Re: Using lyrics

[Don Blaheta]

Quoth Bryan Stanbridge:
> I've read TFM and yet I think I may not have the proper grasp on how to 
> use lyrics. Here's a small example to illustrate what I'm doing. 
> Hopefully I'm just making a simple mistake.
> 
> \version "2.7.35" % Windows XPSP2, Native install
> 
> \score {
>   \new Staff {
>     \context Voice = "mezzo" {c'1}
>     \lyricsto "mezzo" {lah }
>   }
> }
> 
> When I compile, I don't get any lyrics. If I explicitly set \lyricmode 
> before {lah }, I still get no lyrics. I must be missing something important.

A couple of things, actually, all conspiring together against you. :)
The first is the Lyrics context itself.  \lyricsto tells lilypond that
the next thing is in \lyricmode, but you still have to put that whole
expression into a Lyrics context for it to be laid out properly:

    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "mezzo" {lah }

Next, Lyrics contexts don't go inside Staffs; although some previous
versions allowed this in the input and silently put them in the right
place, it now appears that lilypond just silently ignores such things
instead.  So we remove it outside the Staff object.  Finally, since you
now have two things in "parallel", one atop the other (the Staff and the
Lyrics), you need to tell the score to arrange them that way instead of
sequentially by using the << >> notation.  The result is:

  \version "2.7.35"
  
  \score {
    <<
      \new Staff {
        \new Voice = "mezzo" {c'1}
      }
      \new Lyrics \lyricsto "mezzo" { lah }
    >>
    % a \layout block would go here if you had one
  }

I've also made one more change: a very new language feature allows
  \new Foo = "bar"
instead of 
  \context Foo = "bar"
for the first time you're instantiating a Foo.

Which brings me to another point: TFM is in flux, not always perfectly
up to date with the most recent version.  Now that you know what was
missing, it would be really helpful if you could tell us where you
looked for this information and it turned out to be incorrect or
missing.  Thanks!

-- 
-=-Don address@hidden<http://www.blahedo.org/>-=-
"Maureen Dowd once referred to Bill Clinton's sexual escapades in the
White House as "maladroit du seigneur," which infuriates me because I
didn't think of it."                                    --Eric Zorn