MIDI Chord Entry

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In addition to typing in chords by name you can also enter chords by playing notes on your MIDI keyboard. Double click in the chord area of a measure or press the Enter key in the Measures View to start editing chords. Then press and hold notes on your MIDI keyboard and Bandora will automatically display suggested chord names based on the notes that you are holding down.

For a given group of notes there are usually several different chords that contain those notes so the resulting chords are displayed in a pop up window so that you can choose from the various possibilities. Bandora will put the most common chord names at the top of the list. Use the up and down computer arrow keys to select from the recognized chords or you can quickly tap and release a single black or white key on your MIDI keyboard to move up and down through the list of chords.

When you press and hold a single note, you'll see a variety of chords displayed. These chords are created based on your current key signature and represent several embellishments as well as always giving you major, minor and dominant chord choices. You may notice that different chord types are sometimes displayed. This is because the embellishments are composed dynamically each time you press and hold a single note.

If you have two notes held down, the interval between these notes is analyzed and some typical matching chords are displayed. When you have 3 or more notes held down, Bandora figures out which chords contain those notes and suggests chord names accordingly. Note that releasing notes does not cause new chord names to be generated. New chord names are only generated when you play new notes.

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You can move forward and backward through the measures by moving the pitch wheel on your MIDI keyboard up and down. Full deflection will cause you to go to the next or previous measure while partial deflection will cause you to go to the next or previous snap point.

You can also move forward and backward through the measures by tapping then releasing a single black or white key on your MIDI keyboard while holding down your computer's Control or Shift key as described in the following table.

Modifier Key

Black Note Tapped

White Note Tapped

Control key held down

Move to next measure

Move to previous measure

Shift key held down

Move to next snap point

Move to previous snap point