Repertoire · Guide
How to organize your band’s repertoire so nothing gets lost
Ask any working band where their song list lives and you will get a pause, then a list. A spreadsheet from two years ago. A group chat. A note on someone’s phone. The drummer’s memory. That pause is the problem.
I built Setlist because my band lived exactly like that. Our repertoire was scattered across a spreadsheet for titles, another one for keys, arrangement notes buried in a chat, and the rest in whoever happened to remember. Before a gig we rebuilt the set from scratch and hoped nobody called a tune in the wrong key. It worked, until it did not.
Here is how to get your band’s repertoire into one place that actually holds up, whether you do it in a spreadsheet or in an app built for it.
What a real repertoire list needs
A song title is not enough. The list only earns its keep if it holds what you argue about at soundcheck. For each song:
- The key you actually play it in. Not the original key. The one your singer does it in.
- Tempo. A rough BPM saves the "was it faster last time" conversation.
- Structure. Intro, how many choruses, the ending you all agreed on.
- Solos. Who takes them, in what order, so nobody steps on anybody.
- Length. So you can build a set that fits the slot.
If your list has titles and nothing else, it is a menu, not a repertoire. The details are the whole point.
The spreadsheet version
You can get a long way with a shared spreadsheet, and it is worth doing before you reach for anything fancier.
- One row per song. Columns for title, key, tempo, length, structure notes, and who leads it.
- Put it somewhere shared, not on one person’s laptop. A shared cloud sheet so everyone can open it.
- Sort by whatever you plan sets around. Most bands sort by feel or tempo, not alphabetically.
- Keep one sheet. The moment there are two, they disagree, and the band stops trusting both.
This is fine for a while. A tight quartet with forty tunes can run on a good spreadsheet for years.
Where the spreadsheet breaks
The spreadsheet stops working at the exact moment you need it most: on stage, and when the band changes.
On stage, a spreadsheet is unreadable. Tiny cells, horizontal scrolling, no sense of what song is next. Nobody opens a spreadsheet behind the kit.
When the band changes, the spreadsheet falls behind. A sub joins for one gig and has no idea the third tune is in a different key now. Someone updates the sheet on their phone and it does not sync to the copy the bandleader printed. The single source of truth quietly becomes three sources that disagree.
That gap, between a list you maintain and a list you can actually use in the moment, is the reason Setlist exists.
How Setlist handles it
Setlist keeps the whole repertoire in one shared library. Every song carries its key, tempo, structure, and solos, and everyone in the band sees the same library on their own phone. Invite a new player and they have the book instantly, current as of five minutes ago, not as of the last time someone remembered to email the sheet.
When it is time to play, you drag songs from that library into a set, and the set runs full screen on stage. Same data, two jobs: the library keeps the band organized, and the stage view keeps the night calm. For how that stage part works, see how to run a setlist on stage without paper or panic.
What it will not do
It will not learn your arrangements for you, and it does not store your charts or sheet music yet. It holds the structured facts about each song, not the notation. If your band runs entirely off written charts, Setlist organizes the set around them, it does not replace them.
Start with one list
Whatever you use, the win is the same: one place, everyone can see it, and it is true. Build that first. If you want the version that also runs the show and updates the whole band at once, Setlist is free on the web today and in open beta on iPhone.
Try it with your real repertoire, then tell me what your band needs that it does not have yet. I read every reply.
Common questions
What should a band’s song list include besides the title?
The key you actually play it in, a rough tempo, the structure, who takes which solo, and the length. Titles alone are a menu, not a repertoire.
Is a spreadsheet enough to organize a band’s songs?
For a small, stable band it works for years. It breaks on stage, where it is unreadable, and when the band changes, where copies drift out of sync.