[Songs help] songs

Songs are the greatest musical expression that a bard is capable of making
using their magically infused voice.  Songs are performed through the use
of the sing command and require that the bard have mana available to use.
Singing also requires concentration, although the more charisma a bard has
the easier it seems to be.  While songs universally affect an entire area,
some songs will only affect your allies within the area or vice versa.  A
song will gain additional powers if the bard also dances to the music.

Songs consist of two parts - melody and lyrics.  The melody determines the
magical properties of the song and is the portion of the song that requires
training.  There are a total of ten melodies which correspond to the ten
different types of songs that a bard can learn to sing: protection, war,
healing, death, dancing, magic, antimagic, sleep, silence and counter.

The lyrics define the words that a bard sings and there are a large pool
of them available for each individual song.  Upon training a song for the
first time, a bard will also be taught one random lyric from those that
are currently available.  Although additional lyrics are never necessary,
a bard has the option of learning others that may better suit his mood or
personality.  These can be learned either from other bards via the teach
command or can occasionally be learned through a quest.

Bards can also work together to sing songs.  If two or more bards in the 
same group, sing the same song using the same lyrics, an ensemble will take 
place.  An ensemble raises the magical power of that particular song.  The 
more bards involved, the stronger the song becomes.  This is the power of 
harmony.  On the other hand, if bards in the same group sing different 
tunes, each song's power will be somewhat decreased due to dissonance.

See also: sing 'songs of ' countersongs dance teach