The completely redesigned window shows information for up to 50,000 songs.
The song list build is much faster. Approximately 150 songs get added per second.
A progress bar will appear if the song list build takes longer than 3 seconds.
You can see the chord progression for the selected song in the list. You can copy and paste it to a text file.
Many filters are available. You can filter the list by subfolders, genre, feel, time signature, style, songs with melody, soloist, lyrics, key signature, tempo range, and the year of file dates.
You can search songs that have similar chord progressions and/or melody fragments.
Hotkey! ss+enter opens the SongPicker, ss2+enter opens the Recently Played Songs, etc.
Learn more about the updates with our New Features Video - we've made it easy to find the section you'll need:
The part of the new features video explaining the Custom Chord Progression filter is not quite right. The filter string C F typed in as a sample at 22:13 does not work as expected - the SongPicker shows an empty string with just two vertical lines ("***** list is filtered by this chord progression: | |"). Also the matched songs and also the matching bar#s are not correct.
There should be (either in online help or in the manual) information on how to correctly specify custom chord progressions (the PDF manual does not explain that). What to pay attention to when specifying a progression? Are vertical lines bar or chord separators? As an example entering C F G results in an error message. Is only the first chord of a bar relevant or all 4 possible chords? What chord extensions are relevant?
Biab/RB latest build, German Language Pak, Win 10/64 Pro, 1 TB SSD, 32 GB RAM. Notation SW Finale, StaffPad, SmartsScore – Playing Double Bass, Guitar, Piano
| Vertical lines are bar lines | C | F | would be two bars
/ are beat lines but needed unless you want to specific a chord on a certain beat where the chord durations are not equal | C / / Bb7 | puts the Bb7 in beat 4
|| is a double bar line indicating a bar line (and a new section)
This would be a 12 bar blues
| C | F | C | | F | | C F7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 / / Ab7 | G7 | C A7 | Dm7 G7 |
You can see examples of his songs look like this in the songpicker window, just highlight a song and it shows at the bottom left. You can copy and paste this text too, so it’s easy to copy a few bars and use it as a template to search for that chord progressiion.
|| is a double bar line indicating a bar line (and a new section)
This would be a 12 bar blues
| C | F | C | | F | | C F7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 / / Ab7 | G7 | C A7 | Dm7 G7 |
I think I'm having trouble following. What's been described is a 12 bar blues that appears to have three bars in one section, then one bar in another section, and then 6 bars in a third section.
Maybe they are blank bars that look the same as double bars? I wonder if a better delimiter could have been used, or if blank bars could have a character in them to show that they are not new sections ( a tilde perhaps ~ )
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
I read this as one bar of C, one bar of F, then two bars of C and two bars of F. The song totals 12 bars. Is that what you see?
Well, I can sort of see that, but I can also see how | | could be interpreted as follows:
Quote:
|| is a double bar line indicating a bar line (and a new section)
Why not put some form of repeat character between the pipe characters if the chord is to be repeated, e.g. instead of: | C | F | C | | use: | C | F | C | ~ |
That would make it more readable and remove ambiguity?
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
We use a courier font so that the text lines up. This is just for the preview
Here's how a typical song looks...
1 || C | | D | G | 5 | C | | F | G | 9 !| C | F G | C | F G | 13 | Am | F | Am G | F G | 17 || C | | D | G | 21 | C | | F | G | 25 !| C | F G | C | F G | 29 | Am | F | Am G | F G |
btw) the default text copy includes bar#s, and also uses || for a 'a' substyle, and !| for a 'b' substyle I can make a copy button that has options to remove the numbers, and always use ||
then it would look like this
|| C | | D | G | | C | | F | G | || C | F G | C | F G | | Am | F | Am G | F G | || C | | D | G | | C | | F | G | | C | F G | C | F G | | Am | F | Am G | F G |
Why not put some form of repeat character between the pipe characters if the chord is to be repeated, e.g. instead of: | C | F | C | | use: | C | F | C | ~ |
That would make it more readable and remove ambiguity?
Makes sense; i thought ~ is a standard repeat sign for handwritten chord leadsheets. Probably hard to program within BIAB.
Then it would look like this if there were minimal spaces
|| C | % | D | G | | C | % | F | G | || C | F G | C | F G | | Am | F | Am G | F G | || C | % | D | G | | C | | F | G | | C | F G | C | F G | | Am | F | Am G | F G |
and this in courier font and lots of spaces.
|| C | % | D | G | | C | % | F | G | || C | F G | C | F G | | Am | F | Am G | F G | || C | % | D | G | | C | | F | G | | C | F G | C | F G | | Am | F | Am G | F G |
Then it would look like this if there were minimal spaces
|| C | % | D | G | | C | % | F | G | || C | F G | C | F G | | Am | F | Am G | F G | || C | % | D | G | | C | | F | G | | C | F G | C | F G | | Am | F | Am G | F G |
Looks more like the way i would hand-write out chord sequences for band rehearsals ...
I agree, the percent sign would be a suitable choice. Much better than a <space> character. (And at 4:30 AM I wasn't perhaps coming up with the best possible suggestion)
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
This chord text feature is exactly what I have needed to do charts with multiple songs on one page.
Question: Am I doing something wrong because I have to rebuild every time I hit the songpicker. Shouldn't it pull up the last list built and allow me to rebuild on my own timetable?
Peter, Thanks, at least I understand now how the filter should work. But unfortunately it doesn't. There is clearly a real problem with the parser that incorrectly takes over the entered string. See screenshot:
Biab/RB latest build, German Language Pak, Win 10/64 Pro, 1 TB SSD, 32 GB RAM. Notation SW Finale, StaffPad, SmartsScore – Playing Double Bass, Guitar, Piano
Right, it looks like you’re missing a bar line at the start, and that confuses the parser. Instead of
Gm7 C7 | F | .... Put | Gm7 C7 | F |
We can make the code add a bar line in situations like that, but for now, insuring that it starts with a bar line should fix it. And you’re right, one of the examples had that typo too. It’s likely a common thing that people would not put a bar line to start with so that would be a good fix,
This chord text feature is exactly what I have needed to do charts with multiple songs on one page.
Question: Am I doing something wrong because I have to rebuild every time I hit the songpicker. Shouldn't it pull up the last list built and allow me to rebuild on my own timetable?
Peter, unfortunately, after inserting this leading bar line, it does not work properly. It now puts an empty bar in front and searches for songs containing the phrase – but only those which contain the phrase with a preceding "empty" bar!
Biab/RB latest build, German Language Pak, Win 10/64 Pro, 1 TB SSD, 32 GB RAM. Notation SW Finale, StaffPad, SmartsScore – Playing Double Bass, Guitar, Piano
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac and save up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special offer—available until May 15, 2026. Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page to explore all available upgrade options.
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean