Re: sharping naturals

[Michael Hendry]

> On 23 Jul 2015, at 19:09, Richard Shann <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 2015-07-23 at 19:40 +0200, Urs Liska wrote:
>>> Am 23.07.2015 um 19:15 schrieb Christopher R. Maden:
>>>> They will look different, but will be the same notes.  The music
>>>> describes itself; the key signature affects presentation.[*]
>>>> 
>>> That’s true and I think that this is one of LilyPonds strengths as
>> it 
>>> allows to be very flexible with transposing, quoting, changing key 
>>> signatures etc.
>> 
>> I think so too.
>> However, there *are* programs/formats that "think" differently. I know
>> of Amadeus an midt notably MEI where you basically write diwn what you
>> *see*. If not explicitly altered the actual pitch is determined by the
>> key signature. 
> 
> presumably not just the key signature but also any preceding altered
> pitches in the same bar. Denemo allows this method of entry by default,
> for a series of f-sharps in a bar only the first needs a keypress to say
> it is a sharp, subsequent presses of the key "f" enter f-sharps, until
> the end of the bar. Of course, it emits the (more verbose) fis syntax
> for each note, but it saves typing on entry.
> 
> Richard

It seems to me that the replies so far are missing the OP’s underlying 
misunderstanding of the way in which Lilypond interprets the pitches that are 
entered.

G natural is entered thus:      { g }
G sharp is entered thus:                { gis }
G flat is entered thus:         { ges }

(assuming the default Dutch convention for sharps and flats).

Following a key signature such as G major, the G natural will have no 
accidental, but the other two will have sharp and flat signs.

In the case of A major, G natural will have a natural sign, the G sharp will 
have no accidental and the G flat with have a flat sign.

Similarly if the key signature says G flat major, the G natural and G sharp 
will each have an accidental, and the G flat will have none.

So the rule is that you enter your music as if the key signature were C major, 
and Lilypond will display the music correctly if you subsequently choose a 
different key signature.

Michael