1.2.2 Writing rests
Rests are entered as part of the music in music expressions.
Rests
Rests are entered like notes with the note name r.
Durations longer than a whole rest use the following predefined
commands:
\new Staff {
% These two lines are just to prettify this example
\time 16/1
\omit Staff.TimeSignature
% Print a maxima rest, equal to four breves
r\maxima
% Print a longa rest, equal to two breves
r\longa
% Print a breve rest
r\breve
r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128
}
Whole measure rests, centered in the middle of the measure, must be entered as multi-measure rests. They can be used for a single measure as well as many measures and are discussed in Full measure rests.
To explicitly specify a rest’s vertical position, write a note
followed by \rest. A rest of the duration of the note will
be placed at the staff position where the note would appear. This
allows for precise manual formatting of polyphonic music, since the
automatic rest collision formatter will not move these rests.
\relative { a'4\rest d4\rest }
Selected Snippets
Rest styles
Rests may be used in various styles.
\new Staff \relative c {
\omit Score.TimeSignature
\cadenzaOn
\override Staff.Rest.style = #'mensural
r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { mensural }
r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 s32 s64 s128 s128
\bar ""
\break
\override Staff.Rest.style = #'neomensural
r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { neomensural }
r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 s32 s64 s128 s128
\bar ""
\break
\override Staff.Rest.style = #'classical
r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { classical }
r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 s128
\bar ""
\break
\override Staff.Rest.style = #'z
r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { z-style }
r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 s128
\bar ""
\break
\override Staff.Rest.style = #'default
r\maxima^\markup \typewriter { default }
r\longa r\breve r1 r2 r4 r8 r16 r32 r64 r128 s128
}
See also
Music Glossary: breve, longa, maxima.
Notation Reference: Full measure rests.
Snippets: Rhythms.
Internals Reference: Rest.
Known issues and warnings
There is no fundamental limit to rest durations (both in terms of longest and shortest), but the number of glyphs is limited: there are rests from 1024th to maxima (×ばつ whole).
Invisible rests
An invisible rest (also called a ‘spacer rest’) can be entered
like a note with the note name s:
\relative c'' {
c4 c s c |
s2 c |
}
Spacer rests are available only in note mode and chord mode. In
other situations, for example, when entering lyrics, the
command \skip is used to skip a musical moment.
\skip requires an explicit duration, but this is ignored if
the lyrics derive their durations from the notes in an associated
melody through \addlyrics or \lyricsto.
<<
{
a'2 \skip2 a'2 a'2
}
\new Lyrics {
\lyricmode {
foo2 \skip 1 bla2
}
}
>>
Because \skip is a command, it does not affect the default
durations of following notes, unlike s.
<<
{
\repeat unfold 8 { a'4 }
}
{
a'4 \skip 2 a' |
s2 a'
}
>>
A spacer rest implicitly causes Staff and Voice
contexts to be created if none exist, just like notes and rests
do:
{ s1 s s }
\skip simply skips musical time; it creates no output of
any kind.
% This is valid input, but does nothing
{ \skip 1 \skip1 \skip 1 }
See also
Learning Manual: Visibility and color of objects.
Notation Reference: Hidden notes, Visibility of objects.
Snippets: Rhythms.
Internals Reference: SkipMusic.
Full measure rests
Rests for one or more full measures are entered like notes with the note name uppercase ‘R’. Their duration is entered identically to the duration notation used for notes, including the ability to use duration multipliers, as explained in Scaling durations:
% Rest measures contracted to single measure
\compressMMRests {
R1*4
R1*24
R1*4
b'2^"Tutti" b'4 a'4
}
The example above also demonstrates how to compress multiple empty measures, as explained in Compressing empty measures.
The duration of a multi-measure rest must always be equal to the length of one or several measures. Therefore, some time signatures require the use of augmentation dots or fractions:
\compressMMRests {
\time 2/4
R1 | R2 |
\time 3/4
R2. | R2.*2 |
\time 13/8
R1*13/8 | R1*13/8*12 |
\time 10/8
R4*5*4 |
}
A full-measure rest is printed as either a whole or breve rest, centered in the measure, depending on the time signature.
\time 4/4 R1 | \time 6/4 R1*3/2 | \time 8/4 R1*2 |
Markups can be added to multi-measure rests.
\compressMMRests {
\time 3/4
R2.*10^\markup { \italic "ad lib." }
}
Note: Markups and articulations attached to a multi-measure rest
are objects of types MultiMeasureRestText and
MultiMeasureRestScript, not TextScript and
Script. Overrides must
be directed to the correct object, or they will be ignored. See the
following example:
% This fails, as the wrong object name is specified \override TextScript.padding = #5 \override Script.color = #blue R1^"wrong" R1\fermata % This is the correct object name to be specified \override MultiMeasureRestText.padding = #5 \override MultiMeasureRestScript.color = #blue R1^"right" R1\fermata
When a multi-measure rest immediately follows a \partial
setting, resulting bar-check warnings may not be displayed.
Predefined commands
\textLengthOn,
\textLengthOff,
\compressMMRests.
Selected Snippets
Multi-measure rest length control
Multi-measure rests have length according to their total duration which
is under the control of MultiMeasureRest.space-increment. Note that
the default value is 2.0.
\relative c' {
\compressEmptyMeasures
R1*2 R1*4 R1*64 R1*16
\override Staff.MultiMeasureRest.space-increment = 2.5
R1*2 R1*4 R1*64 R1*16
}
Positioning multi-measure rests
Unlike ordinary rests, there is no predefined command to change the staff position of a multi-measure rest symbol of either form by attaching it to a note. However, in polyphonic music multi-measure rests in odd-numbered and even-numbered voices are vertically separated. The positioning of multi-measure rests can be controlled as follows:
\relative c'' {
% Multi-measure rests by default are set under the fourth line
R1
% They can be moved using an override
\override MultiMeasureRest.staff-position = #-2
R1
\override MultiMeasureRest.staff-position = #0
R1
\override MultiMeasureRest.staff-position = #2
R1
\override MultiMeasureRest.staff-position = #3
R1
\override MultiMeasureRest.staff-position = #6
R1
\revert MultiMeasureRest.staff-position
\break
% In two Voices, odd-numbered voices are under the top line
<< { R1 } \\ { a1 } >>
% Even-numbered voices are under the bottom line
<< { a1 } \\ { R1 } >>
% Multi-measure rests in both voices remain separate
<< { R1 } \\ { R1 } >>
% Separating multi-measure rests in more than two voices
% requires an override
<< { R1 } \\ { R1 } \\
\once \override MultiMeasureRest.staff-position = #0
{ R1 }
>>
% Using compressed bars in multiple voices requires another override
% in all voices to avoid multiple instances being printed
\compressMMRests
<<
\revert MultiMeasureRest.direction
{ R1*3 }
\\
\revert MultiMeasureRest.direction
{ R1*3 }
>>
}
Multi-measure rest markup
Markups attached to a multi-measure rest will be centered above or below it. Long markups attached to multi-measure rests do not cause the measure to expand. To expand a multi-measure rest to fit the markup, use an empty chord with an attached markup before the multi-measure rest.
Text attached to a spacer rest in this way is left-aligned to the position where the note would be placed in the measure, but if the measure length is determined by the length of the text, the text will appear to be centered.
\relative c' {
\compressMMRests {
\textLengthOn
<>^\markup { [MAJOR GENERAL] }
R1*19
<>_\markup { \italic { Cue: ... it is yours } }
<>^\markup { A }
R1*30^\markup { [MABEL] }
\textLengthOff
c4^\markup { CHORUS } d f c
}
}
See also
Music Glossary: multi-measure rest.
Notation Reference: Durations, Scaling durations, Compressing empty measures, Text, Formatting text, Text scripts.
Snippets: Rhythms.
Internals Reference: MultiMeasureRest, MultiMeasureRestNumber, MultiMeasureRestScript, MultiMeasureRestText.
Known issues and warnings
Fingerings over multi-measure rests (e.g., R1*10-4) may result
in the fingering numeral colliding with the bar counter
numeral.
There is no way to automatically condense multiple ordinary rests into a single multi-measure rest.
Multi-measure rests do not take part in rest collisions.