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1.2.2.3 Full measure rests

Rests for one or more full measures are entered using R followed by a duration (see Durations). The duration should correspond to an integral number of measures, otherwise a barcheck warning is printed. A multi-measure rest is used principally to indicate that a part in a multi-part score should be silent:

     
     \set Score.skipBars = ##t
     R1*4
     R1*24
     R1*4
     b2^"Tutti" b4 a4

[image of music]

A multi-measure rest can be expanded in the printed score to show all the rest measures explicitly, or, as above, it can be condensed to a single measure containing a multi-measure rest symbol, with the number of measures of rest printed above the measure. This expansion is controlled by the property Score.skipBars. If this is set to true, empty measures will be condensed to a single measure.

     
     \time 4/4 r1 | R1 | R1*2 | 
     \time 2/4 R2 | 
     \time 4/4
     \set Score.skipBars = ##t 
     R1*17 | R1*4 |

[image of music]

The 1 in R1 is similar to the duration notation used for notes and is the length of a measure in 2/2 or 4/4 time. The duration in a multi-measure rest must always be an integral number of measure-lengths, so in other time signatures augmentation dots or fractions must be used:

     
     \set Score.skipBars = ##t
     \time 3/4
     R2. | R2.*2
     \time 13/8
     R1*13/8 | R1*13/8*12 |
     \time 10/8 
     R4*5*4 |

[image of music]

An R spanning a single measure is printed as either a whole or breve rest, centered in the measure, regardless of the time signature.

If there are 10 or fewer measures of rest, LilyPond prints a series of longa and breve rests (called in German Kirchenpausen - ‘church rests’) within the staff and prints a simple line otherwise. This default number of 10 may be changed by overriding MultiMeasureRest.expand-limit.

     
     \set Score.skipBars = ##t
     R1*2 | R1*5 | R1*9
     \override MultiMeasureRest #'expand-limit = 3
     R1*2 | R1*5 | R1*9

[image of music]

Note that unlike ordinary rests, the vertical position on the staff of the multi-measure rest symbol of either form cannot be changed.

Text can be added to multi-measure rests by using the note-markup syntax described in Text markup. The variable \fermataMarkup is provided for adding fermatas.

     
     \set Score.skipBars = ##t
     \time 3/4
     R2.*10^\markup { \italic "ad lib." }
     R2.^\fermataMarkup

[image of music]

Note: Text attached to a multi-measure rest is created by MultiMeasureRestText, not TextScript. Overrides must be directed to the correct object, or they will be ignored. See the following example.

     
     \override TextScript #'padding = #5
     R1^"low"
     \override MultiMeasureRestText #'padding = #5
     R1^"high"

[image of music]

Text attached to a multi-measure rest will be centered above or below it. Long text attached in this way does not cause the measure to expand, and may collide with text in adjacent measures. Long text is better attached to a zero-length skip note preceding the rest, preceded by \textLengthOn (turn off again with \textLengthOff), since this will cause the measure to expand to accommodate the length of the text:

     
     \set Score.skipBars = ##t
     \textLengthOn
     s1*0^\markup {[MAJOR GENERAL]}
     R1*19
     s1*0^\markup {[MABEL] }
     s1*0_\markup {\italic {Cue: ... it is yours}}
     R1*30
     \textLengthOff
     c4^\markup {CHORUS} d f c

[image of music]

Text attached to a skip note in this way is left-aligned to the position where the note would be placed in the bar, and placed above the bar count numeral, but because the bar length is determined by the length of the text, the text will appear to be centered. If two (or more) texts are attached to skip notes in a bar the bar length is determined by the longer text, and the shorter text is then clearly left-aligned, as shown in the second bar above. If the shorter text of two marks is short enough to fit it will be placed alongside and to the left of the bar count numeral.

See also

Notation Reference: Durations, Text, Text markup, Text scripts.

Snippets: Rhythms

Internals Reference: MultiMeasureRest.

The layout object MultiMeasureRestNumber is for the default number, and MultiMeasureRestText for user specified texts.

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 rests into a single multi-measure rest. Multi-measure rests do not take part in rest collisions.

Be careful when entering multi-measure rests followed by whole notes. The following will enter two notes lasting four measures each:

R1*4 cis cis


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