Arguments before functions

[Fr. Samuel Springuel]

Is there a way for a music function to operate on the note that precedes it?

I’m transcribing chant and have lots of music where I transcribed the note just 
before the bar as a quarter note (the same as other non-reciting notes in the 
measure):

{ \cadenzaOn g'1 c'4 f'  \bar "|" }


I’ve been asked now to lengthen the note just before the bar by making it into 
a dotted quarter:

{ \cadenzaOn g'1 c'4 f'4.  \bar "|" }

What I’d like to know is if there’s a way that I can modify the \bar function 
so that it automatically changes the duration of the note just before it, or if 
I have to break out the text replacement tools to modify all my source files.

As a further complication, the dotted quarter notation hasn’t been settled yet, 
as there are some arguing for making it a quarter with a tenuto and others for 
a half note, so I’d really like a function that allows me to switch between 
those three options (dotted quarter, quarter with tenuto, or half note) 
relatively easily.

✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝
Fr. Samuel, OSB
(R. Padraic Springuel)
St. Anselm’s Abbey
4501 South Dakota Ave, NE
Washington, DC, 20017
202-269-2300
(c) 202-853-7036

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