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I am writing out music for the double bass, and we generally use a different glyph for a thumb fingering than what is available in lilypond. I recognize the one that's used as the default but it's uncommon and a bit distracting.

I have been able to get by in general by replacing \thumb with -+, but it seems like -+ has different precedence with regards to slurs and I have run into a situation where it's being written below a slur, which is not the optimal arrangement.

+ glyph beneath slur

I think I could probably figure out a way to tweak the precedence in just this case, but ideally I'd like to be able to have the thumb glyph just be replaced by the +.

Is there a way to do that?

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  • The posted answer is the right way to go. It is possible to adjust the height above notes for every marking (slurs, accent, fingering), should you wish to fine-tune any of them.
    – Carl Witthoft
    Commented Jul 13 at 12:02

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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LilyPond thinks of -+ as an articulation (like -- or -.).

To make a custom fingering symbol use the \finger command:

plus = \finger \markup \fontsize #6 "+"

{
    \clef "bass"
    
        fis' ( -\plus
        g' ) -1
        e' -2
        r4 |
}

Rendering of the above code, showing the plus symbol as a fingering instruction (correctly placed above the slur).

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  • That's fantastic, thanks. I don't know why bassists don't use the same notation a cellists, but the + is way more common in my experience. I asked a cellist friend and she said usually + means a lh pizz, but we don't do tons of those.
    – Mark T.
    Commented Jul 13 at 4:38
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    @MarkT. The plus sign can be used for a variety different things: An old system for marking fingering on keyboard instruments (English fingering) used “+” for the thumb and 1–4 for the fingers; French horn uses “+” for stopped notes; Percussion uses “+” for damped notes; And I was looking at some flute music the other day that used “+” for trills.
    – Elements In Space ♦
    Commented Jul 13 at 4:59
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    Apparently "+" can also mean left-hand pizz for stringed instruments. I'm not certain why it's common for bass to be thumb, but my guess is that it's quicker to write on parts than the glyph used by cellists, and most classical music for double bass doesn't include a lot of LH pizz, so there isn't a collision.
    – Mark T.
    Commented Jul 25 at 15:17

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