Bleepin' Finger Positions

The chords tab lets you transpose & capo chords as well as determine how those chords appear. It also lets you select an instrument for chord diagrams. (Because apparently playin' by ear is so yesterday, amirite?)

Vibe Check

The style choosers lets you pick how the chords should look on screen—'cause we got OPTIONS, y'all. Pick your poison:

• Alpha displays chords as letters (A-G) with all that sharp/flat drama. The boring default.
• Nashville displays chords as numbers (1-7) based on where they live in the key. For people who failed music theory but wanna sound smart.
• Roman displays chords as Roman numerals (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii) because apparently we're fancy now. Also key-based.
• Italian displays chords as numbers using Latin (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti). You know, for when you wanna feel like you're at the opera instead of your garage.

Key Vibes

The key chooser lets you set the key of the chord chart. Surprise! It can be totally different from how you actually wrote the song, 'cause transposition is magic like that.

The usual suspects are lined up in "circle of fifths" order—keys that don't make your brain hurt go on the left. Major & minor swap around based on how you wrote it. Wanna switch to alphabetic? Prefer the old slider? Check out Transpose Control & knock yourself out.

Need ALL the theoretical keys? Nerds in the house, toggle Theoretical Keys & get your music degree vibes goin'.

Capo Time

The capo slider makes OnSong adapt the chords based on where you stick that little plastic thing on the neck. The declared key stays the same, but the chords get weird in the best way. You can capo 0 to 11 & flip the power button to turn it on & off.

Here's the twist: by default, crankin' up the capo slider makes the chords go DOWN. Wild, right? But it keeps your key declaration happy. Like, if your song is in C# & you capo on fret one, set the slider to 1. Now it'll show the chords down one half step in C. Science.

Wanna change how capo messes with your chart? Go poke around Settings » Display Settings » Song Formatting » Capo.

Pro tip: tap left & right on the slider to adjust the capo by one fret like a normal person.

Diagrams

Diagrams are basically the training wheels for your fingers. Draw 'em on the chord chart so you remember where to put your hands, or print 'em out for your students (if you're that person). Toggle diagrams on/off with the power button. Slide to fit 4–10 diagrams per line depending on how much real estate you got.

Tap left & right to add/subtract diagrams one at a time like a civilized human.

Instrument

Wanna see chords on a different instrument? Duh, use the instrument picker. Or—plot twist—tap chords & diagrams in the song view to open the Chord Inspector. Browse formations across different instruments like you're at a pawn shop. Close it & the chart redraws with whatever instrument you last picked.

Diagram Placement

The diagram position chooser lets you put these lil' pictures wherever you want. Choose wisely:

• None turns off diagrams. The lazy default.
• Below draws diagrams under the lyrics like they're groundlings at a play.
• Above draws diagrams above the song right under the title & metadata. Fancy.
• Within draws diagrams IN PLACE of the chords. Chaos. We love it.

The Fine Print

Plot twist: changin' stuff here does NOT jack with the original song in the editor. Wild.

Pick a song from All Songs & changes apply to the master library. Pick one from a book or set with Separate Set/Song Styles turned on? Changes stay locked to that set only. Transpose for THAT gig without nukin' your original. You're welcome.

Wanna change the defaults & options? Tap the wrench icon (upper left) to fiddle with Style Preference Chords options. You got this.