GNU LilyPond — Notation Reference

The music typesetter

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This file documents GNU LilyPond.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License”.

This is the Notation Reference (NR) for GNU LilyPond version 2.11.62. For more information about how this fits with the other documentation, see About the documentation.

More information can be found at http://www.lilypond.org/. The website contains on-line copies of this and other documentation.

We want to dedicate this program to all the friends that we met through music.

Han-Wen and Jan

Appendices
1. Musical notation
2. Specialist notation		Notation which is only used for specific purposes.
3. General input and output		General information about lilypond input and output.
4. Spacing issues		Display of output on paper.
5. Changing defaults		Tuning output.
6. Interfaces for programmers		Expert usage.
A. Literature list		Reference works about music notation.
B. Notation manual tables		Tables and charts.
C. Cheat sheet		Summary of LilyPond syntax.
D. GNU Free Documentation License		License of this document.
E. LilyPond command index
F. LilyPond index

1. Musical notation

This chapter explains how to create musical notation.

1.1 Pitches

This section discusses how to specify the pitch of notes. There are three steps to this process: input, modification, and output.

1.1.1 Writing pitches

This section discusses how to input pitches. There are two different ways to place notes in octaves: absolute and relative mode. In most cases, relative mode will be more convenient.

Absolute octave entry

A pitch name is specified using lowercase letters a through g. The note names c to b are engraved in the octave below middle C.

\clef bass
c d e f
g a b c
d e f g

Other octaves may be specified with a single quote (') or comma (,) character. Each ' raises the pitch by one octave; each , lowers the pitch by an octave.

\clef treble
c' c'' e' g
d'' d' d c
\clef bass
c, c,, e, g
d,, d, d c

Relative octave entry

When octaves are specified in absolute mode it is easy to accidentally put a pitch in the wrong octave. Relative octave mode reduces these errors since most of the time it is not necessary to indicate any octaves at all. Furthermore, in absolute mode a single mistake may be difficult to spot, while in relative mode a single error puts the rest of the piece off by one octave.

\relative startpitch musicexpr

In relative mode, each note is assumed to be as close to the previous note as possible. This means that the octave of each pitch inside musicexpr is calculated as follows:

If no octave changing mark is used on a pitch, its octave is calculated so that the interval with the previous note is less than a fifth. This interval is determined without considering accidentals.
An octave changing mark ' or , can be added to respectively raise or lower a pitch by an extra octave, relative to the pitch calculated without an octave mark.
Multiple octave changing marks can be used. For example, '' and ,, will alter the pitch by two octaves.
The pitch of the first note is relative to startpitch. startpitch is specified in absolute octave mode, and it is recommended that it be a octave of c.

Here is the relative mode shown in action:

\relative c {
  \clef bass
  c d e f
  g a b c
  d e f g
}

Octave changing marks are used for intervals greater than a fourth:

\relative c'' {
  c g c f,
  c' a, e'' c
}

A note sequence without a single octave mark can nevertheless span large intervals:

\relative c {
  c f b e
  a d g c
}

If the preceding item is a chord, the first note of the chord is used as the reference point for the octave placement of a following note or chord. Inside chords, the next note is always relative to the preceding one. Examine the next example carefully, paying attention to the c notes.

\relative c' {
  c
  <c e g>
  <c' e g'>
  <c, e, g''>
}

As explained above, the octave of pitches is calculated only with the note names, regardless of any alterations. Therefore, an E-double-sharp following a B will be placed higher, while an F-double-flat will be placed lower. In other words, a double-augmented fourth is considered a smaller interval than a double-diminished fifth, regardless of the number of semitones that each interval contains.

\relative c'' {
  c2 fis
  c2 ges
  b2 eisis
  b2 feses
}

Known issues and warnings

The relative conversion will not affect \transpose, \chordmode or \relative sections in its argument. To use relative mode within transposed music, an additional \relative must be placed inside \transpose.

If no startpitch is specified for \relative, then c' is assumed. However, this is a deprecated option and may disappear in future versions, so its use is discouraged.

Accidentals

Note: New users are sometimes confused about accidentals and key signatures. In LilyPond, note names are the raw input; key signatures and clefs determine how this raw input is displayed. An unaltered note like c means ‘C natural’, regardless of the key signature or clef. For more information, see Accidentals and key signatures.

A sharp pitch is made by adding is to the note name, and a flat pitch by adding es. As you might expect, a double sharp or double flat is made by adding isis or eses. This syntax is derived from Dutch note naming conventions. To use other names for accidentals, see Note names in other languages.

ais1 aes aisis aeses

A natural will cancel the effect of an accidental or key signature. However, naturals are not encoded into the note name syntax with a suffix; a natural pitch is shown as a simple note name:

a4 aes a2

Quarter tones may be added; the following is a series of Cs with increasing pitches:

ceseh1 ces ceh c cih cis cisih

Normally accidentals are printed automatically, but you may also print them manually. A reminder accidental can be forced by adding an exclamation mark ! after the pitch. A cautionary accidental (i.e., an accidental within parentheses) can be obtained by adding the question mark ? after the pitch. These extra accidentals can also be used to produce natural signs.

cis cis cis! cis? c c c! c?

Accidentals on tied notes are only printed at the beginning of a new system:

cis1 ~ cis ~
\break
cis

Selected Snippets

Preventing extra naturals from being automatically added

In accordance with standard typesetting rules, a natural sign is printed before a sharp or flat if a previous accidental on the same note needs to be canceled. To change this behavior, set the extraNatural property to "false" in the Staff context.

\relative c'' {
  aeses4 aes ais a
  \set Staff.extraNatural = ##f
  aeses4 aes ais a
}

Known issues and warnings

There are no generally accepted standards for denoting quarter-tone accidentals, so LilyPond’s symbol does not conform to any standard.

Note names in other languages

There are predefined sets of note names for various other languages. To use them, include the language-specific init file. For example, to use English notes names, add \include "english.ly" to the top of the input file. The available language files and the note names they define are:

Language	Note names	sharp	flat	double sharp	double flat
nederlands.ly	c d e f g a bes b	-is	-es	-isis	-eses
arabic.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-d	-b	-dd	-bb
catalan.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-d/-s	-b	-dd/-ss	-bb
deutsch.ly	c d e f g a b h	-is	-es	-isis	-eses
english.ly	c d e f g a bf b	-s/-sharp	-f/-flat	-ss/-x/-sharpsharp	-ff/-flatflat
espanol.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-s	-b	-ss	-bb
italiano.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-d	-b	-dd	-bb
norsk.ly	c d e f g a b h	-iss/-is	-ess/-es	-ississ/-isis	-essess/-eses
portugues.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-s	-b	-ss	-bb
suomi.ly	c d e f g a b h	-is	-es	-isis	-eses
svenska.ly	c d e f g a b h	-iss	-ess	-ississ	-essess
vlaams.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-k	-b	-kk	-bb

In Dutch, aes is contracted to as, but both forms are accepted in LilyPond. Similarly, both es and ees are accepted. This also applies to aeses / ases and eeses / eses. Sometimes only these contracted names are defined in the corresponding language files.

a2 as e es a ases e eses

Some music uses microtones whose alterations are fractions of a ‘normal’ sharp or flat. The note names for quarter-tones defined in the various language files are listed in the following table. Here the prefixes semi- and sesqui- mean ‘half’ and ‘one and a half’, respectively. For the other languages, no special names have been defined yet.

Language	Note names	semi-sharp	semi-flat	sesqui-sharp	sesqui-flat
nederlands.ly	c d e f g a bes b	-ih	-eh	-isih	-eseh
arabic.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-sd	-sb	-dsd	-bsb
deutsch.ly	c d e f g a b h	-ih	-eh	-isih	-eseh
english.ly	c d e f g a bf b	-qs	-qf	-tqs	-tqf
italiano.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-sd	-sb	-dsd	-bsb
portugues.ly	do re mi fa sol la sib si	-sqt	-bqt	-stqt	-btqt

1.1.2 Changing multiple pitches

This section discusses how to modify pitches.

Octave checks

In relative mode, it is easy to forget an octave changing mark. Octave checks make such errors easier to find by displaying a warning and correcting the octave if a note is found in an unexpected octave.

To check the octave of a note, specify the absolute octave after the = symbol. This example will generate a warning (and change the pitch) because the second note is the absolute octave d'' instead of d' as indicated by the octave correction.

\relative c'' {
  c2 d='4 d
  e2 f
}

The octave of notes may also be checked with the \octaveCheck controlpitch command. controlpitch is specified in absolute mode. This checks that the interval between the previous note and the controlpitch is within a fourth (i.e., the normal calculation of relative mode). If this check fails, a warning is printed, but the previous note is not changed. Future notes are relative to the controlpitch.

\relative c'' {
  c2 d
  \octaveCheck c'
  e2 f
}

Compare the two bars below. The first and third \octaveCheck checks fail, but the second one does not fail.

\relative c'' {
  c4 f g f

  c4
  \octaveCheck c'
  f
  \octaveCheck c'
  g
  \octaveCheck c'
  f
}

Transpose

A music expression can be transposed with \transpose. The syntax is

\transpose frompitch topitch musicexpr

This means that musicexpr is transposed by the interval between the pitches frompitch and topitch: any note with pitch frompitch is changed to topitch and any other note is transposed by the same interval. Both pitches are entered in absolute mode.

Consider a piece written in the key of D-major. It can be transposed up to E-major; note that the key signature is automatically transposed as well.

\transpose d e {
  \relative c' {
    \key d \major
    d4 fis a d
  }
}

If a part written in C (normal concert pitch) is to be played on the A clarinet (for which an A is notated as a C and thus sounds a minor third lower than notated), the appropriate part will be produced with:

\transpose a c' {
  \relative c' {
    \key c \major
    c4 d e g
  }
}

Note that we specify \key c \major explicitly. If we do not specify a key signature, the notes will be transposed but no key signature will be printed.

\transpose distinguishes between enharmonic pitches: both \transpose c cis or \transpose c des will transpose up a semitone. The first version will print sharps and the notes will remain on the same scale step, the second version will print flats on the scale step above.

music = \relative c' { c d e f }
\new Staff {
  \transpose c cis { \music }
  \transpose c des { \music }
}

\transpose may also be used in a different way, to input written notes for a transposing instrument. The previous examples show how to enter pitches in C (or concert pitch) and typeset them for a transposing instrument, but the opposite is also possible if you for example have a set of instrumental parts and want to print a conductor’s score. For example, when entering music for a B-flat trumpet that begins on a notated E (concert D), one would write:

musicInBflat = { e4 … }
\transpose c bes, \musicInBflat

To print this music in F (e.g., rearranging to a French horn) you could wrap the existing music with another \transpose:

musicInBflat = { e4 … }
\transpose f c' { \transpose c bes, \musicInBflat }

For more information about transposing instruments, see Instrument transpositions.

Selected Snippets

Transposing music with minimum accidentals

This example uses some Scheme code to enforce enharmonic modifications for notes in order to have the minimum number of accidentals. In this case, the following rules apply:

Double accidentals should be removed
B sharp -> C
E sharp -> F
C flat -> B
F flat -> E

In this manner, the most natural enharmonic notes are chosen.

#(define  (naturalize-pitch p)
  (let* ((o (ly:pitch-octave p))
         (a (* 4 (ly:pitch-alteration p)))
    ; alteration, a, in quarter tone steps, for historical reasons
         (n (ly:pitch-notename p)))
    (cond
     ((and (> a 1) (or (eq? n 6) (eq? n 2)))
      (set! a (- a 2))
      (set! n (+ n 1)))
     ((and (< a -1) (or (eq? n 0) (eq? n 3)))
      (set! a (+ a 2))
      (set! n (- n 1))))
    (cond
     ((> a 2) (set! a (- a 4)) (set! n (+ n 1)))
     ((< a -2) (set! a (+ a 4)) (set! n (- n 1))))
    (if (< n 0) (begin (set! o (- o 1)) (set! n (+ n 7))))
    (if (> n 6) (begin (set! o (+ o 1)) (set! n (- n 7))))
    (ly:make-pitch o n (/ a 4))))

#(define (naturalize music)
  (let* ((es (ly:music-property music 'elements))
         (e (ly:music-property music 'element))
         (p (ly:music-property music 'pitch)))
    (if (pair? es)
        (ly:music-set-property!
         music 'elements
         (map (lambda (x) (naturalize x)) es)))
    (if (ly:music? e)
        (ly:music-set-property!
         music 'element
         (naturalize e)))
    (if (ly:pitch? p)
        (begin
          (set! p (naturalize-pitch p))
          (ly:music-set-property! music 'pitch p)))
    music))

naturalizeMusic =
#(define-music-function (parser location m)
					(ly:music?)
			(naturalize m))

music = \relative c' { c4 d e g }

\score {
  \new Staff {
    \transpose c ais { \music }
    \naturalizeMusic \transpose c ais { \music }
    \transpose c deses { \music }
    \naturalizeMusic \transpose c deses { \music }
  }
  \layout { }
}

Known issues and warnings

1.1.3 Displaying pitches

This section discusses how to alter the output of pitches.

Clef

The clef may be altered. Middle C is shown in every example.

\clef treble
c2 c
\clef alto
c2 c
\clef tenor
c2 c
\clef bass
c2 c

Other clefs include:

\clef french
c2 c
\clef soprano
c2 c
\clef mezzosoprano
c2 c
\clef baritone
c2 c

\break

\clef varbaritone
c2 c
\clef subbass
c2 c
\clef percussion
c2 c
\clef tab
c2 c

Further supported clefs are described under Mensural clefs and Gregorian clefs.

By adding _8 or ^8 to the clef name, the clef is transposed one octave down or up, respectively, and _15 and ^15 transpose by two octaves. The clef name must be enclosed in quotes when it contains underscores or digits.

\clef treble
c2 c
\clef "treble_8"
c2 c
\clef "bass^15"
c2 c

Selected Snippets

Tweaking clef properties

The command \clef "treble_8" is equivalent to setting clefGlyph, clefPosition (which controls the vertical position of the clef), middleCPosition and clefOctavation. A clef is printed when any of the properties except middleCPosition are changed.

Note that changing the glyph, the position of the clef, or the octavation does not in itself change the position of subsequent notes on the staff: the position of middle C must also be specified to do this. The positional parameters are relative to the staff center line, positive numbers displacing upwards, counting one for each line and space. The clefOctavation value would normally be set to 7, -7, 15 or -15, but other values are valid.

When a clef change takes place at a line break the new clef symbol is printed at both the end of the previous line and the beginning of the new line by default. If the warning clef at the end of the previous line is not required it can be suppressed by setting the Staff property explicitClefVisibility to the value end-of-line-invisible. The default behavior can be recovered with \unset Staff.explicitClefVisibility.

The following examples show the possibilities when setting these properties manually. On the first line, the manual changes preserve the standard relative positioning of clefs and notes, whereas on the second line, they do not.

{
  % The default treble clef
  c'1
  % The standard bass clef
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.F"
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #2
  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #6
  c'1
  % The baritone clef
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.C"
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #4
  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #4
  c'1
  % The standard choral tenor clef
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.G"
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #-2
  \set Staff.clefOctavation = #-7
  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #1
  c'1
  % A non-standard clef
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #0
  \set Staff.clefOctavation = #0
  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #-4
  c'1 \break

  % The following clef changes do not preserve
  % the normal relationship between notes and clefs:

  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.F"
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #2
  c'1
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.G"
  c'1
  \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs.C"
  c'1
  \set Staff.clefOctavation = #7
  c'1
  \set Staff.clefOctavation = #0
  \set Staff.clefPosition = #0
  c'1
  
  % Here we go back to the normal clef:

  \set Staff.middleCPosition = #0
  c'1
}

Key signature

The key signature indicates the tonality in which a piece is played. It is denoted by a set of alterations (flats or sharps) at the start of the staff. The key signature may be altered:

\key pitch mode

Here, mode should be \major or \minor to get a key signature of pitch-major or pitch-minor, respectively. You may also use the standard mode names, also called church modes: \ionian, \dorian, \phrygian, \lydian, \mixolydian, \aeolian, and \locrian.

\key g \major
fis1
f
fis

Selected Snippets

Preventing natural signs from being printed when the key signature changes

When the key signature changes, natural signs are automatically printed to cancel any accidentals from previous key signatures. This may be prevented by setting to "false" the printKeyCancellation property in the Staff context.

\relative c' {
  \key d \major
  a4 b cis d
  \key g \minor
  a4 bes c d
  \set Staff.printKeyCancellation = ##f
  \key d \major
  a4 b cis d
  \key g \minor
  a4 bes c d
}

Non-traditional key signatures

The commonly used \key command sets the keySignature property, in the Staff context.

To create non-standard key signatures, set this property directly. The format of this command is a list:

\set Staff.keySignature = #`(((octave . step) . alter) ((octave . step) . alter) ...) where, for each element in the list, octave specifies the octave (0 being the octave from middle C to the B above), step specifies the note within the octave (0 means C and 6 means B), and alter is ,SHARP ,FLAT ,DOUBLE-SHARP etc. (Note the leading comma.)

Alternatively, for each item in the list, using the more concise format (step . alter) specifies that the same alteration should hold in all octaves.

Here is an example of a possible key signature for generating a whole-tone scale:

\relative c' {
  \set Staff.keySignature = #`(((0 .  3) . ,SHARP) ((0 . 5) . ,FLAT) ((0 . 6) . ,FLAT))
  c4 d e fis
  aes4 bes c2
}

Ottava brackets

Ottava brackets introduce an extra transposition of an octave for the staff:

a'2 b
\ottava #1
a b
\ottava #0
a b

The ottava function also takes -1 (for 8va bassa), 2 (for 15ma), and -2 (for 15ma bassa) as arguments.

Selected Snippets

Ottava text

Internally, the set-octavation function sets the properties ottavation (for example, to "8va" or "8vb") and middleCPosition. To override the text of the bracket, set ottavation after invoking set-octavation.

{
  \ottava #1
  \set Staff.ottavation = #"8"
  c''1
  \ottava #0
  c'1
  \ottava #1
  \set Staff.ottavation = #"Text"
  c''1
}

Instrument transpositions

When typesetting scores that involve transposing instruments, some parts can be typeset in a different pitch than the concert pitch. In these cases, the key of the transposing instrument should be specified; otherwise the MIDI output and cues in other parts will produce incorrect pitches. For more information about quotations, see Quoting other voices.

\transposition pitch

The pitch to use for \transposition should correspond to the real sound heard when a c' written on the staff is played by the transposing instrument. This pitch is entered in absolute mode, so an instrument that produces a real sound which is one tone higher than the printed music should use \transposition d'. \transposition should only be used if the pitches are not being entered in concert pitch.

Here are a few notes for violin and B-flat clarinet where the parts have been entered using the notes and key as they appear in each part of the conductor’s score. The two instruments are playing in unison.

\new GrandStaff <<
  \new Staff = "violin" {
    \relative c'' {
      \set Staff.instrumentName = "Vln"
      \set Staff.midiInstrument = "violin"
      % not strictly necessary, but a good reminder
      \transposition c'

      \key c \major
      g4( c8) r c r c4
    }
  }
  \new Staff = "clarinet" {
    \relative c'' {
      \set Staff.instrumentName = \markup { Cl (B\flat) }
      \set Staff.midiInstrument = "clarinet"
      \transposition bes

      \key d \major
      a4( d8) r d r d4
    }
  }
>>

The \transposition may be changed during a piece. For example, a clarinetist may switch from an A clarinet to a B-flat clarinet.

\set Staff.instrumentName = "Cl (A)"
\key a \major
\transposition a
c d e f
\textLengthOn
s1*0^\markup { Switch to B\flat clarinet }
R1

\key bes \major
\transposition bes
c2 g

Automatic accidentals

There are many different conventions on how to typeset accidentals. LilyPond provides a function to specify which accidental style to use. This function is called as follows:

\new Staff <<
  #(set-accidental-style 'voice)
  { … }
>>

The accidental style applies to the current Staff by default (with the exception of the styles piano and piano-cautionary, which are explained below). Optionally, the function can take a second argument that determines in which scope the style should be changed. For example, to use the same style in all staves of the current StaffGroup, use:

#(set-accidental-style 'voice 'StaffGroup)

The following accidental styles are supported. To demonstrate each style, we use the following example:

musicA = {
  <<
    \relative c' {
      cis'8 fis, d'4 <a cis>8 f bis4 |
      cis2. <c, g'>4 |
    }
    \\
    \relative c' {
      ais'2 cis, |
      fis8 b a4 cis2 |
    }
  >>
}

musicB = {
  \clef bass
  \new Voice {
    \voiceTwo \relative c' {
      <fis, a cis>4
      \change Staff = up
      cis'
      \change Staff = down
      <fis, a>
      \change Staff = up
      dis' |
      \change Staff = down
      <fis, a cis>4 gis <f a d>2 |
    }
  }
}

\new PianoStaff {
  <<
    \context Staff = "up" {
      #(set-accidental-style 'default)
      \musicA
    }
    \context Staff = "down" {
      #(set-accidental-style 'default)
      \musicB
    }
  >>
}

Note that the last lines of this example can be replaced by the following, as long as the same accidental style should be used in both staves.

\new PianoStaff {
  <<
    \context Staff = "up" {
      %%% change the next line as desired:
      #(set-accidental-style 'default 'Score)
      \musicA
    }
    \context Staff = "down" {
      \musicB
    }
  >>
}

default

This is the default typesetting behavior. It corresponds to eighteenth-century common practice: accidentals are remembered to the end of the measure in which they occur and only in their own octave. Thus, in the example below, no natural signs are printed before the b in the second measure or the last c:

voice

The normal behavior is to remember the accidentals at Staff-level. In this style, however, accidentals are typeset individually for each voice. Apart from that, the rule is similar to default.

As a result, accidentals from one voice do not get canceled in other voices, which is often an unwanted result: in the following example, it is hard to determine whether the second a should be played natural or sharp. The voice option should therefore be used only if the voices are to be read solely by individual musicians. If the staff is to be used by one musician (e.g., a conductor or in a piano score) then modern or modern-cautionary should be used instead.

modern

This rule corresponds to the common practice in the twentieth century. It prints the same accidentals as default, with two exceptions that serve to avoid ambiguity: after temporary accidentals, cancellation marks are printed also in the following measure (for notes in the same octave) and, in the same measure, for notes in other octaves. Hence the naturals before the b and the c in the second measure of the upper staff:

modern-cautionary

This rule is similar to modern, but the ‘extra’ accidentals (the ones not typeset by default) are typeset as cautionary accidentals. They are by default printed with parentheses, but they can also be printed in reduced size by defining the cautionary-style property of AccidentalSuggestion.

modern-voice

This rule is used for multivoice accidentals to be read both by musicians playing one voice and musicians playing all voices. Accidentals are typeset for each voice, but they are canceled across voices in the same Staff. Hence, the a in the last measure is canceled because the previous cancellation was in a different voice, and the d in the lower staff is canceled because of the accidental in a different voice in the previous measure:

modern-voice-cautionary

This rule is the same as modern-voice, but with the extra accidentals (the ones not typeset by voice) typeset as cautionaries. Even though all accidentals typeset by default are typeset with this rule, some of them are typeset as cautionaries.

piano

This rule reflects twentieth-century practice for piano notation. Its behavior is very similar to modern style, but here accidentals also get canceled across the staves in the same GrandStaff or PianoStaff, hence all the cancellations of the final notes.

This accidental style applies to the current GrandStaff or PianoStaff by default.

piano-cautionary

This is the same as piano but with the extra accidentals typeset as cautionaries.

neo-modern

This rule reproduces a common practice in contemporary music: accidentals are printed like with modern, but they are printed again if the same note appears later in the same measure – except if the note is immediately repeated.

neo-modern-cautionary

This rule is similar to neo-modern, but the extra accidentals are printed as cautionary accidentals.

dodecaphonic

This rule reflects a practice introduced by composers at the beginning of the 20th century, in an attempt to abolish the hierarchy between natural and non-natural notes. With this style, every note gets an accidental sign, including natural signs.

teaching

This rule is intended for students, and makes it easy to create scale sheets with automagically created cautionary accidentals. Accidentals are printed like with modern, but cautionary accidentals are added for all sharp or flat tones specified by the key signature, except if the note is immediately repeated.

no-reset

This is the same as default but with accidentals lasting ‘forever’ and not only within the same measure:

forget

This is the opposite of no-reset: Accidentals are not remembered at all – and hence all accidentals are typeset relative to the key signature, regardless of what came before in the music. Unlike dodecaphonic, this rule never prints any naturals.

Selected Snippets

Dodecaphonic-style accidentals for each note including naturals

In early 20th century works, starting with Schoenberg, Berg and Webern (the "Second" Viennese school), every pitch in the twelve-tone scale has to be regarded as equal, without any hierarchy such as the classical (tonal) degrees. Therefore, these composers print one accidental for each note, even at natural pitches, to emphasize their new approach to music theory and language.

This snippet shows how to achieve such notation rules.

\score {
  \new Staff {
    #(set-accidental-style 'dodecaphonic)
    c'4 dis' cis' cis'
    c'4 dis' cis' cis'
    c'4 c' dis' des'
  }
  \layout {
    \context {
    \Staff
    \remove "Key_engraver"
    }
  }
}

Known issues and warnings

Simultaneous notes are considered to be entered in sequential mode. This means that in a chord the accidentals are typeset as if the notes in the chord happen one at a time, in the order in which they appear in the input file. This is a problem when accidentals in a chord depend on each other, which does not happen for the default accidental style. The problem can be solved by manually inserting ! and ? for the problematic notes.

Ambitus

The term ambitus (pl. ambitus) denotes a range of pitches for a given voice in a part of music. It may also denote the pitch range that a musical instrument is capable of playing. Ambitus are printed on vocal parts so that performers can easily determine if it matches their capabilities.

Ambitus are denoted at the beginning of a piece near the initial clef. The range is graphically specified by two note heads that represent the lowest and highest pitches. Accidentals are only printed if they are not part of the key signature.

\layout {
  \context {
    \Voice
    \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  }
}

\relative c'' {
  aes c e2
  cis,1
}

Selected Snippets

Adding ambitus per voice

Ambitus can be added per voice. In this case, the ambitus must be moved manually to prevent collisions.

\new Staff <<
  \new Voice \with {
    \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  } \relative c'' {
    \override Ambitus #'X-offset = #2.0
    \voiceOne
    c4 a d e
    f1
  }
  \new Voice \with {
    \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  } \relative c' {
    \voiceTwo
    es4 f g as
    b1
  }
>>

Ambitus with multiple voices

Adding the Ambitus_engraver to the Staff context creates a single ambitus per staff, even in the case of staves with multiple voices.

\new Staff \with {
  \consists "Ambitus_engraver"
  }
<<
  \new Voice \relative c'' {
    \voiceOne
    c4 a d e
    f1
  }
  \new Voice \relative c' {
    \voiceTwo
    es4 f g as
    b1
  }
>>

Known issues and warnings

There is no collision handling in the case of multiple per-voice ambitus.

1.1.4 Note heads

This section suggests ways of altering note heads.

Special note heads

Note heads may be altered:

c4 b a b
\override NoteHead #'style = #'cross
c4 b a b
\revert NoteHead #'style
c4 d e f

There is a shorthand for diamond shapes which can only be used inside chords:

<c f\harmonic>2 <d a'\harmonic>4 <c g'\harmonic>

To see all note head styles, see Note head styles.

Easy notation note heads

The ‘easy play’ note head includes a note name inside the head. It is used in music for beginners. To make the letters readable, it should be printed in a large font size. To print with a larger font, see Setting the staff size.

#(set-global-staff-size 26)
\relative c' {
  \easyHeadsOn
  c2 e4 f
  g1
  \easyHeadsOff
  c,1
}

Predefined commands

\easyHeadsOn, \easyHeadsOff

Shape note heads

In shape note head notation, the shape of the note head corresponds to the harmonic function of a note in the scale. This notation was popular in nineteenth-century American song books. Shape note heads can be produced:

\aikenHeads
c, d e f g a b c
\sacredHarpHeads
c, d e f g a b c

Shapes are typeset according to the step in the scale, where the base of the scale is determined by the \key command.

Predefined commands

\aikenHeads, \sacredHarpHeads

Selected Snippets

Applying note head styles depending on the step of the scale

The shapeNoteStyles property can be used to define various note head styles for each step of the scale (as set by the key signature or the "tonic" property). This property requires a set of symbols, which can be purely arbitrary (geometrical expressions such as triangle, cross, and xcircle are allowed) or based on old American engraving tradition (some latin note names are also allowed).

That said, to imitate old American song books, there are several predefined note head styles available through shortcut commands such as \aikenHeads or \sacredHarpHeads.

This example shows different ways to obtain shape note heads, and demonstrates the ability to transpose a melody without losing the correspondence between harmonic functions and note head styles.

fragment = {
  \key c \major
  c2 d
  e2 f
  g2 a
  b2 c
}

\score {
  \new Staff {
    \transpose c d 
    \relative c' {
      \set shapeNoteStyles = #'#(do re mi fa #f la ti)
      \fragment
    }
    
    \relative c' {
      \set shapeNoteStyles  = #'#(cross triangle fa #f mensural xcircle diamond)
      \fragment
    }
  }
}

To see all note head styles, see Note head styles.

Improvisation

Improvisation is sometimes denoted with slashed note heads, where the performer may choose any pitch but should play the specified rhythm. Such note heads can be created:

\new Voice \with {
  \consists "Pitch_squash_engraver"
} {
  e8 e g a a16( bes) a8 g
  \improvisationOn
  e8 ~
  e2 ~ e8 f4 f8 ~
  f2
  \improvisationOff
  a16( bes) a8 g e
}

Predefined commands

\improvisationOn, \improvisationOff

1.2 Rhythms

This section discusses rhythms, rests, durations, beaming and bars.

1.2.1 Writing rhythms

Durations

Durations are designated by numbers and dots. Durations are entered as their reciprocal values. For example, a quarter note is entered using a 4 (since it is a 1/4 note), and a half note is entered using a 2 (since it is a 1/2 note). For notes longer than a whole you must use the \longa (a double breve) and \breve commands. Durations as short as 64th notes may be specified. Shorter values are possible, but only as beamed notes.

\time 8/1
c\longa c\breve c1 c2
c4 c8 c16 c32 c64 c64

Here are the same durations with automatic beaming turned off.

\time 8/1
\autoBeamOff
c\longa c\breve c1 c2
c4 c8 c16 c32 c64 c64

A note with the duration of a quadruple breve may be entered with \maxima, but this is supported only within ancient music notation. For details, see Ancient notation.

If the duration is omitted, it is set to the previously entered duration. The default for the first note is a quarter note.

a a a2 a a4 a a1 a

To obtain dotted note lengths, place a dot (.) after the duration. Double-dotted notes are specified by appending two dots, and so on.

a4 b c4. b8 a4. b4.. c8.

Some durations cannot be represented with just binary durations and dots; they can be represented only by tying two or more notes together. For details, see Ties.

For ways of specifying durations for the syllables of lyrics and ways of aligning lyrics to notes, see Vocal music.

Optionally, notes can be spaced strictly proportionately to their duration. For details of this and other settings which control proportional notation, see Proportional notation.

Dots are normally moved up to avoid staff lines, except in polyphonic situations. Predefined commands are available to force a particular direction manually, for details see Direction and placement.

Predefined commands

\autoBeamOff, \dotsUp, \dotsDown, \dotsNeutral.

Known issues and warnings

There is no fundamental limit to rest durations (both in terms of longest and shortest), but the number of glyphs is limited: rests from 128th to maxima (8 x whole) may be printed.

Tuplets

Tuplets are made from a music expression by multiplying all the durations with a fraction:

\times fraction { music }

The duration of music will be multiplied by the fraction. The fraction’s denominator will be printed over or under the notes, optionally with a bracket. The most common tuplet is the triplet in which 3 notes have the duration of 2, so the notes are 2/3 of their written length.

a2 \times 2/3 { b4 b b }
c4 c \times 2/3 { b4 a g }

The automatic placement of the tuplet bracket above or below the notes may be overridden manually with predefined commands, for details see Direction and placement.

Tuplets may be nested:

\autoBeamOff
c4 \times 4/5 { f8 e f \times 2/3 { e[ f g] } } f4 |

Modifying nested tuplets which begin at the same musical moment must be done with \tweak.

To modify the duration of notes without printing a tuplet bracket, see Scaling durations.

Predefined commands

\tupletUp, \tupletDown, \tupletNeutral.

Selected Snippets

Entering several tuplets using only one \times command

The property tupletSpannerDuration sets how long each of the tuplets contained within the brackets after \times should last. Many consecutive tuplets can then be placed within a single \times expression, thus saving typing.

In the example, two triplets are shown, while \times was entered only once.

For more information about make-moment, see "Time administration".

\relative c' {
  \time 2/4
  \set tupletSpannerDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 4)
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c c c c }
}

Changing the tuplet number

By default, only the numerator of the tuplet number is printed over the tuplet bracket, i.e., the denominator of the argument to the \times command. Alternatively, num:den of the tuplet number may be printed, or the tuplet number may be suppressed altogether.

\relative c'' {
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c } \times 2/3 { c8 c c }
  \override TupletNumber #'text = #tuplet-number::calc-fraction-text
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c }
  \override TupletNumber #'stencil = ##f
  \times 2/3 { c8 c c }
}

Permitting line breaks within beamed tuplets

This artificial example shows how both manual and automatic line breaks may be permitted to within a beamed tuplet. Note that such off-beat tuplets have to be beamed manually.

\layout {
  \context {
    \Voice
    % Permit line breaks within tuplets
    \remove "Forbid_line_break_engraver"
    % Allow beams to be broken at line breaks
    \override Beam #'breakable = ##t
  }
}
\relative c'' {
  a8
  \repeat unfold 8 { \times 2/3 { c[ b a] } }
  % Insert a manual line break within a tuplet
  \times 2/3 { c[ b \bar "" \break a] }
  \repeat unfold 2 { \times 2/3 { c[ b a] } }
  c8
}

Known issues and warnings

When the first note on a staff is a grace note followed by a tuplet the grace note must be placed before the \times command to avoid errors. Anywhere else, grace notes may be placed within tuplet brackets.

Scaling durations

You can alter the duration of single notes, rests or chords by a fraction N/M by appending *N/M (or *N if M is 1) to the duration. This will not affect the appearance of the notes or rests produced, but the altered duration will be used in calculating the position within the measure and setting the duration in the MIDI output. Multiplying factors may be combined such as *L*M/N.

In the following example, the first three notes take up exactly two beats, but no triplet bracket is printed.

\time 2/4
% Alter durations to triplets
a4*2/3 gis4*2/3 a4*2/3
% Normal durations
a4 a4
% Double the duration of chord
<a d>4*2
% Duration of quarter, appears like sixteenth
b16*4 c4

The duration of skip or spacing notes may also be modified by a multiplier. This is useful for skipping many measures, e.g., s1*23.

Longer stretches of music may be compressed by a fraction in the same way, as if every note, chord or rest had the fraction as a multiplier. This leaves the appearance of the music unchanged but the internal duration of the notes will be multiplied by the fraction num/den. The spaces around the dot are required. Here is an example showing how music can be compressed and expanded:

\time 2/4
% Normal durations
<c a>4 c8 a
% Scale music by *2/3
\scaleDurations #'(2 . 3) {
  <c a f>4. c8 a f
}
% Scale music by *2
\scaleDurations #'(2 . 1) {
  <c' a>4 c8 b
}

One application of this command is in polymetric notation, see Polymetric notation.

Ties

A tie connects two adjacent note heads of the same pitch. The tie in effect extends the duration of a note.

Note: Ties should not be confused with slurs, which indicate articulation, or phrasing slurs, which indicate musical phrasing. A tie is just a way of extending a note duration, similar to the augmentation dot.

A tie is entered using the tilde symbol ~

e'2 ~ e'

Ties are used either when the note crosses a bar line, or when dots cannot be used to denote the rhythm. Ties should also be used when note values cross larger subdivisions of the measure:

If you need to tie many notes across bar lines, it may be easier to use automatic note splitting, see Automatic note splitting. This mechanism automatically splits long notes, and ties them across bar lines.

When a tie is applied to a chord, all note heads whose pitches match are connected. When no note heads match, no ties will be created. Chords may be partially tied by placing the tie inside the chord.

<c e g> ~ <c e g>
<c~ e g~ b> <c e g b>

When a second alternative of a repeat starts with a tied note, you have to specify the repeated tie as follows:

\repeat volta 2 { c g <c e>2 ~ }
\alternative {
  % First alternative: following note is tied normally
  { <c e>2. r4 }
  % Second alternative: following note has a repeated tie
  { <c e>2\repeatTie d4 c } }

L.v. ties (laissez vibrer) indicate that notes must not be damped at the end. It is used in notation for piano, harp and other string and percussion instruments. They can be entered as follows:

<c f g>1\laissezVibrer

The vertical placement of ties may be controlled, see Predefined commands, or for details, see Direction and placement.

Solid, dotted or dashed ties may be specified, see Predefined commands.

Predefined commands

\tieUp, \tieDown, \tieNeutral, \tieDotted, \tieDashed, \tieSolid.

Selected Snippets

Using ties with arpeggios

Ties are sometimes used to write out arpeggios. In this case, two tied notes need not be consecutive. This can be achieved by setting the tieWaitForNote property to "true". The same feature is also useful, for example, to tie a tremolo to a chord, but in principle, it can also be used for ordinary consecutive notes, as demonstrated in this example.

\relative c' {
  \set tieWaitForNote = ##t
  \grace { c16[~ e~ g]~ } <c, e g>2
  \repeat tremolo 8 { c32~ c'~ } <c c,>1
  e8~ c~ a~ f~ <e' c a f>2
  \tieUp c8~ a \tieDown \tieDotted g~ c g2
}

Engraving ties manually

Ties may be engraved manually by changing the tie-configuration property of the TieColumn object. The first number indicates the distance from the center of the staff in staff-spaces, and the second number indicates the direction (1 = up, -1 = down).

\relative c' {
  <c e g>2 ~ <c e g>
  \override TieColumn #'tie-configuration =
    #'((0.0 . 1) (-2.0 . 1) (-4.0 . 1))
  <c e g> ~ <c e g>
}

Known issues and warnings

Switching staves when a tie is active will not produce a slanted tie.

Changing clefs or octavations during a tie is not really well-defined. In these cases, a slur may be preferable.

1.2.2 Writing rests

Rests are entered as part of the music in music expressions.

Rests

Rests are entered like notes with the note name r. Durations longer than a whole rest use the predefined commands shown:

\new Staff {
  % These two lines are just to prettify this example
  \time 16/1
  \override Staff.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
  % Print a maxima rest, equal to four breves
  r\maxima
  % Print a longa rest, equal to two breves
  r\longa
  % Print a breve rest
  r\breve
  r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128
}

Whole measure rests, centered in the middle of the measure, must be entered as multi-measure rests. They can be used for a single measure as well as many measures and are discussed in Full measure rests.

To explicitly specify a rest’s vertical position, write a note followed by \rest. A rest of the duration of the note will be placed at the staff position where the note would appear. This allows for precise manual formatting of polyphonic music, since the automatic rest collision formatter will not move these rests.

a4\rest d4\rest

Selected Snippets

Rest styles

Rests may be used in various styles.

\layout {
  indent = 0.0
  \context {
    \Staff
    \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
  }
}

\relative c {
  \set Score.timing = ##f
  \override Staff.Rest  #'style = #'mensural
  r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { mensural }
  r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 r128
  \bar ""
  
  \override Staff.Rest  #'style = #'neomensural
  r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { neomensural }
  r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 r128
  \bar ""
  
  \override Staff.Rest  #'style = #'classical
  r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { classical }
  r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 r128
  \bar ""
  
  \override Staff.Rest  #'style = #'default
  r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { default }
  r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 r128
}

Known issues and warnings

There is no fundamental limit to rest durations (both in terms of longest and shortest), but the number of glyphs is limited: there are rests from 128th to maxima (8 x whole).

Invisible rests

An invisible rest (also called a ‘spacer rest’) can be entered like a note with the note name s:

c4 c s c
s2 c

Spacer rests are available only in note mode and chord mode. In other situations, for example, when entering lyrics, \skip is used to skip a musical moment. \skip requires an explicit duration.

<<
  {
    a2 \skip2 a2 a2
  }
  \new Lyrics {
    \lyricmode {
      foo2 \skip 1 bla2
    }
  }
>>

A spacer rest implicitly causes Staff and Voice contexts to be created if none exist, just like notes and rests do:

s1 s s

\skip simply skips musical time; it creates no output of any kind.

% This is valid input, but does nothing
\skip 1 \skip1 \skip 1

Full measure rests

Rests for one or more full measures are entered like notes with the note name uppercase R:

% Rest measures contracted to single measure
\compressFullBarRests
R1*4
R1*24
R1*4
b2^"Tutti" b4 a4

The duration of full-measure rests is identical to the duration notation used for notes. The duration in a multi-measure rest must always be an integral number of measure-lengths, so augmentation dots or fractions must often be used:

\compressFullBarRests
\time 2/4
R1 | R2 |
\time 3/4
R2. | R2.*2 |
\time 13/8
R1*13/8 | R1*13/8*12 |
\time 10/8
R4*5*4 |

A full-measure rest is printed as either a whole or breve rest, centered in the measure, depending on the time signature.

\time 4/4
R1 |
\time 6/4
R1*3/2 |
\time 8/4
R1*2 |

By default a multi-measure rest is expanded in the printed score to show all the rest measures explicitly. Alternatively, a mult-measure rest can be shown as a single measure containing a multi-measure rest symbol, with the number of measures of rest printed above the measure:

% Default behavior
\time 3/4 r2. | R2.*2 |
\time 2/4 R2 |
\time 4/4
% Rest measures contracted to single measure
\compressFullBarRests
r1 | R1*17 | R1*4 |
% Rest measures expanded
\expandFullBarRests
\time 3/4
R2.*2 |

Markups can be added to multi-measure rests. The predefined command \fermataMarkup is provided for adding fermatas.

\compressFullBarRests
\time 3/4
R2.*10^\markup { \italic "ad lib." }
R2.^\fermataMarkup

Note: Markups attached to a multi-measure rest are objects of type MultiMeasureRestText, not TextScript. Overrides must be directed to the correct object, or they will be ignored. See the following example.

% This fails, as the wrong object name is specified
\override TextScript #'padding = #5
R1^"wrong"
% This is correct and works
\override MultiMeasureRestText #'padding = #5
R1^"right"

When a multi-measure rest immediately follows a \partial setting, resulting bar-check warnings may not be displayed.

Predefined commands

\textLengthOn, \textLengthOff, \fermataMarkup, \compressFullBarRests, \expandFullBarRests.

Selected Snippets

Changing form of multi-measure rests

If there are ten or fewer measures of rests, a series of longa and breve rests (called in German "Kirchenpausen" - church rests) is printed within the staff; otherwise a simple line is shown. This default number of ten may be changed by overriding the expand-limit property:

\relative c'' {
  \compressFullBarRests
  R1*2 | R1*5 | R1*9
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'expand-limit = #3
  R1*2 | R1*5 | R1*9
}

Positioning multi-measure rests

Unlike ordinary rests, there is no predefined command to change the staff position of a multi-measure rest symbol of either form by attaching it to a note. However, in polyphonic music multi-measure rests in odd-numbered and even-numbered voices are vertically separated. The positioning of multi-measure rests can be controlled as follows:

\relative c'' {
  % Multi-measure rests by default are set under the second line
  R1
  % They can be moved with an override
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #-2
  R1
  % A value of 0 is the default position;
  % the following trick moves the rest to the center line
  \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #-0.01
  R1
  % Multi-measure rests in odd-numbered voices are under the top line
  << { R1 } \\ { a1 } >>
  % Multi-measure rests in even-numbered voices are under the bottom line
  << { c1 } \\ { R1 } >>
  % They remain separated even in empty measures
  << { R1 } \\ { R1 } >>
  % This brings them together even though there are two voices
  \compressFullBarRests
  <<
    \revert MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position
    { R1*3 }
    \\
    \revert MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position
    { R1*3 }
  >>
}

Multi-measure rest markup

Markups attached to a multi-measure rest will be centered above or below it. Long markups attached to multi-measure rests do not cause the measure to expand. To expand a multi-measure rest to fit the markup, use a spacer rest with an attached markup before the multi-measure rest.

Note that the spacer rest causes a bar line to be inserted. Text attached to a spacer rest in this way is left-aligned to the position where the note would be placed in the measure, but if the measure length is determined by the length of the text, the text will appear to be centered.

\relative c' {
  \compressFullBarRests
  \textLengthOn
  s1*0^\markup { [MAJOR GENERAL] }
  R1*19
  s1*0_\markup { \italic { Cue: ... it is yours } }
  s1*0^\markup { A }
  R1*30^\markup { [MABEL] }
  \textLengthOff
  c4^\markup { CHORUS } d f c
}

Known issues and warnings

If an attempt is made to use fingerings (e.g., R1*10-4) to put numbers over multi-measure rests, the fingering numeral (4) may collide with the bar counter numeral (10).

There is no way to automatically condense multiple ordinary rests into a single multi-measure rest.

Multi-measure rests do not take part in rest collisions.

1.1 Pitches		Writing and display the pitches of notes.
1.2 Rhythms		Writing and displaying the durations of notes.
1.3 Expressive marks		Adding expression to notes.
1.4 Repeats		Repeat music.
1.5 Simultaneous notes		More than one note at once.
1.6 Staff notation		Displaying staves.
1.7 Editorial annotations		Special notation to increase legibility.
1.8 Text		Adding text to scores.

1.2.1 Writing rhythms
1.2.2 Writing rests
1.2.3 Displaying rhythms
1.2.4 Beams
1.2.5 Bars
1.2.6 Special rhythmic concerns

Time signature
Upbeats
Unmetered music
Polymetric notation
Automatic note splitting
Showing melody rhythms

GNU LilyPond — Notation Reference

The music typesetter

1. Musical notation

1.1 Pitches

1.1.1 Writing pitches

Absolute octave entry

See also

Relative octave entry

See also

Known issues and warnings

Accidentals

Selected Snippets

See also

Known issues and warnings

Note names in other languages

See also

1.1.2 Changing multiple pitches

Octave checks

See also

Transpose

Selected Snippets

See also

Known issues and warnings

1.1.3 Displaying pitches

Clef

Selected Snippets

See also

Key signature

Selected Snippets

See also

Ottava brackets

Selected Snippets

See also

Instrument transpositions

See also

Automatic accidentals

Selected Snippets

See also

Known issues and warnings

Ambitus

Selected Snippets

See also

Known issues and warnings

1.1.4 Note heads

Special note heads

See also

Easy notation note heads

Predefined commands

See also

Shape note heads

Predefined commands

Selected Snippets

See also

Improvisation

Predefined commands

See also

1.2 Rhythms

1.2.1 Writing rhythms

Durations

Predefined commands

See also

Known issues and warnings

Tuplets

Predefined commands

Selected Snippets

See also

Known issues and warnings

Scaling durations

See also

Ties

Predefined commands

Selected Snippets

See also

Known issues and warnings

1.2.2 Writing rests

Rests

Selected Snippets

See also

Known issues and warnings

Invisible rests