This chapter explains how to describe notes that are played simultaneously.
Enclosing multiple notes within square brackets ([ and ]) indicates a chord composed of those notes. While writing notes from the lowest pitch to the highest or vice versa produces the same sound, we recommend writing from the lowest pitch. Like curly braces, square brackets can also be preceded by octave specifications (^ and _) and succeeded by duration specifications, etc., enabling directions for all the notes in a chord.
[ceg] [ceg^c]~ ^[ce^c] [_E E B ^D# ^G#]**
As shown in the following example, it is possible that some notes in consecutive chords are tied.
There are two methods for handling this situation. One is to use |Tie() and |EndTie() as shown below. Place |Tie() after the note where the tie begins and |EndTie() after the note where it ends. Both Tie and EndTie are kinds of effectors discussed in later chapters, but for now, simply consider them as directives for a tie.
[c f|Tie() a] [d f|EndTie() b]When three or more notes of the same pitch are tied together, put both the directives like |EndTie()|Tie() for each of the intermediate notes.
Another method for notating chords containing ties is to rewrite them with multi-voice notation, which will be explained below.
Having multiple musical phrases enclosed in curly braces ({ … }) or individual notes, enclosing them within square brackets ([ … ]) indicates that they should be played simultaneously, allowing the expression of polyphonic (multi-voice) music. The chord notation described above is merely a special case of this.
[c** {efgf}] [{c~d~} {ef~g}]
In the example above, two pairs of square brackets are used. In the first measure, a single note and a phrase enclosed by { and } are played simultaneously, while in the next measure, two phrases are played simultaneously.
The chord example containing ties mentioned earlier can be rewritten using polyphonic notation as [{cd} f~ {ab}] or [f~ {[ca] [db]}].
The duration of a block enclosed by [ and ] is equal to the maximum duration of its elements (musical phrases or individual notes). In the example below, the duration of each block enclosed by [ and ] will therefore be equivalent to a whole note. For elements that have insufficient duration, rests will be inserted to fill the remaining time.
[c* {efgf}] [{c~d~} {ef~}]
There is no specific restriction on the length of constituent phrases, so it is possible to describe a piece consisting of multiple parts by enclosing the entire piece within a single pair of square brackets. However, using excessively long phrases makes it difficult to grasp the correspondence between phrases. Therefore, it is preferable to divide phrases into sections of about 1 to 8 measures, enclosing each with [ and ], as shown in the example below, which is “Bach's Minuet” (now known to be attributed to C. Pezold IMSLP page).
[
{ ^D {G A B ^C}/ ^D G G ^E ^{C D E F#}/ ^G G G }
_{ [{G* A} B*. ^D*.] B~~ ^C~~ B~~ }
]
[
{ ^C {^D ^C B A}/ B {^C B A G}/ F# {G A B G}/ A~~ }
_{ A~~ G~~ ^D B G ^D {D ^C B A}/ }
]
If there is a sustained note between the [ … ] blocks, use the |Tie() and |EndTie() directives previously introduced for chords to connect them. Below is an example of their use in Measures 4 and 5 of Bach's Invention No. 1.
[
{L16 ^e^d^cba^cb^d ^cbagf+agb}
_{L8 ^cef+g ab^c~|Tie()}
]
[
{L8 ad^c.^d/ {bagf+egf+a}/}
_{L8 {^c|EndTie() def+gef+d}/ g_bcd}
]