Hi folks, fairly new to BIAB here, definitely enjoying it. I imported a song using the Audio Chord Wizard and figured out how to get the chords. I am interested in learning a particular song. Now that I have the chords, is there a way to effectively tell BIAB "that's great, now give me the chords if I want to play it with the Capo on 4"? The key is tricky, but if I capo up, I can move it to easier shapes.
You can transpose the song to a different key using the Transpose option from the main screen. There are other ways to show the Capo also, and I'm sure the guitar experts will be along shortly with help on that part.
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I know what you mean - g shapes on fret 4 with a capo give you Bb which is a pig to play on an acoustic guitar. basically using that example you want BIAB to play in Bb but show the chords in G.
why not use nashville notation for the chords? G would become 1 , C would be come IV and D would become V using roman numerals. I'm not sure of the way to set things up to show the chords in capo position but nashville is easy to learn and becomes almost second nature. G shapes and C shapes between them will give you any key you like with a capo. and if you are playing with a capo like me Bbdim7 for example or anything other than the basic cowboy chords is not something you'll ever need. that's why its called nashville -country music has been described as 'three chords and the truth'. mind you the three minors in G and C are useful too!
+1 to on Bob Calver's rec to learn Nashville notation.
Its not just for country music. Even the jazz guys use it. All the time
Another thing you might be interested is the CAGED system. Google it for all the meaning.
Its really helpful for varying your arrangements
With your example of Bb Capo 1 and play it like open A major. Capo 6 and play it in "E" Capo 10 and play it in "C" (admittedly a bit high up the neck) Capo 8 and play it in "D"
Don't have a guitar handy, think the frets are correct.
Its a really good way to move around 2 guitar players strumming.
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In Notation mode, you can transpose the melody and chords without changing the music key
Notation>options>Transpose - it is in the middle column about half way down. I think it will do exactly what you want.
However you should return it to ZERO - is a global option
I print all my music, so I change the music key as described by Video Track to the chords I want to play, and print it with a note for the capo position. I don't save this version, just the print out
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Its not just for country music. Even the jazz guys use it. All the time
Have to agree with Matt, actually. This jazz guy has used Nashville notation a total of 'never', and I don't know anyone who has used it or ever even mentioned it.
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Its not just for country music. Even the jazz guys use it. All the time
Have to agree with Matt, actually. This jazz guy has used Nashville notation a total of 'never', and I don't know anyone who has used it or ever even mentioned it.
I have never used Nashville notation either. We must be old school!
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Thanks all, sorry for slow reply (camping last week). I am familiar with the concept of Nashville notation and I can work out the transposition manually if I need to, I just thought BIAB might have some functionality to do so automatically and therefore more quickly. It takes me some time. It seems to have so many things built into it, it would seem to be a mistake to assume there's anything it can't do.
I use it all the time. I play rock, pop, country, easy listening, folk, contemporary worship. But, It's not like I actually write out the roman numerals on a chord chart. It's more casual than that. I know that G - E - C - D is a 1 - 6 - 5 - 4 progression and most of the time I can quickly transpose it in my head and often on the fly to a different key by keeping the 1 - 6 - 5 - 4 progression and not really thinking about what the actual chords are, other than the 1. In fact, I don't even know how I learned to do it or what got me started using it. It probably came over time just from changing keys on songs to accommodate my voice or other vocalists. Plus, I pretty much only play guitar so transposing on guitar as many know is often quite simple.
To address the original question: If you learn the notes on the 6th and 5th strings all the way up to the 12th fret and use those notes as your roots that will become easier over time. As stated, capo 3rd fret and play a G shape = Bb. Play a C shape = Eb and you learn to just rename the chord shape in your head according to where your root notes are on the lower 2 strings. Once in a while you'll pay attention the 4th string as in a D shape. Over time you should just start doing in. You'll be able to look at a chord chart in the key of Bb and you will be call your G chord shape a Bb because of where your root note is on the fretboard. Does that make sense? I used to make note cards, as in, I would write the notes on index cards and shuffle them. The student would play the note on the 5th or 6th string as I called it. They would look at a cheat sheet of the fretboard with the notes written on it to find the notes and play them until they no longer needed the cheat sheet. For most it did not take very long.
Thanks for the replies on this. I am gradually improving at transposing on the fly. Definitely easier in some common places and shapes (capo 5 with G shapes is a common one I use to end up in the key of C).
With regards to BIAB, I found the easiest way for myself to write out a song is to just put the chords in based on the shapes I am using, then just shift the key up however many frets I'm putting the capo and Bob's your uncle!
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