music21.note

Classes and functions for creating Notes, Rests, and Lyrics.

The Pitch object is stored within, and used to configure, Note objects.

Note

class music21.note.Note(pitchName=None, **keywords)

One of the most important music21 classes, a Note stores a single note (that is, not a rest or an unpitched element) that can be represented by one or more notational units – so for instance a C quarter-note and a D# eighth-tied-to-32nd are both a single Note object.

A Note knows both its total duration and how to express itself as a set of tied notes of different lengths. For instance, a note of 2.5 quarters in length could be half tied to eighth or dotted quarter tied to quarter.

The first argument to the Note is the pitch name (with or without octave, see the introduction to music21.pitch.Pitch). Further arguments can be specified as keywords (such as type, dots, etc.) and are passed to the underlying music21.duration.Duration element.

>>> n = note.Note()
>>> n
<music21.note.Note C>
>>> n.pitch
<music21.pitch.Pitch C4>

>>> n = note.Note('B-')
>>> n.name
'B-'
>>> n.octave is None
True
>>> n.pitch.implicitOctave
4

>>> n = note.Note(name='D#')
>>> n.name
'D#'
>>> n = note.Note(nameWithOctave='D#5')
>>> n.nameWithOctave
'D#5'

Other ways of instantiating a Pitch object, such as by MIDI number or pitch class are also possible:

>>> note.Note(64).nameWithOctave
'E4'

Two notes are considered equal if their most important attributes (such as pitch, duration, articulations, and ornaments) are equal. Attributes that might change based on the wider context of a note (such as offset) are not compared. This test does not look at lyrics in establishing equality. (It may in the future.)

>>> note.Note('C4') == note.Note('C4')
True

Note bases

Note read-only properties

Note.fullName

Return the most complete representation of this Note, providing duration and pitch information.

>>> n = note.Note('A-', quarterLength=1.5)
>>> n.fullName
'A-flat Dotted Quarter Note'

>>> n = note.Note('E~3', quarterLength=2)
>>> n.fullName
'E-half-sharp in octave 3 Half Note'

>>> n = note.Note('D', quarterLength=0.25)
>>> n.pitch.microtone = 25
>>> n.fullName
'D (+25c) 16th Note'

Read-only properties inherited from Music21Object:

Read-only properties inherited from ProtoM21Object:

Note read/write properties

Note.name

Return or set the pitch name from the Pitch object. See Pitch’s attribute name.

Note.nameWithOctave

Return or set the pitch name with octave from the Pitch object. See Pitch’s attribute nameWithOctave.

Note.octave

Return or set the octave value from the Pitch object. See octave.

Note.pitches

Return the Pitch object in a tuple. This property is designed to provide an interface analogous to that found on Chord so that [c.pitches for c in s.notes] provides a consistent interface for all objects.

>>> n = note.Note('g#')
>>> n.nameWithOctave
'G#'
>>> n.pitches
(<music21.pitch.Pitch G#>,)

Since this is a Note, not a chord, from the list or tuple, only the first one will be used:

>>> n.pitches = [pitch.Pitch('c2'), pitch.Pitch('g2')]
>>> n.nameWithOctave
'C2'
>>> n.pitches
(<music21.pitch.Pitch C2>,)

The value for setting must be a list or tuple:

>>> n.pitches = pitch.Pitch('C4')
Traceback (most recent call last):
music21.note.NoteException: cannot set pitches with provided object: C4

For setting a single one, use n.pitch instead.

Don’t use strings, or you will get a string back!

>>> n.pitches = ('C4', 'D4')
>>> n.pitch
'C4'
>>> n.pitch.diatonicNoteNum
Traceback (most recent call last):
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'diatonicNoteNum'
Note.step

Return or set the pitch step from the Pitch object. See step.

Read/write properties inherited from NotRest:

Read/write properties inherited from GeneralNote:

Read/write properties inherited from Music21Object:

Note methods

Note.pitchChanged()

Called by the underlying pitch if something changed there.

Note.transpose(value, *, inPlace=False)

Transpose the Note by the user-provided value. If the value is an integer, the transposition is treated in half steps.

If the value is a string, any Interval string specification can be provided.

>>> a = note.Note('g4')
>>> b = a.transpose('m3')
>>> b
<music21.note.Note B->
>>> aInterval = interval.Interval(-6)
>>> b = a.transpose(aInterval)
>>> b
<music21.note.Note C#>

>>> c = b.transpose(interval.GenericInterval(2))
>>> c
<music21.note.Note D#>

>>> a.transpose(aInterval, inPlace=True)
>>> a
<music21.note.Note C#>

If the transposition value is an integer, take the KeySignature or Key context into account…

>>> s = stream.Stream()
>>> s.append(key.Key('D'))
>>> s.append(note.Note('F'))
>>> s.append(key.Key('b-', 'minor'))
>>> s.append(note.Note('F'))
>>> s.show('text')
{0.0} <music21.key.Key of D major>
{0.0} <music21.note.Note F>
{1.0} <music21.key.Key of b- minor>
{1.0} <music21.note.Note F>
>>> for n in s.notes:
...     n.transpose(1, inPlace=True)
>>> s.show('text')
{0.0} <music21.key.Key of D major>
{0.0} <music21.note.Note F#>
{1.0} <music21.key.Key of b- minor>
{1.0} <music21.note.Note G->

Methods inherited from NotRest:

Methods inherited from GeneralNote:

Methods inherited from Music21Object:

Methods inherited from ProtoM21Object:

Note instance variables

Note.isNote

Boolean read-only value describing if this Note is a Note (True).

Note.isRest

Boolean read-only value describing if this Note is a Rest (False).

Note.pitch

A Pitch object containing all the information about the note’s pitch. Many .pitch properties and methods are also made Note properties also

Instance variables inherited from NotRest:

Instance variables inherited from GeneralNote:

Instance variables inherited from Music21Object:

Rest

class music21.note.Rest(*arguments, **keywords)

Rests are represented in music21 as GeneralNote objects that do not have a pitch object attached to them. By default they have length 1.0 (Quarter Rest)

Calling notes on a Stream does not get rests. However, the property notesAndRests of Streams gets rests as well.

>>> r = note.Rest()
>>> r.isRest
True
>>> r.isNote
False
>>> r.duration.quarterLength = 2.0
>>> r.duration.type
'half'

All Rests have the name property ‘rest’:

>>> r.name
'rest'

Rest bases

Rest read-only properties

Rest.fullName

Return the most complete representation of this Rest, providing duration information.

>>> r = note.Rest(quarterLength=1.5)
>>> r.fullName
'Dotted Quarter Rest'

>>> note.Rest(type='whole').fullName
'Whole Rest'

Read-only properties inherited from Music21Object:

Read-only properties inherited from ProtoM21Object:

Rest read/write properties

Read/write properties inherited from GeneralNote:

Read/write properties inherited from Music21Object:

Rest methods

Methods inherited from GeneralNote:

Methods inherited from Music21Object:

Methods inherited from ProtoM21Object:

Rest instance variables

Rest.fullMeasure

does this rest last a full measure (thus display as whole, center, etc.) Options are False, True, “always”, “auto” (default)

False means do not set as full measure, no matter what.

True keeps the set duration, but will always display as a full measure rest.

“always” means the duration will (EVENTUALLY, not yet!) update automatically to match the time signature context; and is True. Does not work yet – functions as True.

# TODO: get it to work.

“auto” is the default, where if the rest value happens to match the current time signature context, then display it as a whole note, centered, etc. otherwise will display normally.

See examples in music21.musicxml.m21ToXml.MeasureExporter.restToXml()

Rest.isNote

Boolean read-only value describing if this Rest is a Note (False).

Rest.isRest

Boolean read-only value describing if this Rest is a Rest (True, obviously).

Rest.name

returns “rest” always. It is here so that you can get x.name on all .notesAndRests objects

Rest.stepShift

number of lines/spaces to shift the note upwards or downwards for display.

Instance variables inherited from GeneralNote:

Instance variables inherited from Music21Object:

SpacerRest

class music21.note.SpacerRest(*arguments, **keywords)

This is exactly the same as a rest, but it is a SpacerRest. This object should only be used for making hidden space in a score in lilypond.

This may become deprecated at some point…

>>> sr = note.SpacerRest(type='whole')
>>> sr
<music21.note.SpacerRest rest duration=4.0>

SpacerRest bases

SpacerRest read-only properties

Read-only properties inherited from Rest:

Read-only properties inherited from Music21Object:

Read-only properties inherited from ProtoM21Object:

SpacerRest read/write properties

Read/write properties inherited from GeneralNote:

Read/write properties inherited from Music21Object:

SpacerRest methods

Methods inherited from GeneralNote:

Methods inherited from Music21Object:

Methods inherited from ProtoM21Object:

SpacerRest instance variables

Instance variables inherited from Rest:

Instance variables inherited from GeneralNote:

Instance variables inherited from Music21Object:

Unpitched

class music21.note.Unpitched

A General class of unpitched objects which appear at different places on the staff. Examples: percussion notation.

The Unpitched object does not currently do anything and should not be used.

>>> unp = note.Unpitched()

Unpitched elements have displayStep and displayOctave which shows where they should be displayed, but they do not have pitch objects:

>>> unp.displayStep
'C'
>>> unp.displayOctave
4
>>> unp.displayStep = 'G'
>>> unp.pitch
Traceback (most recent call last):
AttributeError: 'Unpitched' object has no attribute 'pitch'

Unpitched bases

Unpitched read-only properties

Read-only properties inherited from Music21Object:

Read-only properties inherited from ProtoM21Object:

Unpitched read/write properties

Unpitched.storedInstrument

Read/write properties inherited from NotRest:

Read/write properties inherited from GeneralNote:

Read/write properties inherited from Music21Object:

Unpitched methods

Unpitched.displayPitch() → music21.pitch.Pitch

returns a pitch object that is the same as the displayStep and displayOctave. it will never have an accidental.

>>> unp = note.Unpitched()
>>> unp.displayStep = 'E'
>>> unp.displayOctave = 4
>>> unp.displayPitch()
<music21.pitch.Pitch E4>

Methods inherited from NotRest:

Methods inherited from GeneralNote:

Methods inherited from Music21Object:

Methods inherited from ProtoM21Object:

Unpitched instance variables

Instance variables inherited from NotRest:

Instance variables inherited from GeneralNote:

Instance variables inherited from Music21Object:

NotRest

class music21.note.NotRest(*arguments, **keywords)

Parent class for Note-like objects that are not rests; that is to say they have a stem, can be tied, and volume is important. Basically, that’s a Note or Unpitched object for now.

NotRest bases

NotRest read-only properties

Read-only properties inherited from Music21Object:

Read-only properties inherited from ProtoM21Object:

NotRest read/write properties

NotRest.notehead

Get or set the notehead type of this NotRest object. Valid notehead type names are found in note.noteheadTypeNames (see below):

>>> note.noteheadTypeNames
('arrow down', 'arrow up', 'back slashed', 'circle dot', 'circle-x', 'circled', 'cluster',
 'cross', 'diamond', 'do', 'fa', 'inverted triangle', 'la', 'left triangle',
 'mi', 'none', 'normal', 'other', 're', 'rectangle', 'slash', 'slashed', 'so',
 'square', 'ti', 'triangle', 'x')
>>> n = note.Note()
>>> n.notehead = 'diamond'
>>> n.notehead
'diamond'

>>> n.notehead = 'junk'
Traceback (most recent call last):
music21.note.NotRestException: not a valid notehead type name: 'junk'
NotRest.noteheadFill

Get or set the note head fill status of this NotRest. Valid note head fill values are True, False, or None (meaning default). “yes” and “no” are converted to True and False.

>>> n = note.Note()
>>> n.noteheadFill = 'no'
>>> n.noteheadFill
False
>>> n.noteheadFill = 'filled'
>>> n.noteheadFill
True

>>> n.noteheadFill = 'jelly'
Traceback (most recent call last):
music21.note.NotRestException: not a valid notehead fill value: jelly
NotRest.noteheadParenthesis

Get or set the note head parentheses for this Note/Unpitched/Chord object.

>>> n = note.Note()
>>> n.noteheadParenthesis
False
>>> n.noteheadParenthesis = True
>>> n.noteheadParenthesis
True

‘yes’ or 1 equate to True; ‘no’ or 0 to False

>>> n.noteheadParenthesis = 'no'
>>> n.noteheadParenthesis
False

Anything else raises an exception:

>>> n.noteheadParenthesis = 'blah'
Traceback (most recent call last):
music21.note.NotRestException: notehead parentheses must be True or False, not 'blah'
NotRest.stemDirection

Get or set the stem direction of this NotRest object. Valid stem direction names are found in note.stemDirectionNames (see below).

>>> note.stemDirectionNames
('double', 'down', 'noStem', 'none', 'unspecified', 'up')
>>> n = note.Note()

By default a Note’s stemDirection is ‘unspecified’ meaning that it is unknown:

>>> n.stemDirection
'unspecified'

>>> n.stemDirection = 'noStem'
>>> n.stemDirection
'noStem'

The alias ‘none’ (the string) is the same as ‘noStem’

>>> n.stemDirection = 'none'
>>> n.stemDirection
'noStem'

>>> n.stemDirection = 'junk'
Traceback (most recent call last):
music21.note.NotRestException: not a valid stem direction name: junk

Stem direction can be set explicitly to None to remove any prior stem information, same as ‘unspecified’:

>>> n.stemDirection = None
>>> n.stemDirection
'unspecified'
NotRest.volume

Get and set the Volume object of this object. Volume objects are created on demand.

>>> n1 = note.Note()
>>> n1.volume.velocity = 120
>>> n2 = note.Note()
>>> n2.volume = 80  # can directly set a velocity value
>>> s = stream.Stream()
>>> s.append([n1, n2])
>>> [n.volume.velocity for n in s.notes]
[120, 80]

Read/write properties inherited from GeneralNote:

Read/write properties inherited from Music21Object:

NotRest methods

NotRest.hasVolumeInformation() → bool

Returns bool whether volume was set – saving some time for advanced users (such as MusicXML exporters) that only want to look at the volume if it is already there.

>>> n = note.Note()
>>> n.hasVolumeInformation()
False
>>> n.volume
 <music21.volume.Volume realized=0.71>
>>> n.hasVolumeInformation()
True

Methods inherited from GeneralNote:

Methods inherited from Music21Object:

Methods inherited from ProtoM21Object:

NotRest instance variables

NotRest.beams

A Beams object that contains information about the beaming of this note.

Instance variables inherited from GeneralNote:

Instance variables inherited from Music21Object:

GeneralNote

class music21.note.GeneralNote(*arguments, **keywords)

A GeneralNote object is the base class object for the Note, Rest, Chord, and related objects.

Keywords can be passed to a GeneralNote which are then passed to the underlying Duration. These keywords might be listed like type=’16th’, dots=2 etc. to create a double-dotted sixteenth note.

In almost every circumstance, you should create note.Note() or note.Rest() or note.Chord() objects directly, and not use this underlying structure.

>>> gn = note.GeneralNote(type='16th', dots=2)
>>> gn.quarterLength
0.4375

GeneralNote bases

GeneralNote read-only properties

Read-only properties inherited from Music21Object:

Read-only properties inherited from ProtoM21Object:

GeneralNote read/write properties

GeneralNote.lyric

The lyric property can be used to get and set a lyric for this Note, Chord, or Rest. This is a simplified version of the more general addLyric() method.

>>> a = note.Note('A4')
>>> a.lyrics
[]
>>> a.lyric = 'hel-'
>>> a.lyric
'hel'
>>> a.lyrics
[<music21.note.Lyric number=1 syllabic=begin text='hel'>]

Eliminate Lyrics by setting a.lyric to None

>>> a.lyric = None
>>> a.lyric
>>> a.lyrics
[]

Set multiple lyrics with n separated text:

>>> a.lyric = '1. Hi\n2. Bye'
>>> a.lyric
'1. Hi\n2. Bye'
>>> a.lyrics
[<music21.note.Lyric number=1 syllabic=single text='1. Hi'>,
 <music21.note.Lyric number=2 syllabic=single text='2. Bye'>]

Read/write properties inherited from Music21Object:

GeneralNote methods

GeneralNote.addLyric(text, lyricNumber=None, *, applyRaw=False, lyricIdentifier=None) → None

Adds a lyric, or an additional lyric, to a Note, Chord, or Rest’s lyric list. If lyricNumber is not None, a specific line of lyric text can be set. The lyricIdentifier can also be set.

>>> n1 = note.Note()
>>> n1.addLyric('hello')
>>> n1.lyrics[0].text
'hello'
>>> n1.lyrics[0].number
1

An added option gives the lyric number, not the list position

>>> n1.addLyric('bye', 3)
>>> n1.lyrics[1].text
'bye'
>>> n1.lyrics[1].number
3
>>> for lyr in n1.lyrics:
...     print(lyr.text)
hello
bye

Replace an existing lyric by specifying the same number:

>>> n1.addLyric('ciao', 3)
>>> n1.lyrics[1].text
'ciao'
>>> n1.lyrics[1].number
3

Giving a lyric with a hyphen at either end will set whether it is part of a multisyllable word:

>>> n1.addLyric('good-')
>>> n1.lyrics[2].text
'good'
>>> n1.lyrics[2].syllabic
'begin'

This feature can be overridden by specifying the keyword only argument “applyRaw=True”:

>>> n1.addLyric('-5', applyRaw=True)
>>> n1.lyrics[3].text
'-5'
>>> n1.lyrics[3].syllabic
'single'
GeneralNote.augmentOrDiminish(scalar, *, inPlace=False)

Given a scalar greater than zero, return a Note with a scaled Duration. If inPlace is True, this is done in-place and the method returns None. If inPlace is False [default], this returns a modified deepcopy.

Changed – inPlace is now False as of version 5.

>>> n = note.Note('g#')
>>> n.quarterLength = 3
>>> n.augmentOrDiminish(2, inPlace=True)
>>> n.quarterLength
6.0

>>> c = chord.Chord(['g#', 'a#', 'd'])
>>> c.quarterLength = 2
>>> c.augmentOrDiminish(0.25, inPlace=True)
>>> c.quarterLength
0.5

>>> n = note.Note('g#')
>>> n.augmentOrDiminish(-1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
music21.note.NoteException: scalar must be greater than zero

>>> n = note.Note()
>>> n.quarterLength = 3
>>> n2 = n.augmentOrDiminish(1/3, inPlace=False)
>>> n2.quarterLength
1.0
>>> n.quarterLength
3.0
GeneralNote.getGrace(*, appoggiatura=False, inPlace=False)

Return a grace version of this GeneralNote

>>> n = note.Note('G4', quarterLength=2)
>>> n.duration.quarterLength
2.0
>>> n.duration.isGrace
False
>>> n.duration
<music21.duration.Duration 2.0>
>>> n.duration.type
'half'
>>> n.duration.components
(DurationTuple(type='half', dots=0, quarterLength=2.0),)

>>> ng = n.getGrace()
>>> ng.duration.quarterLength
0.0
>>> ng.duration.isGrace
True
>>> ng.duration
<music21.duration.GraceDuration unlinked type:zero quarterLength:0.0>
>>> ng.duration.type
'zero'
>>> ng.duration.components
(DurationTuple(type='half', dots=0, quarterLength=0.0),)

Appoggiaturas are still a work in progress… Changed in v.6 – corrected spelling of appoggiatura keyword.

>>> ng2 = n.getGrace(appoggiatura=True)
>>> ng2.duration
<music21.duration.AppoggiaturaDuration unlinked type:zero quarterLength:0.0>
>>> ng2.duration.slash
False

Set inPlace to True to change the duration element on the Note. This can have negative consequences if the Note is in a stream.

>>> r = note.Rest(quarterLength=0.5)
>>> r.getGrace(inPlace=True)
>>> r.duration
<music21.duration.GraceDuration unlinked type:zero quarterLength:0.0>
GeneralNote.insertLyric(text, index=0, *, applyRaw=False, identifier=None)

Inserts a lyric into the Note, Chord, or Rest’s lyric list in front of the index specified (0 by default), using index + 1 as the inserted lyric’s line number. shifts line numbers of all following lyrics in list

>>> n1 = note.Note()
>>> n1.addLyric('second')
>>> n1.lyrics
[<music21.note.Lyric number=1 syllabic=single text='second'>]
>>> n1.insertLyric('first', 0)
>>> n1.lyrics
[<music21.note.Lyric number=1 syllabic=single text='first'>,
 <music21.note.Lyric number=2 syllabic=single text='second'>]

Methods inherited from Music21Object:

Methods inherited from ProtoM21Object:

GeneralNote instance variables

GeneralNote.articulations

a list of articulations such as Staccato, etc.) that are stored on this Note.

GeneralNote.expressions

a list of expressions (such as Fermata, etc.) that are stored on this Note.

GeneralNote.isChord

Boolean read-only value describing if this object is a Chord.

GeneralNote.lyrics

A list of Lyric objects.

GeneralNote.tie

either None or a Tie object.

Instance variables inherited from Music21Object:

Lyric

class music21.note.Lyric(text=None, number=1, **kwargs)

An object representing a single Lyric as part of a note’s .lyrics property.

The note.lyric property is a simple way of specifying a single lyric, but Lyric objects are needed for working with multiple lyrics.

>>> l = note.Lyric(text='hello')
>>> l
<music21.note.Lyric number=1 syllabic=single text='hello'>

Music21 processes leading and following hyphens intelligently…

>>> l2 = note.Lyric(text='hel-')
>>> l2
<music21.note.Lyric number=1 syllabic=begin text='hel'>

…unless applyRaw is set to True

>>> l3 = note.Lyric(number=3, text='hel-', applyRaw=True)
>>> l3
<music21.note.Lyric number=3 syllabic=single text='hel-'>

Lyrics have four properties: text, number, identifier, syllabic (single, begin, middle, end)

>>> l3.text
'hel-'

>>> l3.number
3

>>> l3.syllabic
'single'

Note musicXML only supports one ‘identifier’ attribute which is called ‘number’ but which can be a number or a descriptive identifier like ‘part2verse1.’ To preserve lyric ordering, music21 stores a number and a descriptive identifier separately. The descriptive identifier is by default the same as the number, but in cases where a string identifier is present, it will be different.

Both music21 and musicxml support multiple lyric objects in the same stanza, for instance, if there is an elision on a note then multiple lyrics with different syllabics can appear on a single note.

Lyric bases

Lyric read-only properties

Read-only properties inherited from ProtoM21Object:

Read-only properties inherited from StyleMixin:

Lyric read/write properties

Lyric.identifier

By default, this is the same as self.number. However, if there is a descriptive identifier like ‘part2verse1’, it is stored here and will be different from self.number. When converting to musicXML, this property will be stored in the lyric ‘number’ attribute which can store a number or a descriptive identifier but not both.

>>> l = note.Lyric()
>>> l.number = 12
>>> l.identifier
12

>>> l.identifier = 'Rainbow'
>>> l.identifier
'Rainbow'
Lyric.number

This stores the number of the lyric (which determines the order lyrics appear in the score if there are multiple lyrics). Unlike the musicXML lyric number attribute, this value must always be a number; lyric order is always stored in this form. Descriptive identifiers like ‘part2verse1’ which can be found in the musicXML lyric number attribute should be stored in self.identifier.

>>> l = note.Lyric('Hi')
>>> l.number = 5
>>> l.number
5
>>> l.number = None
Traceback (most recent call last):
music21.note.LyricException: Number best be number
Lyric.rawText

returns the text of the syllable with ‘-‘ etc.

>>> l = note.Lyric('hel-')
>>> l.text
'hel'
>>> l.rawText
'hel-'

>>> l = note.Lyric('-lo')
>>> l.rawText
'-lo'

>>> l = note.Lyric('-ti-')
>>> l.rawText
'-ti-'

>>> l = note.Lyric('bye')
>>> l.rawText
'bye'

Read/write properties inherited from StyleMixin:

Lyric methods

Lyric.setTextAndSyllabic(rawText: str, applyRaw: bool = False) → None

Given a setting for rawText and applyRaw, sets the syllabic type for a lyric based on the rawText:

>>> l = note.Lyric()
>>> l.setTextAndSyllabic('hel-')
>>> l.text
'hel'
>>> l.syllabic
'begin'

Methods inherited from ProtoM21Object: