> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://chart-spec.enchor.us/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Note modifiers

> Forcing and taps in a .chart file.

A modifier is an `N` event that changes how the notes at its tick are played, instead of adding a note. Guitar sections, 5-fret and 6-fret, have two modifiers:

| Value | Modifier | Effect |
| - | - | - |
| `5` | Forced | Flips the notes between strum and HOPO from what they would naturally be |
| `6` | Tap | Makes the notes taps |

A modifier applies to every note at its tick, so to a whole chord, never to one fret.

```text theme={null}
768 = N 0 0
768 = N 1 0
768 = N 5 0
```

Here the forced modifier makes the green and red chord a HOPO chord.

* **Required:** a note on each modifier's tick.
* **Required:** a forced and a tap modifier not on one tick.
* **Recommended:** a length of 0 for each modifier.
* In a drums section, `N 5` and `N 6` aren't modifiers. See [Drums](/chart/drums).

**Edge case:** a tick needs only one of each modifier. Two forced modifiers at one tick flip the notes once.

## Forced

A note is a strum or a HOPO (hammer-on or pull-off), and a scanner decides which from where the notes are: see [Natural HOPOs](/chart/note-resolution#natural-hopos). The forced modifier flips that result: a note that would be a HOPO becomes a strum, and a note that would be a strum becomes a HOPO.

So a forced chord is a HOPO chord, and a forced first note is a HOPO, because chords and first notes are strums unless forced. Forcing a note doesn't change whether the notes after it are HOPOs.

## Tap

The tap modifier makes every note at its tick a tap, which the player can play without strumming.

## Ignored

* **A modifier's length.**

## Invalid forms

<Accordion title="A forced and a tap modifier at one tick">
  Every scanner reads the notes as taps. scan-chart keeps both modifiers when saving.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="A modifier on a tick with no note">
  It has no effect in any scanner. scan-chart reports it as `chartModifierWithoutNote` only with the `styleNotes` option, and removes it when saving either way.
</Accordion>


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