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Chord Stuff That Actually Matters
ZOMG, OnSong can actually display those squiggly chord diagrams for all the chords you're gonna butcher in your text-based chord charts. By default, OnSong digs up the basic version of whatever chord you're playin' from the Totally Rad Chord Stash. But here's the thing — sometimes you're feelin' fancy & wanna use a specific chord variation that makes you sound less terrible. So like, you gotta define a chord using ChordPro syntax, which is basically fancy nerd speak:
{define: E5 base-fret 7 frets 0 1 3 3 x x fingers - 1 2 3 - - key E}
Cool story, right? Let's break down this absolute masterpiece:
- Define kicks things off by sayin' "yo, here comes a new chord diagram, pay attention!"
- E5 is literally the name of the chord you just made up. Every time you type E5, OnSong's gonna slap this specific diagram in your face.
- base-fret tells OnSong which fret to start countin' from. All your other frets are basically like "relative to this one, buddy."
- frets is the list of frets you're gonna play (space-separated, because apparently we're fancy). 0 = open string (free real estate!), 1 & 3 = first & third fret from your base fret, & "x" = "don't play this string, you'll mess it up."
- fingers is which fingers to use on each string (also space-separated, y'all). The - symbol means "nah, don't use fingers for this string." The 1, 2 & 3? Those are your actual fingers doin' the work.
- key is the key this chord lives in. Spoiler alert: we don't even support this yet lol.
If your custom chord isn't already chillin' in the Totally Rad Chord Stash, OnSong just yeets it in there & makes it the default for that song. OnSong's smart enough to know that 6 strings = guitar, 5 strings = that hipster 5-string bass, & literally any other number = just use whatever the heck the default instrument is.