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1.3.1.1 Articulations and ornamentations

A variety of symbols can appear above and below notes to indicate different characteristics of the performance. All these symbols can be attached to a note using the syntax note\name.

The possible values for name are listed in List of articulations.

Some of these articulations have shorthands for easier entry. Shorthands are appended to the note name, and their syntax consists of a dash (-) followed by a symbol signifying the articulation. The available shorthands are:

and their corresponding output:

     
     c4-^  c-+  c--  c-|
     c->   c-.  c-_

[image of music]

The marks are automatically placed, but the direction can be forced as well. Like other pieces of LilyPond code, _ will place them below the staff, and ^ will place them above. This applies both to the shorthands and the fully named articulations. For the shorthands, the dash itself should be omitted; the direction signs replace it:

     
     c4^^ c4_^
     c\fermata c^\fermata c_\fermata

[image of music]

Selected Snippets

The shorthands are defined in ly/script-init.ly, where the variables dashHat, dashPlus, dashDash, dashBar, dashLarger, dashDot, and dashUnderscore are assigned default values. The default values for the shorthands can be modified. For example, to associate the -+ (dashPlus) shorthand with the trill symbol instead of the default + symbol, assign the value trill to the variable dashPlus:

     
     \relative c'' { c-+ }
     dashPlus = "trill"
     \relative c'' { c-+ }

[image of music]

The vertical ordering of scripts is controlled with the script-priority property. The lower this number, the closer it will be put to the note. In this example, the TextScript (the sharp symbol) first has the lowest priority, so it is put lowest in the first example. In the second, the prall trill (the Script) has the lowest, so it is on the inside. When two objects have the same priority, the order in which they are entered decides which one comes first.

     
     \once \override TextScript #'script-priority = #-100
     a4^\prall^\markup { \sharp }
     
     \once \override Script #'script-priority = #-100
     a4^\prall^\markup { \sharp }

[image of music]

See also

Snippets: Expressive

Internals Reference: Script, TextScript.

Known issues and warnings

These signs appear in the printed output but have no effect on the MIDI rendering of the music.


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