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you learn, head over to <a href="https://chord-chart-studio.netlify.app/app" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="">Chord Chart Studio</a>.</p> 23<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_SAay" id="sample-song">
23Sample song<a href="#sample-song" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Sample song" title="Direct link to Sample song" translate="no">â</a></h2> 24<p>Let's have a look at a sample song, Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen. 25You can switch between the source file, written in <span>ChordMark</span>, and the rendered version using the tabs.</p> 26<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 27<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_SAay" id="breaking-it-down">Breaking it down<a href="#breaking-it-down" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Breaking it down" title="Direct link to Breaking it down" translate="no">â</a></h2> 28<p>Let's detail the chord chart above line by line.</p> 29<h3 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_SAay" id="first-verse">First verse<a href="#first-verse" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to First verse" title="Direct link to First verse" translate="no">â</a></h3> 30<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 31<p>This is a section label that defines the start of a section: intro, verse, chorus... 32The <code>#</code> is the section symbol; and <code>v</code> the shorthand notation for the label <code>Verse</code>. 33<span>ChordMark</span> will automatically number the sections using the same label.</p> 34<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 35<p>The first line contains two chords symbols followed by 2 dots each. This means that each chord should be played for 2 beats. 36Since the default time signature is <code>4/4</code>, this line will be rendered as a single bar with 2 chords. 37The bar separators <code>|</code> are added automatically.</p> 38<p>The second line contains the lyrics sung along with the chords above. The position marker symbol <code>_</code> is used to specify exactly where each chord should be played.</p> 39<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 40<p>The symbol <code>%</code> instructs <span>ChordMark</span> to repeat the last defined chord line, eg line 2.</p> 41<p>Although the chords are not defined explicitly but repeated, <span>ChordMark</span> still expects that two chords should be present in the lyric line.</p> 42<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 43<p>The first line declares 2 bars with 2 chords each. 44Since the first bar has chords with uneven durations (3 beats for <code>F</code>, 1 beat for <code>G</code>), the beat count indicator <code>.</code> is explicitly rendered. 45It is omitted when each chord in a bar should be played for the same duration.</p> 46<p>The second line contains only 3 chords position markers for 4 chords, since the last chord change happens after the lyrics end. 47In that case, the position marker is optional and <span>ChordMark</span> simply appends the extra chord(s) at the end of the line.</p> 48<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 49<p>When no duration is specified for a chord, like for the <code>Am</code> in the second bar here, then <span>ChordMark</span> understand that it should last the whole bar, e.g. 4 beats in that case.</p> 50<h3 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_SAay" id="first-chorus">First chorus<a href="#first-chorus" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to First chorus" title="Direct link to First chorus" translate="no">â</a></h3> 51<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 52<p><code>#c</code> declares a new section using the shorthand label <code>c</code> for <code>chorus</code>.</p> 53<h3 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_SAay" id="second-verse">Second verse<a href="#second-verse" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Second verse" title="Direct link to Second verse" translate="no">â</a></h3> 54<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 55<p>Now this is interesting: by using the <code>#v</code> section label a second time, we instruct <span>ChordMark</span> to automatically repeat the chords that have been defined for the first verse, and to apply them to the current section. 56Which means that only the chords position markers are needed this time, and not the chord symbol themselves. 57This is a huge time saver when writing a chord chart!</p> 58<p>Note that <span>ChordMark</span> automatically numbers the second verse.</p> 59<h3 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_SAay" id="second-chorus">
59Second chorus<a href="#second-chorus" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Second chorus" title="Direct link to Second chorus" translate="no">â</a></h3> 60<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 61<p>Since the second chorus is identical to the first one, we can just declare the label and leave the content of the section empty: <span>ChordMark</span> will understand that it should automatically repeat the whole section.</p> 62<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_SAay" id="displaying-a-chord-grid">Displaying a chord grid<a href="#displaying-a-chord-grid" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Displaying a chord grid" title="Direct link to Displaying a chord grid" translate="no">â</a></h2> 63<p>Now let's say you are a bass player in a band and that only the chord grid matters to you. 64Easy peasy! <span>ChordMark</span> can automatically render a nicely formatted chord grid from the exact same source file:</p> 65<!-- -->loading...<!-- --> 66<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_SAay" id="going-further">Going further<a href="#going-further" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Going further" title="Direct link to Going further" translate="no">â</a></h2> 67<p>That's it! I hope you enjoyed this taster of <span>ChordMark</span> possibilities. 68There is much more to discover, though. 69As the next steps, we encourage you to start experimenting by yourself using the <span>Chord Chart Studio</span> editor. 70You can also dive into the reference documentation to learn all about <span>ChordMark</span>.</p></div><footer class="theme-doc-footer docusaurus-mt-lg"><div class="row margin-top--sm theme-doc-footer-edit-meta-row"><div class="col noPrint_HJkF"><a href="https://github.com/no-chris/chord-mark/tree/master/packages/documentation/docs/getting-started.mdx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="theme-edit-this-page"><svg fill="currentColor" height="20" width="20" viewBox="0 0 40 40" class="iconEdit_UohW" aria-hidden="true"><g><path d="m34.5 11.7l-3 3.1-6.3-6.3 3.1-3q0.5-0.5 1.2-0.5t1.1 0.5l3.9 3.9q0.5 0.4 0.5 1.1t-0.5 1.2z m-29.5 17.1l18.4-18.5 6.3 6.3-18.4 18.4h-6.3v-6.2z"></path></g></svg>Edit this page</a></div><div class="col lastUpdated_g62E"></div></div></footer></article><nav class="docusaurus-mt-lg pagination-nav" aria-label="Docs pages"><a class="pagination-nav__link pagination-nav__link--prev" href="/docs/overview/story"><div class="pagination-nav__sublabel">Previous</div><div class="pagination-nav__label">The ChordMark story</div></a><a class="pagination-nav__link pagination-nav__link--next" href="/docs/reference/chords"><div class="pagination-nav__sublabel">Next</div><div class="pagination-nav__label">Writing chords</div></a></nav></div></div><div class="col col--3"><div class="tableOfContents_TN1Q thin-scrollbar theme-doc-toc-desktop"><ul class="table-of-contents table-of-contents__left-border"><li><a href="#sample-song" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Sample song</a></li><li><a href="#breaking-it-down" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Breaking it down</a><ul><li><a href="#first-verse" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">First verse</a></li><li><a href="#first-chorus" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">First chorus</a></li><li><a href="#second-verse" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Second verse</a></li><li><a href="#second-chorus" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Second chorus</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#displaying-a-chord-grid" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Displaying a chord grid</a></li><li><a href="#going-further" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Going further</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></main></div></div></div><footer class="theme-layout-footer footer footer--dark"><div class="container container-fluid"><div class="row footer__links"><div class="theme-layout-footer-column col footer__col"><div class="footer__title">Docs</div><ul class="footer__items clean-list"><li class="footer__item"><a class="footer__link-item" href="/docs/getting-started">5 minutes tutorial</a></li><li class="footer__item"><a class="footer__link-item" href="/docs/licenses">Licenses</a></li></ul></div>
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