Octave check - GNU LilyPond
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#### 6.2.2 Octave check

Octave checks make octave errors easier to correct: a note may be followed by `=`quotes which indicates what its absolute octave should be. In the following example,

    \relative c'' { c='' b=' d,='' }

the `d` will generate a warning, because a `d''` is expected (because `b'` to `d''` is only a third), but a `d'` is found. In the output, the octave is corrected to be a `d''` and the next note is calculated relative to `d''` instead of `d'`.

There is also an octave check that produces no visible output. The syntax

    \octave pitch

This checks that pitch (without quotes) yields pitch (with quotes) in \relative mode. If not, a warning is printed, and the octave is corrected. The pitch is not printed as a note.

In the example below, the first check passes without incident, since the `e` (in relative mode) is within a fifth of `a'`. However, the second check produces a warning, since the `e` is not within a fifth of `b'`. The warning message is printed, and the octave is adjusted so that the following notes are in the correct octave once again.

    \relative c' {
      e
      \octave a'
      \octave b'
    }

The octave of a note following an octave check is determined with respect to the note preceding it. In the next fragment, the last note is an `a'`, above middle C. That means that the `\octave` check passes successfully, so the check could be deleted without changing the output of the piece.

>          \relative c' {
>            e
>            \octave b
>            a
>          }

This page is for LilyPond-2.8.8 (stable-branch).

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