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=item I<file>

Input file(s).

=back

=head1 INPUT SYNTAX

The input for playtab is plain ASCII. It contains the chords, the
division in bars, with optional annotations.

An example:

    !t Blue Bossa

    Bossanova
    =
    | c-9 ... | f-9 ... | d% . g7 . | c-9 ... |
    | es-9 . as6 . | desmaj7 ... | d% . g7 . | c-9 . d% g7 |

The first line, '!t' denotes the title of the song. Each song must
start with a title line.

The title line may be followed by one or more '!s', subtitles, for
example to indicate the composer.

The text "Bossanova" is printed below the title and subtitle.

The "=" indicates some vertical space. Likewise, you can use '-' and
'+' as '=', but with a different vertical spacing.

The next lines show the bars of the song. In the first bar is the c-9
chord (Cminor9), followed by three dots. The dots indicate that this
chord is repeated for all 4 beats of this bar. In the 3rd bar each
chord take two beats: d5% (d half dim), a dot, g7 and another dot.

Run playtab with B<-h> or B<--help> for the syntax of chords.

If you use "=" followed by some text, the printout is indented and the
text sticks out to the left. With this you can tag groups of bars, for
example the parts of a song that must be played in a certain order.
For example:

    !t Donna Lee
    !s Charlie Parker

    Order: A B A B

    = A
    | as . | f7 . | bes7 . | bes7 . |
    | bes-7 . | es7 . | as . | es-7 D7 |
    | des . | des-7 . | as . | f7 . |
    | bes7 . | bes7 . | bes-7 . | es7 . |

    = B
    | as . | f7 . | bes7 . | bes7 . |
    | c7 . | c7 . | f- . | c7#9 . |
    | f- . | c7 . | f- . | aso . |
    | as f7 | bes-7 es7 | as - | bes-7 es7 |

To see how this looks, see http://johan.vromans.org/software/sw_playtab.html .

You can modify the width of the bars with a '!w' control. Standard
width of a beat is 30. '!w +5' increases the width to 35. '!w 25' sets
it to 25. You get the idea. You can also change the height with '!h'
(default is 15) and margin with '!m' (default width is 40). You can
restore the margin to its default value with '<'. This will save the
current settings, and '!m' without argument will restore the saved
settings.

You can transpose an individual song with '!x I<amount>', where
I<amount> can range from -11 to +11, inclusive. A positive transpose
value will make sharps, a negative value will make flats.

'!n' enables bar numbering. '!n 0' disables numbering, '!n I<n>'
starts numbering at I<n>. I<n> may be negative, e.g., to skip
numbering an intro.

'!ly' or '!lilypond' enables LilyPond chord name recognition. If
followed by a '0', switches to classical chord name syntax.

Look at the examples, that is (currently) the best way to get grip on
what the program does.

Oh, I almost forgot: it can print guitar chord diagrams as well.
See "bluebossa", "sophisticatedlady" and some others.

Have fun, and let me know your ideas!

=head1 INPUT SYNTAX

  Notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B.
  Raised with '#' or suffix 'is', e.g. A#, Ais.
  Lowered with 'b' or suffix 's' or 'es', e.g. Bes, As, Eb.

  Chords: note + optional modifiers.
  Chord modifiers Meaning                 [examples]
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  nothing         major triad             [C]
  - or min or m   minor triad             [Cm Fmin Gb-]
  + or aug        augmented triad         [Caug B+]
  o or 0 or dim   diminished triad        [Co D0 Fdim]
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  maj7            major 7th chord         [Cmaj7]
  %               half-diminished 7 chord [C%]
  6,7,9,11,13     chord additions         [C69]
  sus sus4, sus2  suspended 4th, 2nd      [Csus]
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  #               raise the pitch of the note to a sharp [C11#9]
  b               lower the pitch of the note to a flat [C11b9]
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  no              subtract a note from a chord [C9no11]
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  _ may be used to avoid ambiguity, e.g. C_#9 <-> C#9 <-> C#_9

  Other:          Meaning
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  .               Chord space
  -               Rest
  :               Repeats previous chord
  %               Repeat