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References for choral

Choral music is usually notated on two, three or four staves within a ChoirStaff group. Accompaniment, if required, is placed beneath in a PianoStaff group, which is usually reduced in size for rehearsal of a cappella choral works. The notes for each vocal part are placed in a Voice context, with each staff being given either a single vocal part (i.e., one Voice) or a pair of vocal parts (i.e., two Voices).

Words are placed in Lyrics contexts, either underneath each corresponding music staff, or one above and one below the music staff if this contains the music for two parts.

Several common topics in choral music are described fully elsewhere:

• An introduction to creating an SATB vocal score can be found in the Learning Manual, see Four-part SATB vocal score. There is also a built-in template which simplifies the entry of SATB vocal music, see Built-in templates.
• Several templates suitable for various styles of choral music can also be found in the Learning Manual, see Vocal ensembles templates.
• For information about ChoirStaff and PianoStaff see Grouping staves.
• Shape note heads, as used in Sacred Harp and similar notation, are described in Shape note heads.
• When two vocal parts share a staff the stems, ties, slurs, etc., of the higher part will be directed up and those of the lower part down. To do this, use \voiceOne and \voiceTwo. See Single-staff polyphony.
• When a vocal part temporarily splits, you should use Temporary polyphonic passages (see Single-staff polyphony).

Predefined commands

\oneVoice, \voiceOne, \voiceTwo.

See also

Learning Manual: Four-part SATB vocal score, Vocal ensembles templates.

Notation Reference: Context layout order, Grouping staves, Shape note heads, Single-staff polyphony.

Snippets: Vocal music.

Internals Reference: ChoirStaff, Lyrics, PianoStaff.