Background

JotChord™ is an application for creating number charts - sometimes called "Nashville Number System" or "NNS" for short.

ChordText™ is a simple text format for authoring Nashville Number System chord sheets, that JotChord™ can automatically format into a PDF. With ChordText™, musicians can focus on the structure and contents of the chart -- the promise of NNS! -- without having to worry about column layouts, or drawing symbols that are unique to NNS. With ChordText™, you can simply type chord numbers in plain text, enabling you to chart a song in minutes - often in as much time as it takes you to listen to the song once.

Like Tablature is to guitar notation, ChordText™ aspires to be to Nashville-style notation.

This article is a quick reference guide to the conventions and specific syntax that JotChord™ supports: ChordText™.

Overview of ChordText™

You can think of the structure of a number chart as represented in the following diagram:

├── Metadata:
│   ├── Title
│   ├── Key
│   ├── Tempo
│   ├── Meter
│   ├── Style
│   ├── Feel
|   ├── $customProperty
├── Section1:
│   ├── measures
│   │   ├── chords
│   │   │   ├── rhythms, articulations and other symbols
│   ├── comments
├── Section2:
...

Metadata

Optional metadata

Title

• A song title:

  Title: Need You Now
  

Key

• The key of E

  Key: E
  

• The key of B-flat

  Key: Bb
  

• The key of F-sharp

  Key: F#
  

Tempo

• A tempo of 108 bpm:

  Tempo: 108
  

• Optionally include "bpm" for legibility when scanning the ChordText™ format:

  Tempo: 108bpm
  

• (Beta-Only Feature!) Optionally override the default tempo resolution using a similar syntax to Rhythm Annotations.

  //Override the default dotted-quarter tempo resolution with an 8th-note
  Meter: 6/8
  Tempo: {8}=100bpm
  

Meter

• A meter of 12/8

  Meter: 12/8
  

• JotChord™ assumes 4/4 if the meter is not declared.

Style

• A Bossa nova style:

  Style: Bossa nova
  

• JotChord™ only displays Style: if both Style: and Feel: are provided.

Feel

• A "Swing feel":

  Feel: Swing
  

• JotChord™ appends the word "feel" to the end of the provided feel.

• JotChord™ only displays Style: if both Style: and Feel: are provided.

Custom metadata

• ${name}:, where {name} is replaced by a label containing any alphanumeric characters

  $Artist: The Beatles
  

  $Arranger: John Smith
  

Song sections

Section headers

• The first verse:

  V1:
  

• A chorus section:

  CH:
  

Measures ("bars") & split bars

• Separate measures with spaces or tabs:

  1 1 4 5
  

Split bar with an underline

• A split bar with 2 chords:

  1_6-
  

• A split bar with 4 chords:

  4_3-_2_1
  

Split bar with parentheses

• A split bar with 2 chords:

  (1 6-)
  

• A split bar with 4 chords:

  (4 3- 2 1)
  

• An implicit meter change from 4/4 to a single 2/4 bar:

  1 4 5 (5..)
  1 1
  

Measure group separator

• A group of 4 measures, separated from another group of 4 measures:

  1 1 1 1 * 4 4 5 5
  

Chords

Diatonic chords

The natural ("diatonic") chords in C-Major are:

• A progression through all eight diatonic chords:

  1 2- 3- 4
  5 6- 7o 1
  

Non-diatonic chords / accidentals

• A flat-7 chord, common in pop music

  b7
  

Chord qualities

• An 8-bar progression with seven different chord qualities

  7o  1   3^  6-
  4add9 #4+ 5sus4 1
  

No Chord - N.C., tacet or rest

• Whole measure rest:

  X
  

• Half-note rest:

  X_5
  

• In context:

  1 6- 5 X
  

Beyond triads - tetrads, extended and altered chords

• General "exponent" form (**)

  {number}**{exponent}
  

• A 5-dominant-7th chord (V7 in jazz):

  5**7
  

Examples and shorthand forms

Slash chords (incl. inversions)

• General form

  {chord}/{bass-scale-degree}
  

• A first-inversion 1-chord:

  1/3
  

• A non-diatonic 3-Major-chord with a sharp-5 scale degree in the bass (a first-inversion Maj-3 chord):

  3^/#5
  

Rhythms

NOTE: The features described in this section are intended to describe the rhythm in which chords are to be played. For notating drum or percussion parts, see Drum Notation Snippets (drumtab).

Diamonds (e.g., whole notes and/or let it ring)

• A whole-note 1-chord:

  <1>
  

• A whole-note 1Maj7-chord:

  <1^7>
  

• A whole-note slash chord:

  <4/5>
  

• A split bar with half-note chords:

  <4>_<1>
  

Pushes (e.g., syncopation)

• Early 8th-note push on the 4-chord:

  1 4<
  

• Early 16th-note push on the 4-chord:

  1 4<<
  

• Late-push several chords in a split bar:

  1 5>_4> 1 5>>_4>>
  

• Early 16th-note push on a diamond chord:

  <5><<
  

• Late 16th-note push on a diamond chord:

  <5>>>
  

Tick marks (clarifying beats)

• 3 beats of a 1-chord, followed by 1 beat of a 4-chord:

  1..._4.
  

• Quick changes: 1 beat each of 4 different chords

  6-.5.4.3-
  

Ties

• A 1-chord struck and then ringing for two full measures (8 beats in 4/4)

  <1>= <1>
  

• A half-note 4-chord tied to the first beat of the second bar

  1_<4>= 4.<5>...
  

Mutes / cut-offs / marcato

• A mute on the downbeat of a measure

  1!
  

• Mutes on beats 1 and 3 of a 4/4 measure

  1!_1!
  

• Five James Brown hits

  5D9!_5D9!_5D9!_5D9! 5D9!
  

Fermatas ("bird eyes")

• A whole-note 1-chord with a fermata:

  <1>~
  

Walk-up (↗︎) and Walk-down (↘︎)

• A walk-up (↗︎) from 1 to 4 over a whole measure:

  1@walkup 4
  

• Above example, with abbreviated walk-up (↗︎) annotation:

  1@wu 4
  

• A walk-down (↘︎) from 5 to 1 over a whole measure:

  5@walkdown 1
  

• Above example, with abbreviated walk-down (↘︎) annotation:

  5@wd 1
  

Meter changes (inline)

• Change to 3/8:

  [3/8] 5
  

• Change to 3/8 and then back to 6/8:

  [3/8] 5 [6/8] 5
  

• An implicit change from 4/4 to a single 2/4 bar:

  1 4 5 (5..)
  1 1
  

Rhythm annotations

NOTE: This feature is only available in the JotChord™ Beta experience. Contact us to sign-up.

Basic note values (numbers inside curly braces):

Multiple notes per chord

• Two eighth notes over a 1-chord:

  1{8,8}
  

• A quarter note and two eighth notes over a 4-chord:

  4{4,8,8}
  

Dotted notes

• A dotted-quarter note followed by an eighth note:

  1{4d,8}
  

Multiple notes in a split bar

• A "long-form" walk-up from 1 to 4:

  [3/4] 1{4}_2-{4}_1/3{4} 4
  

• A "short-hand" walk-up from 1 to 5:

  [3/4] 1{4}_1/3@wu{4,4} 5
  

Rests

• Two eighth notes, an eighth rest, and another eighth note (using X chord):

  1{8,8}_X{8}_5{8}
  

• Two eighth notes, an eighth rest, and another eighth note (using inline 'r' suffix):

  1{8,8,8r,8}
  

• A dotted-quarter rest followed by an eighth note:

  4{4dr,8}
  

• Note: The r must follow any dots or tuplets (8dr or 8tr, not 8rd or 8rt). Rests cannot be tied.

Percussion Hits on X Chords (x)

• Four 8th-note claps or percussive hits over an X chord:

  X{8x,8x,8x,8x}
  

• A quarter rest followed by two 8th-note claps:

  X{4,8x,8x}
  

Ties

• An eighth note tied to the next eighth note on the same chord:

  5{8,8=,8,8}
  

• A rhythm tied across a measure to the next chord:

  1{4,4,4d}_5{8=} 5{8}
  

Auto-beaming and Meter

• JotChord™ automatically groups horizontal beams according to your meter's natural divisions (e.g. 4/4 vs 6/8).

Tuplets (Triplets, Sextuplets, etc.)

• A single eighth-note triplet figure over a 1-chord:

  1{8t,8t,8t}
  

• A group of five 16th-notes (quintuplet) over a 5-chord:

  5{16t5,16t5,16t5,16t5,16t5}
  

• Five 8th-notes played in the space of four ($5$:$4$ ratio):

  4{8t5:4,8t5:4,8t5:4,8t5:4,8t5:4}
  

• Automatic brackets for tuplets containing rests or mixed note values:

  1{8t,8tr,8t}
  1{8t}_X{8t}_1{8t}
  1{8t}_1{16t}_1{16t}_1{8t}
  

Putting it all together

IN:
1{4d,8}_4{8,8=,8}_5>={8=} <5>~{1}
LN:
b7(add6,9){8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8} b7{8,8,8,8}_b7!

Repeats & Other Form Annotations

Repeats

Basic start/end repeats

• 4 bars repeated once:

  ||: 1   4   4   1 :||
  

Repeat multiple times

• 4 bars repeated 3 times:

  ||: 1   4   4   1 :||{3}
  

Multi-measure repeats

• Repeat the previous bar ($1 \times \%$ symbol):

  %
  

• Repeat the previous 2 bars ($2 \times \%$ symbols):

  %%
  

• Repeat the previous 4 bars ($4 \times \%$ symbols)

  %%%%
  

• Up to 8 bars ($8 \times \%$ symbols)

  %%%%%%%%
  

Volta Brackets (Repeat Endings)

Segno, Coda & Jump Directives

Modulations

• Modulate up one whole step (two half-steps):

  mod+2
  

• Modulate down two whole steps (four half-steps):

  mod-4
  

Freeform text

Single-line comment

• A double-forward-slash indicates the line is a comment

  //this is a comment line
  

• Provide instructions to performers with comments

  //Drums and bass enter
  

Multi-line comment

• A block comment with arrangement details

  /*
    V1: piano only
    V2: + guitar
    V3: + bass + drums
  */
  

Inline comment

• Inline comment attached to the end of a chord

  1/*-crunchy*/
  

• Inline comment instead of chords

  /*vamp*/ 1 /*cue is flam on beat 4*/
  

Text annotation

• Simple text annotation pinned to top of chord

  1{my annotation}
  

• Simple text annotation pinned to bottom of chord

  1B{my annotation}
  

• Simple lyric annotation pinned to top of chord

  4L{"All my life..."}
  

• Multiple annotations on a single chord

  4{Drums out}L{"All my life..."} 1.B{rit.}_5/7._6-..
  

• Combine text and rhythm annotations

  1{4d,8}{Tutti} 4<{Accent}
  

Guitar Tablature (ASCII "tab") Snippets

NOTE: This feature is only available in the JotChord™ Beta experience. Contact us to sign-up.

You can enter a snippet of string instrument tablature using standard ASCII tab syntax, and JotChord™ will render it as formatted tablature.

Basic Block Syntax

• Enclose tablature inside /*tab ... */ blocks:

  /*tab
  e|----------------|----------------|
  B|----3-------3---|----3-------3---|
  G|--2---2---2---2-|--0---0---0---0-|
  D|0-------0-------|----------------|
  A|----------------|3-------3-------|
  E|----------------|----------------|
  */
  

Adaptive String Counts

• Compact licks (e.g., using only the top 2 strings):

  /*tab
  e|------12---------12-|
  B|15b--------15b------|
  */
  

• 4-String Bass:

  /*tab
  G|----------------|
  D|----5-------5---|
  A|--7---7---7---7-|
  E|0-------0-------|
  */
  

• 6-String Guitar: Provide 6 lines of tablature.

• Extended-Range Instruments: Provide 7 or 8 lines of tablature.

Technique Symbol Cheat Sheet

• Techniques in use:

  /*tab
  e|-------------------|
  B|-------------------|
  G|7b9r7p5---5~-------|
  D|--------7-----5/7--|
  A|-------------------|
  E|-------------------|
  */
  

Drum Notation (ASCII "drumtab") Snippets

NOTE: This feature is only available in the JotChord™ Beta experience. Contact us to sign-up.

You can enter a small snippet of drum notation using common ASCII drum tablature ("drumtab") syntax, and JotChord™ will render it as traditional drum notation.

Basic Block Syntax

• Enclose drum tablature inside /*drumtab ... */ blocks. JotChord™ automatically renders traditional drum sheet music:

  /*drumtab
      Verse               Chorus (6/8)
  HH|x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-|x-x-x-x-x-x-|
  SD|----o-------o---|---o-----o--|
  BD|o-------o-------|o-----o-----|
  */
  

Common Instruments

Technique Symbol Cheat Sheet

Metric Pulse & Count Lines

• Add a count line (unlabeled, or labeled C, Cnt, or Count) at the bottom of the drum block to explicitly denote beat counts and subdivisions.

• Use numbers (1, 2) and symbols (+, &, e, a) for standard subdivisions.

• Use t to explicitly represent tuplet / triplet subdivisions of the main pulse. JotChord™ will automatically render these with tuplet brackets.

• Example with tuplet subdivisions (t):

  /*drumtab
  HH |x--x--x--x--|
  SD |---o-----o--|
  BD |o-----o-----|
  Cnt|1 t t 2 t t |
  */