Chord diagram above lyrics software.

[shezza]

Hi does anyone know of any software that would give me a chord diagram above the lyrics from a downloaded song, must be for Windows......Thanks.

 

[Canada Jim]

I have had problems lining up chord diagrams with lyrics as well. I finally started putting the chords in brackets in line with the lyrics like this:

My Buddy Gus Kahn & Walter Donaldson

(C) Nights are (Cdim) long since (Dm) you went a(G7)way,
I (C) think of (C#dim) you each (Dm7) hour of the (G7) day,
My (C) Buddy, my (A7) Buddy, no(F)body (D7) quite so (G7) true.

(C) Miss your (Cdim) voice, miss the (Dm) touch of your (G7) hand,
Just (C) long to (C#dim) know that (Dm) you under(G7)stand,
My (C) Buddy, my (A7) Buddy, Your (F) Buddy (G7) misses (C) you. (G7)

 

[acmespaceship]

The Uke Geeks song editor can do this online. Type up your chords and lyrics in any word processor (or copy from a website) and paste into the editing window. On the top menu under "appearance" where it says "chord names above lyrics" click and change it to "names & diagrams above lyrics." Print using your browser's print function.

http://ukegeeks.com/songeditor

I'd love to find software that does this job, runs on a Windows PC, and does not require Java.

 

[ichadwick]

For my songbook, I created my own diagrams in CorelDraw then imported them as JPGs into Word. Not the most efficient, but it worked.

 

[UkeStuff]

Another option is to purchase a font set from ukefarm.com (Chordette) and to simply place the chords where they are needed in a text box. This is if you want the actual diagram, and not just “C” above a chord. There are a number of programs that can do this. I generally like to create lead sheets (printed melody on a traditional music staff) with chords diagrams above, and I use Notion to do this (iOS, Mac/Win...and iOS is very good, but there are still some features only available on the Mac/Win version).

 

[ichadwick]

Another option is to purchase a font set from ukefarm.com (Chordette) and to simply place the chords where they are needed in a text box.

I've tried this and found that such fonts don't always get shared between computers or OSes unless all receiving systems have the same fonts installed. Even when you turn the document into PDF, you have to be sure to embed the fonts (in Acrobat, the default is to rely on system fonts...). Otherwise the other system replaces the missing fonts with a substitute. That's one reason I chose to use images instead.

 

[UkeStuff]

Ian: really good advice there. I generate on a Mac and on iOS, which always embeds PDF (it’s part of the OS). A suggestion for Windows users is to install CutePDF Writer (free), which will install CutePDF as a printer on your system—and it will also embed fonts.

One of PDF’s most powerful features has been to generate files with fonts embedded so the document looks the same no matter what. I wonder why Adobe would default to a weakness, particularly now when a larger PDF is not an issue as it once was (I remember page turns on my 1st Generation iPad that were incredibly slow!)

 

[ichadwick]

I wonder why Adobe would default to a weakness...

I just checked using Acrobat XI and when I print a document to PDF from another app like Word the printer driver has "rely on system fonts only/do not use document fonts" selected as the default. This can be changed in Windows settings so it defaults to using (embedding) document fonts, but how many users know that?

I've used other PDF generators, but Adobe's is the standard and others may not have all the features. There are built-in PDF generators in a lot of today's software like Word and CorelDraw, but Word doesn't have that option in the save dialogue, so I can't say how it handles fonts. CorelDraw does, but you have to get at it through the settings dialogue and it's a few tabs deep. For Corel, embedding is the default, so it's easier.

All of this is to say why I chose to make small JPGs of chord patterns instead of using a font. All of the PDf generators I've used manage images reasonably well. Besides it also gave me a template I could use for creating chords that sometimes the fonts miss - the diminished or the sixths, or the variant fingerings.

 

[UkeStuff]

Hey Ian,

I’m not arguing with you at all and I encourage you to keep doing what works for you.

I will say that the embedded fonts end up creating a smaller size PDF, as the use of an embedded JPG is always going to result in a bigger file. On today’s devices, this isn’t a big deal. On the iPad 1, a large PDF could make page turns very, very slow.

So...keep doing what you are doing...it works for you!

 

[vonbiber]

I have had problems lining up chord diagrams with lyrics as well. I finally started putting the chords in brackets in line with the lyrics like this:

My Buddy Gus Kahn & Walter Donaldson

(C) Nights are (Cdim) long since (Dm) you went a(G7)way,
I (C) think of (C#dim) you each (Dm7) hour of the (G7) day,
My (C) Buddy, my (A7) Buddy, no(F)body (D7) quite so (G7) true.

(C) Miss your (Cdim) voice, miss the (Dm) touch of your (G7) hand,
Just (C) long to (C#dim) know that (Dm) you under(G7)stand,
My (C) Buddy, my (A7) Buddy, Your (F) Buddy (G7) misses (C) you. (G7)

You mean parenthesis.
On web pages I prefer when it's set with square brackets ([) because placing the chords above never line up correctly in an html page.
For my part, I use a typesetting language---TeX. It's freely available on all platforms (linux, MacOS, MS-Windows).
All my songbooks have been typeset that way (output is pdf).
http://vonbiber.byethost17.com/ukulele/songs.html

 

[Louis0815]

And chances are that your song is already listed in Jim's Ukulele Songbook on http://ozbcoz.com/Songs.
That page uses a modified ukegeeks script and allows you to chose a layout with chord diagrams above text

 

[Canada Jim]

You mean parenthesis.
On web pages I prefer when it's set with square brackets ([) because placing the chords above never line up correctly in an html page.
For my part, I use a typesetting language---TeX. It's freely available on all platforms (linux, MacOS, MS-Windows).
All my songbooks have been typeset that way (output is pdf).
http://vonbiber.byethost17.com/ukulele/songs.html

I call them "round brackets" and "square brackets", but parentheses works too. I usually do use square brackets, but simply to avoid having to press the shift key, not because I find them easier to read.



Shine On Harvest Moon Jack Norworth & Nora Bayes-Norworth 1938

The [Am] night was mighty [E7] dark so you could [Am] hardly see,
'Cause the [C] moon re[G]fused to [E7] shine
A [Am] couple sittin' [E7] underneath the [Am] willow tree,
For [D7] love, they [G] pine
[Dm] Little maid was [G7] kinda ‘fraid of [Dm] darkness, [G7]
So she [C] said I [G] think I'll [C] go
[D7] Boy began to [G] sigh, [D7] looked up in the [G] sky
And [D7] told the moon his [Am] little tale of [G] woe, [G7] So,

[A7] Shine on, shine on harvest [D7] moon up in the sky
[G] I ain't [G7] had no lovin' since [C] January, [F] February, [C] June, or July
[A7] Snow time ain't no time to [D7] sit outdoors and spoon
So [G] shine on, [G7] shine on harvest [C] moon for [F] me and my [C] gal

I [Am] can't see why a [E7] boy should cry when [Am] by his side
Is a [C] girl he [G]loves so [E7] true;
[Am] All he has to [E7] say is, "Won't you [Am] be my bride,
For [D7] I love [G] you."
But [Dm] why should I be [G7] telling you this [Dm] secret when [G7]
I [C] know that [G] you can [C] guess?
[D7] Harvest moon will [G] smile, [D7] shine on all the [G] while,
[D7] If the little [Am] girl should answer [G] "Yes"! [G7] So,

[A7] Shine on, shine on harvest. . .

 

[vonbiber]

I call them "round brackets" and "square brackets", but parentheses works too. I usually do use square brackets, but simply to avoid having to press the shift key, not because I find them easier to read.

Shine On Harvest Moon Jack Norworth & Nora Bayes-Norworth 1938

The [Am] night was mighty [E7] dark so you could [Am] hardly see,
'Cause the [C] moon re[G]fused to [E7] shine
A [Am] couple sittin' [E7] underneath the [Am] willow tree,
For [D7] love, they [G] pine
...

The reason I prefer '[]' to '()' is that because sometimes in the lyrics there might be [round] parentheses
(optional words, call and response). Whereas '[]' are only used for chords. I can process (with a shell script)
the text above to output to something close to the input that can be typeset by TeX.