Notes and events are the primary music-data content within measures. Partitura provides compact forms for direct composition and explicit block forms for full semantics.

Compact Note Form

note c4 quarter
note f#4 eighth dot
note bb3 half lyric "Kyrie"
note g4 eighth tie start

Pitch Notation

Pitch is written as step[accidental]octave:

Notation Meaning Alter
c4 C natural, octave 4 0
f#4 F sharp, octave 4 1
bb3 B flat, octave 3 -1

Steps are: c, d, e, f, g, a, b

Duration Types

Type Description
long Long note
breve Breve
whole Whole note
half Half note
quarter Quarter note
eighth Eighth note
16th Sixteenth note
32nd Thirty-second note
64th Sixty-fourth note
128th Hundred twenty-eighth note
256th Two hundred fifty-sixth note

Modifiers

Modifiers follow the duration on compact note lines:

Modifier Description
dot Add a dot (can repeat for double-dot)
chord Chord member (shares onset with previous note)
grace Grace note
cue Cue note
tie start/stop/continue/single Tie boundary
lyric "text" Attach lyric text
verse N "text" Attach lyric with verse number
voice @id Target voice
staff @id Target staff
stem up/down/none Stem direction
accidental value Explicit accidental
notehead value Notehead shape
beam N value Beam state (number and state)

Rests

# Compact form
rest quarter
rest half voice @v2

# Explicit form
rest r1 {
  duration 1/4
}

Unpitched Notes

note u1 {
  unpitched {
    display-step f
    display-octave 4
  }
  duration 1/8
}

Explicit Note Form

When full semantics are needed:

note n1 {
  pitch {
    step c
    alter 0
    octave 4
  }
  duration 1/4
  voice @v1
  staff @s1
  instrument @i1
  type quarter
  dot 1
  time-modification {
    actual-notes 3
    normal-notes 2
    normal-type eighth
  }
  accidental sharp
  notehead normal
  stem up
  beam 1 begin
  lyric "la"
  chord false
  grace false
  cue false
  print-object true
  print-dot true
  print-leger true
}

Note Fields

Field Description
pitch { ... } Structured pitch identity
rest true Mark as rest
unpitched { ... } Unpitched note with display position
duration Duration value (fractional)
type Note type (quarter, eighth, etc.)
dot Dot count
voice @id Voice reference
staff @id Staff reference
instrument @id Instrument reference
time-modification { ... } Tuplet rhythmic modification
accidental value Accidental marking
notehead value Notehead shape
stem up/down/none Stem direction
beam N state Beam number and state
lyric "text" Lyric text
chord true/false Chord membership
grace true/false Grace note flag
cue true/false Cue note flag
print-object true/false Whether to print the note
print-dot true/false Whether to print dots
print-leger true/false Whether to print ledger lines

Chords

Chord notes use the chord modifier:

measure 1 {
  note c4 quarter
  note e4 quarter chord
  note g4 quarter chord
}

Grace Notes

note c5 eighth grace
note d5 eighth grace chord

Cue Notes

note c5 eighth cue

Lyrics

# Simple lyric on note
note bb3 half lyric "Kyrie"

# Verse-numbered lyric
note c4 quarter lyric verse 1 "Ky"
note d4 quarter lyric verse 1 "ri"
note e4 quarter lyric verse 2 "e"
note f4 quarter lyric verse 2 "lei"

# Explicit lyric block
note n1 {
  pitch { step c; alter 0; octave 4 }
  duration 1/4
  lyric {
    number 1
    syllabic begin
    text "Ky"
  }
}

Lyric Fields

Field Description
lyric "text" Simple lyric text
lyric verse N "text" Lyric with verse number
lyric.number N Verse number
lyric.name "..." Lyric name
lyric.syllabic value Syllabic type (begin, middle, end, single)
lyric.extend true Extend mark

Time Modification

For tuplets and other rhythmic modifications:

note {
  pitch { step c; alter 0; octave 4 }
  duration 1/4
  type quarter
  time-modification {
    actual-notes 3
    normal-notes 2
    normal-type eighth
  }
}
Field Description
actual-notes N Number of notes in the group
normal-notes N Number of notes this replaces
normal-type type The normal note type
normal-dot N Normal dot count

Rules

Next Steps