Bluegrass Book dev log · Part 2 of 8

What Did I Build Here Anyway?

The Human Speaks:

This post is going to be heavily co-authored by Claude Code which honestly, might be the most important development tool ever built.

While I had a dataset that I put together with bluegrass songs hanging around my laptop for a while, I really had no way to organize it effectively.

I’ve often been in the position of “I can really clearly articulate this idea I want to accomplish, but I have no desire to learn all the syntax and frameworks I need to accomplish this”. Another way -- I think I am pretty good about thinking from a systems and architecture perspective, but then when it gets down to the nitty-gritty details of “Ah crap, I made this file too large and now I need to refactor it because I’m running out of mental space to deal with it”.

But - then Claude Code appeared. And I got dumped from my dream job at Google. Then I went to work at a start up that does everything “AI First” and my world changed.

I built this entire application in about three long days. Which is pretty impressive to me because I’ve never done anything like it. But I can now ask this really smart and eager helper, Claude to help me structure my thoughts and ideas and then make it happen.

Okay - so I am rambling - and I know it sounds a little smug, but I am just pleased as can be that this application is standing on it’s own two legs and ACTUALLY WORKS.

Here’s a structure overview of the state of the app, the remainder of this post is written by Claude:

Claude’s Update on Milestones, Roadmap, Features, Etc

I’ve been helping Mike build this thing, so let me give you the tour.

The Library: 17,600+ Songs

BluegrassBook has songs from multiple sources:

  • Classic Country (~16,000 songs) - The foundation. Country, bluegrass, folk, gospel - if it’s been played at a jam, it’s probably here.
  • The Golden Standard (86 songs) - Hand-picked bluegrass standards from Ryan Schindler’s book.
  • TuneArch Fiddle Tunes (550+ tunes) - Instrumental breakdowns with ABC notation, so you can see the melody.
  • Manual submissions - Songs added by users like you.

Every song is stored in ChordPro format - an open standard that works with other apps. No lock-in.

Finding Songs

Just type. The search box looks at titles, artists, and lyrics all at once:

blue moon kentucky

Get specific with field filters:

artist:hank williams
lyrics:lonesome highway
key:G
tag:bluegrass -tag:instrumental

Find by chords - this is the fun one. Search for songs that use specific Nashville numbers:

chord:VII,II       → Songs with ♭VII and II chords
prog:I-IV-V        → The classic progression

Tags & Genres

Songs are tagged by genre (Bluegrass, ClassicCountry, Gospel, OldTime, HonkyTonk…) and vibe:

  • JamFriendly - Simple chords, easy to pick up at a session
  • Modal - Has that ♭VII sound (think “Old Home Place”)
  • Instrumental - Fiddle tunes and breakdowns
  • Waltz - 3/4 time

Tags come from MusicBrainz artist data plus harmonic analysis of the chords themselves. And if you disagree with a tag? Vote on it. We’re building the taxonomy together.

Your Personal Library

Sign in with Google and you get:

  • Favorites - One-click save, synced across devices
  • Custom Lists - Build setlists, practice lists, whatever you need
  • Cloud sync - Your lists follow you

Everything also works offline. The sync is a convenience, not a requirement.

Reading & Printing

When you open a song:

  • Transpose to any key with one click
  • Nashville numbers toggle - see the chord function instead of letter names
  • Font size controls for your screen or printed page
  • Compact mode - collapse repeated sections
  • Print view - clean layout with optional 2-column mode
  • Copy/Download - Grab the ChordPro source or plain text, download as .pro or .txt
  • Dark/Light mode - Easy on the eyes at late-night jams

Fiddle Tunes & ABC Notation

For instrumentals, we show ABC notation - the standard way to write folk melodies:

|: E2AB c2BA | E2AB c2Bc :|

Click the “Show Notation” button and you’ll see the sheet music rendered right there. Great for learning breaks.

Song Editor

There’s a built-in ChordPro editor with live preview. Use it to:

  • Add new songs - Paste lyrics, add chords inline with [G] syntax
  • Fix existing songs - Edit and submit corrections
  • Smart paste - Paste chord-over-lyrics format and it converts to ChordPro automatically

Contributing

See a wrong chord? Missing song? There’s a feedback button on every page. For corrections, you can even edit the ChordPro directly and submit a fix.

The Bluegrass Standards Board

And if you have opinions about what constitutes real bluegrass… well, there’s a complaints department for that.

What’s Next?

Here’s what we’re working on (check GitHub milestones for the live list):

Playback Engine

Rhythm backing for practice - metronome, boom-chick patterns, tempo control. Practice at 60 BPM, build up to jam speed.

List Management

Shareable list links, export/import, full-screen setlist mode for gigs.

More Content

We’re analyzing gaps against BluegrassLyrics.com and other sources. If there’s a standard that’s missing, we want to know.

Tablature Generation

Generate fiddle tab, banjo tab, mandolin tab from the melody. Still early but it’s on the roadmap.

Community Features

User profiles, contributor leaderboards, maybe even a “most wanted” list for songs people are requesting.

The goal is simple: one place for bluegrass musicians to find songs, build setlists, and practice - without paying subscriptions or getting locked into some app’s proprietary format.

Your songs. Your format. Your community.

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