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Basic percussion notation

Percussion notes may be entered in \drummode mode, which is similar to the standard mode for entering notes. The simplest way to enter percussion notes is to use the \drums command, which creates the correct context and entry mode for percussion:

\drums {
  hihat4 hh bassdrum bd
}

This is shorthand for:

\new DrumStaff \drummode {
  hihat4 hh bassdrum bd
}

Each piece of percussion has a full name and an abbreviated name, and both can be used in input files. The full list of percussion note names may be found in Percussion notes.

Note that the normal notation of pitches (such as cis4) in a DrumStaff context will cause an error message. Percussion clefs are added automatically to a DrumStaff context but they can also be set explicitly. Other clefs may be used as well.

\drums {
  \clef percussion
  bd4 4 4 4
  \clef treble
  hh4 4 4 4
}

There are a few issues concerning MIDI support for percussion instruments; for details please see Creating MIDI output.

See also

Notation Reference: Creating MIDI output, Percussion notes.

Installed Files: ly/drumpitch-init.ly.

Snippets: Percussion.