Lessons · Usage guide

Aligning the grid

Free grid symbols and columns that line up

% A canon needs one line worth answering. This is it: a leap to the
% fifth, a stepwise fall back to the third, then a cadence walking a
% fourth down to the tonic and turning through the raised seventh
% below it. Sixteen units, two eight-unit halves, one measure.
 
bpm 70
instrument plain
meter 4
unit 1/4
key e harm
 
Subject ::= 1 _2 5 4 3 2 3 _2
Cadence ::= 4 3 2 1 .7 _2 1 _2
Subject Cadence
 
 
% Two or more '%' is the FREE GRID SYMBOL: it takes a grid column and
% plays nothing. (One '%' is still a comment.) Stacked expression
% lines share a grid that counts ITEMS, not units, so '-*4' spends
% four units in a single column and the answer needs three fillers to
% buy back the three columns the subject spent reaching its fifth.
% From column five on, every column is one instant in both voices.
 
assert -*4 %% %% %% .1 _2 .5 .4 == -*4 .1 _2 .5 .4
 
1-- __2 5-- 4-- 3-- 2-- 3-- __2 4-- 3-- 2-- 1-- .7- __2 1-- __2
-*4 %%% %%% %%% .1- __2 .5- .4- .3- .2- .3- __2 .4- .3- .2- .1-
 
 
% The same two rows, stacked by a comma instead of by the eye: the
% answer is the subject an octave down, four units late, closing on
% the cadence's first four items.
 
Answer  ::= -*4 Subject@~-7 Cadence[:4]@~-7
Stretto ::= {Subject Cadence, Answer}
Stretto
 
 
% At eight units' distance the canon runs three measures, the middle
% pair sequenced a third up. Every item in both rows lasts eight
% units, so the six columns fall out of the naming and no filler is
% needed at all. The group mark says outright what the rows only
% show: the follower is the leader, an octave down.
 
Lead   ::= Subject Cadence Subject@~2 Cadence@~2 Subject Cadence
Follow ::= -*8 Subject@~-7 Cadence@~-7 Subject@~-5 Cadence@~-5 Subject@~-7
 
assert Follow == -*8 {Subject Cadence Subject@~2 Cadence@~2 Subject}@~-7
 
Canon  ::= {Lead, Follow}
Canon
 
 
% Fill and rests are not free. '..5 _16' holds one note over two
% columns and sixteen units; '-*16' spends sixteen units in ONE
% column, so the filler is what splits that wait into two and keeps
% the bass at six columns of eight units apiece, like the canon over
% it. It sits out a measure, then carries the dominant home.
 
Bass   ::= -*16 %% ..5 _16 ..1 _16
Ground<bass> ::= {Lead, Follow, Bass}
 
assert Bass == -*16 ..5 _16 ..1 _16
 
Ground
 
 
% In order: the line, the entries four units apart, the canon at
% eight, that canon over the bass. Even here the grid pads: 'Canon--'
% is Canon, and nothing in this document sounds because of a '%'.
 
Subject Cadence Stretto Canon-- Ground-

% A canon needs one line worth answering. This is it: a leap to the
% fifth, a stepwise fall back to the third, then a cadence walking a
% fourth down to the tonic and turning through the raised seventh
% below it. Sixteen units, two eight-unit halves, one measure.

bpm 70
instrument plain
meter 4
unit 1/4
key e harm

Subject ::= 1 _2 5 4 3 2 3 _2
Cadence ::= 4 3 2 1 .7 _2 1 _2
Subject Cadence

% Two or more '%' is the FREE GRID SYMBOL: it takes a grid column and
% plays nothing. (One '%' is still a comment.) Stacked expression
% lines share a grid that counts ITEMS, not units, so '-*4' spends
% four units in a single column and the answer needs three fillers to
% buy back the three columns the subject spent reaching its fifth.
% From column five on, every column is one instant in both voices.

assert -*4 %% %% %% .1 _2 .5 .4 == -*4 .1 _2 .5 .4

1-- __2 5-- 4-- 3-- 2-- 3-- __2 4-- 3-- 2-- 1-- .7- __2 1-- __2
-*4 %%% %%% %%% .1- __2 .5- .4- .3- .2- .3- __2 .4- .3- .2- .1-

% The same two rows, stacked by a comma instead of by the eye: the
% answer is the subject an octave down, four units late, closing on
% the cadence's first four items.

Answer  ::= -*4 Subject@~-7 Cadence[:4]@~-7
Stretto ::= {Subject Cadence, Answer}
Stretto

% At eight units' distance the canon runs three measures, the middle
% pair sequenced a third up. Every item in both rows lasts eight
% units, so the six columns fall out of the naming and no filler is
% needed at all. The group mark says outright what the rows only
% show: the follower is the leader, an octave down.

Lead   ::= Subject Cadence Subject@~2 Cadence@~2 Subject Cadence
Follow ::= -*8 Subject@~-7 Cadence@~-7 Subject@~-5 Cadence@~-5 Subject@~-7

assert Follow == -*8 {Subject Cadence Subject@~2 Cadence@~2 Subject}@~-7

Canon  ::= {Lead, Follow}
Canon

% Fill and rests are not free. '..5 _16' holds one note over two
% columns and sixteen units; '-*16' spends sixteen units in ONE
% column, so the filler is what splits that wait into two and keeps
% the bass at six columns of eight units apiece, like the canon over
% it. It sits out a measure, then carries the dominant home.

Bass   ::= -*16 %% ..5 _16 ..1 _16
Ground<bass> ::= {Lead, Follow, Bass}

assert Bass == -*16 ..5 _16 ..1 _16

Ground

% In order: the line, the entries four units apart, the canon at
% eight, that canon over the bass. Even here the grid pads: 'Canon--'
% is Canon, and nothing in this document sounds because of a '%'.

Subject Cadence Stretto Canon-- Ground-

running…edit it and it re-runs as you type

Aligning the grid · Usage guide