Apps for chord charts/cheat sheets when gigging

[Jaykingfunk]

Morning all,

 

I’ve got a dep gig coming up and obviously will be learning the songs but was thinking of taking my iPad to have the chords/cheat sheets for the set as a back up in case I can’t remember the 30 odd song set.
 

Not to necessarily read from but as a reminder to ‘glance’ at between songs if needed. I’m used to gigging with all of the info in my head and a few notes scrawled on a set list but saw a chap doing a solo set recently and he was using a tablet for some of the songs so thought I’d see what others use? 
 

Thanks in advance, J. 

[gary mac]

Not tried it but On Song has been recommended to me.

[gafbass02]

OnSong is superb

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I use OnSong. There may be other apps that do the same, but I like the way I can just scan any document and import it straight into OnSong. Multi page documents are just as easy and you can turn a page just by tapping the screen (I use a Bluetooth pedal).

 

Recently I’ve been creating the documents electronically and importing them in, so need need for any printing. I used to like hard copies at home as backup’s, but I think I’m over that now 😀.

 

If you get OnSong, I’ll be happy to talk you through anything you get stuck on. Although you shouldn’t as it’s very easy.

 

The best thing is it’s all free. OnSong and the HP scan App both have free versions. There is a paid version of OnSong, but I’ve never needed it yet.

[gary mac]

37 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I use OnSong. There may be other apps that do the same, but I like the way I can just scan any document and import it straight into OnSong. Multi page documents are just as easy and you can turn a page just by tapping the screen (I use a Bluetooth pedal).

 

Recently I’ve been creating the documents electronically and importing them in, so need need for any printing. I used to like hard copies at home as backup’s, but I think I’m over that now 😀.

 

If you get OnSong, I’ll be happy to talk you through anything you get stuck on. Although you shouldn’t as it’s very easy.

 

The best thing is it’s all free. OnSong and the HP scan App both have free versions. There is a paid version of OnSong, but I’ve never needed it yet.

I was put off downloading the free one, as many of the reviews claimed that it is pretty much unuseable. I was planning on going for the version that requires payment. You may have saved me £30

[jrixn1]

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Edited June 24, 2025 by jrixn1

[rushbo]

I've used forScore on my iPad for quite a few years and I really cant fault it. For extra swankiness, I operate it with a Cuvave page turner, which retails at between £17-£25.

 

My needs are pretty simple - just flicking through pdfs of chord sheets - but I've found it easy to use and very reliable.

 

 

[jrixn1]

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Edited June 24, 2025 by jrixn1

[oldslapper]

Don’t forget a mic stand iPad holder. Really handy, even if you don’t sing, the mic stand is less intrusive than a music stand and can be placed beside you at a height to suit your needs. 
Good luck with the gig btw.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

30 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

Don’t forget a mic stand iPad holder. Really handy, even if you don’t sing, the mic stand is less intrusive than a music stand and can be placed beside you at a height to suit your needs. 
Good luck with the gig btw.

I’ve been through a few iPad holders in my time. The one I have at the moment, Konig & Meyer, is easily the best I’ve had.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

1 hour ago, gary mac said:

I was put off downloading the free one, as many of the reviews claimed that it is pretty much unuseable. I was planning on going for the version that requires payment. You may have saved me £30

In fairness, there may be functionality that the paid version has that I have no use for. All I would say is that if you want a free app that does what I’ve described with minimal fuss and bother, then OnSong should meet your expectations. Plus it’s free and if you get stuck, I’m happy to help. 

[rushbo]

39 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

Don’t forget a mic stand iPad holder. Really handy, even if you don’t sing, the mic stand is less intrusive than a music stand and can be placed beside you at a height to suit your needs. 
Good luck with the gig btw.

 A big +1 for this. I use a Hercules iPad holder and it's surprisingly discreet.

 

8 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I’ve been through a few iPad holders in my time. The one I have at the moment, Konig & Meyer, is easily the best I’ve had.

 

That does look nice - it looks a bit more maneuverable than my Hercules version.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Just to explain the functionality of OnSong, there is a couple of ways you can go about it. I’m fully converted to creating digital documents and importing them straight into OnSong now. It just works better for me. I used to create them within OnSong like this. It’s long winded, but stands out better and emits less light than a white score sheet. You can also auto scroll it, so hit start at the beginning of the song and there’s no need to touch it again until the next song.

 

 

This is what I’m using now showing tab sheets, set and song selection in the side bar.

 

 

[fretmeister]

I use Forescore with a Donner bluetooth page turner pedal.

 

Forescore is great - in portrait it shows the entire page and in landscape it moves down the page with each press.

 

The repertoire for the bigband is big and would fill a lever arch file or 2 and it's annoying to carry it all.

I now have it on my iPad.

 

I either take photos of the sheets or scan them - but I do have an A3 scanner which makes it easier - most purchased sheet music is too big for an A4 scanner. 

[geoham]

The keyboard player in my band takes a rather rustic approach to this... He screenshots chords & lyrics for songs and puts them in a folder on his tablet and just scrolls through it. Not powerful or flexible, but does the job!

[ambient]

I use either IReal Pro or ForScore. 
 

[casapete]

The guitarist in my country band now has iPad Pros which he lets us use. He scrolls through the parts turning pages with a pedal which controls all the iPads ,(Bluetooth I think), works a treat. ForScore is the app used for this.

[bass_dinger]

OnSong.  It allows us to share images of a music score, or transposable chord charts.  One of the quirks is that D with an F# in the bass is shown as D/Gb - not so bad when it is one chord, but a nuisance when B felt and E flat is shown as A sharp and D sharp.  There is probably a fix, or an option, but a band mate runs the application. 

  

We use single PC with OnSong on it, and a video splitter sending the image to 5 additional monitor screens.  The PC and monitors are a fixed installation, however, so it won't really work for gigging. 

 

 

[dand666]

Setlist Maker or BandHelper - Same developer and kind of the same app.

 

Can do pretty much everything you ever want from it. Its ridiculously powerful. 

[Bobthedog]

iReal Pro for me too.

[chris_b]

Do these apps do chord charts?

[Bassman68]

I use an IPad on stage most of the time for set lists & chord charts, scanning files & pdf’s.

Last night, the mic boom gained another tablet for the bands in-ear monitor mixes.

It’s all getting very hi-tech to a ludite like me?
 

[Grahambythesea]

Another vote for OnSong. Excellent system.

[rockstream]

chordlanes.com - easy upload of chords and lyrics with OCR, create set lists, nice clean interface on all devices. Only editors need to be on paid plan, viewing is free.

[Basstera]

Hi.

If you're looking for a clean and easy-to-use platform to find chord sheets, you might want to check out Chordico.com. It’s a new site I’ve been working on, designed to make chord charts accessible and user-friendly. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player, it simplifies finding and sharing chords for your favorite songs. Give it a try and let me know what you think!