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I have a pop style here that uses triads for the chord progression.
Can I change the chord progression to four-note chords and then back to triads for this pop song?
Would this have to be done via the melodist?
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I'm confused - standard major and minor chords are triads - any fourth note would be a repeat of one of the notes in the triad - or it would not be the standard major or minor chord. .. A guitar would probably be playing all three notes and a piano could easily be playing lots more notes but they would be 'doubled' as it were. What do you mean by four note chords? BIAB can 'play' lots of four note chords like a C7 - C,E,G,Bb.
I'm only a cowboy chord guitarist so maybe I'm missing the point.
Last edited by Bob Calver; 12/30/25 10:17 AM.
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Hi, i think they are called seventh chords , not for now i want to look at stab chords : s(sopran)t(tenor)a(alt) b(bass) chords for now , these are triads with doubling a note
I like to enrich the chordprogression in BIAB with fuller chords then only for triads.
Hope you get the idea...its for composing
Well, I already have an idea of how it works: the style generates a certain chord progression, which is fixed by the melodist.
Then you can change the chords later in the chord sheet.
So in my style, there were all triads, and then you could change them manually if you wanted a fuller seventh chord.
Diatonic Seventh Chords in C Major
Scale Degree Chord Name Chord Symbol (BIAB) Notes
I C major seventh Cmaj7 (or CΔ7) C – E – G – B
ii D minor seventh Dm7 D – F – A – C
iii E minor seventh Em7 E – G – B – D
IV F major seventh Fmaj7 F – A – C – E
V G dominant seventh G7 G – B – D – F
vi A minor seventh Am7 A – C – E – G
vii° B half-diminished seventh Bm7♭5 B – D – F – A
I think in popsongs (other genre music styles too ?) i can reduce the generated chord progression to triads and then use sevenths chords
What does the regenerate button?
Last edited by janhardo; 12/31/25 03:06 AM.
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you can enter any chord you like - sevenths, ninths, etc - you don't have to stick to straight major or minor go to the support page and choose online manual. chapter 15 has a list of supported chords.
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Thanks, that's great for BIAB to have those chords
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all of those chords can be used in BIAB if you use midi but RealTracks are recordings of actual musicians so the artist has to have recorded a phrase using that chord. if they didn't BIAB will substitute the closest it has
Last edited by Bob Calver; 01/02/26 01:58 AM.
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There is an option that I think is global to “Jazz up the Chords” which will take simple triads and add 7ths.
I’ve never tried it because all the styles I use contain at least 7ths and upper extensions too. I’m not at a computer but if you would like to know where this option can be found, it’s in the article I wrote in the Tips and Tricks Forum. It’s a sticky post called When BIAB doesn’t play the chords you wrote”.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Thanks, i think this is specific for jazz styles to jazz up en jazz down the chords, and found it in BIAB
I am using pop chords related with a popstyle , so they are simpler those chords
Could not quick find your post about building chords yet,unfortunately
Last edited by janhardo; 01/02/26 05:35 AM.
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Danna, thanks for the link. There are several topics there that might apply.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Thanks, that's great for BIAB to have those chords Threre is a page ** here *** that lists the chords BiaB recognises. Depending upon the particular style/RealTrack, some chords may be recognised but not played in full.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11
BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software.
Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts
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Thanks, great this chords
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Did you not try, in the 1st instance, to enter a 7th?
I sometimes wonder about the lack of curiosity and experimentation in some folks.
Then again, the brains trust is pretty fabulous.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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I've already typed in some stuff for the chord extension, added a seventh, no 9, 11, or 13, and added the function notation.
It seems that for jazz styles, you can enrich or impoverish the chords.
For a pop style, this option is not available, as far as I can see.
It would be easy if the chord progression were in triads and you could enrich the chords with the push of a button.
If I now have triads in a song, I have to manually adjust the chord sheet, which then gives me the opportunity to experiment and come up with the best-sounding chord.
Last edited by janhardo; 01/03/26 02:25 AM.
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...
For a pop style, this option is not available, as far as I can see. ... It tends to depend on how the musician played the samples for the RealTrack. 'Pop' music often has only the dominant seven, so the tone pallet can be limited. This is rather what I meant when I said chords may be recognised but not necessarily played.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11
BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software.
Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts
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Among the many tips in the article I wrote here https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=694482#Post694482 Is the concept that the more specific you are in BIAB with upper extensions, the better. To do that, you should know chord theory. Here’s an example. When you write “a 7th”, you will get a dominant (minor) 7th if you just write 7. If you want a major 7th, you have to write that. But do you know what kind of 7th you will get if you write a 9th chord? When you enter D9, you don’t tell BIAB about the 7th. This is the same playing notation on sheet music. It gets worse the higher you go. When you write a 13th chord, will it include the 9th? Which one - natural, flatted, or sharped? Will it include the 11th, and might you prefer a #11, especially in a chord at the end of a phrase unless it’s a minor 11? Which will BIAB choose? In that 13th chord, where is the 13th voiced? Will it clash with the 7th (a half step away)? Tip: any number above seven, just subtract seven to find the pitch. Then all you need to know is in what register (octave) it will sound. If you don’t yet know the music theory about this, your ears can generally give you the hint if the chord isn’t right. Play the song. Do you like the sound? Or, press Shift+Enter to audition a specific chord. Do you like the sound?
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I assume that the chords entered in the chord screen are heard in the style (MIDI) and also in the real style?
A thirteenth chord, for example, does not mean that there is a stack of thirds from the triad and that you get a 7-note chord, if I remember correctly.
How could you do a quick test to listen to all the chords in BIAB?
Last edited by janhardo; 01/03/26 09:34 AM.
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How could you do a quick test to listen to all the chords in BIAB? That is actually very possible. Just use AI to list every chord in a single key that BIAB can generate. Tell AI to look directly at the BIAB manual for a listing of all possible chords. Then tell AI to generate a text file in the format that will place a single chord in each bar of a song and paste that into the Chord Chart in BIAB. Once you have all the chords input into the chord chart use the "chords" feature to play each chord as a block midi. Or just use any individual style you care to hear what the style and/or RTs will do with the chords. I am surprised I have never seen anyone do this.  So for the first to do this, upload the .sgu file so the rest of us can play with it.
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Good effort, but the arrangement isn't quite right yet. However, it can still be improved.
I also gave it a try and the AI assured me that it used the same chord symbols as in BIAB, but when I entered them into the chord sheet, that turned out not to be the case.
Yes, you can still create the chord families suggested by the AI: triads, sevenths... and I ended up with 10 groups, but then there are gaps in the chord sheet
But then you need to know exactly which system BIAB uses for notating chords in the chord sheet before the AI can get to work on it.
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Chord symbol nomenclature is not entirely standardized. It has always been the case that you have to learn how a chord is spelled in each program. It's even possible in BIAB to define your own shortcuts for chords.
BIAB has some odd ones, such as C5b, and I'm not surprised AI might now know such quirks. That doesn't necessarily mean anyone is mistaken, or needs to be 'improved'.
I'm curious, what chord did AI suggest that BIAB did not recognize?
ps my personal pet peeve is the use of the plus or minus sign in a chord.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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