User Guide

Chapter 6: Band-in-a-Box PowerGuide
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Press the [Open (Change)…] button, and select the MIDI file to import.
Choose a preset, and the Chord Wizard will interpret the chords in that
style.
Press the [INTERPRET CHORDS NOW] button to see the chords written
into the Band-in-a-Box chordsheet.
Chord Wizard results – interpreting from a Standard MIDI File.
The dialog has options to read channels into the Melody and/or Soloist tracks.
Read in Chords from a PG Music or Band-in-a-Box MIDI file.
Many of PG Music's programs have MIDI files with the chords in them. You can open these files in Band-in-a-Box,
and the chords will be imported onto the Chordsheet. To import the chords from a PG Music MIDI file (i.e. a MIDI
file made by Band-in-a-Box, PowerTracks Pro or some other PG Music programs), choose the menu item File |
Import Chords from MIDI File and select “OK to use PG Music chord names from MIDI file.” The chords will then
appear on the lead sheet starting at bar 1, overwriting any chords that were there previously.
“Jazz Up” the Chords; “Jazz Down” the Chords.
When switching genres (from Pop to Jazz, or Jazz to Pop), it’s often necessary to change the chords from
“Pop/Rock” chords (C) to Jazz type chords (Like CMaj7). Now you can quickly do this, by new menu options
called “Jazz Up,” “Jazz Down.” Choose the menu item User | “Jazz Up” … or User | “Jazz Down” … to do this:
- “Jazz Up” - This function simply converts triads to 7
th
chords, producing a lead sheet more suitable for Jazz. If
you have a song with triad chords like C or Dm, you can choose to “Jazz Up” the chords. When you do this,
you get an option of whether you'd like to see Maj7, Maj6 or Dominant 7
th
for the major triads.
- “Jazz Down” - This function converts 7th chords to triads, for a lead sheet more suited to Pop music.
Applying Styles
There are many styles available for use with the Band-in-a-Box program. For the purposes of this program, styles
refer to styles of music, i.e. Jazz Swing, Tango, Blues, Pop Ballad, etc. Either before or after you have entered the
chords to a song, you will have to pick one of these styles. Once a style is loaded, the song will be played back in
that style.
Current Style Window