Rather than carry around sheets of paper for everybody, fumbling -and trying to find the right song sheet etc., you can use your -computer to help automate this process.
- -A chordpro file (signified by a .pro extension) is not a fancy file -format, but it gets the job done and is easy to edit with any editor -like notepad. You can google "chordpro" and read all about the format -if you like.
- -If you have a iPad or a Android tablet you can have all of your -songs with you wherever you go. Linked -with DropBox and everybody can -be on the same page. Worst case you have all of the music you know at -your fingertips. There are two apps, one for iPads -(OnSong) -and the other for Android and PCs -(Songbook) -that will work with .pro file to render them nicely on your iPad or -Android tablet. And Songbook also works on your Windows PC where -you can print out copies of the songs if you inist on dealing with -paper.
- -Finally, you could go to my website and render any of the songs in -my Songbook using the web (described below).
- -Chordpro file format
- -You can go -to http://defaria.com/songbook/Songs -and you'll see a list of all the files in that directory, the .pro -files of the songs I have. You can click on any of them but what you -will get is an unrendered version of the .pro file. For example: If -you click on Brown Eyed Girl.pro you'll see:
- -
- {t:Brown Eyed Girl}
- {st:Van Morrison}
- {key:G}
-
- [G]Hey, where did [C]we go, da[G]ys when the ra[D]ins came
- [G]Down in the holl[C]ow, [G]playin' a ne[D]w game
- [G]Laughin' and a-s[C]ingin' hey-hey, [G]skippin' and a-j[D]umpin'
- [G]In the misty mor[C]ning fog, with o[G]ur he[D]arts thumpin and yo[C]u[D]
- My Brown-eyed gi[G]rl[Em], yo[C]u my[D] brown eyed [G]girl [D]
-
- [G]Hey whatever [C]happened, [G]Tuesday went [D]so slow
- [G]Goin down the [C]old mine with a [G]transistor [D]radio
- [G]Standin' in the [C]sunlight laughin', [G]hide behind the [D]rainbow's wall
- [G]Slippin' and a-[C]slidin', [G]all along the [D]waterfall with [G]you
- My Brown-eyed gi[G]rl[Em], yo[C]u my[D] brown eyed [G]girl [D]
-
- {soc}
- [D]Do you remember when we used to [G]sing
- Sha-la-la [C]la-la la-la [G]la-la la-la [D]de-da
- [G]Sha-la-la [C]la-la la-la [G]la-la la-la [D]de-da
- La-de-[G]da[D]
- {eoc}
-
- [G][Em][C][D][G][D]
-
- So hard to find my way, now that I'm all on my own
- Saw you just the other day, my how you have grown
- Cast my memory back there lord, sometimes I'm overcome, thinkin'bout
- Making love in the green grass, behind the stadium with you
- My brown eyed girl, you my brown eyed girl
-
- {soc}
- [D]Do you remember when we used to [G]sing
- Sha-la-la [C]la-la la-la [G]la-la la-la [D]de-da
- [G]Sha-la-la [C]la-la la-la [G]la-la la-la [D]de-da
- La-de-[G]da
- {eoc}
-You see things like {t:Brown Eyed Girl} (title) and {key:G} as well -as embedded tags for the chords ([G], [C], etc). Doesn't look as -pretty right? But when you include the webchord.cgi portion you are -running a script named webchord.cgi which reads the file from the -parameter chordpro (that's why you need the chordpro=song.pro portion) -and then reformats stuff into HTML that looks pretty, centering the -title of the song, putting the chords over the words and bolding the -text between {soc} and {eoc} (start of chorus, end of chorus). So -given the above SongTitle="Brown Eyed Girl" we can formulate the URL -to render it thusly:
- -http://defaria.com/songbook/webchord.cgi?chordpro=/web/songbook/Songs/Brown Eyed Girl.pro- -
You can do the same thing for the other songs there too.
- -I should just write a quick script that gets all of the .pro files -in the directory songbook/Songs and then formulates a page of links -that have the webchord.cgi links to render them like:
- --
-
- Across the Universe -
- American Pie -
- Amie -
- Back in the USSR -
- ... -
You have to fill in the <SongTitle> portion of the link. So, for -example, you take:
- --http://defaria.com/songbook/Songs/webchord.cgi?chordpro=<SongTitle>.pro -- -
pop it into the address bar of your browser then change <SongTitle> -to the title of the song you want to render:
- --http://defaria.com/songbook/webchord.cgi?chordpro=/web/songbook/Songs/Amie.pro -- -
Note:
- --
-
- URLs are case sensitive! ...chordpro=amie.pro is not the same as ...chordpro=Amie.pro -
- Browsers tend to change spaces in a URL to %20. %20 is the octal representation for a space character. So if you see %20 in a URL like http://defaria.com/songbook/webchord.cgi?chordpro=/web/songbook/Songs/Back%20in%20the%20USSR.pro. Don't fear - they're merely spaces. -
Songbook for PC
- -You can get a Windows PC version of Songbook -at http://linkesoft.com/songbook/windows.html. It -will run on your PC and render songs like:
- -
-
-It's $20 and you can even print out your stuff if you still use -paper or need paper for other people.
- -