Chord Beats: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:43, 31 July 2026

Chord Beats show the duration of each chord in your song. Each chord is annotated with its beat count, so musicians can see at a glance when to change chords.

Enabling Chord Beats

Chord Beats are hidden by default. Enable them in the SongViewer settings before assigning beats to chords.

Open Settings → Song View.
Scroll to the Chord Beats section.
Turn on Show.
Choose a Style:
- Dots — each chord is followed by small dots (•) for each beat; chords longer than 8 beats show a number (e.g. 12•).
- Stacks — beats are stacked vertically below each chord.
- Pills — beat count shown as a compact pill badge on each chord.
- Timeline — chords are laid out on a horizontal timeline bar.
For Stacks, Pills, and Timeline styles you can also set Bars per line to control how many bars fit on one row.

You can also override this setting per song from the song's Song-Specific Preferences panel (the Chord Beats toggle under song overrides).

Editing Beat Counts

Assign beats to chords using the SongEditor's Chord Beats mode.

Open the song and tap Edit.
In the top toolbar, switch the syntax picker from ChordPro or Chords Over Lyrics to Chord Beats.
The editor renders every chord in the song with its current beat count. A style picker appears next to the syntax picker so you can preview a different display style while editing.
Tap a chord to select it.
Use the bottom toolbar to adjust the selected chord:
- Previous — ⌘ ←
- Minus — ⌘ ↓ (decrease beats, minimum 0)
- Plus — ⌘ ↑ (increase beats)
- Next — ⌘ →
Switch syntax or close the editor — beat values are written back into the song automatically.

Tips

Beat counts are stored per chord, so they survive transposition and capo changes.
Setting Beats = 0 hides the beat indicator for that chord while keeping the chord itself.
Chord Beats data is also used by Chord Beats Sync (Settings → Chord Beats Sync) to drive MIDI clock / AUv3 transport, send chords as MIDI notes, and auto-scroll the song in real time.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Chord Beats
+'''Chord Beats''' show the duration of each chord in your song. Each chord is annotated with its beat count, so musicians can see at a glance when to change chords.
+<gallery>
-'''Chord Beats''' show the duration of each chord in your song. Each chord is followed by small dots (•) indicating how many beats it lasts, so musicians can see at a glance when to change chords. Chords longer than 8 beats are shown as a number followed by a single dot (e.g. <code>12•</code>).
+File:chordBeats0.png
+File:chordBeats1.png
+File:chordBeats2.png
+File:chordBeats3.png
+</gallery>
 == Enabling Chord Beats ==
-Chord Beats are hidden by default. Enable them in the [[Song Viewing | Song Viewer]] settings before assigning beats to chords.
+Chord Beats are hidden by default. Enable them in the [[SongViewer]] settings before assigning beats to chords.
-Open '''Settings → Song View'''.
+# Open '''Settings → Song View'''.
-Scroll to the chord display section.
+# Scroll to the '''Chord Beats''' section.
-Turn on '''Show Chord Beats'''.
+# Turn on '''Show'''.
-(Optional) Turn on '''Hide full measures (dots)''' to suppress dots for chords that already last a full measure (i.e. their beat count matches the song's time signature). Only non-default durations will be drawn.
+# Choose a '''Style''':
+#* '''Dots''' — each chord is followed by small dots (•) for each beat; chords longer than 8 beats show a number (e.g. <code>12•</code>).
+#* '''Stacks''' — beats are stacked vertically below each chord.
+#* '''Pills''' — beat count shown as a compact pill badge on each chord.
+#* '''Timeline''' — chords are laid out on a horizontal timeline bar.
+# For '''Stacks''', '''Pills''', and '''Timeline''' styles you can also set '''Bars per line''' to control how many bars fit on one row.
 You can also override this setting per song from the song's '''Song-Specific Preferences''' panel (the '''Chord Beats''' toggle under song overrides).
-== Assigning Beats to Chords ==
+== Editing Beat Counts ==
-Once Chord Beats are visible, use the [[SongEditor]] to set the duration of each chord.
+Assign beats to chords using the [[SongEditor]]'s Chord Beats mode.
-Open the song and tap '''Edit'''.
+# Open the song and tap '''Edit'''.
-In the editor, switch the syntax picker from ''ChordPro'' / ''Chords Over Lyrics'' to '''Chord Beats'''.
+# In the top toolbar, switch the syntax picker from ''ChordPro'' or ''Chords Over Lyrics'' to '''Chord Beats'''.
-The editor renders every chord in the song with its current beat count drawn as dots underneath.
+# The editor renders every chord in the song with its current beat count. A style picker appears next to the syntax picker so you can preview a different display style while editing.
-Tap a chord to select it — an orange underline marks the active chord.
+# Tap a chord to select it.
-Use the bottom toolbar to adjust:
+# Use the bottom toolbar to adjust the selected chord:
-#* '''◁ Previous chord''' — <code>⌘ ←</code>
+#* '''Previous''' — <code>⌘ ←</code>
-#* '''− Decrease beats''' — <code>⌘ ↓</code>
+#* '''Minus''' — <code>⌘ ↓</code> (decrease beats, minimum 0)
-#* '''+ Increase beats''' — <code>⌘ ↑</code>
+#* '''Plus''' — <code>⌘ ↑</code> (increase beats)
-#* '''▷ Next chord''' — <code>⌘ →</code>
+#* '''Next''' — <code>⌘ →</code>
-Leave the Chord Beats editor (or switch syntax) and the new beat values are written back into the song.
+# Switch syntax or close the editor — beat values are written back into the song automatically.
 == Tips ==
-• Beat counts are stored per chord, so they survive transposition and capo changes.
+* Beat counts are stored per chord, so they survive transposition and capo changes.
-• Setting '''Beats = 0''' hides the dot for that chord while keeping the chord itself.
+* Setting '''Beats = 0''' hides the beat indicator for that chord while keeping the chord itself.
-• Chord Beats data is also used by '''Chord Beats Sync''' (Settings → Chord Beats Sync) to drive MIDI clock / AUv3 transport, send chords as MIDI notes, and auto-scroll the song in real time.
+* Chord Beats data is also used by '''Chord Beats Sync''' (Settings → Chord Beats Sync) to drive MIDI clock / AUv3 transport, send chords as MIDI notes, and auto-scroll the song in real time.