Re: measure count every 4 bars

Paul, I thought of one possible approach.

On Mon, 22 Jun 2026, Paul Scott wrote:

> How can I get measure count every 4 (or any different interval) bars?
>

On Tue, 23 Jun 2026, Paul Scott wrote:

> I think I found the section that you are citing:
>
> https://lilypond.org/doc/v2.27/Documentation/notation/bars#measure-counts
>
> I have never used measure counts myself, but I imagine that someone with
> experience has an answer to your question!
>
> I am rewriting some parts to a piece that has some instruments playing a
> repeated pattern over 14 measures. The measure counts help the players keep
> track of where they are.
>
Here’s my “solution.” I put that word in (curly
<https://practicaltypography.com/straight-and-curly-quotes.html>) quotation
marks because this is very much a manual hack.

What I am doing below is removing the MeasureCounter stencil surgically.
Please see the following documentation: 36.7.1 Removing the stencil
<https://lilypond.org/doc/v2.27/Documentation/notation/visibility-of-objects#removing-the-stencil>
.

I bet someone on this list has a better, more elegant solution!

Gabriel

[image: image.png]

%%%  SNIPPET BEGINS
\version "2.27.1"

\layout {
  \context {
    \Staff
    \consists Measure_counter_engraver
  }
}

music = \fixed c' { d a e b }







*omitNumber =  \override Score.MeasureCounter.stencil = ##frestoreNumber =
\revert Score.MeasureCounter.stencil*\fixed c' {
  \startMeasureCount
  \music
  \omitNumber \*3 \music
  \restoreNumber \music
  \omitNumber \*3 \music
  \restoreNumber \music
  \omitNumber \*3 \music
  \restoreNumber \music
  \omitNumber \*3 \music
  \restoreNumber \music
  \stopMeasureCount
  \*3 \music
}
%%%  SNIPPET ENDS