In this post we’ll look at creating a basic ChordPro file.
ChordPro is a notation system for making lead sheets. To use it, you enter chords and lyrics into a plain-text file with a .pro file extension.
The first two lines of the file are used by the site to display the song’s title and key. The general form contains a directive (e.g. title, key,…), a colon, and what you want to set it to — all enclosed in curly braces. For example, if the song is Where is the Moon in the key of G, the first two lines would be
{title: Where is the Moon}
{key: G}
Chords are just as easy. Chords are written inline with the lyrics. To write a chord enclose the name of the chord in square brackets like this:
[C] [Cm] [G7] [Bb] [F#]
So here’s the beginning of our song —
{title: Where is the Moon}
{key: G}
[G]Where is the moon? Tell me, [D7]where is the [G]moon?
[G]The jackrabbits play and the [D7]frogs croon a [G]tune.
[C]Coon dogs a howlin’ and the [Am]cows only [D7]swoon.
[D7]The owl hollers who and I answer [G]where?
The magic happens in the next step. Upload your song here. It will eventually appear in our songbook like this.
Click on the song name and it will display a PDF complete with chord diagrams.
WITM
And that’s enough to get you started with ChordPro.