Octave entry - GNU LilyPond
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### 2.6 Octave entry

To raise a note by an octave, add a high quote `'` (apostrophe) to the note name, to lower a note one octave, add a `low quote' `,` (comma). Middle C is `c'`

>          c'4 c'' c''' \clef bass c c,

An example of the use of quotes is in the following Mozart fragment

>          \key a \major
>          \time 6/8
>          cis''8. d''16 cis''8 e''4 e''8
>          b'8. cis''16 b'8 d''4 d''8

This example shows that music in a high register needs lots of quotes. This makes the input less readable, and it is a source of errors. The solution is to use `relative octave' mode. This is the most convenient way to copy existing music.

In relative mode, a note without octavation quotes (i.e. the `'` or `,` after a note) is chosen so that it is closest to the previous one. For example, ``c f`' goes up while ``c g`' goes down.

To use relative mode, add `\relative` before the piece of music. The first note is taken relative to the middle C (i.e., `c'`)

>          \relative {
>            c' f c g c
>          }

Since most music has small intervals, pieces can be written almost without octavation quotes in relative mode. The previous example is entered as

>          \relative {
>            \key a \major
>            \time 6/8
>            cis'8. d16 cis8 e4 e8
>            b8. cis16 b8 d4 d8
>          }

Larger intervals are made by adding octavation quotes.

>          \relative c {
>            c'' f, f c' c g' c,
>          }

In summary, quotes or commas no longer determine the absolute height of a note in `\relative` mode. Rather, the height of a note is relative to the previous one, and changing the octave of a single note shifts all following notes an octave up or down.

For more information on relative octaves see Relative octaves, and Octave check.

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

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