# Zooming Out / Basic Syntax Questions

**URL:** <https://uzu.lurk.org/t/zooming-out-basic-syntax-questions/436>\
**Category:** TidalCycles\
**Tags:** questions\
**Created:** [16 April 2020 18:18 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/zooming-out-basic-syntax-questions/436 "2020-04-16T18:18:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ben](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/ben/32/362_2.png) [@ben](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/ben)\
**Post date:** [16 April 2020 18:18 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/zooming-out-basic-syntax-questions/436/1 "2020-04-16T18:18:16Z")

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Hello,

While I'm just beginning to try to write Tidal code I'm finding myself wondering, and not knowing the answers to, questions about basic syntax. Like when and why to use the "$". When to use quotation marks, parentheses, brackets, etc.

Is there a good resource for how to go about thinking in the most fundamental way? I think that once I have a grasp on how to combine functions and how to separate different parts of the syntax it will be helpful for me feeling more fluent.

I hope this question is clear enough.

Thank you!  
Ben

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**Author:** ![yaxu](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/yaxu/32/2_2.png) [@yaxu](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/yaxu)\
**Post date:** [16 April 2020 20:11 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/zooming-out-basic-syntax-questions/436/2 "2020-04-16T20:11:25Z")

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Hi @ben,

We had a bit of a discussion about `$` vs `()` etc here:

> [@Week 1 lesson 1 - Tidal interaction](https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/week-1-lesson-1-tidal-interaction/230/8):
>
> Great video. No editing needed, you explain things at a good pace. What is the grammar of each line e.g "d1 $ sound “bd sd”? What would you call d1 or d2, and what is the function of the dollar sign? Thank you!

I'm preparing some reference material that should hopefully help too, it should be ready for sharing in the next day or two.

There's some links for info on 'innards' here: [https://tidalcycles.org/index.php/Haskell\_resources](https://tidalcycles.org/index.php/Haskell_resources)

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**Author:** ![ben](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/ben/32/362_2.png) [@ben](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/ben)\
**Post date:** [16 April 2020 20:56 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/zooming-out-basic-syntax-questions/436/3 "2020-04-16T20:56:41Z")

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Thanks. That discussion was helpful.  
And looking forward to your materials.

Ben