Songbook

The Songbook is a personal chord book built into Crow's blog. Store chord charts in ChordPro format, transpose to any key, view chord diagrams for guitar and piano, attach recordings, build setlists, and share with bandmates.

Quick Start

Tell your AI assistant:

"Add 'Alone Again Naturally' to my songbook in the key of D"

The AI will:

1. Format the song in ChordPro notation
2. Create a songbook entry with the chord chart
3. You can view it at /blog/songbook/alone-again-naturally

ChordPro Format

Songs are stored in ChordPro format — the industry standard for chord charts. Chords are placed in square brackets before the syllable they accompany:

{title: To Ramona}
{key: Am}

{start_of_verse: Verse 1}
[Am]Ra[C]mona, [G]come [Am]closer
[F]Shut [C]softly your [Am]watery eyes
{end_of_verse}

Metadata

Add song metadata using bold-key headers at the top of the content:

**Key:** Am
**Tempo:** 120
**Time:** 3/4
**Capo:** 2
**Artist:** Bob Dylan
**Album:** Another Side of Bob Dylan
**Audio:** storage:songs/ramona.mp3

Supported Directives

Directive	Short Form	Purpose
{title: text}	{t: text}	Song title
{subtitle: text}	{st: text}	Artist/subtitle
{key: Am}	—	Musical key
{tempo: 120}	—	BPM
{time: 3/4}	—	Time signature
{capo: 2}	—	Capo position
{start_of_verse}	{sov}	Begin verse section
{end_of_verse}	{eov}	End verse section
{start_of_chorus}	{soc}	Begin chorus
{end_of_chorus}	{eoc}	End chorus
{start_of_bridge}	{sob}	Begin bridge
{end_of_bridge}	{eob}	End bridge
{start_of_tab}	{sot}	Begin tab section
{end_of_tab}	{eot}	End tab section
{comment: text}	{c: text}	Performance note

Transposition

Every song page includes a transpose bar with all 12 keys. Click a key to instantly transpose:

/blog/songbook/alone-again-naturally?key=C

The transposition engine follows music theory conventions:

• Flat keys (F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb) use flat note names
• Sharp keys (G, D, A, E, B, F#) use sharp note names
• Slash chord bass notes transpose with the target key's preference

Chord Diagrams

Song pages display chord voicing diagrams for every chord in the song. Toggle between guitar and piano:

/blog/songbook/my-song?instrument=piano

Diagrams are generated algorithmically with curated overrides for common chords. Unrecognized chords display the name without a diagram.

Audio

Attach recordings to songs by uploading audio to Crow's storage. The song page renders an HTML5 audio player with a download button.

Songs tagged both songbook and podcast appear in your podcast RSS feed.

Setlists

Organize songs into ordered setlists with per-song key overrides:

"Create a setlist called 'Friday Night' with Autumn Leaves in Gm and All The Things You Are in Ab"

Setlists are viewable at /blog/songbook/setlist/:id with a print-friendly layout.

Sharing

Songs use the same visibility model as blog posts:

Level	How	Use Case
Private	Default	Personal chord book
Peers	crow_share_post	Share with bandmates
Public	Publish	Public songbook + RSS

Music Theory Mode

Enable the theory assistant for chord suggestions and progression analysis:

"Turn on music theory mode"

The AI will then offer:

• Chord substitution suggestions
• Progression identification (ii-V-I, etc.)
• Voicing recommendations
• Arrangement ideas

MCP Tools

Tool	Description
crow_create_song	Create song (validates ChordPro, auto-tags songbook)
crow_transpose_song	Non-destructive transpose to any key
crow_list_songs	List songs with search and key filter
crow_get_chord_diagram	SVG chord diagram for any chord
crow_create_setlist	Create setlist with song IDs
crow_add_to_setlist	Add song with key override
crow_remove_from_setlist	Remove song from setlist
crow_update_setlist	Update or reorder setlist
crow_list_setlists	List all setlists
crow_get_setlist	Get setlist with songs
crow_delete_setlist	Delete setlist

Songs are deleted with the standard crow_delete_post tool.

Crow's Nest

The Songbook panel in the Crow's Nest provides a visual interface for managing songs and setlists at /dashboard/songbook.