Fingerstyle Productions: Fingerstyle Blog and Newsdesk

BAND IN A BOX MAKES PRACTICE A PLEASURE

Band in a Box is music software that's fun, AND, it'll improve your playing so fast you'll wonder why everyone doesn't have it!

We're all used to hearing music played by bands. Picking away at a solo in the spare bedroom doesn't excite in quite the same way as Cripple Creek with rhythm guitar and bass. And playing by yourself can lead to bad timing. That's why so many pros use a metronome. Band in a Box takes that idea and gives you a whole menu of bands to play along with!

Styles

Band in a Box (BIB) is excellent for practice at home. I could not have progressed without it and most of my students have it and love it!

It's basically a musical spread-sheet program - you choose the key to play in (eg, G) input the chords, choose a speed (tempo), how many times you want the song to repeat, then choose the 'feel' of the backing band.

Looping

No need to reinvent the wheel: I have loaded over 200 BIB song files to go, on the Fingerstyle website - bluegrass and old time and some country - da daaa! Instant menu of juicy banjo instrumentals and songs to play along with!

The BIB program has lots of functions but it's not likely that you'd want to make midi files, drum patches etc in the beginning.

Jesse James BIB file

It's simple to get started. Once you've installed the disc, here's what you do...

download Wendy's zipped BIB files from the Band in a Box page into a folder in your computer under My Music ( I call mine ASONGS so it lists right at the top).

click on any song file and it opens up and starts playing with a 2 x measure count-in (1, 2, 1,2,3,4...)
change the tempo/speed
change the key (my files are sometimes in keys other than G)
choose the number of repeats - up to 40 - (one click!)
change the feel of the song by selecting a backing band (called 'style' in BIB)
save any changes

changing key

The screen layout is terrific for being able to see the pattern in the song structure as the worksheet is 4 measures across the screen.

Here are some of the main benefits for us banjo players:
You can...

loop specific measures to practice tricky bits at slow speed then gradually increase the tempo as you gain confidence
play from here' function - to play from any point in the song
right click on any of the instruments to mute them - keep doing it and you'll end up with just a kick drum and snare - ie a metronome! (log your rolls speeds over a few weeks and see how fast you've improved!)
use a recording device (mp3 player/recorder?) to record yourself playing over BIB then share the file - band practice by email?
or store these recordings back into the computer and play your back-up or solo along with them.
BIB will let you print out the song as chords with blank tab underneath. Use this to scribble down solo ideas or share the chord charts with friends at the next jam.

Chord Sheet

How're we doing? It sounds suspiciously simple... it is!
There are only 7 basic things to know to get started.
I can't praise this program highly enough. It's so simple and yet effective. I've researched other similar programs and a lot of them are rock music orientated - the cheapest after BIB was $450!!

Brand new 2010 version for PC now in stock!!!
Shop price in Australia $225, our price, $189 AUD (while stocks last)

Order now and get picking! Practice has never been so much fun - and next time you go jamming, thanks to Band in a Box, your timing will be perfect!

Phone:
07 5476 1955
or
617 5476 1955 (International)
OR

fingerstyle productions