Chord Beats: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:41, 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.

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-'''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>).
+'''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.
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 File:chordBeats0.png
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 # 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>).
-You can also override this setting per song from the song's '''Song-Specific Preferences''' panel (the '''Chord Beats''' toggle under song overrides).
+#* '''Stacks''' — beats are stacked vertically below each chord.
+#* '''Pills''' — beat count shown as a compact pill badge on each chord.
-== Assigning Beats to Chords ==
+#* '''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.
-Once Chord Beats are visible, use the [[SongEditor]] to set the duration of each chord.
-# Open the song and tap '''Edit'''.
-# In the editor, switch the syntax picker from ''ChordPro'' / ''Chords Over Lyrics'' to '''Chord Beats'''.
-# The editor renders every chord in the song with its current beat count drawn as dots underneath.
-# Tap a chord to select it — an orange underline marks the active chord.
-# Use the bottom toolbar to adjust:
-#* '''◁ Previous chord''' — <code>⌘ ←</code>
-#* '''− Decrease beats''' — <code>⌘ ↓</code>
-#* '''+ Increase beats''' — <code>⌘ ↑</code>
-#* '''▷ Next chord''' — <code>⌘ →</code>
-# Leave the Chord Beats editor (or switch syntax) and the new beat values are written back into the song.
-== Tips ==
-* 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.
-* 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.