You had a previous thread about this (or along these lines). I blathered on for paragraphs about chord theory, then a PG staff person came and told you how to load your melody and let BIAB find the chords for you. Made me look like a pompous fool, but I left my posts there so others would know to beware of my replies.

The BIAB method is not fool-proof, because musical decisions are (or can be) complex and you can't ALWAYS just turn it over to a computer. But it will definitely get you started, and may do flawless.

Do you play an instrument? Can you play chords on it, like guitar or piano? This is how most of "us" learned how chords work, even if we are not really proficient on the instrument or even know the names of the notes. BIAB assumes a certain level of knowledge about chords. After all, its main feature and most basic command is "enter chords".

Load your melody. Let BIAB choose some chords for you, and experiment. I'd maybe start with a single simple chording instrument (guitar or piano, most likely) playing simple rhythms--held chords may work best--and a simple bass. This will keep the arrangement free of "grace notes", "blue notes" and passing tones, for the most part. In this way, you can turn BIAB into your "chording instrument" to learn chords and--not to forget--where to place them. I think all of "us" have experienced the frustration of not being able to find the "right" chord.

This is essentially what I'm doing now, in trying to expand my pallete of progressions.

There may be better ways--even within BIAB--but that scenario mimics what most of "us" did to learn chords for songs...and still do, in many cases.



Last edited by Tangmo; 05/27/20 01:20 PM.
BIAB 2021 Audiophile. Windows 10 64bit. Songwriter, lyricist, composer(?) loving all styles. Some pre-BIAB music from Farfetched Tangmo Band's first CD. https://alonetone.com/tangmo/playlists/close-to-the-ground