3.1.7 Advanced rhythmic commands


Partial measure

Music Glossary: anacrusis.

A pickup (or anacrusis) is entered with the keyword \partial. It is followed by a duration: ‘\partial 4’ is a quarter note pickup and ‘\partial 8’ an eighth note.

\relative {
  \partial 8 f''8 |
  c2 d |
}

[image of music]


Tuplets

Music Glossary: note value, triplet.

Tuplets are made with the \tuplet keyword. It takes two arguments: a fraction and a piece of music. The fraction is the number of tuplet notes over the number of notes normally filling the same duration. For triplets, there are three notes instead of two, so triplets have 3/2 as their fraction.

\relative {
  \tuplet 3/2 { f''8 g a }
  \tuplet 3/2 { c8 r c }
  \tuplet 3/2 { f,8 g16[ a g a] }
  \tuplet 3/2 { d4 a8 }
}

[image of music]


Grace notes

Music Glossary: grace notes, acciaccatura, appoggiatura.

Grace notes are created with the \grace command, although they can also be created by prefixing a music expression with the keyword \appoggiatura or \acciaccatura:

\relative {
  c''2 \grace { a32 b } c2 |
  c2 \appoggiatura b16 c2 |
  c2 \acciaccatura b16 c2 |
}

[image of music]

See also

Notation Reference: Grace notes, Tuplets, Upbeats.


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