Stanzas with different rhythms

Often, different stanzas of one song are put to one melody in slightly differing ways. Such variations can still be captured with \lyricsto.

Ignoring melismata

One possibility is that the text has a melisma in one stanza, but multiple syllables in another. One solution is to make the faster voice ignore the melisma. This is done by setting ignoreMelismata in the Lyrics context.

<<
  \relative \new Voice = "lahlah" {
    \set Staff.autoBeaming = ##f
    c'4
    \slurDotted
    f8.[( g16])
    a4
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "lahlah" {
    more slow -- ly
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "lahlah" {
    go
    \set ignoreMelismata = ##t
    fas -- ter
    \unset ignoreMelismata
    still
  }
>>

Known issues and warnings

Unlike most \set commands, \set ignoreMelismata does not work if prefixed with \once. It is necessary to use \set and \unset to bracket the lyrics where melismata are to be ignored.

Adding syllables to grace notes

By default, grace notes (e.g., via \grace) do not get assigned syllables when using \lyricsto, but this behavior can be changed:

<<
  \new Voice = melody \relative {
    f'4 \appoggiatura a32 b4
    \grace { f16 a16 } b2
    \afterGrace b2 { f16[ a16] }
    \appoggiatura a32 b4
    \acciaccatura a8 b4
  }
  \new Lyrics
  \lyricsto melody {
    normal
    \set includeGraceNotes = ##t
    case,
    gra -- ce case,
    after -- grace case,
    \set ignoreMelismata = ##t
    app. case,
    acc. case.
  }
>>

Known issues and warnings

Like associatedVoice, includeGraceNotes needs to be set at latest one syllable before the one which is to be put under a grace note. In the case of a grace note at the very beginning of a piece of music, using a \with, or a \context block within \layout, is recommended:

<<
  \new Voice = melody \relative c' {
    \grace { c16( d e f }
    g1) f
  }
  \new Lyrics \with { includeGraceNotes = ##t }
  \lyricsto melody {
    Ah __ fa
  }
>>

Switching to an alternative melody

More complex variations in setting lyrics to music are possible. The melody to which the lyrics are being set can be changed from within the lyrics by setting the associatedVoice property:

<<
  \relative \new Voice = "lahlah" {
    \set Staff.autoBeaming = ##f
    c'4
    <<
      \new Voice = "alternative" {
        \voiceOne
        \tuplet 3/2 {
          % show associations clearly.
          \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = -3
          f8 f g
        }
      }
      {
        \voiceTwo
        f8.[ g16]
        \oneVoice
      } >>
    a8( b) c
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "lahlah" {
    Ju -- ras -- sic Park
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "lahlah" {
    % Tricky: need to set associatedVoice
    % one syllable too soon!
    \set associatedVoice = "alternative" % applies to "ran"
    Ty --
    ran --
    no --
    \set associatedVoice = "lahlah" % applies to "rus"
    sau -- rus Rex
  } >>

The text for the first stanza is set to the melody called ‘lahlah’ in the usual way, but the second stanza is set initially to the lahlah context and is then switched to the alternative melody for the syllables ‘ran’ to ‘sau’ by the lines:

\set associatedVoice = "alternative" % applies to "ran"
Ty --
ran --
no --
\set associatedVoice = "lahlah" % applies to "rus"
sau -- rus Rex

Here, alternative is the name of the Voice context containing the triplet.

Note the placement of the \set associatedVoice command – it appears to be one syllable too early, but this is correct.