Simple Note Charts for Bass

Not sure about your abilities (or interest) in a more comprehensive program, but the free version of Finale is quite a remarkable and powerful tool. It will do everything you would probably ever want, and has the capabilities to do things that you never thought you'd need (until you learned how easy they are). Did I mention that its FREE?
Funny story - I got my first copy just because I wanted something to write down bass parts I had been transcribing off of records. I finished my first song and somehow accidentally hit the 'play' button and was dumbfounded to hear the music being played back. I had no idea that the software actually played back the music you wrote - I originally thought it was just a much neater and more presentable way to write down music; when I found out it would play back what I had written, I stayed up all night writing and listening - it was a huge bonus that I was completely ignorant of......

 

I write that kind of stuff out by hand then scan it into PDF format.

 

I don't believe notation programs (e.g. Finale, Musescore, etc) will do what you want (i.e. no staff). Chord chart oriented apps like iReal Pro will do repeats, multiples endings, etc but I don't think they'll let you enter random letters to represent single notes.

Have you experimented with using subscript and superscript to denote different things? Perhaps a spreadsheet program might allow you to utilize drawn repeat signs.

 

Finale free can do slash notation charts, which is the closest thing to your example. It is the best way to share a chart in my opinion without going note for note as any reasonable player can see and understand the chord, changes and sections. You would simply set up the score in bass or treble clef, which is largely irrelevant for slash notation, and type in the chords above each measure or specific beat of the measure. Attached is an example from my library.

 

You could also try Open Office:

Apache OpenOffice - Official Site - The Free and Open Productivity Suite

It's free and does just about anything Microsoft office does. It also allows you to export any documents you create to pdf's.

 

I use an editor on the PC called Jarte to make RTF charts. Here's some examples:
Index of /abc

 

I use an Android Tablet on stage for charts and highly recommend the App. Chordinator: The Chordinator - Android Apps on Google Play

I loved it so much I bought the paid version.

The charts are just simple text files with a .CSF extension that have specific tags for various things like Song title, Artist etc.

The beauty of it being an App is that it allows you to change key ON-THE-FLY without changing the actual text file!

I also store these files on Google Drive, make edits on the PC and when I'm on the tablet and need the updates I'll snyc. to said Google Drive account and boom...it's in the tablet! you can edit in the App itself of course but prefer to do heavy editing on a PC.

Just to give you an idea, here's the contents of the file that I use for 'Play that funky music'

{t:"Play That Funky Music" - E - 108BPM}
{st:Wild Cherry}

{c:NOTES}
- No bass in Chorus before Key change

{c:Intro./Verse} [E]

{c:Chorus} [G]-[A#]

{c:Key Change - Chorus} [A]
Take it higher...