Playing with LilyPond

I’ve downloaded and installed LilyPond for Linux on my Acer Aspire One and spent an hour or so playing with it. It’s so neat! The excellent Learning Manual explains how to write music in LilyPond format. For instance, I’ve created this test file file.ly:

{
 \clef bass
  b,,1 e,1 a,1 d1 g1 c'1
}

To generate sheet music from this file, run LilyPond on the command line like this:

lilypond file.ly

By default, the output is saved as file.ps and file.pdf, but if you type

lilypond --png file.ly

it will generate file.png — this one:



(Yes, this is the “standard” six-string bass tuning.)