I've been playing guitar and singing at weddings, festivals, and small venues for over 15 years. I've also been a developer for most of that time. You'd think I would've solved my chord sheet problem earlier.
But no — for years I kept my songs in Google Docs. Some in Apple Notes, some in iA Writer. Even Evernote for a while. A few printed and stuffed in a binder. Every gig meant 30 minutes of chaos: finding the right files, checking capo positions, rebuilding setlists.
This year I finally decided to build something.
What I built
Fretlist is a web app for musicians to:
- Store songs with lyrics and chords
- See chords displayed above the lyrics (like a proper chord sheet)
- Transpose on the fly
- Build setlists for gigs
- Access everything on stage from phone/tablet
It's intentionally simple. Apps like BandHelper and OnSong exist, but they're packed with features I don't need (MIDI, backing tracks, expense tracking). I just wanted my chord sheets organized.
Tech stack
- Next.js 16 (App Router)
- Supabase (Postgres + Auth)
- Tailwind + shadcn/ui
- Vercel for hosting
Everything is encrypted client-side (AES-256) so I can't read your songs even if I wanted to. And you can export all your data anytime — no lock-in.
Looking for early users
I'm opening up Fretlist to 20 musicians who want to try it for free. If you use it and give me feedback, you keep Pro access forever.
If you're a developer who also plays music (or vice versa), I'd love to hear from you: https://fretlist.com
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