Chords



Adding chords

Move the mouse to the empty area on the right of the last chord. A "+" symbol will appear. Click on it to add a new chord to the chord progression:

To insert a chord before an existing chord, right-click on the chord and select "Insert" from the menu.

Changing chords

Double-click on the chord you want to change. The chord edit box will open:

Click on a musical note to set the chord root. Click on the "maj","m","+", etc. buttons to change the chord type. You can choose from the following types:

maj

major

m

minor

+

augmented

o

diminished

M7

major seventh

7

dominant seventh

m7

minor seventh

+7

augmented seventh

7

half-diminished seventh

o7

diminished seventh

6

major sixth

m6

minor sixth

sus

suspended fourth

2

major second

m2

minor second

sus2

suspended second


If the chord edit box is open, a single click on a chord is enough to select it for editing. To quit edit mode, simply click on an empty area.

Playing from a chord

Position the mouse over the bottom-left corner of a chord. A play symbol will appear. Click on it to start playing from that chord.


Slash chords

Double-click on a chord to open the chord edit box. Click the button to define a slash chord. The musical note buttons will be split:

Clicking on a musical note sets the chord root, clicking on the area below sets the bass note. In the above example, the slash chord G/F is selected. A second click on the same bass note selector raises the bass by an octave (indicated by an arrow):


Chord inversions and default voice leading

Use the buttons in the chord edit box to shift a chord by one inversion up or down. This inversion is relative to a default inversion selected automatically and individually for each chord by ChordPulse in order to reduce distances in pitch between different chords, thereby providing smoother transitions from chord to chord.

Note that the bass note is not affected by this function (e.g. moving the chord CEG one inversion up to EGC does not change the bass note to E). The bass can be set independently with the button (see slash chords).

Resizing chords

To change the length of a chord, drag the right edge of the chord to the desired position. The small vertical lines below the chords indicate the bar lines. In the example below, the first chord lasts for 2 bars, the second for 1.5 bars, the third for 0.5 bar:


Splitting chords

Right-click on a chord and select "Split" from the menu to split it into two.

Selecting chords

Click a chord to select it, click it again to deselect it. Hold down [Ctrl] and click on multiple chords to select them simultaneously. To select a block of chords, hold down [Shift] and click on the first and last chord.

Deleting chords

Right-click on a chord and select "Delete" from the menu to delete it. Alternatively, select the chord (left-click) and press [Delete] on the keyboard.

Moving and copying chords

Selected chords can be moved by simply dragging them with the mouse. Hold down [Ctrl] to copy the selection instead of moving it.

Alternatively, you can use the cut/copy/paste commands of the chord menu (right-click on a chord) or the standard Ctrl+X/Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V hot keys.

Transposing chords

To transpose a chord or group of chords, first define your selection. Then, right-click on any of the selected chords and choose "Transpose" from the menu.