Lessons · Usage guide

Importing scores

Reading a decomposed import

% Import… (in the ☰ menu) reads LilyPond (.ly), Standard MIDI (.mid)
% and MusicXML; it detects key, meter and tempo, then DECOMPOSES the
% piece into a minimum grammar — verified lossless against the imported
% notes. Headless, the same pipeline is
%   npx vite-node tools/import-cli.ts <file|URL> --decompose
% What follows is a miniature of what comes out, written in the order an
% import writes it: header, FORM map and cast, one block per section,
% finale. Every note-for-note Showcase lesson has this shape.
 
bpm 120
meter 3
unit 1/4
key d4 harm
mode diatonic
 
 
% FORM — A mm.1-8 · B mm.9-16 · A′ mm.17-24. A letter per restatement,
% a prime for a varied return. Then the cast, each character stated once
% and alone: 'Mn' rules are MOTIFS, 'Cn' CHORDS of three notes or more,
% and a two-note stack takes its interval's name — every stack
% canonicalized by SHAPE, so a transposed one reuses its rule with a mark.
 
% Theme — an 8-note line, stated 13 times
Theme ::= 1 _4 5 _2 4 _2 3 _2 2 _2 3 _4 2 _4 .7 _4
Theme
 
% Cad — the 4-note cadence that closes A and, backwards, A′
Cad ::= 5 _4 4 _2 3 _2 2 _4
Cad Cad~
 
% Turn — a 5-note neighbour figure, stated 9 times; its second
% alternative is the VARIATION — same rhythm, bent pitches
Turn ::= 2 _2 1 _2 .7 _2 1 _2 2 _4
       = 2 _2 3 _2 4 _2 3 _2 2 _4
Turn Turn#2
 
% Oct — an octave, stated 3 times and inside every Arp below; C1 — the
% closing four-note stack, stated twice
Oct ::= {..1, .1}
C1  ::= {.1, .5, 1, 3}
Oct _4 C1 _8
 
% Alberti — the A-section accompaniment, one beat long, stated 20 times
Alberti ::= .1 .5 .3 .5
Alberti*3
 
% Arp — the B-section accompaniment, a measure of Oct and two chord
% tones, stated 9 times
Arp ::= Oct _4 .5 _4 .3 _4
Arp
 
 
% A mark after a reference covers its WHOLE expansion and tells that
% occurrence's story: @~n moves by scale steps and stays in the key,
% @n moves by semitones and need not, ~ is retrograde, ^ mirrors about
% the tonal centre, _2 augments, *n repeats, Name#n pins the n-th
% alternative. The Theme through each in turn — one body, six statements,
% each with its own ▶:
 
Theme
Theme@~4
Theme@-3
Theme~
Theme^@~7
Theme _2
 
% '*n' repeats in TIME rather than deriving, and the engine says so:
assert Alberti*3 == Alberti Alberti Alberti
 
 
% mm.1-8 — A. Theme, its answer at the fifth (@~4), then a statement a
% third lower (@~-2), closing on Cad over the tonic. The bass marks spell
% the harmony: i, V is @~-3, iv is @~-4, VI is @~-2. One chunk rule per
% voice, each named for the measure it starts, then a skeleton stacking
% them — that is every section in every imported lesson. Definitions
% sound nothing on their own; the finale below states them.
 
F1a ::= Theme Theme@~4 Theme@~-2
  | Cad |
  | 1 _12 |
F1b ::= | Alberti*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-4*3 |
  | Alberti@~-2*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti*3 |
F1  ::= {F1a, F1b}
 
 
% mm.9-16 — B. New material: Turn sequenced through four scale
% positions, then the variation Turn#2 answering over the first three,
% above Arp. Half cadence — the last two measures both sit on V.
 
F9a ::= | Turn@~3 |
  | Turn@~5 |
  | Turn@~4 |
  | Turn@~2 |
  | Turn#2@~3 |
  | Turn#2@~5 |
  | Turn#2@~4 |
  | 5 _12 |
F9b ::= | Arp@~3 |
  | Arp@~5 |
  | Arp@~4 |
  | Arp@~5 |
  | Arp@~3 |
  | Arp@~5 |
  | Arp@~4 |
  | Arp@~4 |
F9  ::= {F9a, F9b}
 
 
% mm.17-24 — A′, the varied return of mm.1-8: Theme upright, then
% mirrored an octave up (^@~7), then backwards (~), with Cad backwards
% too and C1 over the octave to close. The prime in the FORM map is
% exactly this — same bodies, new marks.
 
F17a ::= Theme Theme^@~7 Theme~
  | Cad~ |
  | C1 _12 |
F17b ::= | Alberti*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-4*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Oct _12 |
F17 ::= {F17a, F17b}
 
 
% The finale: every section in order — the one place the piece is
% played. Read a real import top to bottom and this is the shape you
% will find.
 
F1
F9
F17

% Import… (in the ☰ menu) reads LilyPond (.ly), Standard MIDI (.mid)
% and MusicXML; it detects key, meter and tempo, then DECOMPOSES the
% piece into a minimum grammar — verified lossless against the imported
% notes. Headless, the same pipeline is
%   npx vite-node tools/import-cli.ts <file|URL> --decompose
% What follows is a miniature of what comes out, written in the order an
% import writes it: header, FORM map and cast, one block per section,
% finale. Every note-for-note Showcase lesson has this shape.

bpm 120
meter 3
unit 1/4
key d4 harm
mode diatonic

% FORM — A mm.1-8 · B mm.9-16 · A′ mm.17-24. A letter per restatement,
% a prime for a varied return. Then the cast, each character stated once
% and alone: 'Mn' rules are MOTIFS, 'Cn' CHORDS of three notes or more,
% and a two-note stack takes its interval's name — every stack
% canonicalized by SHAPE, so a transposed one reuses its rule with a mark.

% Theme — an 8-note line, stated 13 times
Theme ::= 1 _4 5 _2 4 _2 3 _2 2 _2 3 _4 2 _4 .7 _4
Theme

% Cad — the 4-note cadence that closes A and, backwards, A′
Cad ::= 5 _4 4 _2 3 _2 2 _4
Cad Cad~

% Turn — a 5-note neighbour figure, stated 9 times; its second
% alternative is the VARIATION — same rhythm, bent pitches
Turn ::= 2 _2 1 _2 .7 _2 1 _2 2 _4
       = 2 _2 3 _2 4 _2 3 _2 2 _4
Turn Turn#2

% Oct — an octave, stated 3 times and inside every Arp below; C1 — the
% closing four-note stack, stated twice
Oct ::= {..1, .1}
C1  ::= {.1, .5, 1, 3}
Oct _4 C1 _8

% Alberti — the A-section accompaniment, one beat long, stated 20 times
Alberti ::= .1 .5 .3 .5
Alberti*3

% Arp — the B-section accompaniment, a measure of Oct and two chord
% tones, stated 9 times
Arp ::= Oct _4 .5 _4 .3 _4
Arp

% A mark after a reference covers its WHOLE expansion and tells that
% occurrence's story: @~n moves by scale steps and stays in the key,
% @n moves by semitones and need not, ~ is retrograde, ^ mirrors about
% the tonal centre, _2 augments, *n repeats, Name#n pins the n-th
% alternative. The Theme through each in turn — one body, six statements,
% each with its own ▶:

Theme
Theme@~4
Theme@-3
Theme~
Theme^@~7
Theme _2

% '*n' repeats in TIME rather than deriving, and the engine says so:
assert Alberti*3 == Alberti Alberti Alberti

% mm.1-8 — A. Theme, its answer at the fifth (@~4), then a statement a
% third lower (@~-2), closing on Cad over the tonic. The bass marks spell
% the harmony: i, V is @~-3, iv is @~-4, VI is @~-2. One chunk rule per
% voice, each named for the measure it starts, then a skeleton stacking
% them — that is every section in every imported lesson. Definitions
% sound nothing on their own; the finale below states them.

F1a ::= Theme Theme@~4 Theme@~-2
  | Cad |
  | 1 _12 |
F1b ::= | Alberti*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-4*3 |
  | Alberti@~-2*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti*3 |
F1  ::= {F1a, F1b}

% mm.9-16 — B. New material: Turn sequenced through four scale
% positions, then the variation Turn#2 answering over the first three,
% above Arp. Half cadence — the last two measures both sit on V.

F9a ::= | Turn@~3 |
  | Turn@~5 |
  | Turn@~4 |
  | Turn@~2 |
  | Turn#2@~3 |
  | Turn#2@~5 |
  | Turn#2@~4 |
  | 5 _12 |
F9b ::= | Arp@~3 |
  | Arp@~5 |
  | Arp@~4 |
  | Arp@~5 |
  | Arp@~3 |
  | Arp@~5 |
  | Arp@~4 |
  | Arp@~4 |
F9  ::= {F9a, F9b}

% mm.17-24 — A′, the varied return of mm.1-8: Theme upright, then
% mirrored an octave up (^@~7), then backwards (~), with Cad backwards
% too and C1 over the octave to close. The prime in the FORM map is
% exactly this — same bodies, new marks.

F17a ::= Theme Theme^@~7 Theme~
  | Cad~ |
  | C1 _12 |
F17b ::= | Alberti*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-4*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Alberti*3 |
  | Alberti@~-3*3 |
  | Oct _12 |
F17 ::= {F17a, F17b}

% The finale: every section in order — the one place the piece is
% played. Read a real import top to bottom and this is the shape you
% will find.

F1
F9
F17

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

Opening…

Importing scores · Pattern Engine