HOW TO WRITE OUT A CHORD CHART

Michael Wei — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:47:14 +0000

So, this is a simple one. You’re ready to play with your friends, or a new person, and maybe you have a new original song to try. So, this involves teaching a new song. You can do it section by section and show your bass player, backup singer, and drummer how to play your song. But if you got them all there at the same time, and are rehearsing in a loud rehearsal space and you’re paying by the hour… then you’ll want to keep things efficient.

I find that these days, people need to keep things moving and use their time wisely. Sometimes, it’s tough to get that many people together in the same space.

So, here are some thoughts on how to get some paperwork together for your indie band. Two things to get ready. Lyric sheet and Chord Chart.

LYRIC SHEET

This is pretty strightforward I guess. Just your words to your original song written out line by line, you know like a poem. If your song falls into these categories, it’d be helpful to put your verses into sections. So, let’s say, there is a “Verse 1″, or maybe call it “A” section, or whatever idea you got. Then maybe a “B” section, or “pre-chorus”, or “chorus”, you know. It doesn’t really matter I guess, just as long as you can say, let’s try this part from the “pre-chorus 2″, or “D” section. Now all we need is some manuscript paper….

CHORD CHART

A chord chart is just a simple lined manuscript with simple names of chords written out. For those of you who don’t know, manuscript paper looks like this:

It is just your simple lined music paper that people use to write notes and stuff on, but we’re only going to use it to keep our Chord Chart neat.

Incidentally while we’re here… I found this good place to download free PDF versions of this file, so that you can print out a copy. (pick the 10 stave version…)

FREE MUSIC MANUSCRIPT PAPER: http://people.virginia.edu/~pdr4h/musicpaper/

or this place too!

MORE FREE MUSIC MANUSCRIPT PAPER: http://www.blanksheetmusic.net/

So, now, you’re ready to go…

1. Draw your treble clef on the top line if it doesn’t already have one…

2. Draw vertical lines to divide the music staffs into 4 even sections. Do this for the whole manuscript page.

3. Now you’re ready to write chord names in the bars.

4. Label your sections, verse, “A”, or whatever you might need.

So, really, it’s a simple chart to keep everyone in your band playing the same parts. And it looks kinda professional once you get the hang of it. Hope this helps.

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HOW TO WRITE OUT A CHORD CHART