MusicXML progress update: August 11, 2026

ROADMAP PROGRESS

With the build system for the documentation site and the test system now firmly in place, it is possible to achieve good velocity with actual work towards the next MusicXML 4.1 release https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/milestone/3. Here are the items that have moved in the past period:

– Closed: <harmonic> misses a number attribute https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/issues/529 (thanks @lemzwerg)

– Closed: Make part-symbol repeatable https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/issues/572 (thanks @rettinghaus)

– Closed: Support multiple accidentals https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/issues/605 (that’s one of my own)

– Closed: Barline only takes single coda https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/issues/653 (thanks @rettinghaus)

– In progress: Clarify fan attribute usage for multi-level beams https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/issues/663 (thanks @rpatters1)

To keep the schema, documentation site, tests, release notes, etc. in sync, I am following a list of steps that I keep refining as I go: https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/discussions/658

ONGOING TOPICS

Other than roadmap items, the following topics received recent attention:

– The question of encoding ties and slurs across repeat sections started as a simple-sounding discussion at https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/discussions/666 but has now turned into a multi-issue giant (https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/issues/678, https://github.com/w3c-cg/musicxml/issues/683) and will likely need some schema adjustments. Thanks to @rpatters1, @lemzwerg, @mdgood for the deep involvement into advancing this obviously thorny topic.

– Many discussion topics and issues have arisen around clarifying the documentation, removing ambiguity, addressing edge cases for the sake of application developers. Thanks to @lemzwerg, @rpatters1 and others for bringing these issues forward – once I feel they reach a place of clarity and mutual understanding, we can consider adding them to the roadmap.