Chord Based Lead Sheets For The Notationally
Challenged
If you don't write
music per se, actual notation, but you know chords and how to line them
up over your lyric lines then you got sufficient skills to create the
standard songwriter's lead sheet.
Historically the lead sheet has been been a fake book version of a
song with the chords above a stave written in shorthand such a Cm or
Bb7, the melody written in notation on the treble stave and the lyrics
below the stave corresponding syllable by syllable to the melody notes
above.
In typical pop writing song circles though the chords written above
the lyrics where they'd be played is the standard. This is quite likely
due to the fact that songs are often presented by a songwriter singing
and possibly playing along too so the melody and even the rhythm are
expressed by the performance and don't necessarily need to be written
out.
There are 3 types of programs that can help you accomplish the creation
of a chord based lead sheet; your word processor will suffice, like
Word, or a software program made especially for creating chord based
lead sheets or a hybridized version can be created with notation programs.
A Word About Word
Word, the ubiquitous word processor of modern life, or
anything like it can do just fine to create your chord based lead sheets.
In your word processor as is probably pretty obvious you
simply type in your lyrics, double spaced, and type in the chords above
the word or syllable where it's to be played - or just ahead of the
word if the chord comes first before the sung word.
In other words if you strike a chord first and then sing
your lyric word you can place the chord symbol a space or two ahead
of where the lyric line or word starts below it.
To optimize your chances for getting your entire song
lead sheet on one page simply double space just the first verse, chorus
and bridge, leaving your second verse and other choruses alone as the
chord progression for those recurring sections are going to repeat.
And when your chorus comes around again you can simply type in the word
Chorus.
Chord Based Lead Sheets With A Lyricist
Bumping up quite a few notches from the day to day word
processor are specialized programs for creating lead sheets, like Lyricist
- an actual software program, not a person in this instance :-)
Lyricist is a well rounded program for all aspects of
songwriting with a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus among other features
but at its core it's set up to create your song in a chord based lead
sheet format.
Lyricist even can set up your chord progression using
the Nashville Number system that many Nashville musicians are well versed
in. It's a system that makes musicians more mathematicians but it allows
playing in a different key a simple switch without having to rewrite
any of your chords.
But if you prefer, even with Nashville players, if your
chords are written out, like Abmaj or C#, they or any musician will
readily be able to play them just as well, especially if you and your
singer are comfortable with the key your song is in.
Strike A Chord And More With A Notation Program
Notation programs that allow you to print out every note
and nuance of a song or symphony are not really designed nor very accommodative
to the needs of creating chord based lead sheets only 
-
but if you can play your melody, even slowly, into a notation program
it will essentially make a slot or space per word or syllable for you
to enter your lyrics.
You and everyone else can then ignore the melody line
and just focus on the chords and where the lyrics fall in relation to
them - but having your melody written out has its advantages as well
such as if a vocalist will be learning and demoing your song.
An affordable and fully capable program is Play
Music with its pocket friendly cost of around $40.
MasterWriter
