ChordLab 1.0 iPhone Edition Released

Harmony is a difficult and complex part of music theory with chord spelling and construction at its very basis. What is a chord? Is it C - E - G# or C - E - Ab? You like the sound of those four notes on your guitar, but is it a chord? And if so, what is it called? These are typical issues facing the creative musician when trying to bring a new song to paper. Music theory is often complex and correctly spelling a chord that may have sharps and flats, double flats or double sharps is not always easy. This is where the traditional chord books and apps become useless and ChordLab steps in.

ChordLab differs in its top to bottom approach that begins with a basic chord form which can then be put through permutations like inversions and different voicings. It features all the standard voicings commonly used in Jazz, Rock, Pop, and elsewhere. In that sense it serves as a color palette or sounding board that automatically generates valid fingerings for the piano and guitar in addition to the correct music notiation. The result is a much deeper and better understanding of the underlying principles of harmony.

The chord finder feature in ChordLab allows you to input 3 or 4 notes to determine their harmomic quality. ChordLab will always find the enharmonically simplest solution and does not require you do know whether a note is called G# or an Ab. C-Gb-Bb-D for example will resolve to a D aug7 chord with a correct spelling of C-F#-A#-D. This is especially useful for guitarists that seldomly encounter chords in root position due to the tuning of the instrument.

Another essential tool found in ChordLab is the Circle of Fifths which is implemented interactively. It not only allows to look up key signatures for major and minor, but all major modes like dorian, phrygian, etc. Additionally ChordLab displays degree structures for a key in standard Roman numerals. This is extremely useful when putting together chord progressions.

Putting music theory into words often makes it sound overly complex. Chords are color and nobody would say that red or blue are complicated. ChordLab is not an application that shows you 1000 different colors. It is an application that lets you work with colors, identify them, make them brighter, darker, less complex, more complex and then shows you how to play them. It is very a unique tool for musicians, song-writers, professionals and music students and one that you will find yourself coming back to again and again.

Features:

- chord spelling for all common chords found in fake books (i.e. Real Book)
- chord finder finds correct chord descriptions for triads and seventh chords
- music notation and textual representation of chord tones
- fingering display for piano and guitar
- alternate fingerings for guitar where avaiable
- alto, bass, tenor, treble clefs and grand staff
- all possible inversions
- all standard voicings
- automatic reduction to 3 or 4 voices
- automatic root and fifth substitution
- key signatures for all major modes (circle of fifths)
- degree structure in Roman numerals for all major modes (circle of fifths)
- high quality piano samples
- arpeggiated playback

ChordLab is available from the App Store for your iPhone or iPod touch.