### 2.1 First steps

The first example demonstrates how to enter the most elementary piece of music, a scale. A note can be entered by typing its name, from a through g. So, if you enter

         c d e f g a b

the result looks like this

The duration of a note is specified by a number after the note name. 1 for a whole note, 2 for a half note, 4 for a quarter note and so on

         a1 a2 a4 a16 a32

If you do not specify a duration, the duration last entered is used; the duration of the first note defaults to a quarter

         a a8 a a2 a

Rests are entered just like notes, but with the name “`r`”

         r2 r4 r8 r16

Add a dot . after the duration to get a dotted note

         a2. a4 a8. a16

The meter (or time signature) can be set with the `\time` command

         \time 3/4
         \time 6/8
         \time 4/4

The clef can be set using the `\clef` command

         \clef treble
         \clef bass
         \clef alto
         \clef tenor

To recognize names like `c` and `d` as pitches, they have to be entered inside a so-called `\notes` block. This block is formed by enclosing notes and commands are enclosed in curly braces `{ ... }` and adding the keyword `\notes` before the opening brace

         \notes {
           \time 3/4
           \clef bass
           c2 e4 g2.
           f4 e d c2 r4
         }

Now the piece of music is almost ready to be printed. Enclose the `\notes` block in a `\score` block

         \score {
           \notes {
             \time 3/4
             \clef bass
             c2 e4 g2.
             f4 e d c2 r4
           }
         }

and the music will be converted to printable output.

In many examples in this manual, both `\score` and `\notes` and accompanying braces are left out for brevity. However, they must be present when feeding the file to LilyPond.

For more elaborate information on

Entering pitches and durations
  see Pitches and Durations.
Clefs
  see Clef
Rests
  see Rests.
Time signatures and other timing commands
  see Time signature.

Read comments on this page, or add one. This page is for LilyPond-2.2.5 (stable-branch).