How to extract only lyrics and chords, step by step

[Jürgen Ibelgaufts]

Hi everybody,

here is a first clumsy solution to extract lyrics, chords and guitar frets from 
an existing score WITHOUT changing the notes, chords and lyrics except 
optionally add some line breaks for layout reasons.

Only remaining disadvantage is that shrinking the staff still seems to occupy a 
lot of vertical space, so there is still a gap between the lines. A possible 
solution would be if you could have different \paper sections in one file to 
allow different adjustments for the between-system-padding and 
between-system-space properties.

Here it is in 7 steps:

% How to extract only lyrics, chords and frets from an existing score, mainly
%   by shrinking the notes to the most possible minimum, removing some 
engravers,
%   adjusting vertical positioning and hiding the remaining bits by making
%   them transparent
%
% 1. Add manual line breaks (optional) to keep the lyrics layout
%
% 2. Shrink the staff to the most possible minimum
%
%   This will NOT work:
%     \override Staff.StaffSymbol #'line-positions = #'(0 0 0 0 0 )
%   The staff shrinks, but lilypond replaces the missing lines by ledger lines.
%   This will work:
%     \override Staff.StaffSymbol #'staff-space = #(magstep -50)
%   All lines inclusive ledger lines shrink into one thin line with all the
%   notes on it
%
% 3. In the \layout section, Remove engravers from the voice, staff and score
%   contexts. Don't remove the Note_heads_engraver, the Staff_symbol_engraver
%   and Rest_engraver. Add Bar_engraver to the Lyrics context, this will also
%   show the repeat signs. Adjust their size and position, if necessary.
%
%     \context {
%       \Voice
%       \remove "Stem_engraver"
%       \remove "Phrasing_slur_engraver"
%       \remove "Script_engraver"
%       \remove "Beam_engraver"
%       \remove "Auto_beam_engraver"
%     }
%     \context {
%       \Staff
%       \remove "Accidental_engraver"
%       \remove "Key_engraver"
%       \remove "Clef_engraver"
%       \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
%     }
%     \context {
%       \Score
%       \remove "Bar_number_engraver"
%       \remove "Metronome_mark_engraver"
%       \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
%     }
%     \context {
%       \Lyrics
%       \consists Bar_engraver
%       \override BarLine #'bar-size = #3
%       \override BarLine #'extra-offset = #'(0.5 . 1.0)
%     }
%
% 4. Place the lyrics above the staff to put them closer to the chords
%
%   Give your staff a name, like this:
%     \new Staff = "melodyStaff" {
%   then use alignAboveContext to place the lyrics, like this:
%     \new Lyrics \with { alignAboveContext = melodyStaff }
%     \lyricsto "melodyIntro" { \lyricsIntro }
%
% 6. Adjust the vertical offsets for rehearsal marks, chords and frets
%   if necessary, using the #'extra-offset property
%
% 7. Hide the remaining bits by making them transparent, like this:
%     \override Voice.NoteHead #'transparent = ##t
%

Hope it is useful to somebody. Enjoy!
Jürgen