Fiddle User Guide

User Guide

Fiddle is a chord songbook for musicians and bands: a song library, transposition, capo, chord diagrams, a metronome, a tuner, setlists, and a live session for keeping a band in sync on stage. Everything runs on your phone — there is no account, no internet feature, and nothing you do here is ever sent anywhere except to your own band members' phones on the same Wi-Fi network, and only while a live session is open.

Getting started

The first time you open Fiddle, a short tutorial walks you through the basics: your songs, chords at a touch, playlists and Perform mode, and Band live. Use Next and Back to move between steps, or tap Skip at any time.

The welcome step of Fiddle's first-run tutorial
The tutorial opens automatically the first time you start Fiddle.

You can watch it again later from Settings → Show the tutorial again.

Fiddle has five tabs along the bottom: Songs, Playlists, Import & export, Metronome and Tuner.

Your song library

The Songs tab is your library: every song you have added, sorted and searchable.

The song library, showing a search field, sort chips and a list of songs
The library tab: search, sort and filter your songs.

Tap the trash-bin icon at the top to see songs you have deleted, or the gear icon to open settings. Tap the + button to add a new song.

Adding songs

There are two ways to get a song into Fiddle: type or paste it in yourself, or import it from files you already have.

Typing a song

Tap + on the library tab to open the New song screen. Fill in the title and artist, then write the song body with the chords on the line directly above the lyrics they belong to, lined up with spaces:

       G                D
Morning light, a gentle sound
       G                     Em
That leads a wanderer back home

Fiddle reads a line as chords when it is made up mostly of chord names and spacing; everything else is read as lyrics. You can paste in a whole song at once, or type it line by line.

The new-song screen with title, artist and a chords-above-lyrics text editor
Writing a song by hand: chords go on their own line, above the words.

If you already have the song as a plain text or ChordPro file, tap From file to load its contents straight into the editor instead of typing it out — this only works up to about 200 KB of text; for a bigger file, use Import & export instead.

Importing from files

On the Import & export tab, tap Choose files to choose one or more files from your phone. You can pick several at once — a whole songbook in a single Word file works too, and Fiddle splits it into separate songs automatically where it can tell where one song ends and the next begins.

Fiddle reads:

What Fiddle cannot read, and why:

After picking files, a list on the same screen shows each file's progress and how many songs it produced. Tap the × next to a file to drop it from the import before continuing.

Reviewing before you save

Once your files are processed, tap the button at the bottom to continue to Review before saving. Here you see every song Fiddle found, ready to check over:

The review screen listing several imported songs with checkboxes and warnings
Review each imported song before it is saved to your library.

When you are happy with the selection, continue to the destination screen.

Choosing a destination

The destination screen with band and playlist choices
Choose which band and playlist the imported songs belong to, if any.

Here you decide, once, for the whole batch: which Band the songs belong to (or none), and which Playlist to add them to (or none) — an existing, unlocked one, or a brand new one, optionally with a performance date. A playlist locked for a show is not offered here. Tap Save to finish.

Viewing a song

Tap any song in the library to open it. This is where you play from.

A song open with chords above the lyrics and header controls
The song screen: chords above the lyrics, with key, capo and text-size controls.

Transposing and the capo

At the top of the song, the Key stepper changes the song's key one semitone at a time, and the Capo stepper sets which fret your capo is on. Long-press either one to reset it. The Text stepper changes the text size.

Close-up of the key and capo steppers at the top of a song
Key, capo and text size, each with a −/+ stepper.

When you change the key, Fiddle can suggest a capo fret that lets you play the same shapes you already know — look for the tip line under the header. Tapping it applies the suggested capo automatically.

The chord card

Tap any chord in the text to see how to play it: a small card pops up right where you tapped, with a diagram, a play icon so you can hear it, and More. Tap More to expand it into a full sheet, where a labelled Play button plays it, the chord's notes are listed under Notes:, and, if more than one way to play it is known, Previous voicing / Next voicing arrows with a counter let you flip through them. If the capo is on, the full sheet also shows what the chord actually sounds like once the capo is accounted for.

The chord card showing a diagram, notes and a play button
Tap a chord for its diagram, alternate voicings, and a Play button.

Fixing a line

Fiddle guesses whether each line is lyrics, chords, tablature or a section heading. If it guesses wrong — for example on an unusual layout — long-press that line and choose This line is…: Lyrics, Chords, Tablature or Section heading. The correction is saved with the song — but editing the song's text later resets these corrections, since they are tied to specific lines.

The long-press menu for correcting whether a line is lyrics, chords, tab or a heading
Long-press a line to correct how it is read.

If a song contains a B chord, a chip lets you switch how it is read: B = B♭ (German) or B = B (English).

Tempo, tap tempo and the inline metronome

Tap the tempo chip — it shows Tap tempo if the song has no saved tempo yet, or the current beats-per-minute if it does — to open a compact metronome bar right on the song screen. Tap along with the music (Tap) to set the tempo by tapping; Fiddle remembers it with the song. Tap the round play/stop button to hear the click without leaving the song; −1/+1 nudge the tempo by one beat per minute, Full metronome opens the full metronome tab, and once a tempo is set, Clear tempo removes it again.

Auto-scroll

The Scroll chip cycles through a few scroll speeds so the text moves on its own while you play, hands free.

A song with auto-scroll running, shown mid-scroll
Auto-scroll moves the text for you at a chosen speed.

Favorites and sharing

Tap the star icon in the header to favorite or unfavorite a song. Tap the share icon to send it out as Lyrics with chords, a ChordPro file, or a PDF — in the key and capo you currently see on screen. (Exporting the same song from the Import & export tab instead uses its saved key and capo, not whatever you last had it transposed to.) The same menu has a Report content button, for reporting copyrighted content or a problem with the app.

Landscape and the playlist panel

Turn your phone sideways, or use a tablet, and — as long as you have at least one playlist — a side panel appears next to the text showing a setlist (the one you opened the song from, or the last one you used), so you can jump to the next song without leaving the chord sheet. The list icon in the header hides or shows it; Song display → Playlist panel on wide screens turns it off for good.

A song open in landscape orientation with the playlist panel open beside it
In landscape, wide screens show the setlist alongside the song.

Editing and deleting songs

Tap the pencil icon on a song to open Edit song, the same screen used for typing a new song. Change the title, artist, tempo, time signature or the body text, then save.

To delete a song, open it for editing and tap Delete song. Deleted songs are not gone right away — they move to the Trash, reachable from the trash-bin icon on the library tab.

The trash screen listing deleted songs with a restore button on each
Deleted songs wait in the trash until you restore or permanently lose them.

From the trash you can tap Restore to bring a song back. A song stays in the trash — and in any library backup you save while it's there — until you uninstall Fiddle or clear its storage in your phone's settings, either of which erases everything permanently.

Playlists and Perform mode

A playlist is a setlist: an ordered list of songs for a rehearsal, a gig or an event. Open the Playlists tab to see all of yours.

The playlists tab listing several setlists
The playlists tab: every setlist you've made.

Tap the + button, give the setlist a name in the New playlist dialog and tap Create, then + Add songs to add songs from your library.

An open playlist with songs listed in order and reorder arrows
Inside a playlist: reorder songs, or tap one to open it.

Inside a playlist you can:

Tap ▶ Perform to start Perform mode: a full-screen view built for the stage, with large text, its own auto-scroll and text-size controls, and previous/next arrow buttons to move through the setlist. A song opened from a locked playlist keeps that playlist's frozen key, capo and tempo while you perform.

Perform mode showing a song full-screen with previous and next controls
Perform mode: one song after another, built for the stage.

Bands

A band groups a set of members and a shared repertoire of songs and playlists. Open the Playlists tab and look under Bands, or tap the + button, name it in the New band dialog and tap Create to create one.

A band screen with members, instruments and a list of band songs
A band: members, instruments, and a shared song repertoire.

On a band's page you can:

Live session

Band live keeps everyone's phone on the same song, in time, during a rehearsal or a show — over your own Wi-Fi network, with no account and no internet. Start it from the Playlists tab.

The live session screen showing a leader and connected band members
Band live: one phone leads, the rest follow along in real time.

What it needs: Every phone must be on the same Wi‑Fi network. A hotspot from one phone works too.

Keep Fiddle open on every phone for as long as the session runs — it only works while the app is open, on the same Wi-Fi network, on all phones involved.

Leading a session

Enter your name, then under Lead the session give the session a name and tap Start the session. Whichever song you open is sent to everyone who has joined — including its key, capo and tempo, and, if you opened it from a setlist, the setlist's name and order.

Joining a session

Enter your name, then under Join tap Look for sessions and tap the session that appears in the list. If nothing shows up, tap Enter the address by hand, type the leader's Address — shown on the leader's own screen — and tap Connect. Download the whole setlist in advance is on by default and fetches the leader's setlist in the background so each song opens at once; switch it off if you only want the current song.

Songs you receive from the leader are saved to your library and stay there after the session ends, exactly like any song you imported yourself — a copy of a song you already had stays a separate copy. Received songs are not automatically added to any playlist or band of your own. Turn Open the song the leader picks automatically on (it is on by default) to have each song the leader opens jump onto your screen automatically; with it off, tap Open the song yourself when you're ready.

Keeping the click in sync

Because every phone's own speaker has a slightly different delay, Fiddle can measure and correct for it so the whole band's metronome clicks land together. From the sync card, the leader taps Sync up the band’s sound (greyed out until someone has joined) — each follower's phone then listens through its own microphone for a burst of clicks, roughly 5 to 10 seconds depending on how many phones are in the session, so keep phones close together in a quiet room and use the speaker or a cable rather than Bluetooth. Followers are asked for the microphone permission in advance, on the same card. Click follows the leader, on by default, makes each follower's phone click in time with the leader's metronome whenever it is running; you can also nudge the timing by hand with the ±1 / ±5 ms steppers next to it.

Metronome

The Metronome tab is a full metronome: tap the tempo in, or set it with the steppers, choose a Time signature and Subdivision, pick a click Sound, and shape the Accents pattern by tapping each beat to cycle it between accented, semi-accented, unaccented or silent.

The full metronome screen with tempo, signature, subdivision and accent controls
The full metronome: tempo, meter, subdivision, sound and accents.

The metronome keeps playing even if the screen turns off or you switch to another app — Android shows a "Metronome is playing" notification with a stop button for as long as it runs.

Tuner

Open the Tuner tab and switch between Strings and Drums at the top. The microphone starts listening as soon as the tab opens — there is no separate start button — and if the metronome happened to be running, Fiddle stops it first, since its clicks would spoil the reading. Fiddle asks for the microphone permission only once you open the tuner, and the sound is never recorded or stored.

Tuning strings

Pick an instrument preset — Guitar, Drop D, Bass 4, Ukulele, Violin, a fully Chromatic mode, and more — then play a string. The gauge shows whether it's flat or sharp and by how many cents. Adjust Sensitivity and Reference pitch below the gauge if needed (beside it on a wide screen).

The string tuner showing a note name and a tuning gauge
String tuning: play a note and read the gauge.

Tuning drums

Switch to Drums and choose what to measure — Lugs, Centre or Free — then set the drum kind, size, number of lugs and which Head you're tuning: Batter head or Resonant head.

Hit about 2.5 cm from the rim, next to the lug, with the other head muffled, and hold the phone close to that same spot (about 5 cm away) rather than the middle of the drum; wait for the sound to die away between hits. Tap Use this lug as the target to make your last hit the target for the rest of the lugs, instead of the built-in one.

The drum tuner showing lugs arranged in a circle with their tuning status
Drum tuning: each lug shown around the head, tighten or loosen to match.

Import & export

The Import & export tab is also where you back up or move your whole library, and where you export a single song, playlist or band.

The Import & export tab with library backup and export options
Import & export: back up your library, or export one item.

Under Library:

Under Export, tap Song, Playlist or Band, search for and pick one item, and a panel at the bottom of the same screen offers the formats for it.

The export screen with a searchable list and format choices
Pick an item to export; the format choices appear in a panel below it.

A song can be exported as Lyrics with chords, a ChordPro file, or a PDF; a playlist or band as JSON (a playlist can also be a PDF). Every export goes through your phone's own share sheet, so you choose exactly where it goes — Fiddle never sends anything on its own.

Settings

Open Settings from the gear icon on the library tab.

The settings screen with language, display, metronome and library sections
Settings: language, display, metronome defaults, library tools and more.

Frequently asked questions

What permissions does Fiddle ask for?

Only the microphone — for the tuner, and for click-sync calibration on a follower's phone during a live session — and each time only right before it's needed, with an explanation on screen first; you can decline and still use the rest of the app. Everything else Fiddle needs (the metronome's background notification, access to the local network for a live session) is granted automatically when you install the app and never prompts you.

My phones can't find each other in a live session

No session found. Check that everyone is on the same network, or enter the address by hand. If searching doesn't find the leader's session, make sure every phone is really on the same Wi-Fi network (some routers isolate devices from each other, which blocks this — a phone hotspot avoids that) and that Fiddle is open on all of them, or ask the leader for their address on the Live screen and enter it by hand under Enter the address by hand. All phones also need to be running the same version of Fiddle; joining fails with a message telling you to update if they don't.

Does Fiddle need the internet?

No, on purpose: Fiddle works entirely offline. It never connects to the internet on its own, has no analytics and collects no data about you — the only network feature it has at all is the local Wi-Fi live session described above, which never leaves your own network. To add a song, type it in or import it from a file you already have.

How do I move my library to a new phone?

On the old phone, go to Import & export and tap Save library backup (JSON) to save a JSON backup, then send that file to the new phone however you like (email, cloud storage, a cable). On the new phone, install Fiddle and use Merge library from a file (JSON) to bring it in.

Where is my data stored?

Only on your phone, in Fiddle's own private storage. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. Uninstalling the app deletes everything, which is exactly why Save library backup (JSON) is there.

Contact and privacy

For questions about the app, open Settings → Legal and contact → Contact, or write to support@nemgic.com directly. Use Report content from the same section, or from a song's share menu, to report copyrighted content or a problem with a specific song.

Fiddle's full privacy policy — what data the app does and doesn't collect, and why each permission is needed — is available from Privacy policy in settings, and linked at the bottom of this page.