Creating chord rhythm guides

Revision as of 18:51, 16 November 2025 by Jean Abou Samra (talk | contribs) (Replace version="2.24.0" with version="2.24" now that the LilyWiki extension supports auto-selecting the latest release in a stable series)

In some jazz, pop, and rock lead sheets, complex chord rhythms are clarified with some small notes below the chords demonstrating the rhythm. This behavior can be easily implemented by creating a RhythmicStaff and copying the rhythms directly.

\version "2.24"

%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=749


\score {
  <<
    \new ChordNames \chords {
      d4.:m g:7 c4
    }
    \new RhythmicStaff {
      \override NoteHead.style = #'slash
      \override NoteHead.font-size = #-4
      c4. c8~c4 c
    }
    \new Staff { d''8 c'' b' g' a' b' c''4 }
  >>
  \layout {
    \context {
      \RhythmicStaff
      \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
      \remove "Clef_engraver"
      \override BarLine.transparent = ##t
      \override StaffSymbol.line-count = #0
    }
  }
}