I set the key...I set my first chord in the first bar...I would love if BIAB had a popup window that would suggest to me what chords are commonly played next AND give me a button to click so I can hear the chord. this would be a nice tool to use when songwriting.



this image is very simplistic but should convey the idea. more advanced chord options could be added and it should not be limited to only the more common chords. it would be great if it would play a bar using the currently selected track!

Hi John,

That's a great idea. I reckon there would be many users out there who would like ideas on what chord follows the one just used.

Believe it or not, I actually created my avatar with the Nashville notation to give users a way of working out what chords travel to and from other chords. I had intentions of writing how to do this in "Tips and Tricks". I just haven't got around to it yet. You've inspired me. I'll get my thoughts together over the next couple of days and write it up. (The beauty of using Nashville notation in BIAB is that because it is independent of key, it works equally easily in all keys.)

Regards,
Noel

This is a good idea IF you can select to turn it off!

Great idea!

+1 I think.

Sometimes I use the chord builder option to demo different chords to help me determine what chord sounds like a chord I hear in my head. The trouble is I want a progression but don't know music theory well enough to identify the progression so I end up using chord builder to go through the alphabet and demo chords to find the root and then go through the chord variations to find the right variation.

It would be great to have a pop up option ease that process. I just don't understand how an option can help me determine the chord progression I want when I don't know enough music theory to give the option a hint.

Jim, the hint comes from the key you chose and what chord you used last. So you would do nothing different than you do now...type in a chord and the popup automatically suggests possible chords to go to next.

JohnJohnJohn,

Thank you for the clarification. Makes sense after I thought it through some more.

Hi John,

I like this idea too. Noted!

When I'm writing tunes I often find this Chord Wheel tool helpful.
https://www.amazon.ca/Chord-Wheel-Ultimate-Tool-Musicians/dp/0634021427/ref=sr_1_1/163-5097577-8849936?ie=UTF8&qid=1474130957&sr=8-1&keywords=circle+of+fifths

Pauline
PG Music Team

Yes, because not all the users will use that.

My advice : buy a good a harmony book and study it seriously. You will get a real knowledge of harmony and a better control over your music.

So, for pro results, you have to envisage passing chord, modulations, extended chords, chords with bass inversions, frequency of chords changes, ....according to the genre (rock/pop/latin/world/...) and the style (ballad/fast T° songs/...), and not forgetting also that chords should also be driven by the melody and countermelody...

John-Luke, great suggestion. Will you reccommend a title?

Do you also advise people not to use Band-in-a-Box because they should instead learn to play the instruments themselves to "get a real knowledge" and "better control over your music"?

Obviously, we use tools to get the results we want. Adding a tool like this will help us achieve those goals!

I'm no George when it comes to chords, Music theory and reading books is not for me, so yes suggestion is good.

RapidComposer is great in that way.

Agreed!! PG could get a LOT of inspiration from Rapid Composer in this and other areas! RC is like a Swiss Army knife for songwriters!

Same with the background color of the piano roll corresponds to the chord/scale so you can compose rapidly.

Yes, of course you're right, but band in a box is widely used by a lot of people, with different interests and different backgrounds.

For example, I've extensively used BIAB to teach music theory and harmony, and I can clearly see how helpful would be a built-in Chord wheel for a lot of students (specially beginners).

I personally would not have a big need, but certainly there are many users who would get a benefit.
So yes,
+1

This is a great idea! Thanks everyone for all the input on this subject! I agree this feature would be great with the option to disable for user not interested.

I also just posted an idea to also include the ability to select chord progressions using Roman numeral, similar to the Nashville number system but intended to be used for experimenting with chords and learning music theory.