GNU LilyPond

-- --

More basics

We continue with the introduction of the remaining musical constructs. Normal rests are entered just like notes with the name "r":

          r2 r4 r8 r16
          

To raise a note by an octave, add a high quote ' (apostrophe) to the note name, to lower a note one octave, add a "low quote" , (a comma). Middle C is c':

          c'4 c'' c''' \clef bass c c,
          

A tie is created by entering a tilde "~" between the notes to be tied. A tie between two notes means that the second note must not be played separately; it just makes the first note sound longer:

          g'4 ~ g' a'2 ~ a'4
          

The key signature is set with the command "\key". One caution: you need to specify whether the key is \major or \minor.

          \key d \major
          g'1
          \key c \minor
          g'
          

This example shows notes, ties, octave marks, and rests in action.

          \score {
            \notes {
              \time 4/4
              \key d \minor
              \clef violin
              r4 r8 d''8 cis''4 e''
              d''8 a'4. ~ a' b'8
              cis''4 cis''8 cis'' bis'4 d''8 cis'' ~
              cis''2 r2
            }
            \paper { }
          }
          

There are some interesting points to note in this example. Accidentals (sharps and flats) don't have to be marked explicitly: you just enter the note name, and LilyPond determines whether or not to print an accidental. Bar lines and beams are drawn automatically. LilyPond calculates line breaks for you; it doesn't matter where you make new lines in the source file. Finally, the order of time, key and clef changes is not relevant: lilypond will use standard notation conventions for ordering these items.

The example also indicates that a piece of music written in a high register needs lots of quotes. This makes the input less readable, and is also a potential source of errors.

The solution is to use "relative octave" mode. In practice, this is the most convenient way to copy existing music. To use relative mode, add \relative before the piece of music. You must also give a note from which relative starts, in this case c''. If you don't use octavation quotes (ie don't add ' or , after a note), relative mode chooses the note that is closest to the previous one. Since most music has small intervals, you can write quite a lot in relative mode without using octavation quotes. For example: c f goes up; c g goes down:

          \relative c'' {
            c f c g c
          }
          

You can make larger intervals by adding octavation quotes. Note that quotes or commas do not determine the absolute height of a note; the height of a note is relative to the previous one. For example: c f, goes down; f, f are both the same; c' c are the same; and c g' goes up:

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

Here's an example of the difference between relative mode and "normal" (non-relative) mode:

          \relative a {
          \clef bass
            a d a e d c' d'
          }
          

          \clef bass
            a d a e d c' d'
          

SUMMARY

The following table summarizes the syntax learned so far in this section.

Syntax	Description	Example
r4 r8	rest
~	tie
\key es \major	key signature
note'	raise octave
note,	lower octave

A slur is drawn across many notes, and indicates bound articulation (legato). The starting note and ending note are marked with a "(" and a ")" respectively:

          d4( )c16( cis d e c cis d )e( )d4
          

If you need two slurs at the same time (one for articulation, one for phrasing), you can also make a phrasing slur with \( and \).

          a8(\( ais b ) c cis2 b'2 a4 cis, \) c
          

Beams are drawn automatically, but if you don't like the choices, you can enter beams by hand. Surround the notes to be grouped with [ and ]:

          [a8 ais] [d es r d]
          

To print more than one staff, each piece of music that makes up a staff is marked by adding \context Staff before it. These Staff's are then grouped inside < and >, as is demonstrated here:

          <
            \context Staff = staffA { \clef violin c'' }
            \context Staff = staffB { \clef bass c }
          >
          

In this example, staffA and staffB are names that are given to the staves. It doesn't matter what names you give, as long as each staff has a different name.

We can now typeset a melody with two staves:

          \score {
            \notes
            < \context Staff = staffA {
                \time 3/4
                \clef violin
                \relative c'' { e2 ( d4 c2 b4 [a8 a] [b b] [g g] )a2. }
              }
              \context Staff = staffB {
                 \clef bass
                 c2 e4  g2.
                 f4 e d c2.
              }
            >
            \paper {}
          }
          

Notice that the time signature is specified in one melody staff only (the top staff), but is printed on both. LilyPond knows that the time signature should be the same for all staves.

Common accents can be added to a note using -., --, ->:

          c-. c-- c->
          

Dynamic signs are made by adding the markings to the note:

          c-\ff c-\mf
          

Crescendi and decrescendi are started with the commands \< and \>. The command \! finishes a crescendo on the following note.

          c2\<  \!c2-\ff  \>c2  \!c2
          

Chords can be made by surrounding notes with < and >:

          r4 <c e g> <c f a>
          

You can combine beams and ties with chords. Beam and tie markings must be placed outside the chord markers:

          r4 [<c8 e g> <c8 f a>] ~ <c8 f a>
          

When you want to combine chords with slurs and dynamics, technical detail crops up: you have type these commands next to the notes, which means that they have to be inside the < >. Don't get confused by the chord < > and the dynamic \< \>!

          r4 <c8 e g \> ( > <c e g> <c e g>  < ) \! c8 f a>
          

There is one caution when using chords: if you use a chord at the very beginning of the piece, LilyPond might not understand what you want:

          \score { \notes <c'2 e'2> }
          

If you have a piece that begins with a chord, you must explicitly state that the notes of the chord are to be put on the same staff, in the same voice. This is done by specifying \context Staff or \context Voice for the notes:

          \score { \notes \context Voice <c'2 e'2> }
          

SUMMARY

Syntax	Description	Example
( )	slur
\( \)	phrasing slur
[ ]	beam
< \context Staff ... >	more staffs
-> -.	articulations
-\mf -\sfz	dynamics
\< \!	crescendo
\> \!	decrescendo
< >	chord

Now you know the basic ingredients of a music file, so this is the right moment to try your at hand at doing it yourself: try typing some simple examples, and experiment a little.

When you're comfortable with the basics, you might want to read the rest of this chapter. It continues in tutorial-style, but it is much more in-depth, dealing with more advanced topics such as lyrics, chords, orchestral scores and parts, fine tuning of output, polyphonic music, and integrating text and music.

Please send GNU LilyPond questions and comments to lilypond-user@gnu.org.

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Copyright (c) 1997--2002 Han-Wen Nienhuys and Jan Nieuwenhuizen.

Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.