<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<!-- header_tag -->
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Aligning lyrics to a melody - GNU LilyPond Learning Manual</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="description" content="GNU LilyPond Learning Manual">
<meta name="generator" content="makeinfo 4.11">
<link title="Top" rel="start" href="index.html#Top">
<link rel="up" href="Songs.html#Songs" title="Songs">
<link rel="prev" href="Setting-simple-songs.html#Setting-simple-songs" title="Setting simple songs">
<link rel="next" href="Lyrics-to-multiple-staves.html#Lyrics-to-multiple-staves" title="Lyrics to multiple staves">
<link href="http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/" rel="generator-home" title="Texinfo Homepage">
<!--
Copyright (C) 1999--2007 by the authors
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation; with no Invariant Sections. A copy of the license is
included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
License''.
-->
<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css">
<style type="text/css"><!--
pre.display { font-family:inherit }
pre.format { font-family:inherit }
pre.smalldisplay { font-family:inherit; font-size:smaller }
pre.smallformat { font-family:inherit; font-size:smaller }
pre.smallexample { font-size:smaller }
pre.smalllisp { font-size:smaller }
span.sc { font-variant:small-caps }
span.roman { font-family:serif; font-weight:normal; }
span.sansserif { font-family:sans-serif; font-weight:normal; }
hr { border:0; height:1; color: #000000; background-color: #000000; }
/* hr {
border: none;
height: 1px;
color: #666666;
background-color: #666666;
}
body {
border-left: 1px solid #666666;
border-right: 1px solid #666666;
color: #332d28;
margin-right: auto;
margin-left: auto;
width: 60em;
list-style-type: square;
font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
padding-right: 1em;
padding-left: 1em;
}
a {
border-bottom: 1px dashed #344242;
text-decoration: none;
color: #344242;
}
a:link {
text-decoration: none;
}
a:visited {
border-bottom: 1px dashed #666666;
color: #666666;
}
a:active {
border-bottom: 1px solid #00cccc;
color: #00cccc;
}
a:hover {
border-bottom: 1px solid #1d7b85;
color: #1d7b85;
}
blockquote {
border: 1px solid #cccccc;
padding: 3px;
width: 40em;
}
.node {
border-left: 1px solid #666666;
margin: -0.5em 0px 1em;
padding: 2px 1px 0px;
font-style: italic;
}
.node a {
border: none;
text-decoration: underline;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: bold;
}
.verbatim {
font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;
}
.unnumberedsubsubsec {
font-size: large;
color: #1d7b85;
}
.subsubheading {
font-size: large;
color: #3b220d;
}
.contents {
border: 1px dashed #339999;
margin: 3px 2em;
list-style-type: square;
padding-right: 1em;
width: 40em;
background-color: #fcfff9;
}
.contents a {
border-bottom: 1px dashed #423d34;
text-decoration: none;
color: #423d34;
}
.contents a:visited {
border-bottom: 1px dashed #666666;
color: #666666;
}
.contents a:active {
border-bottom: 1px solid #f0d86d;
color: #f0d86d;
}
.contents a:hover {
border-bottom: 1px solid #3b220d;
color: #3b220d;
}
.menu {
border-left: 1px dashed #339999;
margin: 3px 2em 1em;
list-style-type: square;
padding-left: 1.4em;
width: 40em;
}
.unnumbered {
}
h2 {
font-size: x-large;
color: #1d7b85;
}
*/
--></style>
</head>
<BODY BGCOLOR=WHITE TEXT=BLACK>
<div class="node">
<p>
<a name="Aligning-lyrics-to-a-melody"></a>
Next: <a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="Lyrics-to-multiple-staves.html#Lyrics-to-multiple-staves">Lyrics to multiple staves</a>,
Previous: <a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="Setting-simple-songs.html#Setting-simple-songs">Setting simple songs</a>,
Up: <a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="Songs.html#Songs">Songs</a>
<hr>
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.4.2 Aligning lyrics to a melody</h4>
<p>Music Glossary: <a name="index-melisma-160"></a><a href="../music-glossary/melisma.html#melisma">melisma</a>, <a name="index-extender-line-161"></a><a href="../music-glossary/extender-line.html#extender-line">extender line</a>.
<p><a name="index-melisma-162"></a><a name="index-extender-line-163"></a><a name="index-hyphens-164"></a><a name="index-underscore-165"></a>
The next line in the nursery rhyme is <var>The moon doth
shine as bright as day</var>. Let's extend it:
<blockquote>
<pre class="verbatim">
<<
\relative c'' {
\key g \major
\time 6/8
d4 b8 c4 a8 d4 b8 g4
g8 a4 b8 c b a d4 b8 g4.
}
\addlyrics {
Girls and boys come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day;
}
>>
</pre>
<p>
<a href="../06/lily-1c6f257d.ly">
<img align="middle"
border="0" src="../06/lily-1c6f257d.png" alt="[image of music]">
</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We see the extra lyrics do not align properly with the notes. The
word <var>shine</var> should be sung on two notes, not one. This
is called a <var>melisma</var>, a single syllable sung to more
than one note. There are several ways to spread a syllable over
multiple notes, the simplest being to add a slur across them, for
details, see <a href="Ties-and-slurs.html#Ties-and-slurs">Ties and slurs</a>:
<blockquote>
<pre class="verbatim">
<<
\relative c'' {
\key g \major
\time 6/8
d4 b8 c4 a8 d4 b8 g4
g8 a4 b8 c( b) a d4 b8 g4.
}
\addlyrics {
Girls and boys come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day;
}
>>
</pre>
<p>
<a href="../29/lily-e7bc09ce.ly">
<img align="middle"
border="0" src="../29/lily-e7bc09ce.png" alt="[image of music]">
</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The words now line up correctly with the notes, but the automatic
beaming for the notes above <var>shine as</var> does not look right.
We can correct this by inserting manual beaming commands to override
the automatic beaming here, for details, see <a href="Automatic-and-manual-beams.html#Automatic-and-manual-beams">Automatic and manual beams</a>.
<blockquote>
<pre class="verbatim">
<<
\relative c'' {
\key g \major
\time 6/8
d4 b8 c4 a8 d4 b8 g4
g8 a4 b8 c([ b]) a d4 b8 g4.
}
\addlyrics {
Girls and boys come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day;
}
>>
</pre>
<p>
<a href="../c3/lily-b12a7a2d.ly">
<img align="middle"
border="0" src="../c3/lily-b12a7a2d.png" alt="[image of music]">
</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As an alternative to using slurs, the melismata may be indicated
in just the lyrics by using an underscore <code>_</code> for each note
that should be included in the melisma:
<blockquote>
<pre class="verbatim">
<<
\relative c'' {
\key g \major
\time 6/8
d4 b8 c4 a8 d4 b8 g4
g8 a4 b8 c[ b] a d4 b8 g4.
}
\addlyrics {
Girls and boys come out to play,
The moon doth shine _ as bright as day;
}
>>
</pre>
<p>
<a href="../4e/lily-7d988349.ly">
<img align="middle"
border="0" src="../4e/lily-7d988349.png" alt="[image of music]">
</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If a syllable extends over several notes or a single very long
note an <var>extender line</var> is usually drawn from the
syllable extending under all the notes for that syllable. It is
entered as two underscores <code>__</code>. Here is an example from the
first three bars of <var>Dido's Lament</var>, from Purcell's
<var>Dido and Æneas</var>:
<blockquote>
<pre class="verbatim">
<<
\relative c'' {
\key g \minor
\time 3/2
g2 a bes bes( a)
b c4.( bes8 a4. g8 fis4.) g8 fis1
}
\addlyrics {
When I am laid,
am laid __ in earth,
}
>>
</pre>
<p>
<a href="../a0/lily-3eec2836.ly">
<img align="middle"
border="0" src="../a0/lily-3eec2836.png" alt="[image of music]">
</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>None of the examples so far have involved words containing more
than one syllable. Such words are usually split one syllable to a
note, with hyphens between syllables. Such hyphens are entered as
two dashes, resulting in a centered hyphen between the syllables.
Here is an example showing this and everything we have learned so
far about aligning lyrics to notes.
<!-- no ragged-right here because otherwise the hyphens get lost, -->
<!-- but the example is long enough to avoid looking strange. -->
<blockquote>
<pre class="verbatim">
<<
\relative c' {
\key g \major
\time 3/4
\partial 4
d4 g4 g a8( b) g4 g4
b8( c) d4 d e4 c2
}
\addlyrics {
A -- way in a __ man -- ger,
no __ crib for a bed, __
}
>>
</pre>
<p>
<a href="../41/lily-48071704.ly">
<img align="middle"
border="0" src="../41/lily-48071704.png" alt="[image of music]">
</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some lyrics, especially those in Italian, require the opposite:
setting more than one syllable to a single note. This is
achieved by linking the syllables together with a single
underscore <code>_</code> (with no spaces), or enclosing them in quotes.
Here's an example from Rossini's <var>Figaro</var>, where
<var>al</var> has to be sung on the same note as the <var>go</var> of
<var>Largo</var> in Figaro's aria <var>Largo al factotum</var>:
<!-- no ragged-right here because otherwise the hyphens get lost, -->
<!-- but the example is long enough to avoid looking strange. -->
<blockquote>
<pre class="verbatim">
<<
\relative c' {
\clef bass
\key c \major
\time 6/8
c4.~ c8 d b c([ d]) b c d b c
}
\addlyrics {
Lar -- go_al fac -- to -- tum del -- la cit -- tà
}
>>
</pre>
<p>
<a href="../ac/lily-4ddbcc05.ly">
<img align="middle"
border="0" src="../ac/lily-4ddbcc05.png" alt="[image of music]">
</a>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="noindent">
<h5 class="subsubheading">See also</h5>
<p class="indent">
<p>Notation Reference: <a name="index-Vocal-music-166"></a><a href="../lilypond/Vocal-music.html#Vocal-music">Vocal music</a>.
<!-- footer_tag --><br><hr>
<div class="node">
<p>
Next: <a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="Lyrics-to-multiple-staves.html#Lyrics-to-multiple-staves">Lyrics to multiple staves</a>,
Previous: <a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="Setting-simple-songs.html#Setting-simple-songs">Setting simple songs</a>,
Up: <a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="Songs.html#Songs">Songs</a>
</div>
<div style="background-color: #e8ffe8; padding: 2; border: #c0ffc0 1px solid;">
<p>
<font size="-1">
This page is for LilyPond-2.11.57 (development-branch).
<br>
<address>
Report errors to <a href="http://post.gmane.org/post.php?group=gmane.comp.gnu.lilypond.bugs">http://post.gmane.org/post.php?group=gmane.comp.gnu.lilypond.bugs</a>. </address>
<br>
Your <a href="http://lilypond.org/web/devel/participating/documentation-adding">suggestions for the documentation</a> are welcome.
</font>
</p>
</div>
<P>
Other languages: <a href="Aligning-lyrics-to-a-melody.fr.html">français</a>, <a href="Aligning-lyrics-to-a-melody.es.html">español</a>, <a href="Aligning-lyrics-to-a-melody.de.html">deutsch</a>.
<BR>
</P>
</BODY></html>
