Songs

Overview

Songs are your charts and everything attached to them. They live in your library, so the same current version is available on every device and to everyone you share with.

Each song has:

• Metadata: title, artist, and optional genre
• One or more arrangements, each with its own key, tempo, tunings, notes, links, and audio
• Version history for both the song and each arrangement
• Sharing with a group or with individual people

Open Songs in the navigation to see your library. The scope switcher in the top bar filters between Everything, Personal, and each group you belong to. On iPhone and iPad, the Show filter in Songs does the same: All songs, Personal, or a group's name.

Viewing and editing

A song opens in View mode. Switch to Edit with the View / Edit toggle in the header.

View mode

View mode is for reading and rehearsing. The toolbar gives you:

• Key chip to transpose on the fly
• Timing chip showing time signature and BPM, with the metronome button
• ABC / # toggle to switch between chord letters and Nashville numbers
• Capo selector from 0 to 12
• Tuning selector for saved vocal tunings
• Auto-scroll controls
• Perform to open Stage mode

On iPhone and iPad, a song opens straight to its chart. The chips at the top change the arrangement and the key and capo, and show the metronome or backing track. The chart's More menu holds Notes, Tuner, Saved keys, Nashville numbers, Edit chart, Add to setlist, Song details, and Export PDF.

Edit mode

Edit mode has two editors. Switch with the Guided / Source toggle.

• Guided breaks the chart into sections. Fill in Song title and Artist at the top, set Key, time signature, and Tempo from the toolbar, then add sections such as Verse 1 and Chorus and type lyrics with chords in square brackets under each one.
• Source shows the whole chart as ChordPro text for people who prefer to type it directly.

On narrow screens an Editor / Preview tab pair switches between the editor and the rendered chart. On wide screens both show side by side. Changes save automatically.

The Actions menu offers Show notes, Show ChordPro help (a syntax cheat sheet beside the editor), Manage for tunings, History, Add to setlist, Export PDF, and Share.

Writing charts with ChordPro

ChordPro keeps chords attached to the syllables they belong to, so nothing drifts when the font or screen size changes.

{t:Amazing Grace}
{key:G}

VERSE 1
[G]Amazing [G7]grace how [C]sweet the [G]sound
That [G]saved a [Em]wretch like [Am]me [D7]

The basics:

• [C], [Am], [F]: chords go in square brackets before the syllable where they change
• VERSE 1, CHORUS, BRIDGE on their own line: section headers
• {key:G}: the song key
• {c:Play softly}: a comment that shows in the chart

For every directive and shorthand, see the ChordPro syntax reference.

Arrangements

An arrangement is one way of playing the song. A song starts with one arrangement, and you can add more.

Why more than one?

• A different chart or musical treatment for a singer
• A different instrumentation, such as an acoustic version next to a full-band version
• A slower tempo for rehearsal
• A stripped-down acoustic chart next to the full-band chart

What each arrangement holds

• Name, such as "Original" or "Acoustic"
• Key, time signature, and tempo (BPM)
• Its own chart. Creating an arrangement copies the current chart into it, and from then on the two charts are independent. Fix a typo in one and the other keeps the old text.
• Vocal tunings, described below
• Notes, recordings, and markup, all described below

Switching and creating arrangements

The arrangement name sits in the song header after the title. Select it to open the switcher (on iPhone and iPad, tap the arrangement chip at the top of the chart). Each arrangement shows its key, time signature, and BPM. From the switcher you can rename the current arrangement or create a new one.

Setlists remember which arrangement to use for each song, so the whole band opens the same one.

Transposing

On the fly

Select the Key chip in View mode and pick the key you want to play in. The chart transposes immediately. When no key is set, the chip is labelled Transpose and offers semitone offsets instead.

Capo

Choose a fret from the Capo selector. The chart shows the shapes to play with the capo on, and the selector labels each option with the key those shapes are in, for example "Capo 2 (C)" for a song in D. The sounding key stays the selected performing key. Capo is saved for your account, separately for each arrangement and vocal tuning (including Main). It does not change anyone else's chart or the setlist's key. Even members with view-only access can save their own capo; without a saved preference, the fret is 0.

Numbers

The ABC / # toggle switches chords to Nashville numbers relative to the key. Numbers need a key, so the toggle is disabled until the song has one. Capo is ignored in numbers mode. Set your default in Account settings. On iPhone and iPad, Nashville numbers is a switch in the chart's More menu, and its default is in Stage settings › Charts.

Vocal tunings

A vocal tuning is a named, shared transposition from the arrangement's original key. Your capo preference is separate. Pick Main to use the arrangement's own key, choose a saved tuning, or set Custom values and then Save preset to name them, for example "Sarah" or "Tenor". Manage opens the full list. On iPhone and iPad these are called Saved keys, in the chart's More menu.

Key changes inside a song

For a song that modulates, put TRANSPOSE KEY +2 on its own line. Everything after it shifts up two semitones. Use a negative number to go down. Shifts accumulate, so a song can change key more than once.

Notes

Open Show notes from the Actions menu (on iPhone and iPad, Notes in the chart's More menu). Notes belong to the arrangement and come in two kinds:

• General notes for the whole arrangement
• Section notes attached to a specific section such as the bridge

Each note can be Public, visible to everyone with access to the song, or Private to you. Notes can carry tags for who they are aimed at, such as a vocalist or instrument. The Build Tab button opens a tablature builder that inserts formatted tab into a note.

Recordings

An arrangement's Recordings are its uploaded audio tracks and its recording links, shown together in one row. Uploads and links belong to an arrangement; a setlist uses the recordings of its selected arrangement.

• On web, the Recordings row sits under the song header in both View and Edit modes. Each chip is something you can listen to: tap an uploaded track to play or pause it in the practice player, or tap a link to open it in a new tab. The + button adds a recording; the ⋯ button opens the Recordings sheet to manage them.
• On iPhone and iPad, tap the waveform chip at the top of the chart to show the backing-track bar, then Manage recordings (or Add when there is no track yet). The arrangement editor also has a Recordings row that opens the same sheet.

Recording changes take effect immediately: uploads start as soon as you confirm the rights attestation, and a link is saved the moment you add it, without any form's Done or Save.

Adding a recording

Choose Upload audio file or Add link:

• Upload audio file shares the file with everyone on the arrangement and lets the practice player pitch it to your key. Uploads use your audio storage.
• Add link stores a YouTube or any other web address. Akordo stores the address only: it does not upload the video or turn it into a pitchable audio file, and links do not use your storage allowance. Each arrangement can hold up to 20 links.

To upload:

1. Choose an m4a, aac, mp3, wav, or caf file. The Recordings sheet shows the file-size and track limits before you upload.
2. Confirm that you have the rights to share the recording. Choosing a file does not grant those rights.
3. When an arrangement has more than one track, choose the Backing track in the Recordings sheet. Everyone on the arrangement practices to that one, and the practice player pitches it to the performing key.

Managing recordings

The Recordings sheet lists every uploaded track and every link. On web each track shows its length, size, detected key, and detected tempo and time signature; on iPhone and iPad a track shows its name, length, and key, and the info button opens the rest. From a track's menu (on iPhone and iPad, its info screen) you can set it as the backing track, set its recording key, correct its recording tempo and meter, Rename it, Replace it, or Delete it. Rename changes only the label everyone sees — it does not replace the file or drop practice audio already prepared in other keys. Tempo and meter corrections are shared with everyone and never change the arrangement's own tempo or the playback speed. Replace removes the old file before uploading the replacement; if the upload fails after removal, the old file is gone, so attach it again or choose another backing track. Delete removes the uploaded file for everyone on the arrangement.

Links are edited in place in the sheet on web; on iPhone and iPad, remove a link from its row menu or swipe, and add a new one from +.

The sheet shows storage usage and warns when storage is almost full. Both your storage and the owning group's storage can apply to a group upload. Storage, maximum file size, and track limits depend on the applicable plan; see Account settings.

Listening

On web, the practice player sits in the bottom toolbar in View and Edit modes and plays the backing track. On iPhone and iPad, the transport bar appears under the chart whenever the arrangement has a backing track, whether the song was opened from a setlist or from the Songs list.

When storage is full

Delete an uploaded track you no longer need, or ask someone with editing access to help. Deleting another member's upload may free group storage without freeing your personal allowance. Removing a recording link does not free uploaded-audio storage.

Removing an offline download only frees space on that device. It does not delete the shared upload or free its storage allowance. If the storage check fails, try again; your existing tracks remain visible. See Troubleshooting.

Markup

Charts have a Markup layer for your own performance marks. You can place text notes and draw freehand ink on the paged chart in Stage mode and in the PDF preview. Markup is saved for your account on that arrangement, so it follows you between devices but is not visible to other people who open the song. Stage paged view and PDF preview share marks anchored to the printed page layout; they are included in your PDF when annotated export is on. Older Stage marks drawn on screen-shaped pages remain saved but are not shown on printed pages. Marks you made on an iPad with Apple Pencil appear on the web as well. If two devices edit the same page, Akordo asks whether to Keep mine or Reload the other device's version.

Version history

Every save records a version for the song and, separately, for the arrangement you edited. Open History from the Actions menu.

Each entry shows when it was saved, who saved it, and what changed. On web it also shows the version number. Select an arrangement version to see a line-by-line comparison of the chart against the current version. On iPhone and iPad, History is a row in Song info and in Edit arrangement.

Choose Restore on any entry to bring it back. Restoring records a new version, so you can restore forward again if you change your mind.

Practice tools

Strum patterns

Use the chart's Strumming controls to add a preset and name it for a section such as Verse or Chorus. Edit downstrokes, upstrokes, rests, muting, and accents, then save the pattern. Patterns span one or two bars and follow the arrangement's tempo and meter. Preview plays a synthesized rhythm; it does not transcribe an uploaded recording.

Show or hide patterns without changing the chart text or printed layout. Visibility is remembered on this device for the chart. On iPhone and iPad, Scroll shows patterns alongside the chart; Pages opens them in an overlay. Strum patterns do not appear in PDF exports.

Pattern data travels with the chart source and version history. If a pattern reports invalid data or an incompatible rhythm grid, repair it in Source or remove the affected pattern before saving visual edits. See ChordPro reference.

Metronome

The metronome button sits in the Timing chip in View mode. It plays the arrangement's BPM and time signature. Set a BPM first, because the button stays disabled until the arrangement has a valid tempo between 20 and 300.

Auto-scroll

In View mode, start auto-scroll from the toolbar and adjust the speed with the slower and faster buttons. The speed you choose is remembered for that song. Auto-scroll is also available in Stage mode.

Stage mode

Press Perform to open the song full screen with large text, paged or scrolling layout, and keyboard or foot-pedal control. See Stage mode. On iPhone and iPad, every chart works this way: tap the chart to hide everything but the music, and switch between Scroll and Pages with the layout button.

Repertoire insights

The Repertoire Insights panel on a song shows its history in completed sets, including total plays, the key it was most often performed in, and the arrangement most often used. You can also record your private confidence rating from 1 to 5, fill in custom fields your group has defined, and attach links to licensed resources. Custom fields are searchable from Smart Views on the Repertoire page.

Sharing

With a group

Move a song into a group so everyone in the group can open it. Open Share from the Actions menu, expand Ownership & permissions, and choose Move to group. Group roles decide who can edit. See Groups. On iPhone and iPad, choose the group as the Owner when you add a song; moving an existing song into a group is done on the web.

With individuals

The same Share panel lets you invite one person by email with a role of Can edit or View only, whether or not you use groups. The owner can allow re-sharing so collaborators can invite others at or below their own access, or transfer ownership of the song to another person. On iPhone and iPad, open Song details › Members from the chart's More menu to invite someone, change a role, or remove someone.

Deleting and restoring

Deleting a song moves it to Deleted in the library actions menu, where you can restore it or restore everything. On iPhone and iPad, swiping to delete a song acts at once and shows Undo; the song is also in Deleted songs under the Songs More menu. Deleted songs are kept for 30 days and then removed permanently. Deleted arrangements can be restored from the arrangement switcher in the same way.

Limits

Charts can be up to 10,000 characters. The number of songs, arrangements per song, and tunings per arrangement depend on your plan and are shown in Account settings.

Next steps

• ChordPro syntax reference for every directive
• Setlists to organize songs for rehearsal and gigs
• Import songs to bring in an existing songbook
• PDF export to print charts