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Teh Chord Thingies
The chords tab lets you transpose & capo chords as well as determine how those chords appear. It also lets you pick an instrument for chord diagrams (because apparently you need help with that).
The style preferences menu is only available for text-based chord charts. If you've downloaded PDF chord charts from SongSelect, you'll get access to transpose charts if you're signed in. Otherwise, you're starin' at an imported file, & you'll have the option to Extract & Edit or Use Text Version.
Style
The style choosers let you pick how the chords should look on screen. Pick one, any one:
- Alpha displays chords as alphabetic characters (A-G) including enharmonic preference (sharp or flat). The boring default.
- Nashville displays chords as numbers (1-7) based on their position in the key. For peeps who think numbers are cooler.
- Roman displays chords as Roman numerals (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii) based on their position in the key. Fancy much?
- Solfege displays chords as numbers using Latin (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti) based on their position in the key. The "do" can be fixed or movable by tappin' on the wrench icon. Very €uropean of you.
Key
The key chooser lets you set the key of the chord chart. This can be totally different from how the song was written in the song editor because transposition is performed from the original key to whatever you picked here (no pressure).
The most common keys are crammed into a "circle of fifths" order, placin' keys with fewer sharps & flats toward the left. Keys flip between major & minor based on how the song is written. You can switch this interface to alphabetic order, or go retro with the original slider interface using the Transpose Control option.
Nerds who want ALL the keys or theoretical key access can turn on Theoretical Keys option.
Capo
The capo slider lets OnSong adapt the chords based on capo position. This keeps the key you picked in the transpose slider but changes the chords to actually work with the capo. Capo from 0 to 11 & toggle the power button on the right to turn it on or off.
By default, crankin' up the capo slider will modulate the chords down. Wild, right? The reason is to keep the declared key of the song intact. So if your key is C# & you throw a capo on the first fret, set the capo slider to 1. This displays the chords down one half step in the key of C.
You can tweak how capo affects your chord chart in Settings » Display Settings » Song Formatting » Capo.
Tap the left & right sides of the slider to adjust the capo up & down one fret. You're welcome.
Diagrams
Diagrams can be drawn on the chord chart to help when you play, or for printin' chord charts for educational purposes (teachin' people why they should've learned guitar earlier). Toggle chords on & off with the power button to the right of the slider. Use the slider to adjust how many diagrams fit across one page—between 4 & 10. Your choice, hotshot.
Tap the left & right sides of the slider to adjust the number of diagrams across the page by one. Math!
Diagram Position
The diagram position chooser lets you determine where diagrams get drawn on the page. Pick one:
- None turns off chord diagrams. The default for quitters.
- Below draws diagrams under the song content.
- Above draws diagrams above the song content directly below the title & metadata.
- Within draws chord diagrams in place of chords within the lyrics. Spicy.
Instrument
You can change the diagram instrument by choosin' from the instrument chooser. You can also change the instrument by tappin' on chords or diagrams in the song viewer to open the Chord Inspector. Here you can browse chord formations on different instruments. When the chord inspector closes, the chord chart redraws with the last selected instrument's chord diagrams. Magic!
Transposing Instrument
If you're playin' an instrument that doesn't play at concert pitch, you can adjust the chords throughout the song to compensate for those instruments. Because apparently music theory wasn't enough:
- Off used for concert pitch & most stringed or percussion instruments like piano.
- B-flat used for B-flat instruments such as trumpet, clarinet, bass clarinet, & soprano & tenor saxophones.
- E-flat used for E-flat tuned instruments such as soprano clarinet, or alto & baritone saxophones.
- F used for F tuned instruments such as French & English horns.
- G used for alto flute.
Methodology
Changes made in this menu don't modify the original content of the song as found in the song editor. Phew.
When you select a song in the All Songs list, the changes get applied to the master library. If you select a song in a book or set that has Separate Set/Song Styles enabled, the changes only apply to that song within that set. This lets you transpose a song to a different key for that book or set without messin' with the master version. Clever, huh?
You can change the default behavior & interface options for this screen by tappin' the wrench icon in the upper left corner to tweak Style Preference Chords options.
