ChordPro


The ChordPro (also known as Chord) format text-based markup language for representing chord charts by describing the position of chords in relation to the song's lyrics. ChordPro also provides markup to denote song sections (e.g., verse, chorus, bridge), song metadata (e.g., title, tempo, key), and generic annotations (i.e., notes to the musician). Although a human-readable format, ChordPro files are intended to be input to software that prepares a formatted chord sheet for screen display or printing. Other features available in supporting software include generation of chord diagrams, ability to transpose to different keys, and conversion between different note naming systems, such as Nashville. File extensions used for ChordPro files include  .crd, .chopro, .pro, .chordpro  or .cho. The current version of the format is v6. Basic Input Format
ChordPro file format contains chords in square brackets within song lyrics:

What [Em]child is [G]this, who, [D]laid to rest
On [Em]Mary's [Am]lap, is [B]sleeping? Whom [Em]angels [G]greet with [D]anthems sweet,
While [Em]shepherds [B]watch are [Esus]keep[Em]ing? Programs convert this format to:

        Em          G           D 
What 	child is 	this, who, 	laid to rest

    Em      Am 	        B 
On 	Mary's 	lap, is 	sleeping? Em 	    G 	        D 
Whom 	angels 	greet with 	anthems sweet,

        Em 	        B 	        Esus 	Em 
While 	shepherds 	watch are 	keep	ing? Output often significantly varies by program, software platform, output media etc. Directives
ChordPro format allows users to mark sections of a song, such as Title, Subtitle, Key, Time, Chorus etc. through special keywords enclosed by curly brackets ({ and }) called directives. Some directives change the output, while others are not displayed and are primarily used to keep track of meta-data. {title: What Child Is This?} {subtitle: Traditional Christmas Song}
{key: Em}
{lyricist: William Dix, 1837-1898}
{composer: GREENSLEEVES, a 17th Century English Air}
{time: 6/8}
{ccli: 2766502}
# This song is believed to be in the public domain. More information can be found at:
#   http://www.pdinfo.com/PD-Music-Genres/PD-Christmas-Songs.php
#   http://www.ccli.com/Licenseholder/Search/SongSearch.aspx?s=2766502

History

In June 1991 Martin Leclerc and Mario Dorion conceived of a simple, text-based syntax for marking up chords and lyrics and developed the Chord program. Although the program and file format saw some adoption there was no active development of either for several years. In 2007 Johan Vromans and Adam Monsen revived the project under a new name, Chordii, and updated the ChordPro format to version 4. In 2015 Johan Vromans started a major modernization effort to implement features such as Unicode support and native PDF generation and renamed the program to ChordPro. This release is still in active development and supports ChordPro format version 6. References

External links
 ChordPro.org -- main website for the format. ChordPro Project on GitHub
 User Forum on Groups.io
 Chordii -- a legacy release of Chord utility, supporting version 4. Music notation file formats