Creating Ukulele Chord Diagrams in SVG with Python

With the Python modul uchord you can create ukulele chord diagrams in SVG format.

import uchord

uchord.write_chord('c.svg','C','0003')

If you like it, use it. If you have some suggestions, tell me (gkvoelkl@nelson-games.de).

Thanks

Special thanks to the project https://github.com/pianosnake/uke-chord where I learned much about SVG and chord diagrams. I recycled some of the svg commands.

Installation

• First you need Python 3 (https://www.python.org, ) - Python 3.6 should work, because it's the development environment
• And this modul uchord - simply copy the source

Or try

pip install uchord

That should work.

Changelog

Version
0.1.0	To start with

Example

The ukulele chord diagrams are a picture of the fretboard. The four strings are the vertical lines. The dots are the places where your fingers should be.

For example the F major chord. You have to put one finger at the second fret of the first string and one at the first fret of the third string. String two and four are empty.

The number 2010 represents the F chord. Every digit stands for a string. This representation is used in uchord, too.

import uchord

uchord.write_chord('f.svg','F','2010')

If you want to specify which finger should be used for which fret, use the paremeter fingers. For an empty string stands the underline.

uchord.write_chord('f.svg','F','2010',fingers='2_1_')

For marking the root note or other texts under the chord you can use the parmeter subtexts

uchord.write_chord('f.svg','F','2010',fingers='2_1_',subtexts='__R_')

If a chord is played higher up the fret, you can specify the fret to start with. Parameter starting_fret

uchord.write_chord('dm7.svg','Dm7','7988',fingers='1423',starting_fret=6)

Using Class Chord and Chords

The modul uchord has the class Chord which reprents a specific chord.

from uchord import Chord

c = Chord('F','2010',fingers='2_1_',subtexts='__R_')

With the method to_svg you get the svg string

svg = c.to_svg()

The class Chords stands for a list of chords.

from uchord import Chords

c = Chords([Chord("F7","2313",fingers="2314",subtexts="__R_"),
            Chord("C7","0001",fingers="___1",subtexts="_R__"),
            Chord("G7","0212",fingers="_213",subtexts="R___"),
            Chord("A7","0100",fingers="_1__",subtexts="___R")])
svg = c.to_svg()

With IPython and Jupyter

With IPython.display you can use the chords in a notebook.

from IPython.display import SVG, display
from uchord import Chords

c = Chords([Chord("F7","2313",fingers="2314",subtexts="__R_"),
            Chord("C7","0001",fingers="___1",subtexts="_R__"),
            Chord("G7","0212",fingers="_213",subtexts="R___"),
            Chord("A7","0100",fingers="_1__",subtexts="___R")])

display(SVG(c.to_svg()))

You can define your magic command for chords

from IPython.core.magic import register_cell_magic
from IPython.display import SVG, display

from uchord import Chord, Chords

@register_cell_magic
def uchord(line, cell):
    
    lines = cell.splitlines()
    chordlist = []
    name = "" 
    frets = ""
    starting_fret=1
    fingers=""
    subtexts=""
    
    for l in lines:
        tokens = l.split(',')

        name = tokens[0].strip()
        frets = tokens[1].strip()
        
        for t in tokens[2:]:
            arg = t.split('=')
            argname = arg[0].strip()
            if argname.upper() == "FINGERS":
                fingers = arg[1].strip()
            elif argname.upper() == "SUBTEXTS":
                subtexts = arg[1].strip()
            elif argname.upper() == "STARTING_FRET":
                starting_fret = int(arg[1])
                
        chordlist.append(Chord(name, frets, fingers=fingers, subtexts=subtexts, starting_fret=starting_fret))
    
    return display(SVG(Chords(chordlist).to_svg()))

to use

%%uchord
A7, 0100, fingers=_1__, subtexts=___R
G7, 0212, fingers=_213, subtexts=R__3
F7, 2313, fingers=2314, subtexts=__R5
C7, 0001, fingers=___1, subtexts=_R_7

Source

uke-chord https://github.com/pianosnake/uke-chord

How to read chord https://ukulele-chords.com/faq/how-to-read-chord