#### 3.11.2 The Lyrics context

Lyrics are printed by interpreting them in a Lyrics context

          \context Lyrics \lyrics ...

This will place the lyrics according to the durations that were entered. The lyrics can also be aligned under a given melody automatically. In this case, it is no longer necessary to enter the correct duration for each syllable. This is achieved by combining the melody and the lyrics with the `\lyricsto` expression

         \lyricsto name \new Lyrics ...

This aligns the lyrics to the notes of the Voice context called name, which has to exist. Therefore, normally the `Voice` is specified first, and then the lyrics are specified with `\lyricsto`.

For different or more complex orderings, the best way is to setup the hierarchy of staves and lyrics first, e.g.

         \context ChoirStaff \notes <<
           \context Lyrics = sopranoLyrics { s1 }
           \context Voice = soprano { music }
           \context Lyrics = tenorLyrics { s1 }
           \context Voice = tenor { music }
         >>

and then combine the appropriate melodies and lyric lines

           \lyricsto "soprano" \context Lyrics = sopranoLyrics
              the lyrics

The final input would resemble

           << \context ChoirStaff \notes << setup the music  >>
              \lyricsto "soprano" etc
              \lyricsto "alto" etc
              etc
           >>

The `\lyricsto` command detects melismata: it only puts one syllable under a tied or slurred group of notes. If you want to force an unslurred group of notes to be a melisma, insert `\melisma` after the first note of the group, and `\melismaEnd` after the last one, e.g.

>          <<
>            \context Voice = "lala" {
>              \time 3/4
>              f4 g8
>              \melisma
>              f e f
>              \melismaEnd
>              e2
>            }
>            \lyricsto "lala" \new Lyrics \lyrics {
>              la di __ daah
>            }
>          >>

In addition, notes are considered a melisma if they are manually beamed, and automatic beaming (see Setting automatic beam behavior) is switched off. The criteria for deciding melismata can be tuned with the property `melismaBusyProperties`. See Melisma_translator in the program reference for more information.

When multiple stanzas are put on the same melody, it can happen that two stanzas have melismata in different locations. This can be remedied by switching off melismata for one Lyrics. This is achieved by setting the `ignoreMelismata` property to `#t`. An example is shown in input/regression/lyric-combine-new.ly.

A complete example of a SATB score setup is in the file input/template/satb.ly.

##### Predefined commands

`\melisma`, `\melismaEnd`

##### See also

Program reference: Music expressions: LyricCombineMusic, Contexts: Lyrics, Melisma_translator.

Examples: input/template/satb.ly, input/regression/lyric-combine-new.ly.

##### Bugs

Melismata are not detected automatically, and extender lines must be inserted by hand.

For proper processing of extender lines, the Lyrics and Voice should be linked. This can be achieved either by using `\lyricsto` or by setting corresponding names for both contexts. The latter is explained in More stanzas.

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