Fancy Squiggles & Words

Chords & Lyrics: The Stuff That Actually Matters

Chords & lyrics are literally the reason you're here. You can slap 'em down as [bracketed chords] OR stack chords on top of lyrics like some kinda artsy salad. Split it into sections so your song doesn't look like one giant wall of confusion.

[D]Bracketed Chords (AKA The Smart Way)

Plop your chords right next to the lyrics, wrap 'em in square brackets, & boom—you're basically a notation genius. Behold:

Verse 1:
Amazing [D]Grace, how [G]sweet the [D]sound,
That saved a wretch like [A7]me.
I on[D]ce was lost, but [G]now am [D]found,
Was blind, but [A7]now I [D]see.

Bracketed chords are what the cool kids use—it's the vibe in the OnSong File Format & the ChordPro File Format. We're not saying it's the only way, but like… it's totes the best way.

Chords Floatin' On Top (The Messy Way)

Yeah, you can also dump chords on a line above the lyrics & use a buncha spaces to line 'em up. Gross. But fine. Most other apps are stuck in 2003, so here we are:

Verse 1:
        D           G        D
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
                         A7
That saved a wretch like me.
  D                  G      D
I once was lost, but now am found,
               A7    D
Was blind, but now I see.

Real talk: if you sneak random words onto a chord line, OnSong will yeet it & ignore the chords entirely. Tragic. Move your instructions & notes to the next line like a civilized human. OR—plot twist—wrap that stuff in parenthesis & we'll let it slide. You can also start with a period or backtick to force the line to chill out & be detected as chords:

.I Am Chords
`I Am Also

Comments (The Secret Stuff)

Wanna write notes only you see? Prefix the line with "#" & it's invisible to everyone else. You're welcome.

# This line is your secret diary. OnSong editor only. The performance screen will never know.