Editing songs
The song editor has three tabs. All three work on the same song, they are just different views of it.
| Tab | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Info | Metadata like title, artist, key, and tempo in a simple form |
| Text | Lyrics with chords above them, edited like plain text |
| ChordPro | The raw ChordPro source of the song |
Opening the editor
Beyond the edit button, two shortcuts get you there faster.
Double tap the songsheet and the editor opens with the cursor already in the row you tapped, so fixing a wrong chord in verse three does not start with scrolling.
Tap a badge in the song header. Tempo, time signature, original key, and CCLI each open the editor on their own field. The title and the artist do the same on a double tap. Key and capo are the exceptions: they are not metadata edits, they open the transpose and capo controls, see Performing.
One song, two views
The Text editor and the ChordPro tab always show the same song. Edit chords above lyrics in the Text editor and SONGUIDE edits the ChordPro for you. Edit the raw ChordPro and the Text editor reflects it immediately. You can switch back and forth at any time, even mid edit, and your cursor position is preserved.
This means you do not have to learn ChordPro to use SONGUIDE. But when you want precise control, the raw source is one tab away. The ChordPro format guide documents everything SONGUIDE understands.
Info
The form edits the most important metadata. Each field maps to a ChordPro directive in the song source:
| Field | Directive |
|---|---|
| Title | {title: ...} |
| Artist | {artist: ...} |
| Copyright | {copyright: ...} |
| CCLI number | {ccli: ...} |
| Key | {key: ...} |
| Original key | {original_key: ...} |
| Tempo | {tempo: ...} |
| Time signature | {time: ...} |
Changing a field updates the directive in place. Clearing a field removes it.
The Text editor
The Text editor shows your song as rows, the way you would write a songsheet on paper:
- Section headings like Verse 1 or Chorus. They become section markers in ChordPro.
- Chord lines hold chords positioned above the lyric syllables.
- Lyric lines hold the words.
- Comments are notes to the performers, shown in amber on the songsheet.
- Tab lines hold guitar tablature.
Chords stay aligned with the lyrics under them. When you move a chord left or right, SONGUIDE updates its position inside the ChordPro line, for example A[G]mazing grace.
The row type bar
The bar above the keyboard shows the four row types, with the one you are currently in filled. Tapping a different chip retypes the row your cursor is in, so a line that came in as lyrics becomes a comment in one tap. It always acts on the cursor's row. There is nothing to tap on the row itself.
Tab rows are not in the bar. Write those in the ChordPro tab.
The long line indicator
A songsheet has a fixed width, so a line longer than that wraps. When one of your lines will wrap, the editor marks it: a small tick at the exact point it breaks, and an icon at the right edge of the row.
It is a warning, not an error. Nothing is lost, the line simply continues on the next one.
Still, it is worth breaking the line yourself. An automatic wrap falls wherever the width runs out, which is rarely where the phrasing wants it, so pick a spot between two phrases instead. The ChordPro tab is the easiest place to do that, because you see the raw line and can put the break exactly where you want it. If you would rather not, tap the indicator and wrap at the marker.
The printed PDF wraps at the same point, so a line you tidy up on screen prints tidy too.
Pasting from other sources
Paste a songsheet from any website or document and SONGUIDE classifies each line automatically:
- Lines that contain only chord symbols become chord lines.
- Known section names become section headings. That includes bracketed forms like
[Verse 2], which many chord websites use. - Everything else becomes lyrics.
After pasting you can retype any row, for example turning a lyric line into a comment, so a quick cleanup takes seconds. To bring in whole files, see Adding songs.
The ChordPro tab
The ChordPro tab is a plain text editor for the raw song source with syntax highlighting for directives and chords. It is the best place for bulk edits, for fixing an import, or for anything the Text editor does not cover. Every valid ChordPro construct is preserved, even directives SONGUIDE does not render. The ChordPro format guide covers every supported directive.
Undo, redo, and saving
Undo and redo cover the whole song, across all three tabs, because all three edit the same thing. They are in the editor's overflow menu, and on a keyboard:
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd or Ctrl and Z | Undo |
| Cmd or Ctrl and Shift and Z | Redo |
| Cmd or Ctrl and S | Save |
| Escape | Close the editor |
A song needs a title to save. Try to save without one and the editor sends you to the Info tab rather than saving a nameless song.
Leaving with unsaved changes asks first, and offers to keep editing, discard, or save. That covers the back button and the browser's back gesture too, so a stray swipe cannot lose your work.
A song is capped at 100,000 characters, which is far longer than any song.
Editing the same song on two devices
If the song changes on another device while you have it open, the editor notices.
With nothing unsaved on your side, it quietly takes the newer version, which is what you want.
With unsaved changes, it will not overwrite you. An amber notice appears offering Load remote, and until you choose, your work stays exactly as it is.
Load remote replaces what is in the editor with the version from the other device. Your unsaved changes are not merged and cannot be recovered afterwards. If you want to keep both, copy your text out before you load.
The divider editor
A divider has its own, simpler editor. See Editing a divider.