18. Staves

18.1. Creating staves

Create staves like this:

abjad> staff = Staff("c'8 d'8 e'8 f'8 g'8 a'8 b'4 c''1")

abjad> show(staff)

18.2. Inspecting staff music

Return staff components with music:

abjad> staff.music
(Note("c'8"), Note("d'8"), Note("e'8"), Note("f'8"), Note("g'8"), Note("a'8"), Note("b'4"), Note("c''1"))

18.3. Inspecting staff length

Get staff length with len():

abjad> len(staff)
8

18.4. Inspecting staff duration

Staff contents durations equals the sum of staff components’ duration:

abjad> staff.contents_duration
Duration(2, 1)

18.5. Adding one component to the end of a staff

Add one component to the end of a staff with append:

abjad> staff.append(Note("d''2"))

abjad> show(staff)

18.6. Adding many components to the end of a staff

Add many components to the end of a staff with extend:

abjad> notes = [Note("e''8"), Note("d''8"), Note("c''4")]
abjad> staff.extend(notes)

abjad> show(staff)

18.7. Finding the index of a staff component

Find staff component index with index:

abjad> notes[0]
Note("e''8")

abjad> staff.index(notes[0])
9

18.8. Removing a staff component by index

Use pop to remove a staff component by index:

abjad> staff[8]
Note("d''2")

abjad> staff.pop(8)

abjad> show(staff)

18.9. Removing a staff component by reference

Remove staff components by reference with remove:

abjad> staff.remove(staff[-1])

abjad> show(staff)

18.10. Naming staves

You can name Abjad staves:

abjad> staff.name = 'Example Staff'

Staff names appear in LilyPond input:

abjad> f(staff)
\context Staff = "Example Staff" {
        c'8
        d'8
        e'8
        f'8
        g'8
        a'8
        b'4
        c''1
        e''8
        d''8
}

But not in notational output:

abjad> show(staff)

18.11. Forcing context

Staff context equals 'Staff' by default:

abjad> staff.context
'Staff'

You can force staff context:

abjad> staff.context = 'CustomUserStaff'

abjad> staff.context
'CustomUserStaff'

abjad> f(staff)
\context CustomUserStaff = "Example Staff" {
        c'8
        d'8
        e'8
        f'8
        g'8
        a'8
        b'4
        c''1
        e''8
        d''8
}

Force context when you have defined a new LilyPond context.