Like Don, I think I am a pro at making a lyric lead sheet, I've done so many.

These are tips I can provide, YMMV.

1. Make the page margins 0.5" top, bottom, left, right. This gives maximum room for the largest font.

2. Highlight the entire lyric and title. Make the font Arial and make the Size as large as it can be and still fit on one page. For me, this is usually 18 to 22. I'm talking BIG letters. BIG. Sometimes, there is no way to break the lines, the lines are long lines and I have to go to something like size 13.

I also BOLD the font. Do this before you check to see if it fits the page, as it increases font size.

3. Title of song is put in quotes and underlines. Quotes, I guess that's not necessary but I do it.

4. If I type anything else about the song, I change the font for that line to a much smaller font, such as 13. I can squint a bit for that line if I need to read it.

5. If the layout allows, I like to indent the chorus.

6. If the layout allows (margins), I like to indent the bridge even more.

7. If a line is wrapping too long, often, I will change the font size for the last half of the line to a smaller size. So that the overall page font size can still remain as large as possible. I usually only need the first words in a line anyway to remember the line.

8. Everything is single spaced unless it's something that I am having to play with a bass player or another guitarist. For those, I might double space it, it's two pages, sometimes, and I write in heavy dark pencil, the chord names. For working up songs, they can look over my shoulder.

9. Everything I do on the page is done with an underlying goal of still retaining the largest font size possible to fit on one page. (Except for 2-page deals mentioned.)

10. If it's a complicated song, I leave a wider left margin and write the chord names in heavy dark pencil in the margin. Sometimes, I have typed the chords in superscript and that's nice but it takes longer.

11. I made my own nomenclature. Such as...

Foxswing/A.B.D/124/M PHR1/-2

That would mean Foxswing style, using fills A, B and D, tempo is 124bpm, mute PHR1, transpose down a whole step (2 half steps).

12. In the left margin in heavy dark pencil, I write A,B,C or D for when I am changing a fill section. Just to the left of line where I hit the fill button.

13. I try to not write in ink. Things change.


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Me Bill
Yamaha PSR2000