Re: Key and accidentals in Lilypond

[Simon G. P. Bailey]

hi,

On Fri, 2002-12-06 at 14:56, s.abeccara wrote:
> When I state a key for a piece in Lilypond I expect it to follow
> common rules for writing music, i.e. not to put natural signs on every
<---SNIP--->
> who know this (after all simple) solution.

this is a discussion that has been kicked around the list one or two
times in the last 6 months or so since i've been reading. 

lets assume that lilypond were to behave like you are suggesting. lets
go for an example in g major. all f's you then write in this piece of
music are implied f-sharps. 

but, how do you then write an f-natural if you happen to need one?

lilypond is a smart piece of software, and i think the approach han-wen
et al have chosen for writing the notes of a piece of music follow all
musical rules in the book. if i'm reading a piece in g major, then i
will read any note in the bottom space of the treble staff as an
f-sharp, not as an f. so i write "fis" for this note... :o)

i think that lilypond is behaving exactly as you are telling it to. you
are telling lilypond to print natural notes, regardless of key
signature, so it does. ;)

my two pence,

simon.