### 2.13 Printing lyrics

Lyrics are entered by separating each syllable with a space,

           I want to break free

To prevent certain words (for example “as”) as being read as a pitch, the input-mode must be switched. This is done with `\lyrics`. In `\lyrics` mode, all words are read as lyric syllables.

           \lyrics { I want to break free }

Again, the braces `{}` signify that the syllables are sung in sequence.

By default, music expressions are interpreted in `Staff` context. For lyrics, this is obviously not desirable, so it is necessary to explicitly specify a `Lyrics` context,

         \new Lyrics  \lyrics { I want to break free }

The melody for this song is as follows

The lyrics can be set to these notes, combining both with the `\lyricsto` keyword

           \lyricsto "name" \new Lyrics ...

where name identifies to which melody the lyrics should be aligned. In this case, there is only one melody, so we can leave it empty.

The final result is

>          \score  {
>           \notes <<
>             \partial 4
>             \relative c' {
>                c4
>                \times 2/3 { f g g } \times 2/3 { g4( a2) }
>             }
>             \lyricsto "" \new Lyrics \lyrics { I want to break free }
>           >>
>          }

This melody ends on a melisma, a single syllable (“free”) sung to more than one note. This is indicated with an extender line. It is entered as two underscores, i.e.

         \lyrics { I want to break free __ }

Similarly, hyphens between words can be entered as two dashes, resulting in a centered hyphen between two syllables

         Twin -- kle twin -- kle

More options, like putting multiple lines of lyrics below a melody are discussed in Vocal music.

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