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Note names in other languages

There are predefined sets of note and accidental names for various other languages. To use them, include the language-specific init file listed below. For example, to use English notes names, add \include "english.ly" to the top of the input file.

The available language files and the note names they define are:

Language File Note Names
nederlands.ly c d e f g a bes b
arabic.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si
catalan.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si
deutsch.ly c d e f g a b h
english.ly c d e f g a bf b
espanol.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si
italiano.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si
norsk.ly c d e f g a b h
portugues.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si
suomi.ly c d e f g a b h
svenska.ly c d e f g a b h
vlaams.ly do re mi fa sol la sib si

and the accidental suffixes they define are:

Language File sharp flat double sharp double flat
nederlands.ly -is -es -isis -eses
arabic.ly -d -b -dd -bb
catalan.ly -d/-s -b -dd/-ss -bb
deutsch.ly -is -es -isis -eses
english.ly -s/-sharp -f/-flat -ss/-x/-sharpsharp -ff/-flatflat
espanol.ly -s -b -ss -bb
italiano.ly -d -b -dd -bb
norsk.ly -iss/-is -ess/-es -ississ/-isis -essess/-eses
portugues.ly -s -b -ss -bb
suomi.ly -is -es -isis -eses
svenska.ly -iss -ess -ississ -essess
vlaams.ly -k -b -kk -bb

In Dutch, aes is contracted to as, but both forms are accepted in LilyPond. Similarly, both es and ees are accepted. This also applies to aeses / ases and eeses / eses. Sometimes only these contracted names are defined in the corresponding language files.

     
     a2 as e es a ases e eses

[image of music]

Some music uses microtones whose alterations are fractions of a ‘normal’ sharp or flat. The note names for quarter-tones defined in the various language files are listed in the following table. Here the prefixes semi- and sesqui- mean ‘half’ and ‘one and a half’, respectively. For the other languages, no special names have been defined yet.

Language File semi-sharp semi-flat sesqui-sharp sesqui-flat


nederlands.ly -ih -eh -isih -eseh
arabic.ly -sd -sb -dsd -bsb
deutsch.ly -ih -eh -isih -eseh
english.ly -qs -qf -tqs -tqf
italiano.ly -sd -sb -dsd -bsb
portugues.ly -sqt -bqt -stqt -btqt

See also

Music Glossary: Pitch names.

Snippets: Pitches.

Other languages: français, español, deutsch.