Creating guitar scales on fretboards - Revision history

Lemzwerg at 08:51, 2 March 2026

2026-03-02T08:51:28Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:51, 2 March 2026
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	The syntax is		The syntax is

	\scale-~~diagramm~~ #'( (string1 fret1) (string2 fret2) ... ) #~~notesinscale~~ #size		\scale-diagram #'( (string1 fret1) (string2 fret2) ... )
			#notes-in-scale #size

	~~For~~ example ~~for~~ a c pentatonic scale (first six notes)		As an example, here is a c pentatonic scale (first six notes).

	\scale-~~diagramm~~ #'((5 3) (5 5 ) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 5)) #5 #1.5		\scale-diagram #'((5 3) (5 5) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 5)) #5 #1.5

	~~you~~ can wrap this up in a markup command for building up a list of scales		You can wrap this up in a markup command for building up a list of scales as follows

	cpenta = \markup \scale-~~diagramm~~ #'((5 3) (5 5 ) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 5)) #5 #1.5		cpenta = \markup
			\scale-diagram #'((5 3) (5 5) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 5)) #5 #1.5

	and use it like this		and use it like this

	c^\cpenta d f g a c		c^\cpenta d f g a c

	The snippet doesn't show it, but the (1) position of the scale is inverted		The snippet doesn't show it, but the (1) position of the scale is inverted.

	~~<lilypond version="2~~.~~24" full>~~
	~~%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=790~~

	~~\paper { tagline = ##f }~~

	~~%here starts the snippet:~~

			<lilypond version="2.24">
	% Helper function to invert first elements of scales		% Helper function to invert first elements of scales
	#(define (inverted num mod)		#(define (inverted num mod)
Line 41:		Line 37:
	% arg2 is the number of unique tones in the scale (i.e. 7 for major scale, 5 for pentatonic)		% arg2 is the number of unique tones in the scale (i.e. 7 for major scale, 5 for pentatonic)
	% arg3 is a scale factor used to enlarge the fret diagram		% arg3 is a scale factor used to enlarge the fret diagram
	#(define-markup-command (scale-~~diagramm~~ layout props arg1 arg2 arg3) (list? integer? number?)		#(define-markup-command (scale-diagram layout props arg1 arg2 arg3) (list? integer? number?)
	(interpret-markup layout props		(interpret-markup layout props
	(markup		(markup
Line 58:		Line 54:


	cmajor=\markup\scale-~~diagramm~~ #'((5 3) (5 5) (4 2) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 4)		cmajor=\markup\scale-diagram #'((5 3) (5 5) (4 2) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 4)
	(3 5) (2 3) (2 5) (2 6) (1 3) (1 5) (1 7) (1 8)) #7 #1.0		(3 5) (2 3) (2 5) (2 6) (1 3) (1 5) (1 7) (1 8)) #7 #1.0

	~~dmajor=\markup\scale-diagramm #'((5 5) (5 7) (4 4) (4 5) (4 7) (3 4) (3 6)~~
	~~(3 7) (2 5) (2 7) (2 8) (1 5) (1 7) (1 9) (1 10)) #7 #1.35~~

	~~cpenta~~=\markup\scale-~~diagramm~~ #'((5 3) (5 5) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2)		dmajor=\markup\scale-diagram #'((5 5) (5 7) (4 4) (4 5) (4 7) (3 4) (3 6)
	(3 5) (2 3) (2 6) (1 3) (1 5) (1 8)) #5 #1.7		(3 7) (2 5) (2 7) (2 8) (1 5) (1 7) (1 9) (1 10)) #7 #1.35

			cpenta=\markup\scale-diagram #'((5 3) (5 5) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2)
	\~~layout {~~		(3 5) (2 3) (2 6) (1 3) (1 5) (1 8)) #5 #1.7
	~~indent = 0~~
	}

	\relative c' {		\relative c' {
Line 79:		Line 70:
	</lilypond>		</lilypond>

	~~[[Category:Fretted strings]]~~
	[[Category:Fretted strings]]		[[Category:Fretted strings]]
	[[Category:Scheme]]		[[Category:Scheme]]
	[[Category:Pitches]]		[[Category:Pitches]]
	[[Category:Snippet]]		[[Category:Snippet]]

Taifas: D major with 2 sharps

2026-03-01T09:03:11Z

D major with 2 sharps

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:03, 1 March 2026
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	\relative c' {		\relative c' {
	c d^\cmajor e f g^"c Ionic" a b c d e f g a b c r \| \break		c d^\cmajor e f g^"c Ionic" a b c d e f g a b c r \| \break
	d,, e^\dmajor fs g a^"d Ionic" b c d e f g a b c d r \| \break		d,, e^\dmajor fis g a^"d Ionic" b cis d e fis g a b cis d r \| \break
	c,, d^\cpenta f g a^"c pentatonic" a c d f g a c \|		c,, d^\cpenta f g a^"c pentatonic" a c d f g a c \|
	}		}

Taifas: d ionic: d e f-sharp g ...

2026-03-01T08:56:31Z

d ionic: d e f-sharp g ...

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:56, 1 March 2026
Line 74:		Line 74:
	\relative c' {		\relative c' {
	c d^\cmajor e f g^"c Ionic" a b c d e f g a b c r \| \break		c d^\cmajor e f g^"c Ionic" a b c d e f g a b c r \| \break
	d,, e^\dmajor f g a^"d Ionic" b c d e f g a b c d r \| \break		d,, e^\dmajor fs g a^"d Ionic" b c d e f g a b c d r \| \break
	c,, d^\cpenta f g a^"c pentatonic" a c d f g a c \|		c,, d^\cpenta f g a^"c pentatonic" a c d f g a c \|
	}		}

Lemzwerg: New category

2025-11-21T23:14:20Z

New category

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:14, 21 November 2025
Line 82:		Line 82:
	[[Category:Fretted strings]]		[[Category:Fretted strings]]
	[[Category:Scheme]]		[[Category:Scheme]]
	[[Category:Pitches]][[Category:Snippet]]		[[Category:Pitches]]
			[[Category:Snippet]]

Lemzwerg at 22:50, 21 November 2025

2025-11-21T22:50:45Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:50, 21 November 2025
Line 82:		Line 82:
	[[Category:Fretted strings]]		[[Category:Fretted strings]]
	[[Category:Scheme]]		[[Category:Scheme]]
	[[Category:Pitches]]		[[Category:Pitches]][[Category:Snippet]]

Jean Abou Samra: Replace version="2.24.0" with version="2.24" now that the LilyWiki extension supports auto-selecting the latest release in a stable series

2025-11-16T18:45:50Z

Replace version="2.24.0" with version="2.24" now that the LilyWiki extension supports auto-selecting the latest release in a stable series

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:45, 16 November 2025
Line 19:		Line 19:
	The snippet doesn't show it, but the (1) position of the scale is inverted		The snippet doesn't show it, but the (1) position of the scale is inverted

	<lilypond version="2.24.0" full>		<lilypond version="2.24" full>
	%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=790		%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=790

Jean Abou Samra: Import snippet from LSR

2025-10-26T22:47:21Z

Import snippet from LSR

New page

This snippet creates fretboards with guitar scales.

The syntax is

\scale-diagramm #'( (string1 fret1) (string2 fret2) ... ) #notesinscale #size

For example for a c pentatonic scale (first six notes)

\scale-diagramm #'((5 3) (5 5 ) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 5)) #5 #1.5

you can wrap this up in a markup command for building up a list of scales

cpenta = \markup \scale-diagramm #'((5 3) (5 5 ) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 5)) #5 #1.5

and use it like this

c^\cpenta d f g a c

The snippet doesn't show it, but the (1) position of the scale is inverted

<lilypond version="2.24.0" full>
%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=790

\paper { tagline = ##f }

%here starts the snippet:

% Helper function to invert first elements of scales
#(define (inverted num mod)
(if (zero? (modulo num mod))
(list '1 'inverted)
(list (1+ (modulo num mod)))))

% Expand the (string fret) pairs to valid lilypond syntax
#(define (fret-from-list l1 l2 n1)
(if (null? l1)
l2
(fret-from-list (cdr l1) (append l2 (list (append '(place-fret) (car l1) (inverted (length l2) n1)))) n1)))

% arg1 is the list of (string fret) pairs making up the scale
% arg2 is the number of unique tones in the scale (i.e. 7 for major scale, 5 for pentatonic)
% arg3 is a scale factor used to enlarge the fret diagram
#(define-markup-command (scale-diagramm layout props arg1 arg2 arg3) (list? integer? number?)
(interpret-markup layout props
(markup
(#:override (cons 'size arg3 )
(#:override '(fret-diagram-details
. (
(finger-code . in-dot)
(number-type . arabic)
(label-dir . -1)
(orientation . landscape)
(dot-radius . 0.4)
(fret-count . 8)
(top-fret-thickness . 7)))
#:fret-diagram-verbose
(fret-from-list arg1 '() arg2))))))

cmajor=\markup\scale-diagramm #'((5 3) (5 5) (4 2) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2) (3 4)
(3 5) (2 3) (2 5) (2 6) (1 3) (1 5) (1 7) (1 8)) #7 #1.0

dmajor=\markup\scale-diagramm #'((5 5) (5 7) (4 4) (4 5) (4 7) (3 4) (3 6)
(3 7) (2 5) (2 7) (2 8) (1 5) (1 7) (1 9) (1 10)) #7 #1.35

cpenta=\markup\scale-diagramm #'((5 3) (5 5) (4 3) (4 5) (3 2)
(3 5) (2 3) (2 6) (1 3) (1 5) (1 8)) #5 #1.7

\layout {
indent = 0
}

\relative c' {
c d^\cmajor e f g^"c Ionic" a b c d e f g a b c r | \break
d,, e^\dmajor f g a^"d Ionic" b c d e f g a b c d r | \break
c,, d^\cpenta f g a^"c pentatonic" a c d f g a c |
}
</lilypond>

[[Category:Fretted strings]]
[[Category:Fretted strings]]
[[Category:Scheme]]
[[Category:Pitches]]