BETTER BY SUNDAY w / PCO
PLANNING CENTER PRO : LEVEL UP YOUR CHORD CHARTS , PART 1 | Mike Graff
Chord charts are central to any worship team . They serve as a roadmap , help you get through an arrangement from start to finish . They are the bridge between “ We don ’ t know this song ” and “ Let ’ s lead this song on Sunday !”
But more often than not , chord charts are neglected and under-utilized , becoming a sub-par substitute for what they could be : a well-designed , accurate guide that aids your worship team to lead the song well .
For most people , though , creating accurate & detailed chord charts sounds impossible . You might have no idea where to begin , or what would actually be valuable to your worship team members . But with Planning Center ’ s tools , a better chord-chart experience may be more attainable ( and pain-free ) than you think !
One quick way to instantly level-up your worship team ’ s chord charts within Planning Center : Stop using un-editable PDFs , and start using dynamic text .
You ’ ve been there . You downloaded a chord chart for your new song , but there were several chords you wanted to add ( and several you wanted to delete !).
But instead of getting out a big black Sharpie and some white-out , try importing chord charts into Planning Center using dynamic text .
What is " dynamic text ", you ask ? In simple terms , Planning Center uses simple coding that allows you to type in your chord chart with plain text , and change it instantly with a few keystrokes .
Making small changes to a chord chart is invaluable as a worship leader . Maybe you want to add a chord at the end of a verse , or make a note to hold for 2 bars before going into the bridge . With an inflexible chord chart PDF , it ’ s difficult to make these small changes . But with dynamic text , you can do it instantly and effortlessly !
You can go about this two different ways : You can save time by going through online thirdparty vendors who supply chord charts as TXT files , meaning they ’ ve already done most of the hard work for you ( for not much more than just a couple dollars ). Or if you like the homemade variety , all it takes is some simple typing tricks and you ’ ll be set to go .
There are many tricks one can use in dynamic text ( more on that in next month ’ s article !), but the simplest ( and most often used ) trick of dynamic-text chord-charts is to abandon the old practice of typing the chords on a text-line above the lyrics , and instead attach the chords to the lyrics on a single line of text .
Take a look at the screenshot . All the text is in a single line , and the chords are placed directly in front of the specific lyrics you want the chord to appear above . All you do is use the straight brackets ( [ and ] ) to enclose the chord , and don ’ t add any extra space-bar spaces . It ’ s that simple , and it makes the chord chart instantly cleaner and easier to follow !
Example :
The head that [ Gb ] once was [ Bbm7 ] crowned with [ Ab ] thorns
It now doesn ’ t matter if you need to move this chunk of text somewhere else on the chord chart - because you ’ ve typed in the chords according to dynamic-text rules , the text will be perfectly formatted no matter what .
Some of the most beautiful things about dynamic text is that it keeps your chord chart clean and accurate . If you want to delete chords , it takes just a couple clicks . If you want to add chords , it takes just a couple more clicks !
Most importantly , all dynamic text is transposable . Which means if you play a song in five different keys , one keystroke will change that chord on every key you make available in Planning Center . Talk about easy shortcuts ! Plus , you don ’ t have to wonder if your chord charts are right or not . All you need to do is make sure one chord chart is correct ( the master dynamic-text ), and all the others will follow .
And just like that , you ’ re turning into a Planning Center Pro . Your team will definitely thank you ! More to come . See you next time !
Dynamic text in the Lyrics & Chords tab lets you edit quickly and keeps it clean .
Mike Graff Chief Creative of internationally-acclaimed Coresound Pads . Worship leader since 2000
CoreSoundPads . com
52 June 2018 WorshipMusician . com