What is a Chord Sheet Maker? A Guide for Gigging Musicians
Everything you need to know about the basic concept of a chord sheet maker and why gigging musicians use them to build massive repertoires.
When gigging musicians refer to their "books," they aren't talking about literature—they are talking about their massive arsenal of meticulously built chord charts that allow them to play a four-hour pub gig without completely losing their minds.
Behind every great setlist is a great tool. Here is a definitive explanation of exactly what a chord sheet maker is, and why every gigging acoustic player uses one.
The Core Concept
A chord sheet maker is simply a digital web app or desktop software that takes plain text (lyrics) and distinct harmonic properties (chords), and melds them together visually so they align cohesively on a piece of paper.
While that sounds incredibly profound, it really comes down to math formatting. If you try to write a song on Microsoft Word, the chord rests on invisible spaces. If you change a setting, everything falls apart. A dedicated chord sheet maker treats chords as specific anchors attached permanently to the words below them.
High Volume Creation
Gigging musicians, especially those playing acoustic covers at corporate events and weddings, need to memorize upwards of two hundred songs. However, you can't genuinely hold all the nuanced bridges and middle-eighth progressions in active memory.
You rely on sheets to act as memory triggers. By using a software builder like Corshare Sheets, you can type up a complicated new wedding request in five minutes.
The Export Ecosystem
The greatest value proposition of a true chord sheet maker is the fact that the output is dynamic until the second you export it.
If you arrive at a gig, and the singer is struggling with a cold and asks to drop the song down two steps, a digital maker handles that complex mental math instantly using global transposition controls. Once the key is perfected on screen, you hit the mighty button to generate a clean, massive-font PDF that eliminates distractions while performing under terrible stage lighting.
If you have never built a professional portfolio of songs, there is no better day to start saving your own time!