PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Beginners Forum What Chords are Available in BIAB

I am considering installing BIAB on my desktop. What chords are and are not available in BIAB? In the jazz world things can get kind of extreme with stuff like A13#5b9#11 and so on. I just wondered what the limits are. Thanks.

dave

Such a common often asked question, you can just Google it.

Here is a list of chords recognized by PG Music software:
Major Chords

C, Cmaj, C6, Cmaj7, Cmaj9, Cmaj13, C69, Cmaj7#5, C5b, Caug, C+, Cmaj9#11, Cmaj13#11

Minor Chords

Cm, Cm6, Cm7, Cm9, Cm11, Cm13, Cmaug, Cm#5, CmMaj7

Half diminished

Cm7b5

Diminished

Cdim

Dominant 7th Chords

C7, 7+, C9+, C13+, C13, C7b13, C7#11, C13#11, C7#11b13, C9, C9b13, C9#11, C13#11, C9#11b13, C7b9, C13b9, C7b9b13, C7b9#11, C13b9#11, C7b9#11b13, C7#9, C13#9, C7#9b13, C9#11, C13#9#11, C7#9#11b13

C7b5, C13b5, C7b5b13, C9b5, C9b5b13, C7b5b9, C13b5b9, C7b5b9b13, C7b5#9, C13b5#9, C7b5#9b13, C7#5, C13#5, C7#5#11, C13#5#11, C9#5, C9#5#11, C7#5b9, C13#5b9, C7#5b9#11, C13#5b9#11, C7#5#9, C13#5#9#11, C7#5#9#11, C13#5#9#11

Suspended 4 Chords

Csus, C7sus, C9sus, C13sus, C7susb13, C7sus#11, C13sus#11, C7sus#11b13, C9susb13, C9sus#11, C13sus#11, C9sus#11b13, C7susb9, C13susb9, C7susb9b13, C7susb9#11, C13susb9#11, C7susb9#11b13, C7sus#9, C13sus#9, C7sus#9b13, C9sus#11, C13sus#9#11, C7sus#9#11b13

C7susb5, C13susb5, C7susb5b13, C9susb5, C9susb5b13, C7susb5b9, C13susb5b9, C7susb5b9b13, C7susb5#9, C13susb5#9, C7susb5#9b13, C7sus#5, C13sus#5, C7sus#5#11, C13sus#5#11, C9sus#5, C9sus#5#11, C7sus#5b9, C13sus#5b9, C7sus#5b9#11, C13sus#5b9#11, C7sus#5#9, C13sus#5#9#11, C7sus#5#9#11, C13sus#5#9#11

Notes:

It is not necessary to type upper or lower case. For example type c6 to get the C6 chord. You should never have to use the Shift key, as Band-in-a-Box® and PowerTracks will sort this out for you.

Any chord may be entered with an alternate root ("Slash Chord") e.g.: C7/E = C7 with E bass.

Separate chords with commas to enter 2 chords in a 2 beat cell, e.g., Dm,G7.

Use the letter "b" for a flat; e.g., Bb7

Use # or 3 for a sharp; e.g., F#7. The pound sign (#) is the uppercase symbol of 3, so you can actually type f37 to get F#7. Band-in-a-Box® and PowerTracks will sort out the case, saving you the effort of using Shift+3 to type the # symbol.

Tricky Chords:

C5b This is "C flat 5." It is spelled this way to avoid confusion.

C2, C5, C4, C69, C7alt, Cm7#5

Shortcut Chords:

If you enter a lot of songs, you'll appreciate these shortcut keys.

J = Maj7
H = m7b5 (H stands for Half diminished)
D = dim
S = Sus

Example: To type CMaj7 , just type cj (it will be entered as CMaj7).

Oh and welcome to the forum...

Welcome to the forums.

Good answer above.

BiaB also has a Chord Builder that shows what 'standard' chords are available, and encompasses the list above. Using the Chord Builder feature, you can create the chords without needing to know their full syntax.

@musicstudent - WOW! What an incredibly helpful and complete response. Thank you.

@videotrack - I was unaware of Chord Builder. Thank you.

dave

Yes, welcome. And yes, the list of chords is quite thorough. Even if you type one that doesn't seem to be accepted, check that there isn't an alternate spelling required by the syntax of BIAB.

The real trick in that graphic shown above is the pull-down to the right of Other.

Also don't forget the slash root, or even pedal bass.

One last thing, getting really picky. BIAB has some built-in shortcuts. An add9 or add2 or sus2 chord are all written as a 2 chord, for example. If this interests you, we can show you how to see more about this.

The full chord list is shown in the User Manual that is online or as a download from the Support Page tab at the top of the screen. BTW this manual is a much better information source than the context help.