Frequently asked questions

Strumbook is a media player for your tabs. It's a library for organizing your songs, a setlist planner for your performances, a hands-free player that follows along while you play, a purpose-built tab editor, and an in-app print preview, all in one place.

Songs are imported as plain-text files composed of chords written above lyrics, ASCII tab grid lines for riffs and solos, named sections like [Verse] and [Chorus], and an optional metadata header for title, artist, key, capo, and tuning. You can link a song to YouTube audio so the player can follow along with it. See a filled-in example song file to get started.

Your library - every tab, its artwork, and its setlists - lives in your own cloud storage folder, not in a Strumbook-owned database. Strumbook connects to that folder with your permission; you keep the storage and the files. You can choose between Google Drive and Dropbox as your cloud storage provider.

Yes. Strumbook uses Google sign-in. After signing in you can choose to use either Google Drive or Dropbox as your cloud storage provider.

Yes. Strumbook is responsive on phones, tablets, and desktops, and can be installed like an app from your browser. The app itself keeps working when your connection drops in and out, though cloud-dependent features. Only specific functions that require an internet connection like syncing with the cloud, YouTube playback, and metadata search will be affected.

Yes. Every song has an in-app print preview so you can control page breaks, content and layout before printing, for the nights you want paper instead of a screen.

Play along with the linked audio, or go solo and follow the tab at your own pace. The linked audio can be anything, like a backing track, or the original recording. Setlists let you queue up a whole performance in order. Clicking next song in the player loads the next song in the player as well as the next tab in the tab view.

Yes. View Mode has page-turning that jumps the tab a set distance plus continuous auto-scroll if you'd rather it move on its own. Both are adjustable per song, with a default you can set once in Settings. Both functions can bound to a footswitch to be controlled hands free.

Almost certainly, and without any special setup. Most page-turner pedals (AirTurn, PageFlip, iRig BlueTurn, and similar) connect as a Bluetooth keyboard and simply send ordinary key presses, so they work through Strumbook's regular keyboard shortcuts. Just bind whichever key your pedal sends to "Turn page forward"/"Turn page backward" in Settings > Key bindings. If your pedal only sends MIDI signals we've got you covered too!

Yes, in Settings > Key bindings. Click a shortcut and press the key combo you want. Each action can have up to three shortcuts at once and can be set up so that one button does multiple things. Standard multimedia keyboard keys (Play/Pause, Next/Previous Track, Volume) also work automatically alongside your regular shortcuts.

Yes, separately from regular key bindings, in Settings > MIDI devices. Connect your device, your browser will ask permission, then click an empty slot next to the action you want to map, and hit the button that you want to map it to. Every connected device gets its own independent set of bindings. MIDI bindings are matched by device name, so plugging the same device into another computer picks up its saved bindings automatically. Web MIDI isn't supported in every browser (notably Safari).

Strumbook runs in your browser, even when you install it as an app, and browsers slow down or pause background tabs to save power. If you have a process running in the background of the app, leave the app in focus until it completes. Starting an action and minimizing long enough can cancel your actions altogether.