Rhythm and silence

Duration comes first

Value	Meaning	Accepted letter
`1`	Whole note	`w`
`2`	Half note	`h`
`4`	Quarter note	`q`
`8`	Eighth note	`e`
`16`	Sixteenth note	`s`
`32`	Thirty-second note	`t`
`64`	Sixty-fourth note	Use the number

Write 8C5, not a duration after the pitch. The last duration stays in force on a music line: 8C D E F is four eighths. State the opening duration of each new row. A continued row retains it across |; a separately addressed measure starts its duration context again. Octave inference is separate and can carry across that boundary.

Numeric and letter durations are both supported. Prefer a consistent spelling within a file; the formatter can normalize to either. Mixing them is accepted, but does not cancel inheritance or relax the meter. 4G and qG both mean a quarter-note G; 4G A B C and qG A B C both describe four quarters. The difference is spelling, not rhythm.

For example, 4G D E Eb | hD F r | is overfull in 4/4: the first bar has four quarters, but hD makes D, F, and the inline rest half-note values. That second bar totals six quarter beats. If half D, quarter F, quarter rest is intended, state the new quarter duration explicitly:

Notation for the preceding Rhythm and silence example — ScoreScript sourceDownload source

This is one possible correction, not a rule for guessing intended rhythms. A literal ? after the music is not a comment; use // for commentary.

Dots and exact fractions

Put dots on the duration: 4.C5 is a dotted quarter and 4..C5 a double-dotted quarter. 1/6C5 is exactly one sixth of a whole note.

& supplies the complementary shorter duration after a dotted value: a dotted quarter plus &D gives a dotted quarter and an eighth, totaling a half note. The complement does not replace the inherited duration: in 4.C5 &D E, E is another dotted quarter. State its duration when a different value is intended.

Tuplets

Braces collect the notes in a tuplet. {3: 8C D E} is three eighths in the time of two. Write an explicit normal count for another ratio, as in {5:3 8C D E F G}: five eighths occupy three eighth-note units.

The displayed tuplet bracket and rhythmic scaling refer to the same group. Do not separately shorten the notes to compensate for the ratio. An inherited eighth after the group is an ordinary eighth, not a tuplet eighth: {3: 8C D E} F leaves F at one eighth. The example above explicitly switches to quarters with 4F.

Rests and incomplete bars

4r is a quarter rest and 2r a half rest. A lone bare r fills one whole measure in the current meter. r8 means eight measures of rest, while 8r means one eighth rest. The order changes the meaning.

Source	Reading
`4C D E r`	Three quarter notes and a quarter rest
`2C D \| r`	Two half notes, then a full-bar rest
`r C D E`	Overfull: the opening bare rest claims a whole bar
`4r C D E`	A quarter rest, then three quarter notes

Bare r does not mean “fill the remaining beats.” Inside a musical row it inherits the established duration; standing alone in its bar it means a full-bar rest, even after a bar of halves or eighths.

A short ordinary bar is completed with rests and diagnosed. A pickup labeled m0: stays short. An overfull bar is an error; a barline does not discard the extra duration. Omitted ranges in a part can represent silence; see structure.

Grace notes

A slash before the duration marks a grace note, which takes no measured time from the bar. Multiple grace notes may precede the main note. The grace's duration can still change the inherited note value. State the first main note's duration explicitly when it differs, as 4C does here.

The slash before a note is different from a slash after it: the latter is a glissando connector.