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Woodshedding - Learning to Play!
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Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 1
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 1 |
I am a new BiaB user and have been playing guitar for a while. I use tabs from ultimate guitar a lot which are basically text files (see example below). When playing guitar I can figure out where the chord changes go. However when I look at the chord chart in Biab I get stuck on making it work since I have never worked in a rigid formal framework before.
1. Is there an easy trick to transposing these loose tabbed chords to the proper bars? (see example below)
For my first song, I took the approach of entering all the chords in sequence on and adjacent bars figuring I can easily enter a blank bar or shift the chords to right to add space as needed,
2. What is the Hot Key or key combo to do this?
3. What do you find the easiest method of entering chords?
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Here is an example of what I am working with..
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide..
G
i heard
D
that you'll settle down
Em
that you've found a girl
C
and you're married now
G
i heard
D
that your dreams came true
Em
guess she gave you things
C
i didn't give to you
G
old friend
D
why are you so shy
Em
it ain't like you to hold back
C
or hide from the light
Am C
i hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
Em D
but i couldn't stay away, i couldn't fight it
Am C
i'd hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
Em D
that for me it isn't over
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Woodshedding - Learning to Play!
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,640
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,640 |
Steamshistle,
Welcome to the forums.
The easiest way to enter chords is to place them in the correct bar from the start. While it's possible to add them and then insert bars, it would be time consuming. Shifting chords a half a bar, if that arises, is less straightforward.
Since you have experience to guide you, I'm pretty sure that you'll find it quite easy to place chords correctly after a little bit of practice. Here's how I do it for a song in 4/4 time...
1. With my lefthand I continuously tap groups of 4 beats with the first beat tapped harder than the rest.
It is this first beat where most of the chords will be placed. Beat 3 is also a contender for chords but much less so usually. While it's still possible, Beats 2 and 4 rarely have chords.
2. As I'm tapping, I sing/talk the words or hum the melody. Because I will know the song I'm working with, I can always hear when I'd need to enter a chord change.
3. Since each Beat 1 of my tapping represents the first beat of a bar, if I tap 3 x Beat 1 from one chord to the next chord, it means that: (a) I have the chord in the first bar; (b) 2 blank bars; and (c) the new chord in the next bar.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Woodshedding - Learning to Play!
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 3,752
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 3,752 |
check this section of the 2016 new features video https://youtu.be/iKUE4vSfISc?t=25m pick a style then try using the last example where you format your text file so that each line is a bar amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me turn on the lyric mode copy your lyric and paste in in the first bar where it should appear enter the chords under the lyrics edit as explained in the video as needed
M4 pro Mac mini 1tb HD 24GB mem M3 MacBook Air 16GB mem casio wk7500 presonus audiobox i2 usb interface
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Woodshedding - Learning to Play!
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 671
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 671 |
I noticed you have not posted a reply. I'm going to add my 2 cents here. Hope you have not given up.
2 things you have to do before you begin entering chords is change a few default settings. ON the upper part of the BIAB screen you will see a number of Bars and by default it will be 36. Change that to 99, the number is not important just make it much larger than 36. Next to that is Number of choruses change that from 3 to 1. This is confusing just for now set it this way.
A practical way to enter the chords for me was. Pick a style Upper left part of your screen under a symbol with a drum, guitar and piano (country, Rock)What ever style you want for you song.
When the style loads MUTE everything except the drums, to mute look at the upper right side of your screen there are instruments BASS is on top, then piano, click the M to the right of the words BASS< PIANO< DO NOT MUTE DRUMS< GUITAR< STRINGS< MELODIST. Now you can use the drums as a metronome, (I can't count so this is how I determine how many BARS for each chord are needed to create my song.)
Turn the tempo down to a reasonable rate like 50 bpm, the slower you go the easier it is to stick in the Chords in at the proper bar.
Get piece of paper and pen. The song starts with a chord in the first Bar so type that in and hit the PLAY button. As the drum plays sing your song at the slow tempo you have just set. As you sing the words along with the drum, and get to a chord change, either hit the stop button and input the chord. Or write the Bar Number down, then hit the stop button. Input the chord in the correct Bar that you have on your paper.
Go back to the beginning and start listening while singing the song through to the 2nd chord change. Is the second chord in the correct place? If so start the song over and now sing right through the 2nd Chord and find the BAR where you need to put in the 3rd chord. If the 2nd chord is in the wrong place move it to the correct bar.
Repeat this procedure for the whole Verse. Its not going to take you long to realize your chord changes create a pattern. They may change every other Bar, or they change every 4th bar. Or your verse has a pattern of the first chord is held for 2 bars then there is a chord changes on the 3rd and 4th bar.
Now go ahead and figure out your chorus, and if you have one the bridge.
You can copy and paste the number of verses that you have by highlighting the first Verse, Click in the first bar hold the shift key then click in the last bar of the verse. The entire verse should be highlighted. Now do CTRL C, go to the first bar after the Chorus click that bar, then go CTRL V.
Last edited by dga; 04/23/16 06:52 PM.
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