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Chords analysis and search

Subjects covered:

• Analyze the chords of a score
• Searching chords for a melody

Watch also the following video:

• Finding chords - Harmonization (15'20) - Flash - Quicktime

Analyze the chords of a score [Professional] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro]

Pizzicato lets you analyze the chords of a score, i.e. to discover the name and the type of the chords formed by the notes contained in the score. Open the Ex072 example. The following score appears:

With the selection tool, select these 4 measures for both staves. Select the Edit menu, then Chords… and Chords analysis… The following dialog box appears:

It lets you specify how Pizzicato will analyze the chords:

• The frame entitled Analysis determines the analysis duration. By default, it is the half note which means here that Pizzicato will analyze two chords per measure. The following choice, Every measure shows that there will be an analysis for each measure and one chord found for each. The next choice executes an analysis for each note of a given staff (for example a bass or a melody).
• Three choices are available to determine the chords to use. The first choice gives you access to a dialog box used to individually select the chords to use. The second choice takes all the chords of the library into account. The third choice limits the chords to use according to the number of notes in the chords. By default, Pizzicato uses the chords having between 3 and 4 notes in the library.
• The minimal chord similarity fixes the precision level used to generate the chords progression. The higher it is, the more Pizzicato will be precise and restrain the possible chords in the analysis.
• The Staves included… button gives you access to a dialog box used to select the staves taken into account to analyze the chords. By default, the selected staves are activated, but you can modify them (for example to exclude a percussion staff). The Take bass into account box forces Pizzicato to use the bass if the chord is not in its fundamental position (alternated bass for the chord symbol).

Click OK now. The following dialog appears:

• At this step, Pizzicato made a first analysis and proposes you to select a tonality to be considered as central. In the first menu, select for example C Major. You are not obliged to select one of them.
• The check box just below is used to automatically add the chords symbols on one of the staves. Check it.
• You can also ask Pizzicato to generate the notes of the analyzed chords, in a given staff. We will use it further.
• The lower frame gives you control on the possible results of analysis. In the previous dialog, we had fixed the precision level. All the chords of the library that satisfy this level compared to the contents of the analysis are correct potential candidates. For each one, a correspondence ratio is computed (in %). If Pizzicato finds only one possible chord for each analyzed cell, it will have globally only one progression satisfying the precision level. It may happen if you fix the analysis criteria in a very tight way (100 % of similarity and extremely limit the possible chords to use). In most cases, several chords will be possible for each measure or cell analysis. These possibilities multiply together to quickly generate many possible progressions. In our example, we have 4 measures with two cells of analysis per measure, that is to say a progression of 8 possible chords. If Pizzicato finds for example three possibilities for each chord, that gives us 3x3x3x3x3x3x3x3 is 6561 possible progressions in theory! In practice Pizzicato stops with the first 999 possibilities. To decrease this number, you can force one or more common notes between two successive chords (menu at the bottom of the dialog). To know the number of possibilities, click on Calculate … In our case, you get 999. There are probably more, but Pizzicato stops there. The slider entitled Selection is used to select a progression among this set of possibilities. The first will normally be that nearest to the optimum and the others will be alternatives which nevertheless respect the required precision of similarity. Click OK and the score becomes:

This first analysis being made, you can now easily modify it, either globally or by individual chord.

In the main palette, activate the chords tool or the arrow tool (shortcut ESC). With the mouse right button (Option-click on Macintosh), click on the first C chord. A menu appears:

Pizzicato displays a list of 5 chords which satisfy the precision level of similarity specified during the analysis. The chord currently used is checked. You can select another chord. They are classified per degree of similarity (% between brackets).

If you select the Tonal analysis item, you get the previous dialog and you may select another chord progression. This choice then affects all chords concerned by the analysis (here 4 complete measures). You may easily test several different progressions. Click on Tonal analysis… then Calculate… and select a random choice with the slider. Click OK. The chords progression changes.

Searching chords for a melody [Professional] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro]

In the above example, the musical contents of the score imposes already the color and the type of chord, even if some alternatives are possible, for example when Pizzicato proposes a 4 notes chord (we had accepted chords between 3 and 4 notes) whereas the cell contains only 3 of them. The same principle can be applied to find one chords progression starting with only one staff containing a melody or a bass. Open the Ex073 example and select the bass staff on 9 measures:

In the Edit menu, select the Chords… item then Chords analysis… In the analysis dialog, fill the following options:

Click OK. In the next dialog, fill the following options:

Click OK. As you asked to convert the chords into notes on the first staff, the note conversion dialog box appears. Fill it to have:

Click OK. The score becomes:

Listen to the result. You can now listen measure by measure and modify the selected chords, one by one or with a global analysis, exactly as previously. If you do not know very well how to create chords, this method gives you a first choice. You can listen to the sequences and by modifying the suggested chords, select those you prefer. As you proceed, the notes generated on the first staff are modified according to the selected chord. You can thus select the chords in an intuitive way thanks to the multiple choices of the preselected chords. Let us see an example with a melody.

Open the Ex074.piz example and do the following:

• Select the first staff
• Select the chords analysis
• Fix the similarity at 100% and disable Take bass into account
• Click OK
• Select the central scale in G Major
• Activate Place chords symbols on staff 1
• Activate Convert chords into notes on staff 2
• Click OK then again OK.
• Select all measures and justify them. The score becomes:

Listen to the suggested chords. It is not the most common version… but it nevertheless does not seem too bad! You can now test other progressions, modify one or more chords until the arrangement feels good to you.

When you compose a melody, this tool helps you find the chords which would fit to accompany it. It is a composing tool.

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