Using Framer Motion + ReactJS to Create Smooth Animations for Song Lyrics and Chords Websites

Hey there, fellow developers! 👋🏼 If you're a music enthusiast like me and love building web apps, you might have thought about creating a site for song lyrics and guitar chords. These kinds of sites can really shine with some smooth animations to enhance the user experience. Today, I’ll show you how to use Framer Motion with ReactJS to animate the appearance of song chords on a webpage. Let’s make those chords pop in a way that feels engaging and intuitive for musicians!

We’ll build a simple component to display the chords for the song Alye Parusa (a popular Russian rock song), and I’ll share a resource where you can grab the chords to test this out. Let’s dive in!

Why Animations Matter for Song Lyrics Sites

When users visit a site with song lyrics or chords, they’re often looking for a seamless experience—something that’s easy to read and visually appealing. Animations can:

• Highlight chords as they appear, making it easier for users to follow along.
• Create a modern, polished look that keeps users engaged.
• Improve accessibility by guiding the user’s attention to key sections.

Framer Motion is a perfect fit here because it’s lightweight, easy to integrate with React, and offers smooth, physics-based animations.

Setting Up the Project

First, let’s set up a basic React project and install Framer Motion.

npx create-react-app song-chords-animation
cd song-chords-animation
npm install framer-motion

Start the development server:

npm start

Creating the Chords Component

Let’s create a component that displays the chords for "Alye Parusa". I found a great resource for the chords on Pesni.ru, which we’ll use as our example.

Here’s the basic structure of our component:

import React from "react";
import { motion } from "framer-motion";
import "./Chords.css";

const Chords = () => {
  const chordsData = [
    { line: "Dm", description: "Play softly for the intro" },
    { line: "G", description: "Switch with a light strum" },
    { line: "C", description: "Hold for two beats" },
    { line: "Am", description: "Transition smoothly" },
  ];

  return (
    <div className="chords-container">
      <h1>Alye Parusa Chords Animation</h1>
      <p>
        Let’s animate the chords for <em>Alye Parusa</em>! Check the full chord sheet{" "}
        <a href="https://pesni.ru/ru/raznye-pesni/alye-parusa-203" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">
          here
        </a>{" "}
        to follow along.
      </p>
      {chordsData.map((chord, index) => (
        <motion.div
          key={index}
          className="chord-card"
          initial={{ opacity: 0, y: 50 }}
          animate={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
          transition={{ delay: index * 0.3, duration: 0.5 }}
        >
          <h3>{chord.line}</h3>
          <p>{chord.description}</p>
        </motion.div>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
};

export default Chords;

And here’s some basic CSS to style the component (Chords.css):

.chords-container {
  max-width: 600px;
  margin: 50px auto;
  text-align: center;
}

.chord-card {
  background: #f5f5f5;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 10px 0;
  border-radius: 8px;
  box-shadow: 0 2px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
}

.chord-card h3 {
  margin: 0;
  font-size: 24px;
  color: #2c3e50;
}

.chord-card p {
  margin: 5px 0 0;
  color: #7f8c8d;
}

What’s Happening Here?

• Framer Motion Magic: We’re using motion.div to animate each chord card. The initial state sets the starting position (opacity 0 and slightly below), while animate defines the final state (fully visible and in place).
• Staggered Animation: The transition prop with delay: index * 0.3 ensures each card animates in sequence, creating a cascading effect.
• Link to Chords: I’ve included a link to the Alye Parusa chords page so users can grab the full chord sheet if they want to play along.

Adding Hover Effects

Let’s make the cards more interactive by adding a hover effect with Framer Motion:

<motion.div
  key={index}
  className="chord-card"
  initial={{ opacity: 0, y: 50 }}
  animate={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
  transition={{ delay: index * 0.3, duration: 0.5 }}
  whileHover={{ scale: 1.05, boxShadow: "0px 5px 15px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2)" }}
>
  <h3>{chord.line}</h3>
  <p>{chord.description}</p>
</motion.div>

The whileHover prop scales the card slightly and adds a shadow when the user hovers over it. It’s a subtle touch that makes the UI feel more dynamic.

Final Touches

To make this even more user-friendly, you could:

• Add a button to toggle between chords and lyrics.
• Include a sound effect or a small audio clip of the chord when the card animates (using the Web Audio API).
• Style the cards differently based on the chord type (e.g., major chords in blue, minor in purple).

Why This Matters

Adding animations to a lyrics and chords site can significantly improve the user experience. For example, on sites like Pesni.ru, where I got the chords for Alye Parusa, users often want to quickly scan through sections. Animations help guide their focus and make the site feel more interactive.

Next Steps

• Expand the Component: Add a feature to switch between different songs or sections (e.g., verse, chorus).
• Responsive Design: Ensure the animations look great on mobile devices.
• Share Your Work: If you build something cool with this, share it in the comments—I’d love to see it!

Let me know if you have questions or want to dive deeper into Framer Motion. Happy coding, and keep rocking those chords! 🎶