Docs

The song editor

Sections and song structure

How to name a verse, chorus or bridge in Lyric Genie, and what the app does once it knows.

A section header is a line that names the part of the song underneath it. Lyric Genie picks them out, sets them in purple, and then uses them everywhere else.

Naming your sections is optional, and it is the cheapest thing you can do to make the rest of the app work properly.

Making one#

Type the name of a section on its own line. That is the whole technique.

The Chorus section header in purple, with a button at the right of the line 12
  1. 1A header, set in purple automatically
  2. 2Appears when your cursor is on a header line
Headers are recognised as you type, not marked up by hand.

Brackets are optional. The app strips them, so [Chorus], (Chorus), **Chorus** and plain Chorus all end up the same. Paste in lyrics from somewhere else and the headers usually survive the trip.

Shorthand#

You do not have to type the whole word.

What you type What you get
V1, V2 Verse 1, Verse 2
PC, pre, prechorus, pre chorus Pre-Chorus
HK Hook
post, postchorus Post-Chorus

Repeated sections are numbered for you as the song grows, so a second verse becomes Verse 2 without you counting.

Changing a section's type#

Put your cursor anywhere on a header and a button appears at the right of that line. Tap it to swap the section for another type.

The Change Section Type sheet listing Intro, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Hook, Post-Chorus, Bridge and Outro
The current type carries a tick.

The eight types, in the order the app lists them:

Type What it usually is
Intro The way in.
Verse The story, with the details that change each time.
Pre-Chorus The lift that sets up the chorus.
Chorus The hook and the main idea.
Hook The chorus's counterpart in hip-hop.
Post-Chorus The tag that lands after the chorus.
Bridge The contrast, usually once, late.
Outro The way out.

Why bother#

Sections are not decoration. Four parts of the app read them.

  • Arrange mode lets you select a header and take every line under it, which is how you move a whole chorus in one go.
  • Perform greys the headers and leaves your lyrics white, so you can see the shape of the song while you sing it.
  • Lyric sheets keep the structure when you share the song.
  • The Master tab on a shared song files incoming lines by section, and orders them properly rather than in the order they arrived.