Function to create WYGIWYM chord names - Revision history

Lemzwerg at 09:54, 3 December 2025

2025-12-03T09:54:31Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:54, 3 December 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	This function is an update to an earlier version which can be found here: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2009-02/msg00293.html		This function is an update to an earlier version which can be found here: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2009-02/msg00293.html

	The function is customised to work with a special font ~~which~~ can also be found in the above link. It shouldn't be too difficult to get the function to work with other fonts.		The function is customised to work with a special font that can also be found in the above link. It shouldn't be too difficult to get the function to work with other fonts.

	I created this function because the ~~internal~~ ChordNames context generates chord symbols only by chord entry ( <code>~~<~~c e g~~>~~</code> ) which often leads to misinterpretation and strange chord symbols ~~are the~~ result.		I created this function because the <code>ChordNames</code> context generates chord symbols only by chord entry (<code><c e g></code>), which often leads to misinterpretation and strange chord symbols as a result.

	What this function basically does is taking note-input and converting it to a ~~lyric-~~context. For example <code>c-~~"~~7~~"~~</code> will print C7 chord symbol.		What this function basically does is taking note-input and converting it to a <code>Lyrics</code> context. For example, <code>c-"7"</code> will print the C7 chord symbol.

	The advantage of this function is that the input can still be transposed before it gets converted, i.e. <code>\transpose c d c-~~"~~7~~"~~</code> will print D7 chord symbol.		The advantage of this function is that the input can still be transposed before it gets converted, i.e., <code>\transpose c d c-"7"</code> will print the D7 chord symbol.

	The following entries are possible:		The following entries are possible:

	<code>c</code>		* <code>c</code> → C
			* <code>c-"7"</code> → C7
			* <code><c e></code> → C/E
			* <code><c e&>-"7"</code> → C7/E
			* <code>r</code> → N.C.
			* <code>s</code> → (empty)
			* <code>s-"text"</code> → text [not affected by transposition]

	~~→ C~~		These three additional functions work with any of the above (except for skip).

	~~<code>c-"7"</code>~~		* <code>\parenLeft c</code> → (C
			* <code>\parenRight c</code> → C)
	~~→ C7~~		* <code>\parenBoth c</code> → (C)

	~~<code><c e></code>~~

	~~→ C/E~~

	~~<code><c e>-"7"</code>~~

	~~→ C7/E~~

	~~<code>r</code>~~

	~~→ N.C.~~

	~~<code>s</code>~~

	→

	~~<code>s-"text"</code>~~

	~~→ text [not affected by transposition]~~

	~~and these three additional functions work with any of the above (except for skip)~~

	<code>\parenLeft c</code>

	→ (C

	<code>\parenRight c</code>

	→ C)

	<code>\parenBoth c</code>

	→ (C)

	<lilypond version="2.24">		<lilypond version="2.24">
	~~%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=608~~
	~~%% see also http://lilypond.1069038.n5.nabble.com/LSR-v-2-18-quot-Function-to-create-WYGIWYM-Chord-Names-quot-does-not-compile-tc159364.html~~

	%LSR created by TaoCG		%LSR created by TaoCG

Lemzwerg: Lemzwerg moved page Function to create WYGIWYM-Chord Names to Function to create WYGIWYM chord names without leaving a redirect: Only the first letter of a title should be uppercase

2025-11-24T05:36:47Z

Lemzwerg moved page Function to create WYGIWYM-Chord Names to Function to create WYGIWYM chord names without leaving a redirect: Only the first letter of a title should be uppercase

← Older revision	Revision as of 05:36, 24 November 2025
(No difference)

Lemzwerg: New category

2025-11-21T23:23:49Z

New category

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:23, 21 November 2025
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	[[Category:Specific notation]]		[[Category:Specific notation]]
	[[Category:Scheme]]		[[Category:Scheme]]
	[[Category:Workaround]][[Category:Snippet]]		[[Category:Workaround]]
			[[Category:Snippet]]

Lemzwerg at 22:53, 21 November 2025

2025-11-21T22:53:33Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:53, 21 November 2025
Line 220:		Line 220:
	[[Category:Specific notation]]		[[Category:Specific notation]]
	[[Category:Scheme]]		[[Category:Scheme]]
	[[Category:Workaround]]		[[Category:Workaround]][[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

2025-11-16T18:51:54Z

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 18:51, 16 November 2025
Line 53:		Line 53:
	→ (C)		→ (C)

	<lilypond version="2.24.0">		<lilypond version="2.24">
	%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=608		%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=608
	%% see also http://lilypond.1069038.n5.nabble.com/LSR-v-2-18-quot-Function-to-create-WYGIWYM-Chord-Names-quot-does-not-compile-tc159364.html		%% see also http://lilypond.1069038.n5.nabble.com/LSR-v-2-18-quot-Function-to-create-WYGIWYM-Chord-Names-quot-does-not-compile-tc159364.html

Jean Abou Samra: Import snippet from LSR

2025-10-26T22:40:58Z

Import snippet from LSR

New page

This function is an update to an earlier version which can be found here: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2009-02/msg00293.html

The function is customised to work with a special font which can also be found in the above link. It shouldn't be too difficult to get the function to work with other fonts.

I created this function because the internal ChordNames context generates chord symbols only by chord entry ( <code><c e g></code> ) which often leads to misinterpretation and strange chord symbols are the result.

What this function basically does is taking note-input and converting it to a lyric-context. For example <code>c-"7"</code> will print C7 chord symbol.

The advantage of this function is that the input can still be transposed before it gets converted, i.e. <code>\transpose c d c-"7"</code> will print D7 chord symbol.

The following entries are possible:

<code>c</code>

→ C

<code>c-"7"</code>

→ C7

<code><c e></code>

→ C/E

<code><c e>-"7"</code>

→ C7/E

<code>r</code>

→ N.C.

<code>s</code>

→

<code>s-"text"</code>

→ text [not affected by transposition]

and these three additional functions work with any of the above (except for skip)

<code>\parenLeft c</code>

→ (C

<code>\parenRight c</code>

→ C)

<code>\parenBoth c</code>

→ (C)

<lilypond version="2.24.0">
%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=608
%% see also http://lilypond.1069038.n5.nabble.com/LSR-v-2-18-quot-Function-to-create-WYGIWYM-Chord-Names-quot-does-not-compile-tc159364.html

%LSR created by TaoCG

#(define (music-elts x)
(ly:music-property x 'elements))

#(define (EventChord? x)
(eq? (ly:music-property x 'name) 'EventChord))

#(define (NoteEvent? x)
(eq? (ly:music-property x 'name) 'NoteEvent))

#(define (RestEvent? x)
(eq? (ly:music-property x 'name) 'RestEvent))

#(define (SkipEvent? x)
(eq? (ly:music-property x 'name) 'SkipEvent))

#(define (root-name x)
(let ((n (ly:pitch-notename (ly:music-property x 'pitch))))
(case n
((0) "C")
((1) "D")
((2) "E")
((3) "F")
((4) "G")
((5) "A")
((6) "B"))))

#(define (root-alter x)
(let ((a (ly:pitch-alteration (ly:music-property x 'pitch))))
(case a
((-1) "<")
((-1/2) "b")
((0) "")
((1/2) "#")
((1) ">"))))

#(define (bass-name x)
(let ((n (ly:pitch-notename (ly:music-property x 'pitch))))
(case n
((0) "e")
((1) "r")
((2) "t")
((3) "z")
((4) "u")
((5) "q")
((6) "w"))))

#(define (bass-alter x)
(let ((a (ly:pitch-alteration (ly:music-property x 'pitch))))
(case a
((-1) ";")
((-1/2) ",")
((0) "")
((1/2) "'")
((1) "\""))))

#(define (symbolize-chord music)
(if (EventChord? music)
(let* ((i (length (music-elts music)))
(event (car (music-elts music)))
(dur (ly:music-property event 'duration))
(root "")
(bass "")
(r-alt "")
(b-alt "")
(suffix "")
(paren-left "")
(paren-right ""))
(when (NoteEvent? event)
(set! root (root-name event))
(set! r-alt (root-alter event))
(if (eq? (ly:music-property event 'parenleft) #t)
(set! paren-left "["))
(if (eq? (ly:music-property event 'parenright) #t)
(set! paren-right "]"))
(if (= i 2)
(let ((event-two (cadr (music-elts music))))
(if (NoteEvent? event-two)
(when (NoteEvent? event-two)
(set! bass (string-append "_" (bass-name event-two)))
(set! b-alt (bass-alter event-two)))
(set! suffix (ly:music-property event-two 'text)))))
(if (= i 3)
(let ((event-two (cadr (music-elts music)))
(event-three (car (cddr (music-elts music)))))
(set! bass (string-append "_" (bass-name event-two)))
(set! b-alt (bass-alter event-two))
(set! suffix (ly:music-property event-three 'text)))))
(when (RestEvent? event)
(set! root "N.C.")
(if (eq? (ly:music-property event 'parenleft) #t)
(set! paren-left "["))
(if (eq? (ly:music-property event 'parenright) #t)
(set! paren-right "]")))
(if (and (SkipEvent? event) (> i 1))
(set! suffix (ly:music-property (cadr (music-elts music)) 'text)))
(set! music (make-music
'LyricEvent
'duration dur
'text
(string-append
paren-left root r-alt suffix bass b-alt paren-right)))))
music)

%% Updaters Remark:
%% Simply using `event-chord-wrap!' to get old behaviour back is pretty lazy.
%% Alas, do we need this snippet anymore at all? --Harm
chordSymbols =
#(define-music-function (music) (ly:music?)
(music-map
(lambda (x) (symbolize-chord x))
(event-chord-wrap! music)))

parenLeft =
#(define-music-function (music) (ly:music?)
(ly:music-set-property!
(if (EventChord? music)
(car (ly:music-property music 'elements))
music)
'parenleft #t)
music)

parenRight =
#(define-music-function (music) (ly:music?)
(ly:music-set-property!
(if (EventChord? music)
(car (ly:music-property music 'elements))
music)
'parenright #t)
music)

parenBoth =
#(define-music-function (music) (ly:music?)
(parenLeft (parenRight music)))

<<
\new Staff = "s" \new Voice = "v" { g'2 c' f'1 bes'2 es' a' d' }
\new Lyrics \with { alignAboveContext = "s" } {
%\override LyricText.font-name = "JazzChords"
\set associatedVoice = "v"
\chordSymbols {
\transpose c f {
\parenLeft
d2-"m7"
<g b>-"13"
c1-"M"

s2
s-"|: A7 :|"
\parenRight
r
}
}
}
>>
</lilypond>

[[Category:Chords]]
[[Category:Tweaks and overrides]]
[[Category:Specific notation]]
[[Category:Scheme]]
[[Category:Workaround]]