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.
+ +