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Setlists

A setlist is an ordered list of songs, in the order you play them. It can hold songs and dividers from any folder, and it is what the app follows when you move from one item to the next on stage.

A setlist references your songs, it does not copy them. A song exists once in your library no matter how many setlists it appears in, and an edit to that song shows up in every one of them. An entry can also name its lead vocals. If they have a vocal key for the song, the entry plays in that key while the song itself stays as written, see Lead vocals and their keys.

Creating and managing setlists

The setlist dropdown at the top of the setlist editor switches between your setlists and creates new ones. The setlist you have selected there is the active one.

  • Create a setlist by naming it. Names have to be unique.
  • Rename and duplicate from the Setlist options screen. A duplicate carries every entry, dividers included, in the same order, so it is the fastest way to start from last week's set.
  • Delete a setlist and the songs are untouched. Deleting a setlist deletes the running order and nothing else, which makes it safe to throw away a set you no longer need.
  • Import a setlist another SONGUIDE user shared with you, from the same dropdown. It arrives complete, with its songs, dividers and lead vocals. See Importing a SONGUIDE file.

Adding songs

There are three ways in, and which you use depends on where your hands are.

  • The add button on a song row in the library adds it to the end of the active setlist. When a song has vocal keys, each lead vocals name has a row, and its add button adds the song with those lead vocals already assigned.
  • Drag a song from the library onto the setlist and drop it where you want it. The setlist opens a gap to show you where it will land. This is not available on a phone, use the button there.
  • Shift and Enter in the search field adds the highlighted result without opening it. See searching from the keyboard.

A setlist takes songs from any folder, and the same song can appear more than once. If you play the same song to open and to close, it is simply in the setlist twice.

Reordering and removing

Every row in the setlist has a drag handle and a remove button.

  • Reorder by dragging the handle. The numbers update as you drop.
  • Remove with the remove button on the row. From a tablet up you can also drag an entry out of the setlist and drop it back on the library.

Removing an entry takes it out of this setlist only. The song stays in your library and in every other setlist it is part of.

Numbering

Songs are numbered continuously down the set, 1, 2, 3, and the numbers update when you remove or reorder something.

Dividers are not numbered. A welcome or a break sits between two songs without consuming a number, so the numbers keep counting the things you actually play. That holds everywhere the set is listed, including the running order in the PDF and the copied text list.

Total duration

When your songs have a duration, the total time of the set shows under the last entry. While some songs have none, a note beside the total says how many. Dividers do not count. A song gets its duration in the Info tab, see Editing songs.

Lead vocals

Every song entry can name its lead vocals. Assign them from the chip on the row, from the lead vocals badge in the song header, or for several songs at once by long pressing a song to select it and choosing Assign lead vocals. The choice belongs to this setlist only. If they have a vocal key for the song, the entry plays in that key and the key badge shows it. Lead vocals and their keys covers names, vocal keys and how they travel with a shared setlist.

On stage

When a setlist is active, moving between items follows the setlist rather than the library. Swipe left or right, or press a foot pedal, and you land on the next thing in the set, dividers included. With no setlist selected, the same gestures walk the current folder instead.

The setlist navigator is a panel beside the open song that shows the running order while you play, each entry with its key and lead vocals, so you can see what is coming and jump straight to anything in the set. Toggle it from the song view. It needs the width of a tablet or larger, and it remembers whether it was open and how wide you dragged it.

Performing covers the rest of the stage view, including transpose, capo, and foot pedals.

Sharing a setlist

A setlist exports as a SONGUIDE file that other SONGUIDE users import as a complete setlist in one tap, including lead vocals with their keys. It also exports as a PDF with the running order on the first page, as a ChordPro ZIP of its songs for other chord apps, and as a plain text list for the band chat. See Import and export.

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