Every shortcut, every setting, and the workflow patterns that make sessions faster. This chapter is a reference you can come back to whenever you forget a key binding or want to explore a feature you haven't tried.
What you'll learn
- Every keyboard shortcut in Song Cage, grouped by what they do
- How Musical Typing turns your QWERTY keyboard into a piano
- The settings popover: melody voice, rhythm patterns, input devices, and display options
- How chord audition and melody editing work from the keyboard
- Tips for faster songwriting workflows
The previous chapters walked through every feature in Song Cage, from chords and lyrics to export and collaboration. This chapter collects the keyboard shortcuts and settings into one place, along with patterns that help you work faster once you know the basics.
18.1 Playback
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Play / Pause |
| R | Record. When stopped: arms recording and starts playback. When playing: toggles record arm. When recording: stops. |
| Shift+R | Arm microphone recording and start playback |
| L | Toggle loop on the current section (only while playing) |
Space clears any block selection before toggling playback, so the pitch selector closes cleanly.
L loops whichever section the playhead is currently in. Press L again to clear the loop. Looping only activates during playback. If playback is stopped, pressing L does nothing.
18.2 Editing
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd/Ctrl+Z | Undo |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Z or Cmd/Ctrl+Y | Redo |
| Cmd/Ctrl+A | Select all chord and lyric blocks in the active section |
| Cmd/Ctrl+C | Copy selected blocks |
| Cmd/Ctrl+X | Cut selected blocks (copy, then delete) |
| Cmd/Ctrl+V | Paste at the cursor position |
| Delete or Backspace | Delete selected blocks or selected lines |
| Escape | Deselect all, close pitch selector, cancel audition |
Copy and paste use an internal clipboard (not the system clipboard). When you copy blocks, their beat positions are normalized so the earliest block starts at beat 0. When you paste, the blocks land at the transport cursor position in whichever section the cursor is in. If no cursor is set, blocks paste at the start of the active section.
Undo and redo apply to song data (chord placements, lyric edits, section changes). UI state like selection and sidebar position is not part of the undo stack.
18.3 Lyrics and lines
| Shortcut | Action | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Shift+Enter | Add a line to the section and open it for editing | Works inside a lyric input or with a block selected |
| Shift+Backspace | Remove the last line and edit the previous one | Works inside a lyric input or with a block selected |
| Tab | Move to the next lyric block in the section | Timeline view only, while editing a lyric |
| Shift+Tab | Move to the previous lyric block | Timeline view only, while editing a lyric |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Enter | Add a new section after the active one | Works anywhere, including inside a lyric input |
Shift+Enter is especially useful for building up a section line by line. Write a lyric, press Shift+Enter, and the cursor moves to a new line ready for the next phrase. In Sheet view, the new line is positioned based on where your text cursor sits. In Timeline view, it's placed after the line containing the current block.
Tab and Shift+Tab only navigate between blocks in Timeline view. In Sheet view, Tab has its default browser behavior within the text area.
18.4 Melody editing
When a single lyric block is selected, the pitch selector opens and arrow keys control melody notes:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Arrow Up | Raise the current syllable's pitch by one scale tone |
| Arrow Down | Lower the current syllable's pitch by one scale tone |
| Arrow Right | Move to the next syllable, or the next block if at the end |
| Arrow Left | Move to the previous syllable, or the previous block if at the start |
| Enter | Confirm and close the pitch selector |
Pitch nudging respects the song's key and mode. If a chord is present at the syllable's beat position, the nudge favors chord tones within reach. Each note plays back as you move, so you hear the melody taking shape in real time.
When the pitch selector is open, most other keyboard input is blocked to prevent conflicts with Musical Typing. Only Escape, arrow keys, modifier combos (Cmd/Ctrl+Z, etc.), Space for playback, and Delete still work.
18.5 Chord audition
You can audition chords two ways: on an existing timeline chord (click to select it, then press an arrow) or from the palette (click a chord chip to arm it, then press an arrow). Either way, the chord previews without committing, and you explore alternatives with the keyboard.
When you audition a timeline chord, audition opens at the first chip in the palette panel — the first Fits Melody or Replace suggestion if a strip is showing, otherwise the first In Key chord. Press Escape to revert to the block's original chord; arrow keys move the cursor from there.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Arrow Left / Right | Step ±1 through the palette in render order (Fits Melody / Replace, then In Key, Borrowed, Secondary Dominants). Clamps at the first and last chip. |
| Arrow Up / Down | Move to the chord directly above or below in the palette grid. Same column, next or previous row in the current section, flowing into the next non-empty section at the same column when you hit a section's edge. Clamps at the top and bottom of the panel. |
| Shift+Left / Shift+Right | Cycle extensions on the current chord (triad → 7 → maj7 → 9 → sus4 → sus2 → add9 → 6, filtered to what fits the chord's quality). |
| Shift+Up / Shift+Down | Cycle voicings of the current chord (Up = next, matching the pitch-direction metaphor). |
| Enter | Commit the chord. From the palette, inserts at the playhead (if playing) or the end of the last section. |
| Escape | Cancel. If the block was newly placed, it's deleted. If it was an existing chord, it reverts. From the palette, clears the armed chord. |
Every arrow press previews the new chord or voicing, and the timeline chip, the highlighted palette chip, the fretboard, and the keyboard panels all update in lockstep so you can see the cycle across the whole UI. Exactly one chip is highlighted at a time — the cursor — and the panel auto-scrolls so the cursor is always in view. In Guitar mode, voicings respect the capo position: the shapes you hear and see are the ones your fingers would play.
18.6 Tab lanes
Each line on the timeline has a Chord Tab lane and a Melody Tab lane that you can expand from their CHORDS TAB / MELODY TAB chevrons. Both accept fret numbers as a way to place or edit notation directly on a six-string guitar staff. Click a beat × string cell to set the cursor, then type:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| 0–9 | Type a fret number. Two digits work for frets 10–24. |
| X (Chord Tab) | Mute the active string |
| Arrow Up / Down | Move the cursor between strings |
| Arrow Left / Right | Move the cursor between beats at the current snap |
| Tab or Enter | Advance and commit any in-flight digits. On the Chord Tab, Enter also commits a compose buffer as a new chord block. |
| Backspace | Clear the digit buffer; on a second press, clear the note (or mute the string on the Chord Tab) |
| Escape | Dismiss the cursor. On the Chord Tab, also discards any compose buffer. |
Clicking outside the tab lanes clears the cursor. See Chapter 9 for the Chord Tab in depth and Chapter 10 for the Melody Tab.
18.7 Grid snap
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| = or + | Coarser grid (e.g., 1/8 to 1/4) |
| - | Finer grid (e.g., 1/4 to 1/8) |
The available snap divisions depend on the time signature:
- Simple time (4/4, 3/4, 2/4): 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32
- Compound time (6/8, 9/8, 12/8): dotted 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32
- Eighth-denominator (5/8, 7/8): 1/8, 1/16, 1/32
If you change the time signature while on an invalid division, the grid snaps to the nearest valid one.
18.8 Musical Typing
Press K to toggle Musical Typing. When active, your QWERTY keyboard becomes a chromatic piano using a layout compatible with GarageBand:
Bottom row (natural notes): A=C, S=D, D=E, F=F, G=G, H=A, J=B, K=C (next octave), L=D (next octave)
Top row (sharps/flats): W=C#, E=D#, T=F#, Y=G#, U=A#
Octave shift: Z shifts down one octave, X shifts up. The range spans octave 1 through octave 7, starting at octave 4 by default.
Musical Typing works during both recording and free play. While Musical Typing is active, the R key is released from its record shortcut (since R is near the typing keys), and certain single-letter shortcuts are suppressed to avoid conflicts.
Follow Chord mode
Enable Follow Chord in the settings popover (the magnet icon). When both Musical Typing and Follow Chord are active, the A through L keys remap to the chord tones at the current playhead position. As playback moves from an Am chord to a D chord, the keys automatically remap to the new chord's tones. This lets you play melodically without worrying about hitting wrong notes.
18.9 The settings popover
Click the gear icon in the timeline toolbar to open the settings popover. It has four sections:
Mellotron Melody Voice
Controls whether melody notes play back during song playback, and which timbre they use:
- Off: melody notes are silent during playback.
- Female, Male: vocal mellotron timbres.
- Flute, Violins: instrumental timbres.
This setting only affects playback. Melody editing (the pitch selector) always plays notes as you assign them, regardless of this setting.
Rhythm
A dropdown of accompaniment patterns that determine how chords play during playback. Available patterns change based on the instrument and time signature:
Guitar patterns (4/4): Single Strum, Folk Strum, Travis Pick. Piano patterns (4/4): Single Strum, Rhythmic, Coconut. Waltz patterns (3/4): Waltz Strum (guitar), Waltz (piano), Waltz Arpeggio (piano).
Below the dropdown, a Humanize toggle adds subtle timing and velocity variation to the pattern, making playback feel less mechanical.
Input
- Musical Typing (K): toggles the QWERTY piano input described in 18.8.
- Follow Chord: snaps Musical Typing input to chord tones at the playhead.
- Microphone: a device picker for selecting which audio input to use for voice recording. Defaults to the system default; you can choose a specific microphone if you have multiple connected.
Display
- Chord Diagrams: toggles mini fretboard (guitar) or keyboard (piano) diagrams on chord blocks in Timeline view. In Sheet view, diagrams are always shown.
18.10 Other settings in the toolbar
Several song-level settings live directly in the toolbar, not behind the gear icon:
- Song title: click it to rename.
- Key and mode: click the key chip (e.g., "C Major") to open the key/mode picker.
- Time signature: click to open a dropdown with presets (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, and more).
- Tempo: a number input with increment/decrement buttons. Changes take effect in real time during playback.
- Capo (guitar mode only): a dropdown from 0 to 12. Setting a capo transposes chord shapes without changing the sounding pitch.
- Instrument toggle: switches between Guitar and Piano mode, changing voicing displays, diagram types, and the default instrument for MIDI export.
- View toggle: switches between Timeline and Sheet view. Stopping playback is automatic when switching from Timeline to Sheet.
- Theme toggle: a sun/moon icon that switches between light and dark mode. The preference is saved in your browser and persists across sessions.
18.11 Workflow tips
These aren't hidden features. They're patterns that become second nature once you know the shortcuts.
Build a section line by line
Start in Timeline view. Double-click a lyric block to edit it, type your first line, then press Shift+Enter. A new line appears and the cursor jumps to it. Keep going until the section is complete. You never need to leave the keyboard.
Audition before you commit
When exploring chord options, click a chord chip in the palette (or any existing chord on the timeline) and use the arrow keys: Left/Right steps through the palette in order, Up/Down moves to the chord directly above or below in the grid (across section boundaries), Shift+Left/Right cycles extensions like 7ths and sus chords, and Shift+Up/Down tries alternate voicings. Press Escape to back out, Enter to keep the chord. This lets you hear dozens of options in seconds without cluttering the timeline with blocks you'll delete.
Copy a progression to a new section
Select all the chord blocks in a section (Cmd/Ctrl+A), copy them (Cmd/Ctrl+C), click in the target section to set the cursor, and paste (Cmd/Ctrl+V). The chords land at the same relative positions. This is faster than re-entering chords one by one when two sections share a progression.
Use the grid for precision
Tighten the grid (- key) when you need to place a chord or lyric on an off-beat. Loosen it (= key) when you're working at the bar level and don't want to accidentally snap to a sixteenth note. The grid label in the toolbar shows the current division so you always know where you are.
Melody by keyboard
Select a lyric block, then use Arrow Up/Down to find the note, Arrow Right to advance to the next syllable. Each note plays as you assign it. For a whole line, this is faster than clicking notes on the pitch selector one at a time.
Loop while you write
Start playback (Space), then press L to loop the section you're working on. The section repeats while you listen to how your chords and melody sound together. Press L again to clear the loop and hear the full song.
That completes the Song Cage manual. If you've read from Chapter 1 through here, you now know every feature the app offers, from the philosophy behind it to the keyboard shortcut that makes it faster. Open Song Cage, start with an idea, and see where it takes you.