diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 755d0e1..2e054f4 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use itertools::Itertools;
 
 mod flags;
+mod play;
 mod seq;
 mod syn;
 mod tone;
@@ -16,8 +17,12 @@ fn main() {
         flags.sound_font,
         flags.sample_rate,
     ));
-    for i in 0..flags.play.len() {
-        syn_seq.append(i as i32, flags.play[i].clone());
+    let mut i = 0;
+    for p in flags.play.iter() {
+        for p in play::new(p.clone()) {
+            syn_seq.append(i as i32, p);
+            i += 1;
+        }
     }
 
     play(syn_seq, flags.sample_rate, flags.bpm);
diff --git a/src/play.rs b/src/play.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d31e5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/play.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+use std::io::Read;
+
+pub fn new<S: ToString>(s: S) -> Vec<String> {
+    parse(from_string(s.to_string()))
+}
+
+fn from_string(s: String) -> String {
+    match std::fs::File::open(s.clone()) {
+        Ok(mut reader) => {
+            let mut content = String::new();
+            reader
+                .read_to_string(&mut content)
+                .expect(format!("failed to read {}", s).as_ref());
+            content.split_whitespace().collect::<Vec<_>>().join(" ")
+        }
+        Err(_) => s,
+    }
+}
+
+fn parse(s: String) -> Vec<String> {
+    vec![s]
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    #[test]
+    fn test_string() {
+        assert_eq!(super::new("a b c")[0], "a b c".to_string());
+        assert_eq!(super::new("a b c".to_string())[0], "a b c".to_string());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_single_line_file() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::new("src/testdata/single_line_file.txt")[0],
+            "a b c".to_string()
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_two_channels_one_bar() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::new("src/testdata/two_channels_one_bar.txt")[0],
+            "a b c".to_string()
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/testdata/single_line_file.txt b/src/testdata/single_line_file.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3774da6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/testdata/single_line_file.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+a b c
diff --git a/src/testdata/two_channels_one_bar.txt b/src/testdata/two_channels_one_bar.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..31734d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/testdata/two_channels_one_bar.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+a b c
+a5 b5 c5