In another thread, Charlie Fogle taught me something I didn't know BiaB could do.

"In the first box type the number 1 and enter
In the second box type the number 4 and enter
In the third box type the number 5 and enter" . . . thank you Charlie.

As a newbie, I think I know what 1-4-5 means. In the key of C major for example it's the progression C-F-G. But what I didn't know is that BiaB is smart enough to equate the numerical note number with its corresponding note/chord in the scale. [There's probably a better way to describe this.]

When I write a song in BiaB, I try to communicate to BiaB what's in my head by giving it the standard chords/chord progression that I think might work; and experiment until something sounds good to me. Likewise, when I communicate with other players I collaborate with, we use standard chord names.

The background here is that I'm a completly self-taught ammatuer song writer (instrumentals) with limited music theory knowledge but can see the value of understanding music theory as much as I can. Also, when I play 1-4-5 progressions on my bass, I know where the "1" is on my fretboard but I'm not thinking "1"; I'm thinking "C". And for some songs that I have committed to memory and don't need a chord sheet (no matter the key) I'm not even thinking "C" but rather I'm thinking geometric patterns and x-y locations on my fretboard. A huge step forward for me (that happened in the past year) is that in certain/rare cases, I know the tone that will be produced before I even fret the note or press the key. It is these memorized songs that I play the best with maximun "feel" and freedom.

So, in my world in BiaB I use traditional note/chord names (C, F, G, etc). And when I play my bass or keyboard I use the same traditional note/chord names and sometimes geometry. So there is a lot going on here; various symbolic music notations, geometry, memory, what is musically pleasing and now, maybe "1-4-5" symbology/arithmetic.

My question is this. Does anyone use the "1-4-5 numeric symbology" as a direct way to communicate to BiaB when writing songs? Or do you enter chords directly as I do? In other words, what value is there in using the numeric notation that Charlie is describing?

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For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.