How to show an empty chord in an anacrusus

Question

I'm using Lilypond 2.19.55. I have an anacrusis. The staff and lyrics are fine. How do I define an empty place for a chord? If I don't, lilypond complains. If I use f4, it complains at the c:7 because it does not have enough beats. If I put r4, it turns into N.C.

Due to this issue, it causes the g1:m mis-align with the G note in the 2nd ending.

Here is my complete code:

\version "2.19.55"
\language "english"
\score {
  <<

  \new ChordNames {
    \chordmode {
      f4 | f1 | c:/e | a:7 | d2:m 
      f/c | bf1 | f:/a | ef | c:7 |
      g1:m | f
    }
  }

  \new Staff {
    \new Voice = "myVoice" {
      \relative c' {
        \key f \major
        \time 4/4
        \partial 4
        \repeat volta 2 {
          f8 g | a4. c,8 c4 a' | g2. e8 f | g4. a,8 a4 g' | f2.
          f8 e | d2. f4 | c2. f8 a | 
        }
        \alternative {
          { g2. f4 | g2.}
          { g2. (f4) | f2. }
        }
      }
    }
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "myVoice" {
    This is a word a word a word a word a word a word a word a word 
    a word a word a word
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "myVoice" {
    This is a word a word a word a word a word a word a word a word 
    a word a 
    \repeat unfold 3 { \skip 1 }
    new ending
  }

  >>

}

lilybin is http://www.lilybin.com/ffs8ow/2

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 08 '17 at 23:12

Use s4 or \skip 4 instead of r4, then Lilipond will print nothing above the anacrusis.

About the bar line check, it's a notation problem. It's not common to put the anacrusis inside the volta. The best is to repeat the anacrusis at the end of first ending, like this:

\language "english"
\score {
  <<

  \new ChordNames {
    \chordmode {
      s4 | f1 | c:/e | a:7 | d2:m 
      f/c | bf1 | f:/a | ef | c:7 |
      g1:m | f
    }
  }

  \new Staff {
    \new Voice = "myVoice" {
      \relative c' {
        \key f \major
        \time 4/4
        \partial 4
          f8 g | 
          \repeat volta 2 { a4. c,8 c4 a' | g2. e8 f | g4. a,8 a4 g' | f2.
          f8 e | d2. f4 | c2. f8 a | 
        }
        \alternative {
          { g2. f4 | g2. f8 g }
          { g2. (f4) | f2. }
        }
      }
    }
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "myVoice" {
    This is a word a word a word a word a word a word a word a word 
    a word a word a word This is
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricsto "myVoice" {
    \repeat unfold 2 { \skip 1 } a word a word a word a word a word a word a word a word 
    a word a 
    \repeat unfold 5 { \skip 1 } 
    new ending
  }

  >>

}

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 08 '17 at 08:31

1

Nothing wrong with the anacrusis here, but you need to write c2.:7 | [...] in the \chordmode section or the c7 chord will hang into the second alternative.

With 2.19.55 (which you appear to use here) I think that the time keeping mechanism will not complain about bad bar checks. With older versions, this might require fudging around with the timing.

answered Mar 08 '17 at 08:31

Tried c2.:7 and it still gave me a warning: warning: barcheck failed at: 3/4 f/c | bf1 | f:/a | ef | c2.:7 | Re the anacrusis, I want no chords to be shown above. The first chord should be the `f1` above the note `a4`. The reason I put `f4` is because lilypond assume the chord starts in the first beat – xelat Mar 08 '17 at 22:22

How to show an empty chord in an anacrusus

2 Answers2