hspace #3.7 mf \normal-text \italic espress. } }
roundFdynamic = #(make-dynamic-script roundF)
boxFdynamic = #(make-dynamic-script boxF)
mfEspressDynamic = #(make-dynamic-script mfEspress)
\relative c' {
  c4_\roundFdynamic\< d e f
  g,1~_\boxFdynamic\>
  g1
  g'1~\mfEspressDynamic
  g1
}

The Scheme form of markup mode may be used instead. Its syntax is explained in Markup construction in Scheme.

moltoF = #(make-dynamic-script
            (markup #:normal-text "molto"
                    #:dynamic "f"))
\relative c' {
  <d e>16 <d e>
  <d e>2..\moltoF
}

Font settings in markup mode are described in Selecting font and font size.

Vedi anche

Notation Reference: Formatting text, Selecting font and font size, What goes into the MIDI output?, Controlling MIDI dynamics.

Extending LilyPond: Markup construction in Scheme.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

1.3.2 Expressive marks as curves

This section explains how to create various expressive marks that are curved: normal slurs, phrasing slurs, breath marks, falls, and doits.

Slurs

Slurs are entered using parentheses:

f4( g a) a8 b(
a4 g2 f4)
<c e>2( <b d>2)

Slurs may be manually placed above or below the staff; see Direction and placement.

Simultaneous or overlapping slurs are not permitted, but a phrasing slur can overlap a slur. This permits two slurs to be printed at once. For details, see Phrasing slurs.

Slurs can be solid, dotted, or dashed. Solid is the default slur style:

c4( e g2)
\slurDashed
g4( e c2)
\slurDotted
c4( e g2)
\slurSolid
g4( e c2)

Slurs can also be made half-dashed (the first half dashed, the second half solid) or half-solid (the first half solid, the second half dashed):

c4( e g2)
\slurHalfDashed
g4( e c2)
\slurHalfSolid
c4( e g2)
\slurSolid
g4( e c2)

Custom dash patterns for slurs can be defined:

c4( e g2)
\slurDashPattern #0.7 #0.75
g4( e c2)
\slurDashPattern #0.5 #2.0
c4( e g2)
\slurSolid
g4( e c2)

Comandi predefiniti

\slurUp, \slurDown, \slurNeutral, \slurDashed, \slurDotted, \slurHalfDashed, \slurHalfSolid, \slurDashPattern, \slurSolid.

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Using double slurs for legato chords

Some composers write two slurs when they want legato chords. This can be achieved by setting doubleSlurs.

\relative c' {
  \set doubleSlurs = ##t
  <c e>4( <d f> <c e> <d f>)
}

Positioning text markups inside slurs

Text markups need to have the outside-staff-priority property set to false in order to be printed inside slurs.

\relative c'' {
  \override TextScript #'avoid-slur = #'inside
  \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
  c2(^\markup { \halign #-10 \natural } d4.) c8
}

Making slurs with complex dash structure

Slurs can be made with complex dash patterns by defining the dash-definition property. dash-definition is a list of dash-elements. A dash-element is a list of parameters defining the dash behavior for a segment of the slur.

The slur is defined in terms of the bezier parameter t which ranges from 0 at the left end of the slur to 1 at the right end of the slur. dash-element is a list (start-t stop-t dash-fraction dash-period). The region of the slur from start-t to stop-t will have a fraction dash-fraction of each dash-period black. dash-period is defined in terms of staff spaces. dash-fraction is set to 1 for a solid slur.

\relative c' {
  \once \override
    Slur #'dash-definition = #'((0 0.3 0.1 0.75)
                                (0.3 0.6 1 1)
                                (0.65 1.0 0.4 0.75))
  c4( d e f)
  \once \override
    Slur #'dash-definition = #'((0 0.25 1 1)
                                (0.3 0.7 0.4 0.75)
                                (0.75 1.0 1 1))
  c4( d e f)
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: slur.

Learning Manual: On the un-nestedness of brackets and ties.

Notation Reference: Direction and placement, Phrasing slurs.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

Internals Reference: Slur.

Phrasing slurs

Phrasing slurs (or phrasing marks) that indicate a musical sentence are written using the commands \( and \) respectively:

c4\( d( e) f(
e2) d\)

Typographically, a phrasing slur behaves almost exactly like a normal slur. However, they are treated as different objects; a \slurUp will have no effect on a phrasing slur. Phrasing may be manually placed above or below the staff; see Direction and placement.

Simultaneous or overlapping phrasing slurs are not permitted.

Phrasing slurs can be solid, dotted, or dashed. Solid is the default style for phrasing slurs:

c4\( e g2\)
\phrasingSlurDashed
g4\( e c2\)
\phrasingSlurDotted
c4\( e g2\)
\phrasingSlurSolid
g4\( e c2\)

Phrasing slurs can also be made half-dashed (the first half dashed, the second half solid) or half-solid (the first half solid, the second half dashed):

c4\( e g2\)
\phrasingSlurHalfDashed
g4\( e c2\)
\phrasingSlurHalfSolid
c4\( e g2\)
\phrasingSlurSolid
g4\( e c2\)

Custom dash patterns for phrasing slurs can be defined:

c4\( e g2\)
\phrasingSlurDashPattern #0.7 #0.75
g4\( e c2\)
\phrasingSlurDashPattern #0.5 #2.0
c4\( e g2\)
\phrasingSlurSolid
g4\( e c2\)

Dash pattern definitions for phrasing slurs have the same structure as dash pattern definitions for slurs. For more information about complex dash patterns, see the snippets under Slurs.

Comandi predefiniti

\phrasingSlurUp, \phrasingSlurDown, \phrasingSlurNeutral, \phrasingSlurDashed, \phrasingSlurDotted, \phrasingSlurHalfDashed, \phrasingSlurHalfSolid, \phrasingSlurDashPattern, \phrasingSlurSolid.

Vedi anche

Learning Manual: On the un-nestedness of brackets and ties.

Notation Reference: Direction and placement, Slurs.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

Internals Reference: PhrasingSlur.

Breath marks

Breath marks are entered using \breathe:

c2. \breathe d4

A breath mark will end an automatic beam; to override this behavior, see Manual beams.

c8 \breathe d e f g2

Musical indicators for breath marks in ancient notation, divisiones, are supported. For details, see Divisiones.

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Changing the breath mark symbol

The glyph of the breath mark can be tuned by overriding the text property of the BreathingSign layout object with any markup text.

\relative c'' {
  c2
  \override BreathingSign #'text =
    \markup { \musicglyph #"scripts.rvarcomma" }
  \breathe
  d2
}

Inserting a caesura

Caesura marks can be created by overriding the 'text property of the BreathingSign object. A curved caesura mark is also available.

\relative c'' {
  \override BreathingSign #'text = \markup {
    \musicglyph #"scripts.caesura.straight"
  }
  c8 e4. \breathe g8. e16 c4

  \override BreathingSign #'text = \markup {
    \musicglyph #"scripts.caesura.curved"
  }
  g8 e'4. \breathe g8. e16 c4
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: caesura.

Notation Reference: Divisiones.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

Internals Reference: BreathingEvent, BreathingSign, Breathing_sign_engraver.

Falls and doits

Falls and doits can be added to notes using the \bendAfter command. The direction of the fall or doit is indicated with a plus or minus (up or down). The number indicates the pitch interval that the fall or doit will extend beyond the main note.

c2\bendAfter #+4
c2\bendAfter #-4
c2\bendAfter #+6.5
c2\bendAfter #-6.5
c2\bendAfter #+8
c2\bendAfter #-8

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Adjusting the shape of falls and doits

The shortest-duration-space property may be tweaked to adjust the shape of falls and doits.

\relative c'' {
  \override Score.SpacingSpanner #'shortest-duration-space = #4.0
  c2-\bendAfter #5
  c2-\bendAfter #-4.75
  c2-\bendAfter #8.5
  c2-\bendAfter #-6
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: fall, doit.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

1.3.3 Expressive marks as lines

This section explains how to create various expressive marks that follow a linear path: glissandos, arpeggios, and trills.

Glissando

A glissando is created by appending \glissando to a note:

g2\glissando g'
c2\glissando c,
\afterGrace f,1\glissando f'16

A glissando can connect notes across staves:

\new PianoStaff <<
  \new Staff = "right" {
    e'''2\glissando
    \change Staff = "left"
    a,,4\glissando
    \change Staff = "right"
    b''8 r |
  }
  \new Staff = "left" {
    \clef bass
    s1
  }
>>

A glissando can connect notes in chords. If anything other than a direct one-to-one pairing of the notes in the two chords is required the connections between the notes are defined by setting \glissandoMap, where the notes of a chord are assumed to be numbered from zero in the order in which they appear in the input ‘.ly’ file.

<c, e>1\glissando g' |
<c, e>1\glissando |
<g' b> |
\break
\set glissandoMap = #'((0 . 1) (1 . 0))
<c, g'>1\glissando |
<d a'> |
\set glissandoMap = #'((0 . 0) (0 . 1) (0 . 2))
c1\glissando |
<d f a> |
\set glissandoMap = #'((2 . 0) (1 . 0) (0 . 1))
<f d a'>1\glissando |
<c c'> |

Different styles of glissandi can be created. For details, see Line styles.

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Contemporary glissando

A contemporary glissando without a final note can be typeset using a hidden note and cadenza timing.

\relative c'' {
  \time 3/4
  \override Glissando #'style = #'zigzag
  c4 c
  \cadenzaOn
  c4\glissando
  \hideNotes
  c,,4
  \unHideNotes
  \cadenzaOff
  \bar "|"
}

Adding timing marks to long glissandi

Skipped beats in very long glissandi are sometimes indicated by timing marks, often consisting of stems without noteheads. Such stems can also be used to carry intermediate expression markings.

If the stems do not align well with the glissando, they may need to be repositioned slightly.

glissandoSkipOn = {
  \override NoteColumn #'glissando-skip = ##t
  \override NoteHead #'transparent = ##t
  \override NoteHead #'no-ledgers = ##t
}

glissandoSkipOff = {
  \revert NoteColumn #'glissando-skip
  \revert NoteHead #'transparent
  \revert NoteHead #'no-ledgers
}

\relative c'' {
  r8 f8\glissando
  \glissandoSkipOn
  f4 g a a8\noBeam
  \glissandoSkipOff
  a8

  r8 f8\glissando
  \glissandoSkipOn
  g4 a8
  \glissandoSkipOff
  a8 |

  r4 f\glissando \<
  \glissandoSkipOn
  a4\f \>
  \glissandoSkipOff
  b8\! r |
}

Making glissandi breakable

Setting the breakable property to #t in combination with after-line-breaking allows a glissando to break if it occurs at a line break:

glissandoSkipOn = {
  \override NoteColumn #'glissando-skip = ##t
  \override NoteHead #'transparent = ##t
  \override NoteHead #'no-ledgers = ##t
}

\relative c'' {
  \override Glissando #'breakable = ##t
  \override Glissando #'after-line-breaking = ##t
  f1\glissando |
  \break
  a4 r2. |
  f1\glissando
  \once \glissandoSkipOn
  \break
  a2 a4 r4 |
}

Vedi anche

Music Glossary: glissando.

Notation Reference: Line styles.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

Internals Reference: Glissando.

Problemi noti e avvertimenti

Printing text over the line (such as gliss.) is not supported.

Arpeggio

An arpeggio on a chord (also known as a broken chord) is denoted by appending \arpeggio to the chord construct:

<c e g c>1\arpeggio

Different types of arpeggios may be written. \arpeggioNormal reverts to a normal arpeggio:

<c e g c>2\arpeggio

\arpeggioArrowUp
<c e g c>2\arpeggio

\arpeggioArrowDown
<c e g c>2\arpeggio

\arpeggioNormal
<c e g c>2\arpeggio

Special bracketed arpeggio symbols can be created:

<c e g c>2

\arpeggioBracket
<c e g c>2\arpeggio

\arpeggioParenthesis
<c e g c>2\arpeggio

\arpeggioParenthesisDashed
<c e g c>2\arpeggio

\arpeggioNormal
<c e g c>2\arpeggio

The dash properties of the parenthesis arpeggio are controlled with the 'dash-details property, which is described at Slurs.

Arpeggios can be explicitly written out with ties. For more information, see Ties.

Comandi predefiniti

\arpeggio, \arpeggioArrowUp, \arpeggioArrowDown, \arpeggioNormal, \arpeggioBracket, \arpeggioParenthesis \arpeggioParenthesisDashed.