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2.1.1 Common notation for vocal music

This section discusses issues common to most types of vocal music.

References for vocal music
Entering lyrics
Aligning lyrics to a melody
Automatic syllable durations
Manual syllable durations
Multiple syllables to one note
Multiple notes to one syllable
Extenders and hyphens
Gradual changes of vowel

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References for vocal music

This section indicates where to find details of notation issues that may arise in any type of vocal music.

• Most styles of vocal music use written text as lyrics. An introduction to this notation is to be found in Setting simple songs.
• Vocal music is likely to require the use of markup mode, either for lyrics or for other text elements (characters’ names, etc.). This syntax is described in Text markup introduction.
• Ambitus may be added at the beginning of vocal staves, as explained in Ambitus.
• Dynamic markings by default are placed below the staff, but in choral music they are usually placed above the staff in order to avoid the lyrics, as explained in Score layouts for choral.

See also

Music Glossary: ambitus.

Learning Manual: Setting simple songs.

Notation Reference: Text markup introduction, Ambitus, Score layouts for choral.

Snippets: Vocal music.

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Entering lyrics

Lyrics are entered in a special input mode, which can be introduced by the keyword \lyricmode, or by using \addlyrics or \lyricsto. In this special input mode, the input d is not parsed as the pitch D, but rather as a one-letter syllable of text. In other words, syllables are entered like notes but with pitches replaced by text.

For example:

\lyricmode { Three4 blind mice,2 three4 blind mice2 }

There are two main methods for specifying the horizontal placement of the syllables, either by specifying the duration of each syllable explicitly, as in the example above, or by leaving the lyrics to be aligned automatically to a melody or other voice of music, using \addlyrics or \lyricsto. The former method is described below in Manual syllable durations. The latter method is described in Automatic syllable durations.

A word or syllable of lyrics begins with an alphabetic character (plus some other characters, see below) and is terminated by any white space or a digit. Later characters in the syllable can be any character that is not a digit or white space.

Because any character that is not a digit or white space is regarded as part of the syllable, a word is valid even if it ends with }, which often leads to the following mistake:

\lyricmode { lah lah lah}

In this example, the } is included in the final syllable, so the opening brace is not balanced and the input file will probably not compile. Instead, braces should always be surrounded with white space:

\lyricmode { lah lah lah }

Punctuation, lyrics with accented characters, characters from non-English languages, or special characters (such as the heart symbol or slanted quotes), may simply be inserted directly into the input file, providing it is saved with UTF-8 encoding. For more information, see Special characters.

\relative { d''8 c16 a bes8 f ees' d c4 }
\addlyrics { „Schad’ um das schö -- ne grü -- ne Band, }

Normal quotes may be used in lyrics, but they have to be preceded with a backslash character and the whole syllable has to be enclosed between additional quotes. For example,

\relative { \time 3/4 e'4 e4. e8 d4 e d c2. }
\addlyrics { "\"I" am so lone -- "ly,\"" said she }

The full definition of a word start in lyrics mode is somewhat more complex. A word in lyrics mode is one that begins with an alphabetic character, _, ?, !, :, ', the control characters ^A through ^F, ^Q through ^W, ^Y, ^^, any 8-bit character with an ASCII code over 127, or a two-character combination of a backslash followed by one of `, ', ", or ^.

Great control over the appearance of lyrics comes from using \markup inside the lyrics themselves. For explanation of many options, see Formatting text.

Selected Snippets

Formatting lyrics syllables

Markup mode may be used to format individual syllables in lyrics.

mel = \relative c'' { c4 c c c }
lyr = \lyricmode {
  Lyrics \markup { \italic can } \markup { \with-color #red contain }
  \markup { \fontsize #8 \bold Markup! }
}

<<
  \new Voice = melody \mel
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto melody \lyr
>>

See also

Learning Manual: Songs.

Notation Reference: Automatic syllable durations, Fonts, Formatting text, Input modes, Manual syllable durations, Special characters.

Internals Reference: LyricText.

Snippets: Text.

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Aligning lyrics to a melody

Lyrics are interpreted in \lyricmode and printed in a Lyrics context, see Contexts explained.

\new Lyrics \lyricmode { … }

Two variants of \lyricmode additionally set an associated context used to synchronise the lyric syllables to music. The more convenient \addlyrics immediately follows the musical content of the Voice context with which it should be synchronised, implicitly creating a Lyrics context of its own. The more versatile \lyricsto requires both specifying the associated Voice context by name and explicitly creating a containing Lyrics context. For details see Automatic syllable durations.

Lyrics can be aligned with melodies in two main ways:

• Lyrics can be aligned automatically, with the durations of the syllables being taken from another voice of music or (in special circumstances) an associated melody, using \addlyrics, \lyricsto, or by setting the associatedVoice property. For more details, see Automatic syllable durations.

  <<
    \new Staff <<
      \time 2/4
      \new Voice = "one" \relative {
        \voiceOne
        c''4 b8. a16 g4. r8 a4 ( b ) c2
      }
      \new Voice = "two" \relative {
        \voiceTwo
         s2 s4. f'8 e4 d c2
      }
    >>
  
  % takes durations and alignment from notes in "one"
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "one" {
      Life is __ _ love, live __ life.
    }
  
  % takes durations and alignment from notes in "one" initially
  % then switches to "two"
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "one" {
      No more let
      \set associatedVoice = "two"  % must be set one syllable early
      sins and sor -- rows grow.
    }
  >>
  

  

  The first stanza shows the normal way of entering lyrics.

  The second stanza shows how the voice from which the lyric durations are taken can be changed. This is useful if the words to different stanzas fit the notes in different ways and all the durations are available in Voice contexts. For more details, see Stanzas.

• Lyrics can be aligned independently of the duration of any notes if the durations of the syllables are specified explicitly, and entered with \lyricmode.

  <<
    \new Voice = "one" \relative {
      \time 2/4
      c''4 b8. a16 g4. f8 e4 d c2
    }
  
  % uses previous explicit duration of 2;
    \new Lyrics \lyricmode {
      Joy to the earth!
    }
  
  % explicit durations, set to a different rhythm
    \new Lyrics \lyricmode {
      Life4 is love,2. live4 life.2
    }
  >>
  

  

  The first stanza is not aligned with the notes because the durations were not specified, and the previous value of 2 is used for each word.

  The second stanza shows how the words can be aligned quite independently from the notes. This is useful if the words to different stanzas fit the notes in different ways and the required durations are not available in a music context. For more details see Manual syllable durations. This technique is also useful when setting dialogue over music; for examples showing this, see Dialogue over music.

See also

Learning Manual: Aligning lyrics to a melody.

Notation Reference: Contexts explained, Automatic syllable durations, Stanzas, Manual syllable durations, Dialogue over music, Manual syllable durations.

Internals Reference: Lyrics.

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Automatic syllable durations

Lyrics can be automatically aligned to the notes of a melody in three ways:

• by specifying the named Voice context containing the melody with \lyricsto,
• by introducing the lyrics with \addlyrics and placing them immediately after the Voice context containing the melody,
• by setting the associatedVoice property, the alignment of the lyrics may be switched to a different named Voice context at any musical moment.

In all three methods hyphens can be drawn between the syllables of a word and extender lines can be drawn beyond the end of a word. For details, see Extenders and hyphens.

The Voice context containing the melody to which the lyrics are being aligned must not have “died”, or the lyrics after that point will be lost. This can happen if there are periods when that voice has nothing to do. For methods of keeping contexts alive, see Keeping contexts alive.

Using \lyricsto

Lyrics can be aligned under a melody automatically by specifying the named Voice context containing the melody with \lyricsto:

<<
  \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
    a'1 a4. a8 a2
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
    These are the words
  }
>>

This aligns the lyrics to the notes of the named Voice context, which must already exist. Therefore normally the Voice context is specified first, followed by the Lyrics context. The lyrics themselves follow the \lyricsto command. The \lyricsto command invokes lyric mode automatically. By default, the lyrics are placed underneath the notes. For other placements, see Placing lyrics vertically.

Using \addlyrics

The \addlyrics command is just a convenient shortcut that can sometimes be used instead of having to set up the lyrics through a more complicated LilyPond structure.

{ MUSIC }
\addlyrics { LYRICS }

is the same as

\new Voice = "blah" { MUSIC }
\new Lyrics \lyricsto "blah" { LYRICS }

Here is an example,

{
  \time 3/4
  \relative { c'2 e4 g2. }
  \addlyrics { play the game }
}

More stanzas can be added by adding more \addlyrics sections:

{
  \time 3/4
  \relative { c'2 e4 g2. }
  \addlyrics { play the game }
  \addlyrics { speel het spel }
  \addlyrics { joue le jeu }
}

The command \addlyrics cannot handle polyphonic settings. Also, it cannot be used to associate lyrics to a TabVoice. For these cases one should use \lyricsto.

Using associatedVoice

The melody to which the lyrics are being aligned can be changed by setting the associatedVoice property,

\set associatedVoice = "lala"

The value of the property (here: "lala") should be the name of a Voice context. For technical reasons, the \set command must be placed one syllable before the one to which the change in voice is to apply.

Here is an example demonstrating its use:

<<
  \new Staff <<
    \time 2/4
    \new Voice = "one" \relative {
      \voiceOne
      c''4 b8. a16 g4. r8 a4 ( b ) c2
    }
    \new Voice = "two" \relative {
      \voiceTwo
       s2 s4. f'8 e8 d4. c2
    }
  >>
% takes durations and alignment from notes in "one" initially
% then switches to "two"
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "one" {
    No more let
    \set associatedVoice = "two"  % must be set one syllable early
    sins and sor -- rows grow.
  }
>>

See also

Notation Reference: Extenders and hyphens, Keeping contexts alive, Placing lyrics vertically.

---

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Manual syllable durations

In some complex vocal music, it may be desirable to place lyrics completely independently of notes. In this case do not use \lyricsto or \addlyrics and do not set associatedVoice. Syllables are entered like notes – but with pitches replaced by text – and the duration of each syllable is entered explicitly after the syllable.

Hyphenated lines may be drawn between syllables as usual, but extender lines cannot be drawn when there is no associated voice.

Here are two examples:

<<
  \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
    c''2 a f f e e
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricmode {
    c4. -- a -- f -- f -- e2. -- e
  }
>>

<<
  \new Staff {
    \relative {
      c''2 c2
      d1
    }
  }
  \new Lyrics {
    \lyricmode {
      I2 like4. my8 cat!1
    }
  }
  \new Staff {
    \relative {
      c'8 c c c c c c c
      c8 c c c c c c c
    }
  }
>>

This technique is useful when writing dialogue over music, see Dialogue over music.

To change syllable alignment, simply override the self-alignment-X property:

<<
  \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
    \time 3/4
    c'2 e4 g2 f
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricmode {
    \override LyricText.self-alignment-X = #LEFT
    play1 a4 game4
  }
>>

See also

Notation Reference: Dialogue over music.

Internals Reference: Lyrics, Voice.

---

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Multiple syllables to one note

In order to assign more than one syllable to a single note with spaces between the syllables, you can surround the phrase with quotes or use a _ character. Alternatively, you can use the tilde symbol (~) to get a lyric tie.

{
  \relative {
    \autoBeamOff
    r8 b' c fis, fis c' b e,
  }
  \addlyrics
  {
    % Ensure hyphens are visible
    \override LyricHyphen.minimum-distance = #1.0
    Che_in ques -- ta_e_in quel -- l'al -- tr'on -- da
  }
  \addlyrics { "Che in" ques -- "ta e in" quel -- l'al -- tr'on -- da }
  \addlyrics { Che~in ques -- ta~e~in quel -- l'al -- tr'on -- da }
}

See also

Internals Reference: LyricCombineMusic.

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Multiple notes to one syllable

Sometimes, particularly in Medieval and baroque music, several notes are sung on one syllable; this is called melisma, see melisma. The syllable to a melisma is usually left-aligned with the first note of the melisma.

When a melisma occurs on a syllable other than the last one in a word, that syllable is usually joined to the following one with a hyphenated line. This is indicated by placing a double hyphen, --, immediately after the syllable.

Alternatively, when a melisma occurs on the last or only syllable in a word an extender line is usually drawn from the end of the syllable to the last note of the melisma. This is indicated by placing a double underscore, __, immediately after the word.

There are five ways in which melismata can be indicated:

• Melismata are created automatically over notes which are tied together:

  <<
    \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
      \time 3/4
      f''4 g2 ~ |
      4 e2 ~ |
      8
    }
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
      Ky -- ri -- e __
    }
  >>
  

  

• Melismata can be created automatically from the music by placing slurs over the notes of each melisma. This is the usual way of entering lyrics:

  <<
    \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
      \time 3/4
      f''4 g8 ( f e f )
      e8 ( d e2 )
    }
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
      Ky -- ri -- e __
    }
  >>
  

  

  Note that phrasing slurs do not affect the creation of melismata.

• Notes are considered a melisma if they are manually beamed, providing automatic beaming is switched off. See Setting automatic beam behavior.

  <<
    \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
      \time 3/4
      \autoBeamOff
      f''4 g8[ f e f]
      e2.
    }
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
      Ky -- ri -- e
    }
  >>
  

  

  Clearly this is not suited to melismata over notes which are longer than eighth notes.

• An unslurred group of notes will be treated as a melisma if they are bracketed between \melisma and \melismaEnd.

  <<
    \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
      \time 3/4
      f''4 g8
      \melisma
      f e f
      \melismaEnd
      e2.
    }
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
      Ky -- ri -- e
    }
  >>
  

  

• A melisma can be defined entirely in the lyrics by entering a single underscore character, _, for every extra note that has to be added to the melisma.

  <<
    \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
      \time 3/4
      f''4 g8 f e f
      e8 d e2
    }
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
      Ky -- ri -- _ _ _ e __ _ _
    }
  >>
  

  

It is possible to have ties, slurs and manual beams in the melody without their indicating melismata. To do this, set melismaBusyProperties:

<<
  \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
    \time 3/4
    \set melismaBusyProperties = #'()
    c'4 d ( e )
    g8 [ f ] f4 ~ 4
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
    Ky -- ri -- e e -- le -- i -- son
  }
>>

Other settings for melismaBusyProperties can be used to selectively include or exclude ties, slurs, and beams from the automatic detection of melismata; see melismaBusyProperties in Tunable context properties.

Alternatively, if all melismata indications are to be ignored, ignoreMelismata may be set true; see Stanzas with different rhythms.

If a melisma is required during a passage in which melismaBusyProperties is active, it may be indicated by placing a single underscore in the lyrics for each note which should be included in the melisma:

<<
  \new Voice = "melody" \relative {
    \time 3/4
    \set melismaBusyProperties = #'()
    c'4 d ( e )
    g8 [ f ] ~ 4 ~ f
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
    Ky -- ri -- _ e __ _ _ _
  }
>>

Predefined commands

\autoBeamOff, \autoBeamOn, \melisma, \melismaEnd.

See also

Musical Glossary: melisma.

Learning Manual: Aligning lyrics to a melody.

Notation Reference: Aligning lyrics to a melody, Automatic syllable durations, Setting automatic beam behavior, Stanzas with different rhythms.

Internals Reference: Tunable context properties.

Known issues and warnings

Extender lines under melismata are not created automatically; they must be inserted manually with a double underscore.

---

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Extenders and hyphens

In the last syllable of a word, melismata are sometimes indicated with a long horizontal line starting in the melisma syllable, and ending in the next one. Such a line is called an extender line, and it is entered as ‘ __ ’ (note the spaces before and after the two underscore characters).

Centered hyphens are entered as ‘ -- ’ between syllables of a same word (note the spaces before and after the two hyphen characters). The hyphen will be centered between the syllables, and its length will be adjusted depending on the space between the syllables.

In tightly engraved music, hyphens can be removed. Whether this happens can be controlled with the minimum-distance (minimum distance between two syllables) and the minimum-length (threshold below which hyphens are removed) properties of LyricHyphen.

By default a hyphen is not repeated after a system break when the next line begins with a new syllable. Setting the after-line-breaking property to #t allows hyphens to be drawn in such situations.

See also

Internals Reference: LyricExtender, LyricHyphen.

---

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Gradual changes of vowel

Vowel transitions (gradual changes of vowel or sustained consonant), which may be indicated by arrows between syllables, are entered with the command \vowelTransition (see Gould pp. 452–453). The arrow shows the length of the transition, and it is by default always drawn (space is added if necessary in tightly engraved music). Ties between notes of unchanged pitch or slurs show that there is no new articulation, despite a change of vowel. The minimum length of the arrows may be adjusted with the minimum-length property of VowelTransition.

{
  c'2 c'
  \set melismaBusyProperties = #'()
  c'2 ~ c'
  \time 3/2
  d'4( e' f' e' f'2
  e'2.)
}
\addlyrics
{
  Ah \vowelTransition oh,
  ah \vowelTransition oh,
  ah \vowelTransition _ _ _ _
  oh.
}

See also

Musical Glossary: vowel transition.

Internals Reference: VowelTransition.

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