What is ChordPro, and how do you convert it?
ChordPro is a plain-text song format where chords sit inside the lyric in square brackets. It has been in use for over thirty years, opens in any text editor, and nearly every songbook app reads it. Below: what the format is, a directive reference, and a two-way converter.
What is ChordPro?
ChordPro is not really a file type — it is a writing convention. The lyric is plain text and each chord goes in square brackets immediately before the syllable it lands on: [Am]Once upon a time. Files usually carry .cho, .chopro, .crd or .pro, but the content is ordinary text.
The classic alternative — chords on their own line above the words — has one weakness: alignment. Change the font size, let a line wrap, or read it on a phone and the chord drifts away from the syllable it belonged to. ChordPro ties the chord to the syllable, so that information can never be lost.
The other half of the format is directives: lines in curly braces such as {title:}, {key:} and {capo:} that carry the song's metadata. Apps read them and fill in the title, key and tempo fields for you.
The same line, written both ways
Am G F Once upon a time downtown
[Am]Once [G]upon a time [F]downtown
Converter
Paste your text and pick a direction. The format is detected automatically; directives and blank lines are preserved and the lyric is left untouched. Whatever you paste stays in your browser — nothing is sent to a server.
Syntax — the directives you will actually use
Directive names are English in every language; the values you write in your own. Readers silently skip directives they do not know, so extra ones do no harm.
| Written as | Means |
|---|---|
| {title: ...} | The song title — what shows in lists and headers. |
| {subtitle: ...} | A second line; in practice the artist or band name. |
| {key: Am} | The key of the song. Transposing and capo maths start here. |
| {tempo: 96} | Tempo in BPM — apps with a metronome read this. |
| {capo: 2} | Capo fret. The chords written are the shapes played with the capo on. |
| [Am] [F] [C/G] | The chord itself: placed right before the syllable it lands on. |
| {start_of_chorus} … {end_of_chorus} | A chorus block — readers indent or tint this range. |
| {comment: ...} | A free note: “second guitar in”, “pull back here”, and other stage cues. |
Reperto imports ChordPro files directly and exports your library in the same format, so anything you produce on this page can be pasted straight into the app. Because the format is open, your songs are never locked to one piece of software.