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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 4
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 4 |
Hi,
I have recently bought Band-In-A-Box 2010.5 and have really enjoyed using it for my songs. My only criticism is the lack of guitar solos. I have browsed the Realpaks and listened to the demos and observed that there are relatively few guitar solos that can be used for pop music. I am talking about middle of the road music in the style of the Beatles, ELO, America (I haven't found a single acoustic guitar solo), James Taylor etc. I have managed to use the slide guitar, the hiphop sax and the harmonica for some of my solos, but there isn't much else. Please can you provide more pop guitar and other solos?
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,132
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,132 |
I'll add my two cents in for some solo guitar. Mostly, I'm thinking of acoustic guitar, but these riffs are general enough to be done on clean electric. Basically, in the same genre as Rhythm CountrySwingCleanPicked Sw 110, but a bit less "country" and perhaps a bit more "blues".
Listening through my favorite middle of the road albums for example, it's a bit surprising how "solos" were few and far between. Mostly, there are short riffs that fill in at the end of phrases and sections - most last ast the most only a measure or two.
Artists that I associate with acoustic guitar - America, Dan Fogelberg, Indigo Girls - often don't have "flashy" licks, but instead use simple stuff like pentatonic moves, scalewise motion, and suspensions. It's all very understated, mixed in with fingerpicking or strums.
The James Taylor style incorporates the licks into fingerpicking patterns. This makes it hard to isolate them, and they also have a very distinct style to them. I love the JT style (and would love to have that as a style!), but I've tried to keep the examples generic.
In listening for what I though would be "generic" riffs, I've tried to eliminate repeated riffs such as in "Ventura Highway", as well as melodic lines that are closely tied to the melody. Some specific examples:
America/Homecoming/Ventura Highway
0:44 - twinned descending line
1:52 - hammered on descending lick
America/Hearts/Sister Golden Hair
0:29 - arpeggios
1:02 - hammered on descending lick
Indigo Girls/Rites of Passage/Galileo
2:20 - hammer on suspensions,
2:39 - hammer on/pull off descending line
Indigo Girls/Swamp Ophelia/Power of Two
Intro - lots of riffs
1:34 - hammer on and slide
Carole King/Tapestry/So Far Away
0:04 - scales and suspensions
0:59 - hammer on/off riff
3:18 - extended lick
3:27 - ascending scale
Carole King/Music/Sweet Seasons
1:05 - hammer on riffs
1:58 - bluesy guitar hammer on riff
2:15 - bluesy riff repeats...
Carole King/Music/Some Kind of Wonderful
0:12 - James Taylor chordal suspension riff
0:27 - pentatonic ascending riff
0:38 - high guitar on thirds
0:45 - hammer on riffs
1:07 - thirds
1:10 - another hammer on riff
1:18 - descending riff
1:21 - hammer on riff
1:30 - hammer on riff
etc...
1:58 - thirds
etc...
Carole King/Music/Growing Away From Me
0:03 - descending hammer on/off riff
0:08 - sliding suspension riff
0:21 - bluesy thirds
etc...
0:54 - parallel thirds riff
Carole King/Music/Too Much Rain
0:46 - nice hammer on/off riff
1:02 - ascending pentatonic riff
1:19 - descending parallel thirds
2:02 - hammer on/off riff
2:07 - extended hammer on/off riff (very JT sounding)
2:14 - hammer on/off riff
Dan Fogelberg/Captured Angel/Comes And Goes
0:42 - riff in thirds
1:02 - ascending scale
1:11 - slide
1:32 - descending scale
1:42 - ascending scale
2:00 - riff in thirds
Dan Fogelberg/Captured Angel/Old Tennessee
0:30 - riff using suspensions
0:49 - another hammer on suspension riff
1:00 - ascending scale riff
1:10 - riff using suspension
1:16 - descending scale
1:41 - hammer on suspension
1:50 - parallel thirds
1:57 - slide
2:03 - riff built around a suspension
2:10 - another descending lick using hammer ons with suspensions
3:02 - ascending scale
Yes, I know that's JT playing on Carole King's songs. But I tried to identify riffs that were fairly generic. This isn't intended to be an exhaustive list, but get the general flavor. If people are looking for something else, please chime in and correct me!
I think that this sort of style - with simple arpeggios and runs under melody, and fills at the end - would be a great addition to the RealTracks style.
It would also be nice to have a more "bluesy" approach as well, perhaps done on clean electric guitar.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,132
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,132 |
I'll go easy on the lists this time around!
While I want more MOR electric guitar solos, I'd also like to have the "meat and potatoes" guitar tracks as well - turnarounds and bits that sit behind the vocals. While not as flashy, I think a "comping solo" style would find use in more songs that a "lead solo" style would.
While everyone's probably got a different idea of what they'd like, I'd like to see something along the lines of David Lindley's guitar work during the mid 70's with Jackson Browne. Examples include "Doctor My Eyes", "Fountain of Sorrow" and "Late For The Sky".
Not only do these songs have some great solos, but they're good examples of comping that fits in behind the vocals, supporting without overpowering. The general style is "generic" enough to fit a broad class of songs.
Since I'm asking, I'd also love to have some Latin-influenced nylon string guitar soloing. Examples include "On The Border" (Al Stewart/Year of the Cat), "River of Souls" (Dan Fogelberg/River of Souls), "Private Investigations" (Dire Straits/Love Over Gold) and "Paseo De Gracia" (The Alan Parsons Project/Gaudi). Not only would these work as "rock" solos, but they'd probably work with "contemporary jazz" as well.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!
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Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!
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We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.
Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!
Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
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Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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- Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
- Playable RealTracks Set 5
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- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
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Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
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