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Gorse & Quill · Designed in Scotland In Stock · Out Now

The Songwriter’s Ledger.

The Songwriter's Ledger, open on a desk
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A premium physical notebook, tethered page by page to a private companion app. The paper holds the ink. The app holds the echo.

FormatA5 hardback
EditionVolume I
Price£29.99
I

Every songwriter knows the song that slipped away.

There is a notebook sitting on a shelf somewhere, its spine creased, its pages soft with age. Inside it, a song was started and never finished. The chords are there, some words too. But the melody that made it feel alive, the tempo, the breath, the thing that made you reach for the pen in the first place, is gone.

“The melody was as clear as anything. I could hear every note. By morning it was mist.
Every songwriter, eventually

Every songwriter knows this loss. The song that slipped away between the notebook and the phone. The voice note buried under hundreds of others, labelled nothing, findable by no one. The gap between the analogue place where songs are made and the digital tools that were never built for this.

Gorse & Quill was built to close that gap.

The Songwriter’s Ledger is a premium A5 physical notebook designed page by page for the craft, not the aesthetic. Every 4-page song spread has space for lyrics, chord diagrams, and structure. Every song is tethered, via a unique QR code, to a private folder within the Gorse & Quill app, where you can capture a voice recording the moment a melody arrives. No accounts. No subscriptions. No data harvested. Just the song, preserved exactly as it first breathed.

The paper holds the ink. The app holds the echo.

II
II · See it in action

How does it work?

Press play below for a short walkthrough, from page to app

III
III · What you get

Bound between the covers

Everything the Ledger holds, itemised

i.QR‑tethered

Twenty‑five song spreads

Space to write 25 new songs (lyrics, chords and structure), each spread carrying a unique QR code tethered to its own private folder in the app.

ii.Front matter

A contents ledger

Index pages at the front to list every song as you write it, so no idea is ever lost in the leaves.

iii.Manuscript

Tab & stave, ruled and ready

Separate sections of ruled guitar tab and classic music score: turn to one to set a riff down string by string, the other to score a melody as you hear it.

iv.Reference

The Circle of Fifths

The classic diagram, explained in plain language for writers: find your key, your chords, and your way home.

v.Reference

The Progression & The Feeling

A set of chord progressions grouped by feeling, not just key: from the forward pull of The Anchor to the unresolved ache of The Threshold, each one named for the mood it carries.

vi.Reference

Open D tuning, explained

What it is, how to tune to it, and why it makes a guitar sing: a door to new songs in one retuning.

vii.Reference

The capo, charted

A capo diagram for instant transposition: see where the chords land before you clamp.

viii.Inspiration

100 songwriting prompts

A hundred prompts to start something honest when the page stares back.

ix.Inspiration

200 rhyming pairs

Two hundred rhyming pairs to reach for when the next line will not come.

x.Paper

120gsm, uncoated

Uncoated stock with enough weight to take pen, pencil or a hard hand without ghosting through. Made for writing on, not just looking at.

xi.Binding

Smyth‑sewn, not glued

Sections are sewn through the fold rather than glued at the spine, so the Ledger opens flat on a table or your knee and holds together through years of use.

xii.Cover

Casebound hardback

A rigid hardback case, built to be carried, thrown in a bag, and come back to. Not a book that survives one reading.

xiii.Finish

Matt lamination

A matt laminate over the cover guards against marks, moisture and everyday wear, without the glare of a gloss finish.

A selection of pages from the Ledger: click the cover to open and turn the pages insideA selection of pages from the Ledger: swipe to turn the pages

Cover

Page 1 of 20 · Swipe to turn the pages

↑ Click the cover to open the Ledger

IV · The Companion App (iOS / iPhone only)

Carry the Echo

Every QR code in the physical Songwriter’s Ledger is linked to the Gorse & Quill iOS app. Scan a page to open its song folder and capture a take in the moment. Months later, when you are flicking through your old song ideas, rescan the QR code to rediscover your saved recording. Tap through a preview below.

Download on the App Store

Free · iPhone only · No sign-up required

V · The Founder

Why we made this

Keith McInally, founder of Gorse & Quill

Songwriting has always been how I relax, scratch the creative itch, and make sense of things. I started Gorse & Quill to make tools that help other songwriters get that same fulfilment from their craft, something tactile enough to make you want to pick up the guitar, and simple enough that it doesn’t get in the way of the idea.

In a world that’s increasingly AI-driven, I wanted to go back to where songs actually come from: pen and paper, away from a screen. That’s usually where the most honest ones get written.

I’d love to hear what you think.

Keith McInally's signature Keith McInally Founder & Songwriter
VI · In Stock · Out Now

The Songwriter’s Ledger

The premium physical hardback notebook plus companion app, designed by songwriters, for songwriters. Yours to keep, or the perfect gift.

£29.99

Songwriter’s Ledger

Buy now

Secure checkout with Stripe  ·  UK shipping only

The paper holds the ink.
The app holds the echo.

No accounts No subscriptions No data harvested