The chord editor: add, change and remove chords

Most charts need a chord added somewhere, a passing chord the web version missed or the whole chart of your own song. While editing, tap in the text where the chord goes, then Chord tool, the note button in the toolbar or in the small toolbar that appears when you select words. A chord in the song's key appears there, and the chord editor opens so you can change it to the one you play.

If you typed a chord as plain text, select it and tap Chord tool to make it a real chord, one that moves when you transpose. For a whole song typed that way, Sprinkle Chords does every chord at once, and to give a verse the chords of another, paste them onto its lyrics. To change a chord that's already there, tap it while editing and the chord editor opens on it.

Building a chord follows the way you'd say it out loud. Pick the note first, then the kind of chord: maj, min, dim, aug, sus2, sus4 or 5 for a power chord. Add to chord then adds 7, maj7, 6, 9, 11, 13 or add9, and choices that don't fit the chord are greyed out, so you can't build one that makes no sense. The ♯ and ♭ buttons at the top, Sharp and Flat, decide whether the chord is spelled C# or Db, to match the way your band reads it.

Some songs live on their bass line, and a slash chord says which note the bass plays. Open Advanced for Bass, the note after the slash in a chord like D/F#, and for Alterations: b5, #5, b9, #9, b11, #11, b13 and #13, the colours a jazz or funk chart asks for. Alterations that clash with the chord, like a sharp fifth on a sus chord, are greyed out the same way.

Keyboard players often think of a chord as the keys under the hand rather than a name, and the note picker starts that way: a piano with only the root marked. You can switch it to show the full chord, where the keys of the whole chord light up as you build it, or to the Note grid, two rows of note names. Stage Friend remembers which one you like, so the editor opens that way next time.

A chord on the wrong syllable throws the singer off. While editing, drag the chord to the word it belongs on, and it stays tied to that word from then on, also when the line wraps or the text gets bigger. With a mouse, press the chord and move it; a plain click opens the chord editor instead. On a phone or tablet, press and hold the chord until it lifts, then drag.

If a chord shouldn't be a chord, like an A that is really the word a, turn it back into text. Remove chord in the chord editor's header does that, and so does Chord tool with the cursor on the chord. A chord you've changed also has Reset, which puts it back the way it was, handy when you've tried a few and liked the first one best. When the chords are right, check the shapes in the chord diagrams, or save and print the chart.