User Guide

Chapter 6: Band-in-a-Box PowerGuide

automatically inserted into your song (chordsheet or notation view) at the current cursor

location. Then, Band-in-a-Box is ready for the next chord. You can insert up to two

chords per bar in this fashion.

Erase Chords

To erase chords, place the highlight cell over top of the chords you would like to erase.

Press the [spacebar] once. Then move your cursor to the right or left, or mouse click on

another measure, and the chord(s) will be erased.

Insert or Delete Bars

Inserting or deleting measures in the chordsheet saves a lot of copying or re-typing of

chords when changes are made to an arrangement. The commands to insert or delete bars

from the chordsheet are:

- To insert bars choose Edit | Insert Measure(s) or

+i and you can insert a given #

of bars.

- To delete bars choose Edit | Delete Measure(s) or

+d and you can delete a given #

of bars.

Breaks: Rests, Shots, and Held Chords

Breaks are points in a song when one or more of the instruments rests, plays a shot, or

holds a chord.

Rests

You can have any, some, or all instruments rest at any bar. For example, you could rest

all instruments except the bass for the first 4 bars, then add in the piano for 4 bars, and

then add in the entire band for the rest of the song. You may optionally disable the rests

in the middle or final choruses (where people are likely taking solos, and rests are not

appropriate).

A chord is specified as a REST by adding 1 period after the chord.

indicates a C chord that is a REST.

Shots

You can make certain instruments play a “shot” where the chord is played and then a rest

follows. For example, the song “Rock Around The Clock” has a shot on beat 1 followed

by a rest for 2 bars.

A chord is specified as a SHOT by adding 2 periods after the chord.

indicates a C chord that is a SHOT.

Held Chords

You can specify that certain instruments hold a chord sustained for a certain number of

bars. For example, you can have the bass and piano hold a chord sustained while the

drums continue to play a pattern

A chord is HELD by adding 3 periods after the chord.

indicates a C chord that is a HELD.

In these examples, bar 1 has a normal chord and bar 2 has a chord with a break on it (a

rest, shot, or held chord).