LilyPond crash course
Screenshot
LilyPond is a batch system: it is run on a text-file containing the notes. The resulting output is viewed on-screen or printed. A screenshot of practical use might look like
(click to enlarge)
It's as simple as A B C
Notes are encoded with letters and numbers. Special commands are entered with backslashes.
Alterations are made with different names: add -is for sharp, and -es for flat (these are Dutch note names, other languages are available). LilyPond figures out where to put accidentals.
Pop music
Put chords and lyrics together to get a lead sheet:
Orchestral parts
The input file contains the notes of piece. Score and parts can be made from a single input file. So, changing a note always affects both parts and score. To share the notes, the music is assigned to a variable:
This variable is then used in a single part (here transposed, with condensed multi rests):
The same variable is used in the full score (here in concert pitch):
