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2.6 Octave entry

To raise a note by an octave, add a high quote ' (apostrophe) to the note name, to lower a note one octave, add a “low quote” , (a comma). Middle C is c'

     c'4 c'' c''' \clef bass c c,

[image of music]



An example of the use of quotes is in the following Mozart fragment

     \key a \major
     \time 6/8
     cis''8. d''16 cis''8 e''4 e''8
     b'8. cis''16 b'8 d''4 d''8

[image of music]

This example shows that music in a high register needs lots of quotes. This makes the input less readable, and it is a source of errors. The solution is to use “relative octave” mode. In practice, this is the most convenient way to copy existing music. To use relative mode, add \relative before the piece of music. You must also give a note from which relative starts, in this case c''. If you do not use octavation quotes (i.e. do not add ' or , after a note), relative mode chooses the note that is closest to the previous one. For example, c f goes up while c g goes down

     \relative c'' {
       c f c g c
     }

[image of music]



Since most music has small intervals, pieces can be written almost without octavation quotes in relative mode. The previous example is entered as

     \relative c'' {
       \key a \major
       \time 6/8
       cis8. d16 cis8 e4 e8
       b8. cis16 b8 d4 d8
     }

[image of music]

Larger intervals are made by adding octavation quotes.

     \relative c'' {
       c f, f c' c g' c,
     }

[image of music]



In \relative mode, quotes or commas no longer determine the absolute height of a note. Rather, the height of a note is relative to the previous one, and changing the octave of a single note shifts all following notes an octave up or down.

For more information on Relative octaves see Relative octaves and Octave check.

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