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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
Relative octave entry
Accidentals
Note names in other languages

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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
  c4 d e f
  g4 a b c
  d4 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'4 e' g' c''
  c'4 g b c'
  \clef bass
  c,4 e, g, c
  c,4 g,, b,, c,
}

Common octave marks can be entered just once on a reference pitch after \fixed placed before the music. Pitches inside \fixed only need ' or , marks when they are above or below the octave of the reference pitch.

{
  \fixed c' {
    \clef treble
    c4 e g c'
    c4 g, b, c
  }
  \clef bass
  \fixed c, {
    c4 e g c'
    c4 g, b, c
  }
}

Pitches in the music expression following \fixed are unaffected by any enclosing \relative, discussed next.

See also

Music Glossary: Pitch names.

Snippets: Pitches.

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Relative octave entry

Absolute octave entry requires specifying the octave for every single note. Relative octave entry, in contrast, specifies each octave in relation to the last note: changing one note’s octave will affect all of the following notes.

Relative note mode has to be entered explicitly using the \relative command:

\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. Which choices are meaningful?

  an octave of c

  Identifying middle C with c' is quite basic, so finding octaves of c tends to be straightforward. If your music starts with gis above c''', you’d write something like \relative c''' { gis' … }

  an octave of the first note inside

  Writing \relative gis''' { gis … } makes it easy to determine the absolute pitch of the first note inside.

  no explicit starting pitch

  The form \relative { gis''' … } serves as a compact version of the previous option: the first note inside is written in absolute pitch itself. (This happens to be equivalent to choosing f as the reference pitch.)

  The documentation will usually employ the last option.

Here is the relative mode shown in action:

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

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

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

When \relative blocks are nested, the innermost \relative block starts with its own reference pitch independently of the outer \relative.

\relative {
  c' d e f
  \relative {
    c'' d e f
  }
}

\relative has no effect on \chordmode blocks.

\new Staff {
  \relative c''' {
    \chordmode { c1 }
  }
  \chordmode { c1 }
}

\relative is not allowed inside of \chordmode blocks.

Music inside a \transpose block is absolute unless a \relative is included.

\relative {
  d' e
  \transpose f g {
    d e
    \relative {
      d' e
    }
  }
}

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 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''2 fis
  c2 ges
  b2 eisis
  b2 feses
}

In complex situations, it is sometimes useful to get back to a certain pitch regardless of what happened before. This can be done using \resetRelativeOctave:

\relative {
  <<
    { c''2 d }
    \\
    { e,,2 f }
  >>
  \resetRelativeOctave c''
  c2
}

See also

Music Glossary: fifth, interval, Pitch names.

Notation Reference: Octave checks.

Snippets: Pitches.

Internals Reference: RelativeOctaveMusic.

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Accidentals

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.

\relative c'' { ais1 aes aisis aeses }

A natural pitch is entered as a simple note name; no suffix is required. A natural sign will be printed when needed to cancel the effect of an earlier accidental or key signature.

\relative c'' { a4 aes a2 }

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

\relative c'' { 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.

\relative c'' { cis cis cis! cis? c c c! c? }

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

\relative c'' {
  cis1~ 1~
  \break
  cis
}

Selected Snippets

Hiding accidentals on tied notes at the start of a new system

This shows how to hide accidentals on tied notes at the start of a new system.

\relative c'' {
  \override Accidental.hide-tied-accidental-after-break = ##t
  cis1~ cis~
  \break
  cis
}

Preventing extra naturals from being automatically added

In accordance with traditional typesetting rules, a natural sign is printed before a sharp or flat if a previous double sharp or flat on the same note is canceled. To change this behavior to contemporary practice, set the extraNatural property to f in the Staff context.

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

See also

Music Glossary: sharp, flat, double sharp, double flat, Pitch names, quarter tone.

Learning Manual: Pitches and key signatures.

Notation Reference: Automatic accidentals, Annotational accidentals (musica ficta), Note names in other languages.

Snippets: Pitches.

Internals Reference: Accidental_engraver, Accidental, AccidentalCautionary, accidental-interface.

Known issues and warnings

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

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Note names in other languages

There are predefined sets of note and accidental names for various other languages. Selecting the note name language is usually done at the beginning of the file; the following example is written using Italian note names:

\language "italiano"

\relative {
  do' re mi sib
}

The available languages and the note names they define are:

Language	Note Names
nederlands	c d e f g a bes b
català or  catalan	do re mi fa sol la sib si
deutsch	c d e f g a b h
english	c d e f g a bf/b-flat b
español or  espanol	do re mi fa sol la sib si
français	do ré/re mi fa sol la sib si
italiano	do re mi fa sol la sib si
norsk	c d e f g a b h
português or  portugues	do re mi fa sol la sib si
suomi	c d e f g a b h
svenska	c d e f g a b h
vlaams	do re mi fa sol la sib si

In addition to note names, accidental suffixes may also vary depending on the language:

Language	sharp	flat	double sharp	double flat
nederlands	is	es	isis	eses
català or  catalan	d/s	b	dd/ss	bb
deutsch	is	es	isis	eses
english	s/-sharp	f/-flat	ss/x/-sharpsharp	ff/-flatflat
español or  espanol	s	b	ss/x	bb
français	d	b	dd/x	bb
italiano	d	b	dd	bb
norsk	iss/is	ess/es	ississ/isis	essess/eses
português or  portugues	s	b	ss	bb
suomi	is	es	isis	eses
svenska	iss	ess	ississ	essess
vlaams	k	b	kk	bb

In Dutch, German, Norwegian, and Finnish, aes is contracted to as; in Dutch and Norwegian, however, both forms are accepted by LilyPond. Exactly the same holds for es and ees, aeses and ases, and finally eeses and eses.

In German and Finnish, LilyPond additionally provides the more frequent form asas for ases.

\relative c'' { a2 as e es a ases e eses }

Some music uses microtones whose alterations are fractions of a ‘normal’ sharp or flat. The following table lists note name suffixes for quarter tone accidentals; here the prefixes semi- and sesqui- respectively mean ‘half’ and ‘one and a half’.

Language	semi-sharp	semi-flat	sesqui-sharp	sesqui-flat
nederlands	ih	eh	isih	eseh
català or  catalan	qd/qs	qb	tqd/tqs	tqb
deutsch	ih	eh	isih	eseh
english	qs	qf	tqs	tqf
español or  espanol	cs	cb	tcs	tcb
français	sd	sb	dsd	bsb
italiano	sd	sb	dsd	bsb
norsk	ih	eh	issih/isih	esseh/eseh
português or  portugues	sqt	bqt	stqt	btqt
suomi	ih	eh	isih	eseh
svenska	ih	eh	issih	esseh
vlaams	hk	hb	khk	bhb

In German, there are similar name contractions for microtones as with normal pitches described above.

\language "deutsch"

\relative c'' { asah2 eh aih eisih }

Most languages presented here are commonly associated with Western classical music, also referred to as Common Practice Period. However, alternate pitches and tuning systems are also supported: see Common notation for non-Western music.

See also

Music Glossary: Pitch names, Common Practice Period.

Notation Reference: Common notation for non-Western music.

Installed Files: ‘scm/define-note-names.scm’.

Snippets: Pitches.

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