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Boop Boops

Zomgs, y'all. Your chord chart might look like a total hot mess depending on like, where you live & what OnSong decides to do with it. OnSong's got a crapton of options to make chords look however you want:

Chord Alignment

By default, chords are lined up so the left edge of the chord text vibes with the left edge of the lyrics it's supposedly connected to. But nah, you can change that to:

Left lines up the left edge of the chord text with the left edge of the lyric. (The boring default.)
Center plops the middle of the chord text at the left edge of the lyric.
Right lines up the right edge of the chord text with the left edge of the lyric.
Character centers the chord text on the first character's center. Fancy!
Word centers the chord text on the first word or fragment it's attached to. Overkill much?

Chord Decoration

OnSong recognizes bracketed chords & chords over lyrics for denoting chords in text files. (Square brackets are so last season.) Use this to dress up your chords with whatever decorative brackets you want.

Chord Lines

Sometimes you gotta display chords with symbols like vertical bars & slashes to show off your strum patterns. When OnSong spots a chord line with a vertical bar or pipe character, it auto-places chords inline with those characters. But you can change that to:

Above displays chords above the characters like they're lyrics or something.
Inline displays chords on the same line as the characters. (The lazy default.)

Chord Line Requires

This setting determines what OnSong needs to detect to say "yep, that's a chord line." Options:

Bar and Chords requires a vertical pipe character (bar) & only chords on that line. (Default, obvs.)
Bar Only just needs the vertical pipe character (bar).

Chord Position

When chords hang out with lyrics in your chord chart, OnSong usually plops them above the lyrics. But you can move them to:

Above displays chords on a line above the lyrics. (The classic.)
Inline displays chords on the same line as the lyrics so you don't have to scroll like a maniac.

Chord Localization

OnSong uses the alphabet A through G for chords, cuz why not. But different parts of the world are like "nah," so here's your regional flavor options:

Default displays chords as capital letters A through G with flats & sharps & whatever. Minor chords get a lowercase "m" chillin' to the right.
Čeština displays chords the way Czech peeps like them. "B" becomes "H" & "Bb" becomes "B". Minor chords get "mi" instead. Weird flex.
Deutsch displays chords the way German-speakin' folks vibe with. "B" is "H" & "Bb" is "B".
Scandinavian displays chords for the Nordic crew. "B" is "H" & "Bb" stays "Bb".

Lowercase Minor Chords

OnSong denotes minor chords with a lowercase "m" to the right of the uppercase chord letter & whatever sharp/flat symbol. This setting lets you get creative with lowercase for minor chords.

Off is the default, so minor chords look like "Bbm" with the uppercase letter & the "m".
Note Only yeets the "m" & lowercases the whole chord letter. "Gm" becomes "g". Spicy.
Full Chord lowercases everything & keeps the "m". "Gm" becomes "gm". Maximum chaos.

Lowercase Split Bass

Split bass notes are separated from chords with a forward slash. Some cultures think the bass note should be lowercase. Toggle this on to make that happen. It's off by default, you rebel.

Split Chord Displays

OnSong supports compound chords that have a bass component too. Like "Am/G" (described as "A minor over G") — G is what the bass player or left hand on piano plays. By default, OnSong shows the whole thing, but you can configure it to:

Both shows the whole shebang. "Am/G" displays as "Am/G." Nothing fancy.
Bass Only shows just the bass part. "Am/G" displays as "G." That's it.
Chord Only shows just the chord part. "Am/G" displays as "Am." Boring.

Use Superscript

When you're expressing a chord variation or voicing, OnSong just outputs the text. Enabling superscript makes stuff like "m," "sus4," or "dim" teeny tiny & floats it above the line like a lil' cloud.

Use Symbol Replacements

When this is on, OnSong replaces common chord voicing symbols with fancy characters. Like, an "m" becomes "-". Here's the full swap:

minor becomes −
diminished becomes °
augmented becomes +
major seventh becomes ∆
major becomes M

OnSong 2026 — Last Refreshed October 18, 2021