Creating a New Song

Adding songs to Song7 is straightforward. Fill in the basics, paste in your lyrics and chords, and save. Here's how.

Shortcut: Find a Song Online (Beta)

If you know the song's name, let Song7 do the typing. On the Create New page, click "Find song online" and search by title or artist. Pick the right result and Song7 fills in what it can verify — artist, album, year, length, genre, artwork — and attaches Apple Music and YouTube links to the song automatically.

You can also type a scripture reference like Psalm 23 or John 3:16 to find hymns written on that passage.

What about the lyrics and chords? Traditional hymns come through complete, with lyrics and chords filled in.

For newer songs you bring your own chart. Song7 gives you buttons that open Essential Worship, SongSelect, PraiseCharts, Worship Together and Hymnary with your search already filled in — grab the chart from whichever one you use, then paste it (or a ChordPro file) into the "Paste chart or ChordPro" box and it comes in properly formatted.

Check what was filled in for you. Key, tempo, and CCLI number are filled in automatically and can be wrong, so each one is marked until you've looked at it — either edit the value, or click "Mark as checked" if it's already right. This matters most for the CCLI number, which flows into your CCLI usage report and is how songwriters get paid.

Prefer to type it in yourself, or working from paper? Keep reading.

Shortcut: Import from a Photo (Beta)

If you already have the song on paper or a printed chord sheet, you don't have to type it all out. On the Create New page, click "Import from Photo", then take or upload a photo of the sheet. Song7 reads the image and fills in the title, author, key, chords, and lyrics for you — just review the result and save.

Best results come from a clear, flat, well-lit photo (JPG or PNG, max 5MB). The extraction is smart but not perfect, so always check it before saving. Your photo is sent to Google for processing and isn't stored afterward.

Prefer to type it in yourself? Keep reading.

The Basics

When you click Create New, you'll see these fields:

Title - The song name

Written By - The author or songwriter

Key - What key the song is in (C, G, D, etc.)

Time Signature - Usually 4/4, but could be 3/4, 6/8, etc.

Tempo - Beats per minute (BPM)

Tags - Categories like "Easter," "upbeat," "children's song" (Type a tag and press Enter to add it)

Song Content - The Important Part

This is where your lyrics and chords go.

How to Format

Chords go above the lyrics where they're played:

[Verse 1]
    C        F
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
     Am         G
That saved a wretch like me

Section labels use square brackets:

• [Verse 1]
• [Chorus]
• [Bridge]
• [Pre-Chorus]
• [Intro]

Comments start with # and won't show in presentations:

# Original key was D
# We play it in C with capo 2

Full Example

# Key of C, moderate tempo

[Verse 1]
    C        F
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
     Am         G
That saved a wretch like me

[Chorus]
    C           F
I once was lost but now am found
    Am        G       C
Was blind but now I see

Tips for Clean Formatting

Align your chords - Put them right above where they change

Use blank lines - Separate sections for readability

Be consistent - If you use Verse 1, use Verse 2, not Verse Two

Comments are your friend - Note anything the team should know

Notes Section

Below the song content, there's a rich text editor for notes:

• Rehearsal tips
• Links to reference recordings
• Special instructions
• Arrangement details

Advanced Metadata

Click to expand the advanced section if you want to add:

• Subtitle
• Album
• Year
• Genre
• Composer (if different from writer)
• Lyricist
• Copyright info
• CCLI number
• Duration
• Difficulty level
• Arrangement notes
• Transcriber name

You don't need all of these - just use what's helpful.

Save and Done

Hit Save and your song is in the library. Your team can see it, use it in sets, and everyone stays on the same page.

Quick Reference

Good formatting:

[Verse 1]
    C        F
Amazing grace how sweet

Works, but not ideal:

C F
Amazing grace how sweet

Section labels:[Verse 1], [Chorus], [Bridge], [Intro], [Outro]

Comments:# Note to team: Play softly on verse 1

Attachments & notation

Beyond the chord chart, you can attach files to a song. Open the song for editing (you must be an editor); you'll find two tabs in the form:

• Attachments — upload a PDF or image (a chord chart, scanned sheet music, or a phone photo of a paper chart). Files are stored as-is.
• Notation — upload one or more MusicXML files to display engraved staff notation rendered in the app. Add several (e.g. one per instrument) and give each a label like "Piano" or "Guitar"; readers pick which to view. You can create or export MusicXML from tools like MuseScore (free), Flat.io, Noteflight, or Soundslice, or via Export → MusicXML in Finale/Sibelius. When viewing, a Transpose control shifts the notation up or down by semitones, and a download button saves the MusicXML file back to your device (e.g. to edit it in MuseScore).

When reading a song, these appear as Attachments and Notation tabs below the chart — view only, no editing. When there are several files, a selector lets you view one at a time (with a Show all option). A new song must be saved first before you can attach files.

When a song is added to a set, the set shows the same files — they're shared from the original, so there's one place to keep them up to date.

Notation is stored with the song and is available offline (handy on stage with patchy wifi). Attachment files (PDF/image) need a connection to upload, and a file you haven't opened before may not be available offline. MusicXML files must be under ~900 KB, and must be uncompressed — when exporting, choose .musicxml rather than the compressed .mxl format.

Music references

Songs often have several recordings worth listening to — the studio version, a live take, a specific artist's arrangement. Open the song for editing and use the References tab to add them.

Pick a service, type in the search box — or hit Use song title to search for the title you've already entered — then click a result to add it. Press the play button on any result to listen before you commit, so you can tell a studio cut from a live take. Results are added with their title, artist and artwork.

Search covers individual tracks. To reference an album or playlist instead, use Add by link instead: open it in the service, copy the share link and paste it in (optionally with your own label).

Add as many as you like, including multiple of the same service for different versions. When reading a song, a References tab appears below the chart with an embedded player for each, so you can listen without leaving the app (an Open link is always there as a fallback). A new song must be saved first before you can add references.

Audio & backing tracks

A song can carry its own audio: a full backing track, a click, a guide vocal, or separate stems for each instrument. Open the song for editing and use the Audio tab to upload them — you can select several files at once, so a whole set of stems goes up in one go. Give each one a clear label — "Click", "Bass", "Keys" — and drag them into whatever order makes sense; that's the order everyone sees in the mixer.

The first time you press play, the tracks are prepared for a moment — they are loaded in full so every one of them can be started on the same clock, which is what keeps them locked together instead of drifting apart. After that, playing, scrubbing and starting over are instant.

Everything plays at once and in sync. Each track has one row holding everything about it: M to mute it, S to solo it, its name, and a volume fader. So the keyboard player hits M on the keys stem and plays it live, the drummer hits S on the click to hear nothing else, and everyone else gets the full mix — all from the same song, at the same time.

Solo works the way it does on a mixing desk: while anything is soloed, everything else goes quiet, and a muted track stays muted even if you solo it. The speaker icon next to the overall volume mutes everything at once, and Unmute all clears every mute and solo in one go. The ⏮ button takes you back to the start — if you're playing, it keeps playing, so running a song again is one click.

Your mix is yours. Changing a fader or unchecking a track only affects your own device; it never changes what anyone else hears. If you're setting a song up for the team, get the balance right and press Save as team default — that becomes the starting mix for anyone opening the song for the first time. Anyone who has since made their own adjustments can go back to it with Reset to team mix.

When reading a song, the tracks appear under an Audio tab below the chart, and the same player is there in a live set. As with attachments, a song added to a set uses the same files as the original.

Each file can be up to 25 MB, and audio counts against your space's storage — the Audio tab shows how much you've used. Stems add up quickly, so MP3 or AAC will go a lot further than WAV. A new song must be saved first before you can add audio, and uploads need a connection.

Related

• Song Library - Manage all your songs
• Adding Songs Guide - More details on importing and organizing

Good formatting now means smooth performances later. Take an extra minute to get it right.