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To raise a note by an octave, add a high quote ' (apostrophe) to
the note name, to lower a note one octave, add a `low quote' ,
(comma). Middle C is c'
c'4 c'' c''' \clef bass c c,
An example of the use of quotes is in the following Mozart fragment
\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
This example shows that music in a high register needs lots of quotes. This makes the input less readable, and it is a source of errors. The solution is to use `relative octave' mode. This is the most convenient way to copy existing music.
In relative mode, a note without octavation quotes (i.e. the '
or , after a note) is chosen so that it is closest to the
previous one. For example, `c f' goes up while `c g' goes
down.
To use relative mode, add \relative before the piece of
music. The first note is taken relative to the middle C
(i.e., c')
\relative {
c' f c g c
}
Since most music has small intervals, pieces can be written almost without octavation quotes in relative mode. The previous example is entered as
\relative {
\key a \major
\time 6/8
cis'8. d16 cis8 e4 e8
b8. cis16 b8 d4 d8
}
Larger intervals are made by adding octavation quotes.
\relative c {
c'' f, f c' c g' c,
}
In summary, quotes or commas no longer determine the absolute height
of a note in \relative mode. Rather, the height of a note is
relative to the previous one, and changing the octave of a single note
shifts all following notes an octave up or down.
For more information on relative octaves see Relative octaves, and Octave check.
This page is for LilyPond-2.8.8 (stable-branch).