Chord simplification

[Ruscolinni]

Hi folks. I'm new here. Loving iRealb. Had a question about chord input. If I enter a Bb-7 chord into a new tune, it sometimes shows up as the enharmonic spelling of A#-7 when transposed. Is there a way (like in finale) where you can simplify chord spellings so you can read practical spellings?

Thanks!

 

[dflat]

We have looked at this a few times but it is reasonably complex. As you might realize, just replacing a single chord (letter) with the other (Cb to B, A# to Bb etc.) has to take into account II-V-I progressions, any other previous or following transpositions/progressions, the key (or not), and perhaps the transposing instrument.
If it is a specific transpose you use regularly, you can lock the song in that key (song edit>info) and enharmonically change any chords needed (however you might need to have the transposing instrument set to C otherwise it will transpose again.)

We do hope to spend more time on this in the future. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[BruceCassidy]

Hi

First, thak you and congratulations on this app! It is great and I'm turning my students on to it.

Regarding transpositions; Perhaps some kind of 'unlocking' would work. I'm not a coder so this may not make any sense. It is the sharps that seem to be the problem for Bb instruments (I haven't looked at Eb transpositions as I play a Bb horn) The II V's can become mixed the way it is now and it is really strange to see a D# or G# major chord.

 

[Bligon]

Chord "simplification" when transposing

Set up in C.

C#°7 [vii°7/ii] and D#°7 [vii°7/iii] are correct



Transposed to F.



Gb°7 and Ab°7 should be F#°7 & G#°7. iReal transposes all other functional chords correctly.

Why can’t it transpose these secondary vii°7 chords sensibly?

Does iReal think that G♭°7 and A♭°7 are somehow simplifications?

F#°7 is vii°7 in Gm [2 flats] G♭°7 is vii°7 in A♭♭ minor [14 flats!].

F#°7 = F#–A–C –Eb. G♭°7 = G♭–B♭♭–D♭♭–F♭♭. This does not look like a simplification.

G#°7 is vii°7 in Am [NO sharps or flats] A♭°7 is vii°7 in B♭♭ minor [12 flats!].

G#°7 = G#–B–D–F. A♭°7 = A♭–C♭–E♭♭–G♭♭. In no way could that be a simplification.

Is there a way around this?

 

[engelbach]

It seems that iReal Pro transposes all diminished chords as flat in flat keys.

 

[CyrilleB]

I think the problem is that iReal pro doesn't consider the key of the song when transposing. It just mathematically moves chords up and down without considering in which key the song is. This is why there are sometimes some weird chord spellings when transposing (I often see chords such as Eb/C#, etc.) I don't really think that would be an easy thing to fix, as it might require some heavy recoding from scratch.