To create a chord sheet the data is entered in plain text.
Use a # to start a comment line.
E.g. # todo - I have to listen to the original song to get the turnaround chords right
When rendering the PDF comments will be ignored.
Use as many whitespace as you like to keep your data source readable.
When rendering the PDF whitespace will be ignored. It has no effect on the result.
Just enter the chords.
Every chord will get on its own bar.
You don't have to use special delimiter chars between chords.
Just use a blank.
Just write the chordnames as you would do on paper.
No, not really. The purpose of this tool is to create sheets with just the chord progressions.
You could add lyrics as literal text lines. But it is hard to relate the words with the changes.
Check out the ChordPro format. It might be better suited to your needs.
Yes, you can add an extra page with the lyrics.
There are four different types of text lines.
The first character in the line determines what type of line of text it is.
: Section Title
Text line rendered with a border. E.g. A and B sections.
= Section Title and Delimiter
Same as : but also delimiter of musical parts or sections.
The previous bar ends with a double line.
The next bar starts with a double line.
See the example Titles and Sections (PDF).
You can use up to three columns of text for subheadings and notes.
Use a double space to "push" the text to the next column.
See the example Three columns of text (PDF).
Note that when using literal lines of text, all spaces are preserved, so the three-column system CANNOT be used with literal lines of text.
Just use a normal text line with just the leading dash - and no text.
The result is slightly more vertical spacing.
This can be useful for visually separating sections, think verse and chorus.
And sometimes it helps to prevent overlapping of symbols. E.g. when using 1st and 2nd endings.
See the example Blank Lines And Spaces - The Invisible Saviors (PDF).
To put multiple chords in a single bar there is a special char _.
Think of it as "glue" to paste multiple chords together.
E.g. Dm7_G7 Cmaj7 will result in two bars.
One split bar with two chords (Dm7 G7) and one bar with just one chord (Cmaj7).
There is an underlying grid system.
That is that all bars get aligned vertically.
You can indent bars by preceding them with one ore more X.
That is useful to make 1st and 2nd endings easier to read.
Use two lines and indent the bars of the 2nd ending to align them vertically with the 1st ending.
See the Example 1st and 2nd endings (PDF).
See the Example 1st and 2nd endings (PDF).
E.g. (A B) |:A B:|
You can note the number of repeats by writing (A B)3x or (A B)x3
See the Example repeat sections (PDF).
If the arrangement does not fit on a single page you'll have to add a page break.
E.g. + or + Chorus.
The latter as a shorthand for + followed by a = Chorus to start a new section.
See the Example Page Breaks (PDF).
A page break will be added automatically if the maximum lines per page limit is exceeded .
Use the advanced edit form to set the time signature for the whole song (optional).
You can add time signatures per bar as well by writing e.g. 3:4 or 2:4
See the Example time signatures