glauber
Apr-22-2006, 1:28pm
I'm having a lot of fun with Band in a Box 2006 (http://www.pgmusic.com/). Even if you don't "do" computer music (i don't), this is very useful and a lot of fun. Enter the chords, pick a style (for example, "Bluegrass" or "Irish", or "Bossanova"), and the thing generates professional quality rhythm tracks for you (MIDI). It's that easy; you can get going in 5 minutes.
There is a very large number of songs already done, available on the Internet. There is a Yahoo group that has literally thousands of songs and styles you can use, and a lot more sites are easily Googable, so you may not even have to input the chords. Most of those include the melody, and you can play along with it or mute the melody and use just the rhythm tracks.
Unless you play only Classical, you need this because:
(1) It's a lot more fun than practicing with a metronome.
(2) I can't think of a better way to practice improvisation at home. You're in complete control of the tempo, can repeat as many times as you want, try whatever you want (musically). It even generates improvised solos and harmonies for you, if you want (and they're amazingly good).
In fact you can let the computer create whole songs from scratch (chords, melody, leads, even title), and they sound good. It's really weird.
The only down side i can think of, is the thing is very addictive. Use with care.
The site has a free downloadable demo which has a bunch of functions disabled, but it's good enough to play with. You can't save songs with the demo, but you can create songs from scratch (to throw away) or load pre-made song files. I bought mine on eBay for a little cheaper than the price on the site. I was told that if you can produce some kind of student documentation, there is a very good student discount too.
There is a very large number of songs already done, available on the Internet. There is a Yahoo group that has literally thousands of songs and styles you can use, and a lot more sites are easily Googable, so you may not even have to input the chords. Most of those include the melody, and you can play along with it or mute the melody and use just the rhythm tracks.
Unless you play only Classical, you need this because:
(1) It's a lot more fun than practicing with a metronome.
(2) I can't think of a better way to practice improvisation at home. You're in complete control of the tempo, can repeat as many times as you want, try whatever you want (musically). It even generates improvised solos and harmonies for you, if you want (and they're amazingly good).
In fact you can let the computer create whole songs from scratch (chords, melody, leads, even title), and they sound good. It's really weird.
The only down side i can think of, is the thing is very addictive. Use with care.
The site has a free downloadable demo which has a bunch of functions disabled, but it's good enough to play with. You can't save songs with the demo, but you can create songs from scratch (to throw away) or load pre-made song files. I bought mine on eBay for a little cheaper than the price on the site. I was told that if you can produce some kind of student documentation, there is a very good student discount too.