Chords

Hy,

My question is probably not very bright, but I was wandering how you have to adjust the chords when you're making a garageband song.

I'm not a very great piano player, so I would like to use one of the many templates. But they are all in C or D. How can I make a song with e.g. C - Em - D - Am ?

Kind regards,

Hi Axi,

When you start a new project in GarageBand, you can choose the tempo and key of your song. All the chords you mention (C - Em- D -Am) are in the key of C major (the white keys on the keyboard). All major and minor chords are constructed by stacking triads... in C major it would be :

C maj = C E G
D min = D F A
E min = E G B
F maj = F A C
G maj = G B D
A min = A C E
B dim = B D F

I suggest you to learn the basic of music theory (scales, chord construction, etc). You can find various resources online that explain the basic of music theory...

I hope it helps!

Hi Christian,

I think I didn't explain my problem properly.

I've written a song, and the chords are C, Em, G, Am. I don't have a keyboard that I can connect with my computer, so for this moment I'm using my accoustic guitar and a microphone. Unfortunately, the quality isn't as good as I would want it to be, so I would like to use one of the guitar loops which are included in Garageband. But how can I change the same loop into the right chords?

Kind regards,
Axelle

Oh sorry... now I understand. :-)

There are 2 types of appleloops : green loops and blue loops. The blue loops are audio loops and the blue loops are midi loops. You can't edit the individual notes of a blue loops, so you will need to find a a green loop and edit each notes to match the chord changes you want. To edit the notes, double click on the green region and change the note's pitch on the piano roll at the bottom of the display. Don't forget you're not limited to guitar loops, because you can take a piano green apple loops and change the instrument to a guitar.

However, with good microphone placement, you should be able to record your acoustic guitar and have a quality sound. What exactly don't you like about your recording sound ?

Buy,"Band In A Box"(PG Music)This is a MIDI program.You can write
chord,melody etc,etc then import into Garage Band.Simple and it works great.

I'm new to this too. I have Band in a Box and would like to send chord progressions I have in there to GarageBand, so that I can get them onto my ipod eventually...how do you go about doing it? My files are .SGU and .MGB etc.

"All the chords you mention (C - Em- D -Am) are in the key of C major"

Actually those chords are in G. The D would be a minor in the key of C

Your chord breakdown shows it correctly though.

But, as my professor used to say
"anything goes"

Hey.
You should be able to export an mp3 from Band In a Box. Look for the export option in the file menu.

You should be able to load that mp3 into your iPod then.

If you can't, save the Band in the Box file as a midi file, then drag and drop it into GarageBand, then use the Share menu to export to iTunes, or export to disk and save it as an mp3 in any file you wish

Cheers

Biab is a great tool for writing your own stuff.

You can save the files as separate audio files. Save to your desktop and then drag the files individually into GB or Logic 9. I like to build the bass part in Biab and also a drum track using real tracks. Maybe some fiddle back up. Then in GB the structure of my tune is done. The I record my guitar part and a vocal, maybe a harmony vocal. Then I am ready to mix! I know loops are great but they dictate what your music will sound like.

God Bless

Garage band is not made for music theorists, you shouldn't have to take that kind of elitist criticism for asking a question. I'm trying to find a tutorial or someone who can tell me how to import guitar chords from Chordmate, which at the download site Chordmate said could be done, or a way to use chords for guitar on Garageband. I would think chords would be one of the options on GB, but I'm finding that the tutorials are sparse and there seems to be no one who has thought of programming chords for it. Maybe some brilliant music theorist can program a set of chords that can be downloaded into Garage band for all us idiots.

GB has chords in it. The basic version has many and you can add more with additional apple loops.

Look on You Tube there a hundreds of tutorials

Good Luck