ZOMGISH TRANSLATION

The OnSong file format is a text file that's basically just vibes & musical meaning crammed into plain ASCII. It's got that .onsong file extension thingy, but honestly? OnSong's cool enough to understand literally any old .txt file & pretend it's fancy. This format uses special characters to make different parts of a song actually mean something.

Apps for Editin' Plain Text (Yeah, Really)

First off: an OnSong file is just a plain text document. Which means you can edit it literally anywhere with whatever sad little notepad app came on your computer for free. Totes convenient, amirite.

• On OS X fire up TextEdit from your Applications folder. It's a general-purpose word processor thingy that can also eat plain text like a champ. But srsly, switch it to plain text mode by choosin' Make Plain Text from the Format menu or it'll betray you.
• On Windows crack open the Notepad application from your Start menu. Revolutionary. We know.

To actually learn somethin' here, download this Example OnSong File & open it in whatever app doesn't scare you.

Sections

Here's the dealio about OnSong files: they got sections. Sections split up verses from choruses & bridges & whatever. They're also clutch for dividin' a verse into two stanzas for lyrics projection, or just makin' things less of a visual dumpster fire. You can even label 'em if you're feelin' fancy.

Metadata

Metadata is basically gossip about the song—it lives in the first section & is always keepin' secrets. Usually it's name/value pairs separated by a colon, each one gettin' its own line like it's special. You can also just yeet the title & artist as the first & second lines if you're lazy (no judgment).

Chords & Lyrics

Chords get dropped in to vibe with certain words or phrases. OnSong speaks two chord dialects: Bracketed Chords & Chords Over Lyrics. Pick your poison.

ChordPro

Look, OnSong format does the job & all, but ChordPro is out here showin' off with extra tricks up its sleeves. You can mix & match ChordPro syntax whenever you wanna get spicy & advanced.

Line Formattin'

Wanna make a lyric line thicc or make it pop? OnSong's got special characters for that. Bold it. Highlight it. Format it for harmony parts. Make it shine, bestie.

Pages

Surprise! You can now carve out separate pages in your chord chart & force page breaks for printin'. Because apparently paper is still a thing.