Hello...

I have just started composing choral music but have come across a problem.

When writing the words, I have noticed that most composers use dashes and lines. What does this mean?

e.g.

A - - - - - - MEN

or

AMEN_________.

Is there a difference?


Thanks for your help

The lines indicate that a syllable is to be sung over a long note or a run of two or more notes. So there is a difference, yes: A---men would mean this happened on the first syllable (see for example Handel's Amen chorus to the Messiah) Amen___ would probably indicate a long last syllable as I imagine that would sound quite daft spread over several notes....

Here's an example I just did in Finale.

I don't have my book on engraving rules handy, but I think it's normal to use the hyphen (-) when splitting syllables of words in order to indicate that the word is not yet finished, and the underscore (_) to show that the last syllable of the word is stretched over the following notes.

In both cases, it has the same effect - that syllable is held throughout the notes indicated (normally it is the vowel that is held, but some composers ask for just the m or n sounds to be held).


Mosschops