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JAZZ User Guide Lesson 1 - The Six Step Blues
In Lesson One you'll write a twelve bar blues in the key of C. After you've written, played, and saved it, you'll also learn how to stop a song while it is playing, change the tempo, change between open and closed piano voicings, and use the Chord Display View for an animated playback display. You can write, play, and save a MiBAC JAZZ song in six easy steps:
-
Set the style
-
Set the form
-
Type the chords
-
Write the song
-
Play the song
-
Save the song
Step 1. Set the Style
Click
the Style tool
When the Style dialog appears, set the style to Jazz 4/4 and then click OK.
Step 2. Set the Form
Click
the Form tool
When the Song Form dialog appears, set the Chorus Length to 12, Total Choruses to 2, Tempo to 120, and Key Signature to C Major/a minor. Then click OK. When you close the Song Form dialog, twelve measures will appear in the main window, and you can begin typing the chord progression.
Step 3. Type the Chords
Type the following chords into measures 1-13, pressing the Tab key, or using the Arrow keys, to move from measure to measure. When using two chords in a measure, as in measures 8 and 12, type exactly one space between the chords. Using more than one space will cause an error. The chords will appear to be positioned over beats one and two, but they will be performed on beats one and three.
The c7x chord in measure 11 is a deliberate error that is being used to show how MiBAC JAZZ responds to chord errors. You'll find the error when you write the song. Remember to use Option-b to type the fl at. Here's how measure 8 of the song would appear on the Macintosh:
Step 4. Write the Song
Click
the Write tool
An Error dialog should appear, indicating an error in the chord progression. Click OK.
The c7x chord in measure 11 will be highlighted to indicate the error. If there were errors in other measures, those measures would also be highlighted. MiBAC JAZZ will not write a song until the chord syntax is correct.
To correct the error, click to the right of the "x" and press the Delete (Backspace) key to remove the "x.
The error highlighting should now be turned off.
Click
the Write tool Again
If there are no further errors, the Progress dialog will be displayed as the song is being written. On a fast computer, the Progress dialog will appear and disappear so quickly you may not even notice it.
Step 5. Play the Song
Click
the Play tool
You'll hear the song played at a tempo of 120 beats per minute.
Step 6. Save the Song
File
/ Save As Choose the Save As command from the File menu. When
the Save As dialog appears, name the song "Six Step Blues," and then click
the Save button. You'll use this song again in Lesson Three.
The ".mjz" file extension will be applied to all song names.
The ".mjz" file extension is optional.
In this last part of Lesson One, you'll learn how to stop a song while it is playing, check your tuning, change the tempo, turn instruments on and off while the song is playing, change between open and closed piano voicings, loop the song, and use the Chord Display View for a more animated playback view.
Stop a Song
Click
the Stop tool
You can stop the music at any time by clicking the Stop tool. Click the Play tool to play the Six Step Blues. Click the Stop tool after two or three bars have been played.
Tuning
If you're playing along with acoustic instruments, you may want to tune your instruments to your MIDI device.
Click
the Tuning tool
You'll hear four notes played at concert pitch A-440. You can change the tuning note using the Tuning dialog.
Play
/ Play Tuning Note
Choose the Play Tuning Note command in the Play menu to open the Tuning dialog. You can change the pitch, the MIDI channel, and the number of times the tuning note plays. The dialog also functions as a pitch to frequency to MIDI converter.
Change the Tempo
MiBAC JAZZ songs can range in tempo from 40 to 500 beats per minute. You can change the tempo by dragging the Tempo control slider.The shape of the slider is a rectangle on Windows and a triangle on Macintosh. Position the cursor directly on the slider, hold down the mouse button, and move the slider to the right or left to change the tempo.
Windows |
Macintosh |
 |
 |
When you drag the slider, the tempo changes by fives. When you click the arrows at the right, the tempo changes by ones. Try it. Note: The tempo is fixed for the duration of the song. If you want to create tempo changes within a song, you'll have to export the song as a Standard MIDI File and make the tempo changes in a third party sequencer or notation program.
Turn Instruments On and Off While the Song is Playing
You can turn the Piano, Bass, and Drum instruments on and off while a song is playing by clicking the triangle shaped Instrument On/Off control in the Status Toolbar at the bottom of the main window. P is for piano, B is for bass, and D is for drums. If the triangle is black, the instrument will play. If the triangle is white, the instrument will not play. In the picture above, the piano and drums are turned off, and the bass is turned on. You can turn any combination of instruments on or off while a song is playing. Try it. Note: The number following the initial letter is the MIDI channel for that instrument. You can click the number (MIDI Channel control) to change the channel.
Change Between Open and Closed Piano Voicings
Click
the Voicings tool
This opens the Piano Voicings dialog.
Note:You can also click the Voicing control in the Status Bar to switch between open and closed voicings.
Change the piano voicings to Closed Voicings. Write the song and play it. Change the piano voicings to Open Voicings. Write the song and play it. Can you hear the difference?
Loop the Song
Click the Loop Control in the Status Bar to turn the Loop state on or off. If the loop is off, the song will stop playing when it reaches the end of the song form, including chorus repeats. If the loop is on, the song will play completely through the song form, including chorus repeats, and then loop back to the beginning and play the entire song again. The song will loop until you click the Stop tool. As a matter of fact, it will loop continuously for about three weeks. Note: Songs that contain an Introduction or a Coda cannot be looped.
Chord Entry View / Chord Display View
There are two views of the Chord Text Area: the Chord Entry View and the Chord Display View. You must use the Chord Entry View to type in the chords. You may use the Chord Display View during playback to outline the chords as they are played.
Click
the Chord Display View tool
The staff lines will disappear, and the chord progression will be displayed on the screen in a new format.
You cannot type chords while in Chord Display View; it's designed for playback only. Note: You can change the font and font size used in the Chord Display View. See pages 47-48.
Click
the Play tool
Each chord will be outlined with an animated rectangle as the song is being played.
Click
the Chord Entry View tool
The staff lines will reappear, and you'll be able to type chords again.
