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Durations

In Note, Chord, and Lyrics mode, durations are designated by numbers and dots: durations are entered as their reciprocal values. For example, a quarter note is entered using a 4 (since it is a 1/4 note), while a half note is entered using a 2 (since it is a 1/2 note). For notes longer than a whole you must use variables:

     c'\breve
     c'1 c'2 c'4 c'8 c'16 c'32 c'64 c'64
     r\longa r\breve
     r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r64
     

[picture of music]

If the duration is omitted then it is set to the previously entered duration. The default for the first note is a quarter note. The duration can be followed by dots (`.') in order to obtain dotted note lengths:

       a' b' c''8 b' a'4 a'4. b'4.. c'8.
     

[picture of music]

You can alter the length of duration by a fraction N/M appending `*N/M' (or `*N' if M=1). This will not affect the appearance of the notes or rests produced. In the following example, the first three notes take up exactly two beats:

       \time 2/4
        a4*2/3 gis4*2/3 a4*2/3
        a4
     

[picture of music]

Predefined commands

Dots are normally moved up to avoid staff lines, except in polyphonic situations. The following commands may be used to force a particular direction manually:

\dotsUp, \dotsDown, \dotsBoth.

See also

Dots, and DotColumn.

Bugs

In dense chords, dots can overlap.


This page is for LilyPond-2.0.0 (stable-branch).

Report errors to <bug-lilypond@gnu.org>.