Re: non-relative relative mode?

[Kieren Richard MacMillan]

Hello, all --

> It's entirely predictable: if a note a up to a fourth from the previous
> one, you don't need a ' or a ,; otherwise, you need one (or more)
> comma or tick. What's the problem?

For me, it was a two-step discovery process:

1. Truly being comfortable with what was described above (i.e., when to 
use the tick given two consecutive pitches, especially tritones, etc.);
2. Understanding the rules regarding chords and simultaneous notes.

It's #2 in particular (I think?) that makes the \relative mode seem 
"unpredictable" until you are quite comfortable with the rules:

a. the first pitch following a chord uses the FIRST (i.e., not LAST) 
pitch written inside the chord (n.b., not necessarily the root!) as its 
"relative origin";
b. \simultaneous music works like non-\simultaneous music (i.e., the 
last pitch in a \simultaneous music set becomes the "relative origin" 
for the first pitch that follows the \simultaneous music set).

[Someone please correct me if I'm wrong -- this is off the top of my 
head, and I don't want to mislead and confuse newbies!]

However, I must agree that \relative mode is superior, once you have 
your own "Eureka!" moment with it!  =)

Best regards,
Kieren.