cmus, a really quick guide

I use these keys most times I run cmus. They’re configurable, but these are the defaults.

• v - stop playback

• b - next track

• z - previous track

• c - pause playback

• s - toggle shuffle (read about the m key below if you’re going to use shuffle)

• m - toggles the “aaa mode.” aaa stands for artist, album, or all. Controls whether cmus shuffles between songs from an artist, album, or from all your songs. You can see the currently set “aaa mode” in the bottom right, next to where the display of the continue, repeat, and shuffle settings.

• x - restart track

• i - jump view to the currently playing track (handy when in shuffle mode and follow is off.)

• f - toggle follow. When follow is on, the selection bar will jump to the next playing track. For example, in shuffle mode, this controls whether the selection bar jumps between artists or not. You can manually focus on the playing track by pressing i, as noted above. If follow is on, an ‘f’ appears in the bottom right, in the area where continue, repeat, and shuffle are displayed.

• / - searching cmus works as in many Unix programs. Typing /, a string, and enter will find the first instance of that string in your current view. Press n to go to the next string, N to go to the previous. cmus’s search isn’t case sensitive and is quite smart. For example, a search for damned insurrection will return Bulldozer’s “Insurrection of the Living Damned”.

• - - reduce the volume by 10%

• + - increase the volume by 10%