Impro-Visor Tutorial
keyed to Impro-Visor Version 4 and later
Bob Keller
Harvey Mudd College
19 February 2010
Table of Contents (also hyperlinks)
1. Copyright and Trademark Information
- This document is copyright (c)2009-2011 by Robert M. Keller, all
rights reserved.
- The Impro-Visor logo is a registered trademark and copyright 2010-2011 by Robert M. Keller..
- Impro-Visor itself is free,
open-source, software, licensed under GNU GPL v2 and copyright (c)2006-2011 Robert M. Keller and Harvey Mudd
College.
2.
Acknowledgment
- Impro-Visor was designed and developed
by Bob Keller, together with Martin Hunt, Stephen Jones, David Morrison,
Belinda Thom, David Wolin, and Steve Gomez (Dartmouth College), Jim Herold
(Cal Poly Pomona), Brandy McMenamy (Carlton College), Sayuri Seojima, Emma Carlson, Stephen Lee, Jon
Gillick (Wesleyan University), Kevin Tang (Cornell University), John
Goodman (Open University in the U.K.).
- This project was supported by a Mellon
Foundation Faculty Enhancement grant to Professors Keller and Thom, and by
the National Science Foundation REU Program
under grant Award No. 0451293 to Harvey Mudd College, and by a
grant from the Baker Foundation.
3.
Support
- The best way to get free support is to join the user's group:
- The group moderator is also the
project director, and author of this document, and I will try to help you.
4.
Purpose
- Impro-Visor is a music notation tool
designed to help improvising musicians study chord progressions
("changes") and construct monophonic solos over them.
- Impro-Visor has a number of additional
features, such as auto-accompaniment based on chord progressions. Some
features are in various stages of research and development. As such,
Impro-Visor is both a usable educational product and an on-going research
project.
5.
Downloading
There are only two official sources for the software:
Go the Files > Software Distribution folder
6. Before Installing
- You must
have already installed Java version 1.5 or later (1.6 or later preferred).
- There is no
way that Impro-Visor will run without Java.
- For MacOS
X, this means that you have operating system version 10.5.5 or later.
7. Releases
- Generally, it is best to select the
most recent release.
- Choose the installer for the platform
of interest:
Windows
MacOS X
Linux
Generic (any Java Platform, no installer)
- Usually this will be determined
automatically from your browser. On SourceForge it looks like this:
- Click the greenbutton, or View all
files for more
selections.
8.
Installing
a.
Double-click
the installer to install.
b.
The installer
will take you through the necessary steps.
c.
Once you have
installed, Impro-Visor is launched by the Dog icon.
d.
Do not try
launching by running the installer again.
9.
The
No-Installer Version
á There is a generic version packaged as a
.zip file.
á This version does not include an installer
or launcher.
á Java 1.5 or later is still required.
á Once the files have been unzipped,
double-click the improvisor.jar
file to launch, or launch from a command-line:
java
–jar improvisor.jar
10.
Release
Folder Contents
A release folder
typically contains these items:
LICENSE.txt
|
copy of the
license
|
README.txt
|
general
information
|
Impro-Visor
|
launcher
|
uninstaller
|
|
Improvisor.jar
|
(launched by
java, or by double-click)
|
leadsheets
|
leadsheet files
|
styles
|
style files
|
vocab
|
vocabulary files
needed to run the program
|
styleExtract
|
sample for style
extraction
|
11.
Launching
To launch the program, double-click the
Impro-Visor dog icon, or the .jar file if you are using the no-installer
version.
12.
Splash
Screen
Once Impro-Visor
has been launched, the splash screen shown indicates that Impro-Visor is
loading the vocabulary and style information.
Impro-VisorSplash Screen
13.
Initial
Leadsheet Screen
The initial main
screen shows a blank leadsheet. A leadsheet consists of a single melody line
with chord symbols above. There is an option to use bass clef, or a grand staff
with two clefs.
A blank leadsheet
14.
Loading
a Leadsheet
- From File > Open (or key control-o) select file _tutorial.ls
- The result should appear as shown
below.
- The chord symbols are F13, Bb13, Bo7,
etc.
- The notes are the melody line.
A partially-complete leadsheet
15.
More
Leadsheets
16.
Playing
a Leadsheet
- Check your sound by playing the
leadsheet:
- Press key
i or this button
to play from the start.
- To stop playing, press key k or the button
17.
Playing
with a Count-In
- Click
the box marked Count to have a count-in before playing the leadsheet.
- Count-in
applies only only to playing from the start, not for playing individual
sections.
- Count-in
is currently two measures long.
- For
4/4 time, the count is jazz style: 1-3-1-2-3-4.
- For
other times signatures, each beat is hit, with the 1 being differentiated
by a different tone.
Count-in
check box
18.
Tempo
Slider
Control the tempo by using the slider
provided, or simply type in the number of beats per minute.
Tempo
slider
19.
Playback
Location Slider
- The
location slider indicates the position of the playback relative to the
entire leadsheet, including all choruses.
- It
can be controlled manually to move around within the leadsheet.
Playback
Location Slider
20. Tracker Delay
- When
a selection is played, there is a green vertical tracking line that moves
along from note to note.
- On
some systems, the line starts ahead of the sound.
- This
is a function of the MIDI playback, which is not under the direct control
of Impro-Visor.
- To
delay the line from the sound, enter the number of seconds, in decimal
notation in this field.
Tracker delay field
21.
Got Sound?
- Impro-Visor
emits sound only from a MIDI player or device.
- If
you do not get sound, try these:
- Check
that your volume is turned up and not on mute.
- Check
your Audio/MID control panel.
- If
you want the sound from the built-in
Java synth, please disconnect any external MIDI devices.
- If
you want the sound from an external
MIDI device connected, you will need to select it from preferences.
- If
using an external device with a Mac, you will need to
install Mandolane MIDI SPI first to use it: http://www.mandolane.co.uk/
Use
Mandolane for external MIDI on MacOS X
22. Playback Transpose
- The transpose field transposes the playback up or down the indicated number of
semitones from what is written in the notation.
- The use envisioned is for transposing
instruments.
- For example, for a Bb instrument
(trumpet or tenor sax), use -2 and enter notes as if you were writing for
that instrument.
- For an Eb instrument, use +3.
- You need to adjust the key signature
manually.
- Transpose does not change the notation,
just the playback.
Playback transposition field
23. Positioning the Cursor on
the Staff
As you move the mouse over the staves, you
will note a some vertical lines become highlighted, and there are brackets
beneath, as shown:
Slot display
24.
Slots
- We
call the vertical lines that you see above slots.
They correspond to temporal sub-divisions in the music.
- Slots are places where notes can
start.
- These notes can be clicked in using
the mouse.
- (Notes can also be typed in, but we
will cover this later.)
- By default, there are two slots per
beat (as shown by the bracket 2), so the duration between one slot and the
next is that of an eighth note.
- There are actually 120 slots in one
beat, but only a few of them typically show at a given time, to avoid
clutter and confusion.
25. Changing the Slot Spacing
- To enter triplets, sixteenth notes,
etc., the slot spacing needs to be changed.
- By pressing a numeric key, one of 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 the slot spacing changes to that many slots showing per
beat.
- Thus for eighth-note triplets, press 3
and enter the notes or rests. For sixteenth notes, press 4 and enter the
notes as shown.
- You can always use more slots than the
necessary number, just by skipping over slots on which notes do not start.
1,2,3,4,5,6, and 8 slot spacing settings.
The brackets on top are the triplet brackets. The brackets below show the slot
spacing.
26.
Selection
- By selection, I mean a region on the staff of one or
more slots.
- Various user actions pertain to the
current selection.
- To extend the selection to include
more slots, shift-click the mouse at another slot.
- That is, click the mouse while holding
down the shift key.
- The slots in the current selection
should be highlighted.
- The figure below shows the result of
shift-clicking at the end of the second measure.
Selection highlighted
27.
Playing
Just the Selection, or from the Selection to the End of Chorus
- To
play only the selection, press the return
key.
- As
before, to stop playing, press key k or the stop button.
- You
may also press the pause button to pause, then resume:
28.
Playing from the Selection to the End of
Chorus
To
play from the start of the selection to the end of the chorus, press shift-return.
29.
Looping Playback
- To loop the current selection or chorus
in a loop, press the green Loop button
to have the playback repeated the desired number of times.
- Looping begins the next time you play.
- If you set the times to 0, it will
loop until stopped (with the stop button or k
key).
- Press the Straight button to not loop any further the next time
playing occurs.
Toggling the Loop button
30.
Entering
Notes Using the Mouse
To enter a note using the mouse, click
somewhere on the stave near the first slot in a bar. You should get a note
something like the following:
First note clicked (bar 9)
31.
Controlling
Sound Volume and Muting
- You should hear your note in the
context of the chord being played along with it.
- If you do not want to hear the note,
you can silence everything by toggling the Mute button.
Mute button and volume control
- You can control the volume of
individual instruments and note entry by opening the mixer panel using this button:
Mixer panel open button
- The
mixer sliders control
the volume of each instrument separately:
Mixer panel
32.
Entering
Shorter Notes
- If you did not want a note as long as
Impro-Visor gives use, this is easy to change.
- Impro-Visor is just trying to make it
faster to enter notes, by not requiring you to enter a duration for each
note separately.
- To see how this works, click on the
next slot, to get a display similar to the one below:
One note clicked in
- Continue entering notes with different durations, until you
have 7 or 8 notes, something like what is shown:
Several notes clicked in
33.
Making corrections
- If at any point you do not like what
you entered, just go back and click over it.
- Impro-Visor will never put more than one note in a slot.
- Moreover, as you click a different
pitch in a slot, then duration
of the note will remain the same.
Pitches were modified, but durations remain
the same.
34.
Note
Beaming
- Impro-Visor renders eighthnotes-,
sixteenth-notes, etc. with beams automatically.
- There is no user specification of beam
usage or placement.
- Currently dotted note combinations,
such as dotted-eighth with sixteenth, are not beamed.
- Beams can be turned on and off by the
button labeled No Beam.
Toggling note beaming
35. Note Entry Parallax
Correction
- The parallax text field in the menu
bar adds the indicated number of pixels in the vertical dimension to your
click position when entering notes.
- This can be used to accommodate
variations in monitors, monitor positions, and tastes.
- Use a negative number to subtract
pixels.
Parallax field
36. Note Coloration
- You may notice that notes are shown in
various colors.
- These colors have tutorial
significance, as explained below.
- If you do not want coloration, you can
turn it off by pressing the button labeled B/W
(for black and white), and toggle it back by pressing Color.
Toggling note coloration
- Here is the default meaning attached
to the colors, of which there are four:
Note Coloration Default Options
|
Color
|
Name
|
Meaning
|
Black
|
Chord-tone
|
The note is in
the current chord.
|
Green
|
Color-tone
|
The note is not
in the current chord, but is complementary and compatible with it.
|
Blue
|
Approach tone
|
The note is not
one of the above, but approaches a note in one of the above categories
chromatically. This is a common device used in jazz.
|
Red
|
Other
|
This note is not
one of the above. If it is a short note, it might be acceptable as a passing
tone or neighboring tone. If long, it might suggest reconsideration, as it
will tend to make an aural statement.
|
- The user can easily experiment with
changing to a different note, for example by using the e (up) and d (down)
keys to transpose.
- Impro-Visor note categorization comes
from the vocabulary file.
- If you disagree with a categorization, it can be changed
to suit by modifying the vocabulary.
37. Simple vs. Harmonic Note
Entry
- Notes entered by point and click are
generally rectified
to fit the harmony
upon entry.
- For example, if the current chord is
C7 and the b line on the staff is clicked, you will get an B-flat,
corresponding to the chord, rather than a B-natural, regardless of how the
key signature is set.
- If you prefer simple, rather than
harmonic entry, toggle the simple button on the menu bar:
Toggling simple vs. harmonic note entry
38. Undo and Redo
Another way to
make corrections is to use the undo feature.
- Pressing key z will undo the most recent action.
- Pressing key y will redo what was just undone.
- Arbitrarily-many steps can be undone
or redone.
39.
Selecting
a Slot Without Entering a Note
- To do serious editing with Impro-Visor,
you will want to know how to select a slot without setting or changing
a note.
- This is the most complex editing
action in Impro-Visor, and it is different from other software, so
please read carefully.
- Once you have mastered this move, many
other actions will be easy.
- To select a single slot inside the current selection, simply shift-click the slot.
- To select a single slot outside the current selection is a two step process:
1.
Hold the
shift key and click on the slot, which extends the selection to that slot, then
2.
Click again.
- For example, to click on the e note in
the previous diagram, I hold the shift key and click there, then click
again.
The first step extends the current selection, while the second reduces the
selection to a single note.
Step 1.: shift-click on e slot extends the existing selection to
that slot.
Step 2.: shift-click reduces the selection to a
single slot.
- Had it been the case that there was no
selection initially, only step 2 would have been necessary.
40. Summary of Selection
Sequences
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
click without shift
|
enters a note
|
shift-click,
with no current
selection
|
selects a slot,
without entering a note
|
shift-click,
outside current
selection
|
extends
selection to the slot on which you clicked
|
shift-click,
inside current
selection
|
selects just one
slot, without entering a note
|
41. Selecting or Unselecting Everything
- To select everything, press control-a.
- To unselect everything, press the escape key.
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
escape
|
un-selects
everything
|
control-a
|
select all slots
|
42. Adding Rests
- Too add a rest, you simply select a
single slot, as above, then press the r
key.
- Rests have characteristics similar to
notes. They just have no pitch.
- Impro-Visor may merge adjacent rests
together into a single long rest.
- Thus the value of the rest will be
that of the note it replaces (or longer, if the note was followed by a
rest).
- An alternate way to add a rest is to
click on a slot while pressing both shift and control.
The figure below
shows a rest added where the e had been.
Adding a rest using the r key.
43.
Lengthening
Notes
To lengthen a
note, taking away the time from the note that follows, select the note, then
press the x key.
x key is pressed.
Lengthening a note, by taking time from the
note that follows.
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
r
|
put a rest in
the selected slot
|
shift-control-click
|
select a slot
and put a rest there
|
x
|
remove the note,
adding its duration to the previous note
|
44.
Moving a
Bunch of Notes
- Notes can be moved by dragging.
- Notes over which dragging occurs will
be over-ridden.
- Select the notes to be moved, then
drag left or right on any note in the selection.
Notes to be moved are selected
Dragging notes right Dragging
notes left
45.
Transposing
a Bunch of Notes
Notes can be
transposed uniformly up or down by dragging.
Dragging notes up or down
46.
Harmonic
Transposition Using Key Strokes
- Notes can be transposed up or down by
key strokes.
- Probably the most useful is harmonic
transposition, in
which notes are automatically aligned to conform to the current chord in
effect.
- To transpose a note or group of notes up harmonically, use key w.
- To transpose a note or group of notes down harmonically, use key s.
Notes before harmonic transposition up.
Notes after harmonic transposition up.
Notes after harmonic transposition down.
- A frequent use for harmonic
transposition is to correct mis-entered notes. This is how I use it.
- This allows one to be inaccurate in
pointing to a staff line and quickly make a correction to be in line with
the chord.
47.
Uniform
Transposition Using Key Strokes
A second way to
transpose is uniform transposition,
in which notes all transposed the same amount
- To transpose a note or group of notes up one semitone, use key e.
- To transpose a note or group of notes down one semitone, use key d.
- To transpose more than one semitone,
use several presses in a row.
- To transpose a note or group of notes up one octave, use key
t.
- To transpose a note or group of notes down one octave, use key
g.
Notes after uniform transposition up a
semitone.
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
t
|
transpose
selected notes up an octave
|
g
|
transpose
selected down up an octave
|
e
|
transpose
selected notes up a half-step
|
d
|
transpose
selected notes down a half-step
|
shift-t
|
transpose
selected notes up harmonically
|
shift-g
|
transpose
selected notes down harmonically
|
shift-R
|
rectify the
selection (bring in line with the harmony)
|
48.
Melody
Drawing Feature
á The
Drawing feature allows a melody to be
drawn on the screen.
á It
is automatically adjusted to conform to chords and scales.
á Thus
this is a feature that could be used by the musically unsophisticated to draw a
melodic line with a particular shape.
á To
use it, click the button with the pencil icon:
Drawing button
á
Then drag the mouse over the part of the staff at which
a melody is desired, moving up and down as you go.
á
The notes are determined by the slot spacing.
Drawing a melody with the mouse
49.
Transposing
Chords
To transpose chords, or chords and melody:
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
shift-E
|
transpose chords
up a half-step
|
shift-D
|
transpose chords
down a half-step
|
control-e
|
transpose chords
and melody up a half-step
|
control-d
|
transpose chords
and melody down a half-step
|
50.
Toggling
Enharmonics
- To toggle the enharmonic
representation of notes
in a selection (e.g. switch eb to d#), simply press the space bar.
- This only changes the visual
representation of the notes, not the sound.
Before toggling enharmonics
After toggling enharmonics
- To toggle chords enharmonically (e.g. Db7 to C#7),
press the space bar while holding shift.
- To toggle for both notes and chords,
press the space bar while holding control.
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
space
|
toggle
enharmonics of all notes in selection
|
shift-space
|
toggle enharmonics
of all chords in selection
|
control-space
|
toggle
enharmonics of all chords and notes in selection
|
51.
Copying,
Cutting and Pasting Melodies:
To copy a melody and paste it somewhere
else on the sheet:
- Select the notes to be copied.
- Press the c key (for copy).
- Select the starting slot where you
wish to paste the melody.
- Press the v key (standard abbreviation for pasting).
- Use the x
key instead of c if you wish to cut the original selection.
Cutting, copying,
and pasting is also achievable by the following three buttons, respectively:
Cut, copy, and paste buttons
- You may paste a copied selection any
number of times.
- Use the z key to undo recent pastings.
- Once you have pasted, you may wish to
transpose the result or modify it in some other way.
- You can also click in different
pitches to the same rhythmic pattern, as I have already described.
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
c
|
copy melody (to
invisible clipboard)
|
v
|
paste copied
melody (from invisible clipboard)
|
x
|
cut melody (and
copy to invisible clipboard)
|
- A selected melody can also be
transferred to and from the textual entry area, which is not the same as the invisible clipboard
used for cut and paste.
- Pressing enter in the textual area
will paste the melody starting at whatever slot is currently selected.
- This is convenient for pasting the
same melody more than one place.
- The following commands are also useful
in this context:
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
j
|
copy melody
selection to text area
|
b
|
paste melody in
text area onto leadsheet at selected slot
|
52.
Cutting
and Pasting Across Leadsheets
- Any number of leadsheets may be open
simultaneously.
- One can copy or cut from one leadsheet
and paste to another.
53.
Entering
Chords
- Focus on the last two bars of the
tutorial leadsheet, where the chords are as shown below.
Two bars of a leadsheet
- Let's say that we want to change the
chords in these two bars.
- Go to the Textual Entry field and type in the four chords.
- To indicate the bar lines, you may use
either a comma or a vertical bar |.
- Comma is probably more convenient on
most keyboards.
- To enter these chords in place of the
existing ones, press enter.
Two bars of a leadsheet, with new chords
entered
- The same method is used to enter
chords into a blank leadsheet.
- Simply select the starting slot.
- If you make a mistake, you can edit
the contents of the Textual Entry
field and use the cut and paste commands provided by the operating system.
- Then press enter again to over-ride the previously-entered
chords.
- You can repeat as many times as you
want, until it is as desired.
54.
Irregular
Spacing of Chords
- Uneven spacing of chords is achieved
by using single slash characters (separated from chords by blanks).
- The slash indicates sustainment of the
previous chord, without restriking it.
- The rule is that all chord and slash
symbols within a bar are counted up and the space divided evenly among them.
- For example, to produce the following
distribution, where the A and B chords each get one beat, but the C chords
gets two.
Uneven chord distribution
- To get the distribution above, enter
the the text A B C /.
- The number of symbols, including / as
a symbol, are tallied up and the bar is divided evenly among the chords.
- The / symbol does not restrike the chord.
- If you want a restrike, enter the
actual chord name.
- This is much more convenient that the
alternative of clicking each individual slot and entering the chord
separately.
- As another example, in ¾ time,
we might want the following, where A gets two beats and B one.
Uneven chord distribution in ¾ time
- To achieve the preceding, use A / B,
since there are 3 beats to a bar.
- If you were to instead to use just A
B, you wouldd get a duplet rhythm, which, while interesting, would be less
common.
Duplet chord distribution in ¾ time
- Chords
can be aligned to any slot,
by using enough slashes to divide up the space.
- Currently 120 slots per beat are
available, giving many gradations.
- Slashes can be combined with the NC (no-chord) symbol to achieve hits,
breaks, and other effects.
55.
Slash
Chords and Polychords
- Slash chords (which specify a bass note after the
slash) are indicated with a forward slash, such as D/E.
- Polychords (one chord stacked atop another) are
indicated with a backward slash, such as D\Bb.
56.
Copying
Chords from the Leadsheet Back to the Textual Entry
- An alternate way to transfer the
chords to the leadsheet
is to select the slot where the transfer is to begin after entering the
chords, then press the (upper-case) B
key.
- This is particularly convenient when
the same sequence is to be transferred multiple times, as you do not have
to return to the textual entry field and press return each time.
- To transfer chords in a selection back
to the leadsheet, select the chords, then press the J key.
57.
Cutting
and Pasting Chords
To copy, cut,
and paste chords from the leadsheet,
- The commands are analogous to those
for melody, except the shift key is held.
- The (upper-case) C key copies the chords.
- The (upper-case) X key cuts the chords.
- The (upper-case) V key pastes the chords.
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
shift-C
|
copy chords (to
invisible clipboard)
|
shift-V
|
paste copied
chords (from invisible clipboard)
|
shift-X
|
cut chords (and
copy to invisible clipboard)
|
shift-J
|
copy chords from
selection to text area
|
shift-B
|
paste chords
from text area to current slot
|
58.
Cutting
and Pasting Chords with Melody
To copy, cut, and paste chords and melody together from the leadsheet:
- The commands are analogous to those
for melody, except the control key is held.
- The Control-c key copies melody and chords.
- The Control-x key cuts the melody and chords.
- The Control-v key pastes the melody and chords..
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
control-c
|
copy chords and
melody (to invisible clipboard)
|
control-v
|
paste copied
chords and melody (from invisible clipboard)
|
control-x
|
cut chords and
melody (and copy to invisible clipboard)
|
control-j
|
copy chords and
melody from selection to text area
|
control-b
|
paste chords and
melody from text area to current slot
|
59.
Entering
Melody Textually
- Melody is saved, and may be loaded,
using a textual notation, in the same textual entry field as chords.
- In distinction to chords, which always
begin with upper-case letters, melody notes begin with lower-case letters.
- A melody note consists of:
á
a pitch
designator (a, b, c, d, e, f, g) possibly followed by an accidental (#, b) for
sharp and flat.
á
an optional
octave designator (+, ++, +++, -, --, ---) for octaves above or below the
octave including middle C and above. The default is the octave just mentioned.
á
an optional
duration designator (4 for quarter note, 8 for eighth note, etc.) with + being
used to add durations. The default is an eighth note.
For example,
entering the following melody as text, with the selection starting at bar 10
Using textual entry for melody
produces
Melody entered textually
A good way to
learn the textual notation is to read some existing melodies from the available
leadsheets.
60.
Copying Melody from Leadsheet to Textual Entry
- To transfer selected melody from the
leadsheet back to the
textual entry field, press the j key.
- Both
melody and chords can be entered at the same time. The two are separated
into tracks using the upper- and lower-case distinction for chords vs.
melody.
á
To transfer both selected chords and melody to the
leadsheet from the textual entry, use Control-b,
and to transfer back, use Control-j.
61.
Textual
Editing An Entire Leadsheet
- Additional meta-data, such as the key signature, tempo,
and so on, will be automatically saved when a leadsheet is saved from
Impro-Visor.
- One can simply start with a fairly
bare file of chords, read it into Impro-Visor, then write it back out and
the meta-data will have been inserted.
- These items can be edited with any
text editor, such as NotePad, Emacs, Word, etc.
- Impro-Visor itself also provides a
minimal text editor
that can be used to edit the file.
- If we open this editor from the
Utilities menu, or using the shortcut Control-f,
we can see the form in which Impro-Visor will save it.
- Changes made in this editor will not
take effect until the Editor-to-Leadsheet
button is pressed.
- These changes are not undoable,
although you can always re-edit the content and press the Editor-to-Leadsheet button again.
Leadsheet Textual Editor Window
62.
Entering
Melody from a MIDI Keyboard
- MIDI recording from an external MIDI
instrument can be done by clicking the red circle button for continuous
record.
- Disclaimer: This is one of the lesser developed
features of the software, so do not expect it to work perfectly.
- In particular, there will be
quantization errors for short notes.
- Press the Stop Button to stop
recording.
Record button
- On the Macintosh, this feature
requires a third-party MIDI program, such as Mandolane (http://www.mandolane.co.uk/).
- This is
because Java sound is not well supported on Macs.
- Mandolane
is not included with Impro-Visor because it is not our property.
63.
Step
Entry from a MIDI Keyboard
- Notes can be entered one step at a
time from a MIDI keyboard.
- The duration of the notes is
determined by the grid line spacing.
- Press the Step button to begin.
- Each time a note is pressed on the
keyboard, it is entered into the leadsheet and the cursor advanced to the
next visible slot.
Step entry button
Use your own MIDI keyboard
64.
Setting
the Key Signature
- The key signature can be changed in the Preference >
Leadsheet menu,
- or by the following action: Position
the mouse in the key signature area.
- Then slowly drag up to subtract flats and add
sharps, or down to do the opposite.
Drag up or down here to change key
signature
65.
Setting
the Time Signature
- The time signature also can be changed
in the Preference > Leadsheet menu,
- or by the following action: Position
the mouse over the time signature.
- Then slowly drag up or down.
- The numerator (upper number) increases
the fastest, then the denominator (lower number).
- The highest time available is 12/8 and
the lowest is 1/1.
- Odd times, such as 11/4 are allowed.
- Currently there can be only one time
signature in a given leadsheet. (Ability to change times during a piece is
a requested feature.)
Drag up or down here to change time
signature
66.
Adding
Choruses
- Any number of choruses can be played.
- The current model for Impro-Visor is
that there is exactly one chorus structure, which can be played any number of
choruses with different melodies.
- Although the chord sequence and length
is the same for each chorus, the background will vary among choruses.
- To add a new chorus, press the page +
icon:
Button for adding a new chorus
- Currently, new choruses must be added
at the end of the existing choruses.
- The only way to rearrange choruses is
to use a combination of cut and paste of the individual melodies.
67.
Removing
Choruses
- To remove the currently-selected
chorus, press the page * icon:
Button for deleting the current chorus
- Caution: Removing a chorus is not undoable. The contents will be lost, unless
you have previously copied it. You will be asked whether you want to
delete a chorus:
Chorus deletion dialog
- Choruses are sometimes referred to as
tabbed parts because they are accessible by clicking the tabs at the top
of the stave area:
Chorus tabs
- The highlighted tab corresponds to the
current chorus.
68.
Titling
Individual Choruses
- Each chorus may be given a separate title
and composer.
- This information is entered on two
fields on the right of the leadsheet.
- The title of the chorus will appear in
the chorus tabs.
Showing chorus title entry on the leadsheet
The composer can be specified immediately
below.
The title appear in the tab.
69.
Changing
the Number of Measures in All Choruses
- Changing the number of bars in
choruses may be done with the Bars per Chorus field. I
- Impro-Visor opens a new leadsheet with
a generous number of bars (e.g. 72).
- Often, this number should be shortened
to accommodate the current song.
- If shortening would truncate chord or melody information in any
chorus, a warning dialog is issued first, so that content is not
inadvertently lost.
- Again, all choruses have the same
length, so that shortening one will shorten them all.
- Note: that changing the length of
choruses is not undoable currently.
Chorus truncation dialog
70.
Adjusting
the Number of Measures in One Stave
- Impro-Visor tries to lay out the
measures based on the note and chord density.
- However, it is not perfect.
- There are two ways to adjust the
layout to suit:
- By control clicking on a stave, a menu will open giving
you the option of setting the number of measures for that stave:
The control-click popup contents
- By selecting the first item, you get a
dialog:
Single-line measure adjustment
- Enter the desired number of measures.
This approach is best for temporary fixes.
71.
Freezing
and Thawing the Layout
- A more permanent layout is obtained by
freezing the layout.
- Pressing the Freeze button will keep
the measure distribution as it is now.
- Thawing will allow Impro-Visor to
auto-adjust the layout.
Toggling to freeze or thaw the layout
72.
Specifying
the Layout
You can also
specify the layout explicitly in the Chorus preference menu:
Chorus layout adjustment
- Specified in this line are number of
measure per line, line by line.
- If there are fewer numbers than there
are lines, the last number is used for the remaining lines.
- For example, the specification above
indicates 4 bars for the first line, 2 each for the next two lines, 4 for
the next, then 2, then 4 for all remaining lines.
- Having any numbers in the Layout field
is equivalent to having the layout frozen.
- (Since this layout really affects all choruses, it more properly belongs in
the Leadsheet preferences menu.)
73.
Starting a
Fresh Leadsheet
- From the File menu, select New
Leadsheet, or use the shortcut control-N.
- This opens a new blank leadsheet, in
addition to ones that may be open already.
- The blank one will look like the one
at the beginning of this tutorial.
- You may cut and paste melody and
chords from one to the other.
- You can close one or more of the open
sheets.
- If you have unsaved modifications, it
will offer to save them first.
74.
Opening
Another Existing Leadsheet
- This uses the current window. It does
not create a new one.
- If there are unsaved modifications,
you will be given the chance to save them.
- If you want a fresh window, see the
preceding section.
75.
Saving an
Open Leadsheet
- Use Control-W to save the current
leadsheet under a specified name.
- Files should be saved with
extension .ls (leadsheet)
for future loading.
- Use Control-S re-save a leadsheet
under its current name.
Leadsheet save-as dialog
76.
Exporting
MusicXML
- MusicXML files can be exported from
the File menu.
- Currently each chorus must be exported
separately.
- MusicXML can be imported by a wide
variety of notation programs.
- Currently Impro-Visor does not import MusicXML.
77.
Exporting
MIDI Files
- MIDI files can be exported from the
File menu.
- Any selectable segment, or the entire
leadsheet, can be exported.
78.
Getting Advice
- Returning
to the _tutorial.ls leadsheet, select the first slot in measure 11
Select
first slot in bar 11
- To
ask Impro-Visor for advice on what might be played, we could click
left-hand light bulb icon:
Advice
icon
- A
menu similar to the following should open.
.
Top-level advice menu
- Each tab opens to a set of things that
might be played at this point.
- We
encourage you to explore these, as they contain elements of jazz music
theory, including:
- the
spelling of the first chord,
- notes
that are common between two chords
- notes
in one chord that approach notes in another
- The
Note choices are shown in the dialog below:
Notes
tab of the advice menu
79.
Scale Choices
- Within
Advice, for example, the Scales tab
opens the following menu of choices:
Scales
tab of the advice menu
- From
this menu, we can select one of the suggested scales to see how its tones
fit the progression.
F
Lydian dominant scale
80.
Cell Choices
- Alternatively, selecting the Cells
tab
shows a variety of cells (short note sequences) over the current chord:
Cells for the F13 chord
- The slashes on the left indicate the
directionality of the sequence (/ for up, \ down for down).
A simple cell from the vocabulary
81.
Idiom Choices
- Idioms
are similar to cells, in that they are selected based on one chord.
However, the term idiom suggests a melody that is a familiar jazz clichÂŽ.
- Below
is an example of an idiom, which happens to be blues oriented, /\
[F7] blues (b-8/3 c8/3 b-8/3 bb-8 ab-8 f-8):
A
blues idiom from the vocabulary
82.
Lick Choices
- Licks are melodic lines that are based on
one chord or two consecutive chords.
Licks menu for selected chords
- Here is an example of a lick for the
current two-chord sequence, \/\/ [F13 -> D7#5#9] I7-VI7alt
(a8/3 f8/3 d8/3 b-8 c8 gb8 eb8 ab8 r8):
A two-chord lick from the vocabulary
- Although licks are indexed over at
most two chords, they can be used over any number of chords. They just
might not sound as good.
- The reason we index on only two chords
is to keep the licks short, which permits combining them together in more
ways than if we stored long licks.
83.
Rectification
- For licks that do not quite fit the
harmony, Impro-Visor provides a rectify feature that will pull arbitrary
notes in line with the chords.
- For example, if we try a lick intended for two chords
over a 4-chord sequence, we may get some disagreeable notes (shown in red):
A lick that does not quite fit the chord
progression
- We can rectify the sequence by pressing shift-R with the sequence selected.
Rectified lick
- The
final tab in the advice menu is Quotes, which are melodies borrowed from
other songs or solos. Quotes are considered a form of humor in jazz
improvisation, and the musician will learn to recognize when a quote will
work over particular chords based on sounds.
84.
Saving
Licks, etc.
- When you run find or create a lick
that you would like to save for future reference, you may save it in your
vocabulary.
- Impro-Visor can recall saved licks as
advice, and transpose them to the key of the moment.
- Pressing Save Lick or the u
key will open the following dialog.
- You can give the lick a name for
recall.
Lick-saving dialog
- The names do not have any formal
significance for indexing, but they do show up in the advice menu.
- Select one of the four categories,
then press either Save or Cancel.
- Once again, here is the meaning of the
four categories:
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
u
|
save lick,
quote, cell, idiom
|
Category
|
Meaning
|
Cell
|
small sequences
of notes, often of uniform duration, such as eighth notes. Cells are indexed
in Impro-Visor by just the first chord in the selection.
|
Idiom
|
familiar-sounding
sequences. As with cells, they are also indexed by just the first chord.
|
Lick
|
tend to be more
complex sequences. Licks are indexed by the first two chords, or the first
chord if there is only one.
|
Quote
|
a melodic
fragment from a known tune or solo. As with licks, they are indexed by up to
two chords. I suggest naming quotes using the tune from which they are taken.
|
- To avoid
saving a duplicate lick or quote, Impro-Visor checks new licks against all
licks in the database, modulo transposition.
- If a duplicate is found, you will get
a warning:
Duplicate lick or quote warning
- No corresponding check is made for
duplicate cells, as cells generally can serve more than one chord.
85.
Generating
Licks
- An alternative to using the licks from
the database is to generate new licks on the fly.
- To generate a lick, select some number
of slots.
- Then press the Generate button.
Lick generate button
- Impro-Visor will generate a lick to
fill the selected space.
- If only one slot is selected, it will
generate from that slot to the end of the chorus.
- If no slot is selected, it will
generate the entire chorus.
86.
Grammar
Choices
- Lick generation is controlled by a
linguistic specification known as a grammar.
- The grammar governs whether the licks
are complicated or simple.
- A grammar can also create various
stylistic nuances.
- There is a menu of grammars located on
the toolbar. Many of the grammars are named after famous musicians. They
were created from solos played by those musicians.
- The creation of a grammar from a
corpus of one or more solos can be done automatically inside Impro-Visor.
Thus the user can add new grammars.
Grammar Menu
87.
User
Preferences
- The preference dialogs can be opened
using this button:
Preferences button
- There are several separate panels. The
current preference panel can also be opened with just the p key.
- Finally, there is also a Preferences
item in the menu bar, which may be used for opening specific preferences
menus.
Keystroke
|
Effect
|
p
|
Open the
preference dialog.
|
88. Global Settings
- These preferences are used to control
default values, such as are used when new leadsheets are opened.
Global preferences
- The Always
use this boxes over-ride the setting in the leadsheet itself.
- For example, if you always want the
leadsheet to open with bass clef, click Bass and Always use this.
- Similarly, you can over-ride the
instrument choices that are present in the leadsheet.
89. Leadsheet Settings
- These
preferences control those things that are specific to the leadsheet (vs.
specific choruses):
Leadsheet preferences
90. Chorus Settings
- These preferences control those things
specific to a chorus:
Chorus preferences
- Currently the Layout, however, applies to all choruses,
not just this one.
- It is a series of numbers indicating
the number of measures on each line of the leadsheet.
- If this is blank, Impro-Visor will
adjust the layout automatically.
- This field can be set manually, or
automatically, by toggling the Freeze button on the menu bar, as was
described earlier.
91. Style Settings
- These
settings control the style, and permit the introduction of new sections of
a chorus with different styles.
- If
the leadsheet has only one style section, it may be changed by selecting a
different style in the right-hand menu.
- If
there are multiple style sections, as indicated by the left-hand menu,
then each section is set independently.
- Adding
a new section splits the current section into two equal pieces.
- The
boundary is then adjusted by setting the Starting Measure of the second
section of the split.
Style
settings
92.
MIDI Settings
- These
preferences control the MIDI interface.
- If external MIDI devices are used, you
must select them here.
MIDI settings
93. Drawing Settings
- These preferences control the drawing
tool interface.
Contour settings
94.
Lick
Generator Settings
á
The lick generator controls are in a separate panel,
which can be opened by clicking the right-hand light bulb button.:
Lick-generator opening button
á
The lick generator panel opens with lots of buttons and
numbers, but you can ignore most of them for starters.
Lick-generator control panel
á
The Generate Melody
button operates the same as the Generate button in the main window.
á
With the control panel open, pressing Generate will
fill the field called Abstract Melody.
á
The actual melody is derived from the abstract melody.
á
Once an abstract melody is present, it can be re-filled
using Fill Abstract Melody, which means
the rhythmic values will stay the same, but the pitches may be different.
95.
Grammar Editor
á
From the File menu in the Lick Generator panel, one can
open the grammar editor.
á
At present, grammar editing is based on editing text.
á
You can read about grammars in our various technical
papers.
á
A better description is forthcoming.
Grammar editor, showing the default grammar
(My grammar)
96.
Grammar Learning
- A second tab of the Lick Generator
panel enables grammar learning.
- By carrying out the six steps
indicated, a new grammar can be learned from a corpus of solos.
- This grammar can then be added to the
menu of grammar choices.
Grammar learning tab
97.
Solo Generator
- The Solo Generator tab represents some
work that is not fully developed.
- The idea is to generate a solo that
reuses a theme from time to time, based on specified probabilities of
reuse.
Solo generator tab
98.
Style Editor
- Impro-Visor provides tools for editing
styles.
- New styles can be created using the
tools.
- The style editor is opened through the
Utilities Menu, or use key Control-Y.
- The style editor is organized as a
spreadsheet.
- There are three bands: Bass, Chord,
and Drums.
- Each numbered column corresponds to a
style pattern.
- Caution: There is currently no undo in the
style editor, so please create backups.
- All the drum pattern elements are
considered part of a single pattern, but the bass and chord elements are
separate, not linked to the others or each other.
- There is a special pattern language
used to specify the pattern entries. There is also a piano-roll style
editor used to edit the patterns, so that it is not necessary to learn the
language.
Style editor spreadsheet
99.
Piano-Roll Style Pattern Editor
- To edit a column of the pattern
spreadsheet, one can use the piano roll editor.
- First select the column of interest,
by shift-clicking somewhere in that column.
- The piano roll editor will open.
- Each horizontal bar represents the
instrument being played for a specified duration of time.
- The selected bar is highlighted in
light below.
- Bars can be lengthened, shorted,
added, and removed, using the mouse.
- The various elements of the pattern
can be played by pressing the buttons on the left.
- Drum instruments can be added in or
out, while the drum parts are playing.
- Caution: There is currently no undo in the
style editor, so please create backups.
Piano roll style pattern editor
100.
Bass Bar Editor
- This dialog is used within the
piano-roll style pattern editor to edit the pitches and directionality of
the bass bars in the bass style pattern.
- The editor is relative to the
currently-selected bass note
- A bass note is in one of 7 categories:
á Bass means the root of the chord
á Repeat means the previous pitch repeated
á Chord tone means an arbitrary tone from the
chord
á Scale tone means a tone from the first
scale associated with the chord
á Approach tone means a chromatic half-step
away from a chord tone in the next chord
á Next measure means to anticipate the pitch
in the next measure (used for tumbao bass, for example)
á Pitch means a specific pitch, based on a
scale degree of the first scale associated with the chord
á The direction for a pitch indicates the
relative direction from the previous note
Bass bar editor
101.
Style
Extractor
- The style extractor is used to extract
an approximation of a style, given a MIDI file and a leadsheet .ls file
expressing the chord progression.
- There is a sample MIDI file with
corresponding leadsheet in the styleExtract folder that comes with the
release.
- The purpose of the leadsheet is to
interpret the notes of the bass line.
- There is a control panel for setting
the parameters of style extraction.
- The Style Extractor has its own set of windows, which will
be opened if the corresponding preference box is checked.
- These windows give details of how raw
data is clustered to produce the style rules.
- However, it is not usually necessary
to view the workings at this level to be able to extract a style.
- Once the style is extracted, it
sometimes needs to be tweaked, e.g. using the style editor.
Style Extractor Control Panel
102.
Chord
Voicing Editor
- Impro-Visor uses both pre-planned and
generated chord voicings in its auto-accompaniment.
- It will try to choose voicings that
both fit in the specified range and that exhibit voice-leading from the
previous voicing.
- It will generate a voicing using an
algorithm if no appropriate voicing is found.
- Voicings can be edited or added using
the voicing editor.
- Use the Utilities menu or Control-I to open.
- The attendant piano keyboard can be
opened by itself for visualizing voicings.
- (Note: the piano keyboard cannot be
used for entering melodies at this time.)
Chord voicing editor
Piano keyboard for visualizing or entering
voicings
103.
Conclusion
- This concludes the current version of
the tutorial. Check back from time to time, as it will undoubtedly be
revised.
- If you have comments, suggestions, or
questions, please post to the Yahoo! Group. I will be happy to take them
into consideration.
104.
Glossary
Glossary of Impro-Visor Terminology
|
Term
|
Meaning
|
advice
|
Suggestions for
melodies that can be played over given chords.
|
approach tone
|
A tone not in a
chord that is adjacent to a tone that is in the chord.
|
bar
|
A colloquial
term for a measure of music.
|
cell
|
A small melodic
fragment aligned with one chord.
|
chord
symbol
|
A somewhat
standardized notation for representing chords with a few characters.
|
chorus
|
One time through
the chord changes of a piece.
|
clipboard
|
A metaphor
designating a place off-screen to which content is copied.
|
color tone
|
A tone not in a
chord but compatible with the sound of the chord.
|
dialog
|
A user interface
feature for entering information, such as preferences.
|
freeze
|
To set the
numbers of measures per line in a leadsheet.
|
harmonic entry
|
Entering notes
that are aligned to the current chord, rather than chromatically.
|
idiom
|
A familiar jazz
melodic fragment aligned with one chord.
|
jar
|
A file type,
standing for Java archive.
|
leadsheet
|
A sheet with
chord symbols and a melody line, which can be used to represent a song or a
solo over the chords.
|
lick
|
A short melodic
fragment aligned with one or two chords.
|
meta-data
|
Data that is not
melody or chords directly, but which provides additional information, such as
key signature, time signature, etc.
|
MIDI
|
Musical
Instrument Digital Interface
|
mixer
|
A device that
combines several sound tracks together in specified volumes.
|
NC
|
Abbreviation for
No Chord.
|
parallax
|
The change of
apparent location depending on viewing angle.
|
pickup
|
A note or a few
notes placed before the downbeat of a melody.
|
polychord
|
A chord
constructed of one smaller chord stacked atop another, such as a triad over a
dominant chord. Polychords are noted using the back-slash \ in Impro-Visor.
See also slash chord.
|
quote
|
A melodic
fragment from a familiar song or solo.
|
rectify
|
To align a
melody to be consistent with a chord sequence.
|
slash chord
|
A chord consisting
of a chord and a specific bass note, which may or may note be in the original
chord. In Impro-Visor, slash chords are indicated with /. See also polychord.
|
slot
|
A symbolic time
at which a chord or melody note can be played. Impro-Visor currently has 120
slots per beat. A subset of the slots typically shows within the beat at a
given time.
|
style
|
A specification
of how the accompaniment (chords, bass, percussion) are generated.
|
thaw
|
To unset the
numbers of measures per line in a leadsheet, leaving those numbers open to
dynamic adjustment.
|
transpose
|
To raise or
lower the pitch of all notes or chords in a selection.
|
vocabulary
|
A file
containing the specification of musical material, such as scales, chords,
licks, etc.
|
voicing
|
The order in
which the various notes of a chord are stacked.
|
105.
Keystroke
Summary
Area
|
Stroke
|
Effect
|
Playback
|
k
|
stops (kills)
the playback
|
i
|
starts playback
from the beginning
|
Select all of
chorus
|
escape
|
un-selects
everything
|
control-a
|
select all slots
|
Add rest
|
r
|
put a rest in
the selected slot
|
shift-control-click
|
select a slot
and put a rest there
|
Transposition
|
t
|
transpose
selected notes up an octave
|
g
|
transpose
selected down up an octave
|
e
|
transpose
selected notes up a half-step
|
d
|
transpose
selected notes down a half-step
|
w
|
transpose
selected notes up harmonically
|
s
|
transpose
selected notes down harmonically
|
shift-E
|
transpose chords
up a half-step
|
shift-D
|
transpose chords
down a half-step
|
control-e
|
transpose chords
and melody up a half-step
|
control-d
|
transpose chords
and melody down a half-step
|
Rectification
and other edits
|
shift-R
|
rectify the
selection (bring in line with the harmony)
|
/
|
reverse the
selected melody
|
\
|
invert the
selected melody
|
Enharmonics
|
space
|
toggle
enharmonics of all notes in selection
|
shift-space
|
toggle
enharmonics of all chords in selection
|
control-space
|
toggle
enharmonics of all chords and notes in selection
|
Undo/Redo
|
z
|
undo last action
|
y
|
redo last undone
action
|
Licks
|
control-u
|
generate lick
|
u
|
save lick, quote,
cell, idiom
|
Cut/Paste/Copy
|
c
|
copy melody (to
invisible clipboard)
|
v
|
paste copied
melody (from invisible clipboard)
|
x
|
cut melody (and
copy to invisible clipboard)
|
j
|
copy melody
selection to text area
|
b
|
paste melody in
text area onto leadsheet at selected slot
|
shift-C
|
copy chords (to
invisible clipboard)
|
shift-V
|
paste copied
chords (from invisible clipboard)
|
shift-X
|
cut chords (and
copy to invisible clipboard)
|
shift-J
|
copy chords from
selection to text area
|
shift-B
|
paste chords
from text area to current slot
|
control-c
|
copy chords and
melody (to invisible clipboard)
|
control-v
|
paste copied
chords and melody (from invisible clipboard)
|
control-x
|
cut chords and
melody (and copy to invisible clipboard)
|
control-j
|
copy chords and
melody from selection to text area
|
control-b
|
paste chords and
melody from text area to current slot
|
Editors
|
control-f
|
open the textual
leadsheet editor
|
control-y
|
open the style
editor
|
p
|
open the
preference dialog
|
Files
|
control-n
|
open a new
leadsheet window
|
control-o
|
open a new file
in the current window
|
control-s
|
save the current
file
|
control-w
|
save the current
file, specifying the name
|
control-r
|
revert the
current file from the saved copy
|
control-p
|
print the
leadsheet
|
control-q
|
quit Impro-Visor
|
106.
Scale
Vocabulary
- The meaning of each scale is defined
in the vocabulary text file vocab/My.voc, where each scale is defined
relative to a tonic C.
- Note that some scales are synonyms for
one another.
altered
arabian
augmented
augmented heptatonic
balinese
bebop
bebop dominant
bebop locrian
bebop major
bebop minor
blues
chinese
composite blues
diminished
diminished whole
tone
dominant
dorian
dorian augmented
double harmonic
lydian
double harmonic
major
egyptian
enigmatic
flamenco
|
flat six pentatonic
flat three
pentatonic
gypsy
harmonic major
harmonic minor
hindu
hirajoshi
hungarian minor
in-sen
indian
ionian
pentatonic
iwato
kafi raga
kumoi
kumoijoshi
leading whole
tone
locrian
locrian major
locrian
pentatonic
locrian#2
lydian
lydian #5 pentatonic
lydian augmented
lydian dominant
|
lydian dominant
pentatonic
lydian minor
lydian
pentatonic
lydian
pentatonic
major
major blues
major flat two
pentatonic
major pentatonic
malkos raga
melodic minor
melodic minor
fifth mode
melodic minor
second mode
minor #7
pentatonic
minor bebop
minor blues
minor hexatonic
minor pentatonic
minor seven flat
five pentatonic
minor six
diminished
minor six
pentatonic
mixolydian
mixolydian
pentatonic
mystery #1
neopolitan major
|
neopolitan major
pentatonic
neopolitan minor
oriental
pelog
pentatonic
persian
phrygian
piongio
pomeroy
prometheus
purvi raga
ritusen
romanian minor
scriabin
spanish
spanish
heptatonic
super locrian
super locrian
pentatonic
todi raga
vietnamese 1
vietnamese 2
whole tone
whole tone
pentatonic
|
107.
Chord
Vocabulary
- The root pitch is placed in front of
any of the following.
- Any may be followed by a slash for the
bass note, or a backslash for a polychord for more combinations.
- The meaning of each symbol is defined
in the vocabulary text file My.voc, where each chord is defined relative
to a tonic C.
- Note that some chords are synonyms for
one another.
- My preference for chord symbols is:
Symbol
|
Meaning
|
M
|
Major
|
m or _
|
Minor
|
o
|
Diminished
|
sus
|
Suspended (4 by
default)
|
7, 9, 11, 13
|
Dominant if used
alone
|
- I have introduced other symbols such
as Maj or maj because people have asked for them.
- I do not prefer them myself because
they take up precious space on the chord line, and also take longer to
type.
- Also, the list of possible
alternatives is pretty open-ended.
- I introduced h as a short-hand for half-diminished,
which would ordinarily be m7b5 (minor-seven, flat five) for this reason.
Here is the full
list of chords in the vocabulary as I write this.
+
+7
+add#9
+add9
11
11b9
13
13#11
13#9
13#9#11
13b5
13b9
13b9#11
13no5
13sus
13sus4
2
4
5
6
6#11
67
69
6b5
7
7#11
7#11b13
7#5
7#5#9
7#5b9
|
7#5b9#11
7#5sus4
7#9
7#9#11
7#9#11b13
7#9b13
7+
7add13
7add6
7alt
7aug
7b13
7b5
7b5#9
7b5b13
7b5b9
7b5b9b13
7b6
7b9
7b9#11
7b9#11b13
7b9#9
7b9b13
7b9b13#11
7b9b13sus4
7b9sus
7b9sus4
7b9sus4
7no5
7sus
|
7sus4
7sus4b9
7sus4b9b13
7susb9
9
9#11
9#11b13
9#5
9#5#11
9+
9b13
9b5
9b5b13
9no5
9sus
9sus4
Bass
Blues
M#5
M#5add9
M13
M13#11
M6
M6#11
M69
M69#11
M6b5
M7
M7#11
M7#5
|
M7#5sus4
M7#9#11
M7+
M7add13
M7b5
M7b6
M7b9
M7sus4
M9
M9#11
M9#5
M9#5sus4
M9b5
M9sus4
Madd9
Maj#5
Maj13
Maj13#11
Maj7
Maj7#11
Maj7#5
Maj9
Maj9#11
Maj9#5
Mb5
Mb6
Msus2
Msus4
add2
add9
|
add9no3
addb9
aug
aug7
dim
dim7
h11
h7
h9
m
m#5
m+
m11
m11#5
m11b5
m13
m6
m69
m6b5
m7
m7#5
m7add11
m7add4
m7b5
m9
m9#5
m9b5
mM7
mM7b6
mM9
|
mM9b6
mMaj7
mMaj7b6
mMaj9
mMaj9b6
madd4
madd9
maj#5
maj13
maj13#11
maj7
maj7#11
maj7#5
maj9
maj9#11
maj9#5
mb5
mb6
mb6M7
mb6b9
o
o7
o7M7
oM7
phryg
sus
sus2
sus24
sus4
susb9
|
- On editing, be sure the parentheses
balance, otherwise some aspects of your vocabulary could be ignored.
- It is best to use a text editor such
as Emacs, which flashes matching parentheses.
This is the
end, for now. Thank you for using Impro-Visor.