Info Catalog lilypond-learning: Adding titles lilypond-learning: Final touches lilypond-learning: After the tutorial

lilypond-learning: Absolute note names

 
 2.4.3 Absolute note names
 -------------------------
 
 So far we have always used ‘\relative’ to define pitches.  This is
 usually the fastest way to enter most music.  Without ‘\relative’,
 pitches are interpreted in absolute mode.
 
    In this mode, LilyPond treats all pitches as absolute values.  A ‘c'’
 will always mean middle C, a ‘b’ will always mean the note one step
 below middle C, and a ‘g,’ will always mean the note on the bottom staff
 of the bass clef.
 
      {
        \clef "bass"
        c'4 b g, g, |
        g,4 f, f c' |
      }
      [image src="" alt="[image of music]" text="image of music"]
 
    Here is a four-octave scale:
 
      {
        \clef "bass"
        c,4 d, e, f, |
        g,4 a, b, c |
        d4 e f g |
        a4 b c' d' |
        \clef "treble"
        e'4 f' g' a' |
        b'4 c'' d'' e'' |
        f''4 g'' a'' b'' |
        c'''1 |
      }
      [image src="" alt="[image of music]" text="image of music"]
 
    As you can see, writing a melody in the treble clef involves a lot of
 quote ‘'’ marks.  Consider this fragment from Mozart:
 
      {
        \key a \major
        \time 6/8
        cis''8. d''16 cis''8 e''4 e''8 |
        b'8. cis''16 b'8 d''4 d''8 |
      }
      [image src="" alt="[image of music]" text="image of music"]
 
    All these quotes makes the input less readable and they are a source
 of errors.  With ‘\relative’, the previous example is much easier to
 read and type:
 
      \relative c'' {
        \key a \major
        \time 6/8
        cis8. d16 cis8 e4 e8 |
        b8. cis16 b8 d4 d8 |
      }
      [image src="" alt="[image of music]" text="image of music"]
 
    If you make a mistake with an octave mark (‘'’ or ‘,’) while working
 in ‘\relative’ mode, it is very obvious – many notes will be in the
 wrong octave.  When working in absolute mode, a single mistake will not
 be as visible, and will not be as easy to find.
 
    However, absolute mode is useful for music which has large intervals,
 and is extremely useful for computer-generated LilyPond files.  When
 cutting and pasting melody fragments, absolute mode preserves the
 original octave.
 
    Sometimes music is arranged in more complex ways.  If you are using
 ‘\relative’ inside of ‘\relative’, the outer and inner relative sections
 are independent:
 
      \relative c { c'4 \relative c'' { f g } c }
      [image src="" alt="[image of music]" text="image of music"]
 
    If you are using absolute music inside of relative, you’ll need to
 mark the absolute music explicitly with ‘\absolute’ to stop it from
 becoming part of the relative music:
 
      \relative c { c'4 \absolute { f'' g'' } c }
      [image src="" alt="[image of music]" text="image of music"]
 

Info Catalog lilypond-learning: Adding titles lilypond-learning: Final touches lilypond-learning: After the tutorial