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Simultaneous music expressions: single-staff

To determine the number of staves in a piece, LilyPond looks at the beginning of the first expression. If there is a single note, there is one staff; if there is a simultaneous expression, there is more than one staff. The following example shows a complex expression, but as it begins with a single note it will be set out on a single staff.

\relative {
  c''2 <<c e>> |
  << { e2 f } { c2 <<b d>> } >> |
}