Chord and fretboard diagram plots — plot

Create a fretboard diagram for a single chord or a general progression.

plot_fretboard(
  string,
  fret,
  labels = NULL,
  mute = FALSE,
  label_size = 10,
  label_color = "white",
  point_size = 10,
  point_color = "black",
  point_fill = "black",
  group = NULL,
  horizontal = FALSE,
  left_handed = FALSE,
  fret_range = NULL,
  accidentals = c("flat", "sharp"),
  tuning = "standard",
  show_tuning = FALSE,
  asp = NULL,
  base_size = 20
)

plot_chord(
  chord,
  labels = NULL,
  label_size = 10,
  label_color = "white",
  point_size = 10,
  point_color = "black",
  point_fill = "black",
  group = NULL,
  horizontal = FALSE,
  left_handed = FALSE,
  fret_range = NULL,
  accidentals = c("flat", "sharp"),
  tuning = "standard",
  show_tuning = FALSE,
  asp = NULL,
  base_size = 20
)

Arguments

string: integer or as a space-delimited character string; instrument string numbers.
fret: integer or as a space-delimited character string; fret numbers.
labels: character, optional text labels, must be one for every point.
mute: logical vector or specific integer indices, which notes to mute.
label_size: numeric, size of fretted note labels.
label_color: character, label color.
point_size: numeric, size of fretted note points.
point_color: character, point color.
point_fill: character, point fill color.
group: optional vector to facet by.
horizontal: logical, directional orientation.
left_handed: logical, handedness orientation.
fret_range: fret limits, if not NULL, overrides limits derived from fret.
accidentals: character, when labels = "notes" represent accidentals: "flat" or "sharp".
tuning: explicit tuning, e.g., "e, a, d g b e'", or a pre-defined tuning. See details.
show_tuning: logical, show tuning of each string.
asp: numeric, aspect ratio, overrides default aspect ratio derived from number of strings and frets.
base_size: base size for ggplot2::theme_void().
chord: character, a single chord given in fret notation. See details.

Value

a ggplot object

Details

These functions are under development and subject to change. They each return a ggplot object.

Use plot_chord() to create a fretboard diagram of a specific chord. plot_chord() accepts a character string in simple fretboard format, e.g., chord = "xo221o". Zero is allowed in place of "o". This only works when no spaces or semicolons are detected. The function checks for spaces first, then semicolons, to split fret numbers. Do not mix formats. For example, you can use chord = "xo221o", chord = "x 8 10 10 9 8" or chord = "x;8;10;10;9;8". Trailing delimiters are ignored (LilyPond format: "x;8;10;10;9;8;"). If there are fewer fret values than there are strings on the instrument, as inferred from tuning, then muted strings, x, are inferred for the remaining lower-pitch strings.

plot_fretboard() produces a more general fretboard diagram plot. It is intended for scales, arpeggios and other patterns along the fretboard. For this function, provide vectors of string and fret numbers. mute is available but not as applicable for this function. For single chord diagrams, use plot_chord().

Number of strings is derived from tuning. See tunings() for pre-defined tunings and examples of explicit tunings. tuning affects point labels when labels = "notes".

Examples

# General patterns: scale shifting exercise
string <- c(6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1)
fret <- "2 4 5 2 4 5 2 4 6 7 9 6 7 9 7 9 10 7 9 10" # string input accepted
plot_fretboard(string, fret, labels = "notes")


# Single chord diagrams
# open chord
idx <- c(1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1)
fill <- c("white", "black")[idx]
lab_col <- c("black", "white")[idx]
plot_chord("xo221o", "notes", label_color = lab_col, point_fill = fill)


# moveable chord
plot_chord("355433", horizontal = TRUE, show_tuning = TRUE)


plot_chord("0231") # leading x inferred; same as plot_chord("xxo321")


plot_chord("10 12 13 11", fret_range = c(10, 14))