In Part 1 we built an 8-bar chart from scratch using the chord palette. Every measure had exactly one chord. That works for a lot of music — but real songs constantly break that rule.

The bridge of Autumn Leaves moves twice as fast. The turnaround of a 12-bar blues packs three chords into two bars. A ii–V–I resolution lands on the tonic in the last beat. To write any of these you need subdivisions — multiple chords sharing the same measure.

You also need to be able to shape the grid itself: add measures in the middle of a chart, remove one that was placed by mistake, or insert an extra bar at the end.

This guide covers both.

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What Is a Subdivision?

A measure subdivision is a split: instead of one chord filling the entire bar, you divide the space into 2, 3, or 4 equal slots, each holding its own chord.

In a 4/4 context, the most common subdivisions are:

Slots	Duration per slot	Typical use case
1	4 beats	Ballad, slow harmonic rhythm
2	2 beats each	ii–V, fast changes, turnarounds
3	~1.3 beats each	Waltz feel over a bar, some Latin patterns
4	1 beat each	Fast bebop, dense chord-scale passages

The subdivision is a visual and structural choice. It does not affect playback tempo — it tells you and your band how many chords to play per bar.

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Setting the Subdivision

In Edition Mode, hover over any measure. Four small round buttons appear in the top-right corner of the measure header: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4.

The button matching the current subdivision is highlighted in cyan. By default, every new measure starts at 1.

Click 2 — the measure splits into two equal cells. Click the left cell and enter the first chord; click the right cell for the second. The measure displays both chords side by side, separated by a diagonal line.

Example: To write the classic ii–V pattern Dm7 | G7 as two chords in one bar, set the subdivision to 2, enter Dm7 in the left slot and G7 in the right slot.

Click 3 or 4 to go further. You can change the subdivision at any time — existing chords are preserved up to the new slot count, extra slots are cleared.

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In Practice: The Bridge of Autumn Leaves

The bridge accelerates the harmonic rhythm: two chords per bar instead of one. Here are the first four measures of the bridge in Bb major:

Measure	Slot 1	Slot 2
1	Am7♭5	D7
2	Gm7	C7
3	Fm7	B♭7
4	E♭maj7	—

Set each of those four measures to subdivision 2. Enter the chords in order. The grid shows the dual-chord layout with clean diagonal dividers — the same visual shorthand used in printed lead sheets.

Measure 4 only needs one chord (E♭maj7 lasts a full bar). Set it to subdivision 1 — or leave slot 2 empty if you prefer to keep the visual alignment consistent.

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Adding Measures

Songs rarely arrive pre-fitted to 8 bars. You might finish the A section and realize you need 4 more bars for a tag, or you copy a chart and need to insert a 2-bar intro.

To add measures, look at the bottom-right corner of any measure. A small + button sits there in Edition Mode.

Click + — a dialog opens asking how many measures to insert. The new measures appear immediately after the one you clicked, pushing everything else down the grid.

Tip: To add measures at the very end of a chart, click + on the last measure.

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Removing Measures

The − button lives in the bottom-left corner of each measure. Click it and a confirmation dialog appears asking you to confirm the deletion. Confirm, and the measure is gone — the rest of the chart closes up around the gap.

When to delete: When you drafted a 16-bar form and realize the B section only needs 8 bars. Or when you placed a blank measure by accident while roughing out a structure.

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Putting It Together: A 32-Bar AABA Form

A standard 32-bar jazz form has four 8-bar sections: A–A–B–A. Starting from a clean chart:

1. Write the A section (8 measures) with the main changes
2. Click + on measure 8 and insert 8 more — now you have 16 bars
3. Copy the first A into the second A (copy/paste works measure by measure)
4. Click + on measure 16 and insert 8 bars for the B section (bridge)
5. Set the bridge measures to subdivision 2 where the harmony moves fast
6. Insert a final 8-bar A section at the end

The full form is in place in under 5 minutes.

→ Try it now on chordnotator.com

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What’s Next

You now control the structure of any chart — how many chords per bar, how many bars total. In Part 3 we bring in the lyrics layer: how to add words under the chords, how the text scales automatically, and how the whole chart looks when you switch to Gig Mode for a performance.

→ Part 3: Lyrics and Gig Mode — coming soon