How to Write a Lyric Sheet and Chord Sheet, With Templates

A lyric sheet is the words of a song laid out exactly as they are sung: the title, the writers and the date at the top, each section labeled on its own line (Verse 1, Chorus, Bridge) and one line per sung phrase. A chord sheet is the same lyric with the harmony added: every chord written directly above the syllable where it changes, plus a header with the key, the capo position and the tempo. There are two ways to write the chords: above the lyric line, aligned in a monospace font, or inline in square brackets, the ChordPro style: [G]Rain on the window. You send the lyric sheet; the band plays from the chord sheet.

You do not have to line up chords by hand: the free chord sheet maker keeps each chord on its syllable, switches layouts, transposes, suggests a capo and prints a clean page. Below are both templates, built on one fictional song, with the rules behind them.

Lyric sheet, chord sheet, lead sheet or tab: which one you need

Sheet	What it shows	Who uses it
Lyric sheet	Words only, by section, lines as sung	Singers, co-writers, publishers, lyric submissions
Chord sheet	Words with chords above the syllables; key, capo, tempo	Guitarists, keyboard players, the band at rehearsal
Lead sheet	Melody in standard notation, chord symbols, lyrics under the notes	Players who read music: jazz, session musicians, arrangers
Tablature (tab)	Strings and frets for a riff or a part, usually without lyrics	Guitarists and bassists learning a specific part

Most pop, rock and folk songs only need the first two. Add a tab for a riff that must be played note for note, and a lead sheet when someone has to read the melody.

How to format a lyric sheet

1. Header. Song title, every writer’s full name, the date and a version number (“v2, September 26, 2026”). Add a contact line if the sheet will leave your hands.
2. Section labels on their own line. [Verse 1], [Chorus], [Bridge], in brackets or capitals, with a blank line between sections. The song structure guide explains what each section does.
3. Line breaks where the singer phrases. One line per sung phrase, not per sentence: if the singer breathes after “window”, break the line there.
4. Repeats written out. On a rehearsal copy, a second “[Chorus]” with no words can mean “sing it again”. On a lyric sheet you send, write every chorus in full, as sung. Spotify gets its lyrics through Musixmatch, whose guidelines ask you to transcribe repeated lines and sections in full, to skip multipliers like “x2” and to label sections with tags like #VERSE and #CHORUS. When the person receiving your sheet gives you a format, use theirs.
5. Backing vocals and ad-libs in parentheses, on the line where they are sung.
6. No chords. A publisher, a contest or a lyric service wants to read the lyric, not the harmony.
7. Credits and date. Use the same names as on your split sheet; the lyric sheet does not record shares, so it does not replace one.
8. One page if possible, 12 pt or larger, with the title and a page number on page two.

Lyric sheet template

NIGHT BUS
Words and music: Nora Vance, Eli Brooks
Lyric sheet v2 · September 26, 2026

[Verse 1]
Rain on the window, ticket in my hand
Seven stops between us, more than I had planned
Every light is turning green like it knows the way
Driver hums a song I used to play

[Chorus]
Night bus, take me home
Through the quiet and the neon glow
Night bus, I'm on my own
But I know where the last stop goes

[Verse 2]
Coffee in a paper cup, going cold
Every lit-up window is a story someone told
Three more stops to your street, three more chances to turn round
But the wheels keep singing that low and steady sound

[Chorus]
Night bus, take me home
Through the quiet and the neon glow
Night bus, I'm on my own
But I know where the last stop goes

[Bridge]
Maybe you're asleep,
maybe you're awake
Maybe that's the only risk
I've got the nerve to take

[Chorus]
Night bus, take me home
Through the quiet and the neon glow
Night bus, I'm on my own
But I know where the last stop goes

[Outro]
Night bus (take me home)
Night bus (take me home)

© 2026 Nora Vance and Eli Brooks

If you are still writing the words, the lyric writing guide covers the process; this sheet is the clean copy at the end of it.

How to write chords above lyrics: chord sheet rules

• Header first. Title, writers, key, capo, tempo in BPM, time signature and the form on one line, so the band knows the road map before the count-in. If you are unsure of the tempo, tap it into the tap tempo metronome.
• Each chord over the syllable where it changes, not over the start of the word or the line. In “take me home” the G sits on “home”, because that is where the harmony moves.
• Hyphens inside words. When a chord name is wider than its syllable, stretch the word with hyphens so the next chord still lands on its syllable: “a-----wake” keeps Dsus4 on “a” and D on “wake”.
• Bar lines for the parts without words. Intro, solo and outro go in bars: | G | D/F# | Em | C |. Two chords inside one bar split it: | G D/F# | means two beats each in 4/4.
• Repeats: “x2” at the end of the line or repeat signs |: … :|. Use one system per sheet.
• Instrumental sections labeled like any other: [Intro], [Instrumental], [Solo], [Outro].
• Slash chords: D/F# is a D chord with F# in the bass. Here it walks the bass down G–F#–E into Em.
• N.C. (no chord) over the words where the band stops and the voice carries on alone.
• A monospace font and spaces, never tabs, or the columns drift. The FAQ below covers Word and Google Docs.

Chord sheet template

NIGHT BUS
Words and music: Nora Vance, Eli Brooks
Key: G · Capo: none · 92 BPM · 4/4
Form: Intro, V1, Chorus, V2, Chorus, Instrumental,
      Bridge, Chorus, Outro
Chord sheet v2 · September 26, 2026

[Intro]
| G    | D/F# | Em   | C    |

[Verse 1]
G                   D/F#
Rain on the window, ticket in my hand
Em                      C
Seven stops between us, more than I had planned
G                                 D/F#
Every light is turning green like it knows the way
Em                   C
Driver hums a song I used to play

[Chorus]
C          D       G
Night bus, take me home
C                         D    Em
Through the quiet and the neon glow
C          D         G
Night bus, I'm on my own
C                    D         G
But I know where the last stop goes

[Verse 2]
Same chords as Verse 1

[Instrumental]
| G  D/F# | Em  C | x2

[Bridge]
Em            C
Maybe you're asleep,
G            Dsus4 D
maybe you're a-----wake
Em                    C
Maybe that's the only risk
G/B          Am7      D
I've got the nerve to take

[Chorus, last time]
N.C.
Night bus, take me home
C                         D    Em
Through the quiet and the neon glow
C          D         G
Night bus, I'm on my own
C                    D         G
But I know where the last stop goes

[Outro, let the last chord ring]
| C    | D    | G    | G    |

To check it, open the chord progression player with G–D–Em–C at 92 BPM (it plays a plain D for D/F#) and sing Verse 1 over the loop: each chord should arrive on the word printed under it. If one arrives early, move it on the sheet. For more loops, see the chord progressions guide.

Chords above or inline: the two formats

	Chords above the lyric	Inline, ChordPro style
Looks like	A chord line over each lyric line	[G]Rain on the window, [D/F#]ticket in my hand
Best for	Reading from a music stand	Typing on a phone, pasting, apps, transposing
Weak spot	Breaks if the font is not monospace or someone edits a line	Harder to read at a glance while playing

ChordPro, a plain-text format, uses the inline style: chords in square brackets before the syllable, plus directives in curly braces for the header, such as {title: Night Bus}, {key: G} or {capo: 2}, and {start_of_chorus} and {end_of_chorus} around the chorus. The chord sheet maker reads the bracket chords and treats a bracket that is not a chord, like [Chorus], as a section label; directives stay as plain text. Bar lines, x2 and N.C. on a chord line stay where you put them.

Chord names in English charts

Chords are letters: B is B natural, flats are written Bb or B♭, minor is m (Em) and a slash gives the bass note. In Nashville sessions you will also meet number charts, where chords are scale degrees: the verse above reads 1 5/7 6- 4 in any key. If a co-writer sends Do Re Mi or German names (H for B), the maker reads them and shows the notation you pick.

How to transpose a chord sheet to the singer’s key, and when to use a capo

The key a song was written in rarely suits every singer. Note the lowest note of the verse and the highest note of the chorus, enter them with the singer’s range in what key should I sing in, then move the sheet:

1. Count the semitones between the old and the new key: G to A is two up (G, G#, A); G to F is two down.
2. Move every chord by that amount, bass notes included: D/F# becomes E/G#.
3. Keep each chord’s quality: Em becomes F#m, Dsus4 becomes Esus4, Am7 becomes Bm7.
4. Spell with sharps in sharp keys and flats in flat keys: in F, write Bb, not A#.
5. Update the header with the new key and the capo.

Original in G	Up 2: A	Down 2: F	F with capo 3, play
G	A	F	D
D/F#	E/G#	C/E	A/C#
Em	F#m	Dm	Bm
C	D	Bb	G
Dsus4, D	Esus4, E	Csus4, C	Asus4, A
G/B	A/C#	F/A	D/F#
Am7	Bm7	Gm7	Em7

A capo raises every string by one semitone per fret, so you keep easy shapes in a new key. Up to A: put the capo on the 2nd fret and play the original G sheet; only the header changes. Down to F: a capo can only raise the pitch, so you pick a lower family of shapes and capo up to F. D shapes with the capo on the 3rd fret sound in F, and only Bm needs a barre. Without a capo, F means barre chords for F and Bb.

Use a capo when the new key forces barre chords, when you want open strings ringing, or when two guitars should sound different. Transpose without one when the new key is already easy (E, A, D, G, C), when the capo would sit so high that the guitar sounds thin, and whenever the sheet is for piano or bass.

Write the header so everyone reads the same thing: “Key: A · Capo 2 (G shapes)”. The ChordPro specification makes the same distinction: with a capo set, the key on the sheet is the key of the shapes, and the sounding key is higher. The guitarist reads G shapes; the keyboard player plays in A.

The chord sheet maker does the arithmetic. Paste the Night Bus sections without the header lines (the maker writes its own key and capo line) and press + twice: it shows “Key: A” and suggests capo 2, with all six chord shapes open. Press “Use it” and the sheet shows G shapes with “Capo 2” in the header. Press − twice from the original instead and it suggests capo 3; use it and you get D shapes. Its suggestions go up to the 7th fret. Before you settle, play the verse loop in G and then in A and sing the chorus over each.

Printing and sharing the sheet for rehearsals and sessions

• One song per page where possible, in a monospace font at 14–16 pt so it reads from a music stand. Bold the chord lines if your editor allows it. For a long song, use two columns rather than a page turn in the middle of a section.
• The header answers the first questions: sounding key and capo, BPM, time signature and the form on one line.
• Date and version on every copy. A band rehearsing from last month’s sheet plays last month’s bridge. Recycle old printouts.
• Two sheets for a session: the chord sheet, in the key you will play, for the players, and the lyric sheet, larger and without chords, for the singer. For players who read music, add a lead sheet; the melody guide helps you pin the tune down first.
• Send it the day before, with the demo and the tempo, as a PDF. Use the maker’s “Print or save as PDF”, or “Download .txt” for a plain copy. The maker saves nothing, so keep the file.
• Name the file so it sorts, for example night-bus_chords_A-capo2_v3_2026-09-26.pdf. The song file name generator builds names in that style.
• Share unreleased songs privately: the guide to sharing unreleased music compares private links and what to send with them.

Where Zoundroom fits: the chord sheet and its takes in one note

In Zoundroom each song is a project that holds its recordings, lyrics, notes and files. Paste the chord sheet from the maker into a note of the song’s project, then record inside that note on your phone: each take is inserted where your cursor is, so the chorus take can sit right under the chorus chords. When the singer moves the song to A, do not overwrite the old sheet. Paste the new one into a new note titled “Night Bus, chords v3, A, capo 2”, and record the new takes under it; the G version and its takes stay in the project, so you can compare both keys next month. Keep the clean lyric sheet in a note of its own for submissions. Invite the band to the project and everyone opens the same current sheet on iOS, Android or the web. Zoundroom is not a DAW: it keeps the sheet and the takes together; the mixing happens elsewhere. See how notes and lyrics work with audio.

Frequently asked questions

How do you format a lyric sheet?

Put the title, the writers’ full names, the date and a version number at the top. Label each section on its own line, give each sung phrase its own line, write repeated choruses in full, put backing vocals in parentheses and leave the chords out. Keep it to one page at 12 pt or larger if you can.

How do I write chords above lyrics in Word or Google Docs?

Use a monospace font, where every character has the same width, so each chord stays over its syllable. In Word, Courier New is monospaced and comes with Windows and Office. In Google Docs, open the Font menu, choose More fonts and search for “mono”. Type the chord line directly above the lyric and space with the space bar, never tabs. Quicker: write the chords inline, paste the song into the chord sheet maker and copy the aligned result back in the same monospace font.

What is ChordPro?

A plain-text format for songs with lyrics and chords. Chords go in square brackets before the syllable, like [G]Rain on the window, [D/F#]ticket in my hand, and directives in curly braces add the title, key, capo, tempo and sections, such as {title: Night Bus} or {start_of_chorus}. Software that supports the format turns these files, usually saved as .cho, into formatted sheets and PDFs.

What is a lead sheet?

A one-page score with the melody in standard notation, chord symbols above the staff and the lyrics under the notes. Jazz musicians, session players and arrangers use it because it fixes the melody, which a chord sheet does not show. If nobody in your band reads music, a chord sheet plus a demo recording does the same job.

Sources

All pages checked on September 27, 2026.

• ChordPro: introduction to the format, directives, key, capo, tempo and chorus.
• Spotify for Artists: Lyrics, with the Musixmatch transcription guidelines.
• Microsoft Learn: Courier New font family.
• Google Docs Editors Help: Change how paragraphs and fonts look.