The PDA Initiative - Pocket Guitar Ref Elite

Pocket Guitar Ref Elite - Online Help

Introduction
Program Operational Modes
Chord Plotter
Chord Progression
Chord Discoverer
Scales
Modes
Favorites
Guitar Settings
Sound Settings

Progressions

What is a Progression?
Progression Manager
Progression Editor

Introduction

Pocket Guitar Ref provides a comprehensive reference for chords, scales and modes. It also provides the ability to add and organize your favorite chords, scales and modes. There's even a chord discovery mode, in which you can tap on the fretboard for different notes and it will discover and display the chord name.

Includes the most common tunings for guitar. They are:

Name	String Notes
Standard E	EADGBE
Open E	EBEG#BE
E Minor	EBEGBE
Standard Eb	EbAbDbGbBbEb
Open A	EAEAC#E
Standard D	DGCFAD
Open D	DADF#AD
Standard Db	DbGbBEAbDb
Open G	DGDGBD
Standard C	CFBbEbGC
G6th	DGDGBE
Standard B	BEADF#B
G Wahine	DGDF#BD
Drop D	DADGBE
G Major	GBDGBD
Double Drop D	DADGBD
Open C	CGCGCE
D6th	DADF#BD
C6th	CACGCE
D6/9	DADF#BE
C6th Mauna Loa	CGCGAE
D Suspended	DADGAD
Cmaj7/9	CGDGBE
Drop Db	DbAbDbGbBbEb
Cmaj7 (Gabby)	CGEGBE
C6/9 (Crafty)	CGDAEG
Cyril C	CGEGCE

Program Operational Modes

There are four modes that you can be in while using Pocket Guitar Ref. They are as follows:

Chord Discoverer

This is a free-form mode in which you can click on the fretboard to form your own chords. After each click, the program will try to determine what chord you have formed and displays it in the box at the bottom of the screen.

Chord Progression

This mode allows you to have your progression play out on the fretboard so that you may follow along. You select the progression from the Progression droplist. You can also select the pattern to start on from the Pattern droplist.

Chord Plotter

This program mode displays chords according to the selection in each of the note, type and variation fields. Standard Tuning (EADGBE) has the option to use dynamic chord generation (via the Tools menu) or static reference. There are 6 of the most common variations for each chord type stored in an internal reference table. When not in dynamic chord generation mode, the program will use this to reference and display chords. When using dynamic chord generation, the program uses an algorithm to find 50 variations of the chord and allows the user to see those. Only Standard Tuning chords have been put into the internal reference table. All other tunings use dynamic chord generation.

There are 36 chords in each key available. They are listed chromatically in the chord drop list. The chords available are:

Major
Major Suspended Fourth
Flat Fifth
Major Add Ninth
Fifth
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Major Sixth
Sixth Add Ninth
Minor Sixth Add Ninth
Minor Sixth
Seventh
Seventh Suspended Fourth
Minor Seventh
Minor Seventh Flat Fifth
Seventh Augmented Fifth
Seventh Flat Fifth

Major Seventh
Major Seventh Flat Fifth
Minor Major Seventh
Seventh Flat Ninth
Seventh Augmented Ninth
Seventh Flat Ninth Augmented Fifth
Minor Ninth
Ninth
Ninth Augmented Fifth
Ninth Flat Fifth
Major Ninth
Ninth Augmented Eleventh
Minor Ninth Major Seventh
Eleventh
Minor Eleventh
Thirteenth
Thirteenth Flat Ninth
Thirteenth Flat Ninth Flat Fifth

Scales

This program mode displays scales according to the selection in the note and type fields.

There are 9 scale types available. They are:

Blues	This is a Minor Pentatonic with the addition of a raised 4th.
Diminished	An important jazz scale, it plays well with altered 7th chords and extensions. It is commonly used in heavy metal, giving a gothic sound.
Minor Diatonic
Minor Harmonic	Has a sound that generally makes people think of "Indian music". In truth, the scale isn't used much in that genre.
Minor Melodic	One of the more interesting scales used in modern music, especially jazz. It has qualities of both major and minor scales and is able to express a wide range of emotion.
Minor Pentatonic	By far the most used scale in blues and rock.
Major Diatonic
Major Pentatonic	Its bright sound dates back thousands of years and is one of the most used today.
Whole Tone	Constructed of tones a whole step apart, allowing it remain unanchored to any pitch.

Modes

This program mode displays modes according to the selection in the note and type fields.

There are 7 mode types available. They are:

Aeolian	Also known as the Natural Minor Scale, this is the saddest of all scales. One of the most used scales in Western music.
Dorian	A major scale with the 3rd and 7th note lowered 1/2 step.
Ionian	Also known as a Major Scale.
Locrian	A major scale with the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th note lowered 1/2 step.
Lydian	A major scale with the 4th note raised 1/2 step.
Mixolydian	A major scale with the 7th note lowered 1/2 step.
Phrygian	A major scale with the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th note lowered 1/2 step.

Favorites
This feature allows you to save specific chords, scales or modes. These favorites are shown for their respective mode. In other words, the favorites you have set for your chords while in Chord mode will not appear when in Scale mode. You are also allowed 10 favorites per tuning in each of the program modes. After adding a favorite, it will show up under the Tools menu. You can organize your favorites by selecting the 'Organize...' menu item. The tunings droplist will default to the current guitar tuning the program is set to. You can edit other tunings by selecting them from the list. The favorites relevant to that tuning will load into the tree view. How do I add a favorite? Once you have found a chord, mode, or scale that you want to be able to recall quickly in the current tuning, click Tools->Favorites->Add... See below for an example of where to go and what will appear:

As you click the Favorites menu, you'll notice existing favorite items, or above the line will be empty, indicating that you haven't stored any favorites yet.
Adding a Favorite
	Enter the name you want this favorite to be known as in the Favorites menu. You can enter a description here so that you can easier identify the favorite when Organizing Favorites.

Guitar Settings

There are 3 property pages in the guitar settings property sheet.

Guitar

Here, you are able to set the fundamentals of the guitar. You can select the tuning and whether you want the display to show as a left or right-handed player. When you select a tuning, a short description is shown.

Chords

Max Span	The maximum distance you are able to go from one fret to another. Most reference books have this set to 4.
Display Type As	How the chord type will display in its droplist. Choosing Symbol will use common symbols such as m, *maj, and sus. Choosing Full Name* uses the full name of the chord type, such as *Minor, Major* and *Major Suspended Fourth*.
Open String	Determines how open strings will display on the fretboard. There are options for showing an 'O' icon over the string at fret 0, coloring the string blue or both. Coloring the string makes it easier to see open strings when the 'O' icon is out of view.
Muted String	Determines how muted strings will display on the fretboard. There are options for showing an 'X' icon over the string at fret 0, coloring the string red or both. Coloring the string makes it easier to see muted strings when the 'X' icon is out of view.
Scroll screen to ensure notes are visible	Whether or not to automatically scroll the screen to show the chord when it's initially displayed.

Scales/Modes

Max Span	The maximum distance you are able to go from one fret to another. Most reference books have this set to 4.
Show using entire fretboard	Whether or not to use the entire fretboard to plot scales/modes. If checked, max span becomes irrelevant.
Don't use open notes	Whether or not to show open notes when plotting scales/modes.
Use colored overlay for start note and all of its octaves	Whether or not to highlight the scale/mode start note and every occurrence of it on the fretboard. This is done by drawing a translucent blue bubble over the note.
Scroll screen to ensure notes are visible	Whether or not to automatically scroll the screen to show the chord when it's initially displayed.

Sound Settings

There are 3 property pages in the sound settings property sheet.

Chords

String pick speed	This is the speed that, when in picking mode, that the program advances through each string in the defined pattern. It is stored in beats per minute. The slowest is 60 BPM and the fastest 320 BPM. Later versions will display the actual value.
Pick pattern	This defines the order in which the strings are to be played. Simply add any arrangement of string numbers 1-6 and the chord will play this pattern when you click play. Use the test button to hear how the pattern will sound.
Stop playing note before starting next	Whether to stop the currently playing note from ringing through the next note.

Scales/Modes

String pick speed	This is the speed that, when in picking mode, that the program advances through each string in the defined pattern. It is stored in beats per minute. The slowest is 60 BPM and the fastest 320 BPM. Later versions will display the actual value.
Pattern	Determines how to advance through the scale.
Stop playing note before starting next	Whether to stop the currently playing note from ringing through the next note.

Sound Packs

Current	The currently loaded sound pack.
Search directories	Directories for PGRef Elite to look through when filling the 'Packs found' list below.
Packs found	Sound packs that were found while looking through the directories specified above. This list also shows which sound pack is currently loaded.

Progressions

What is a Progression?

A chord progression is a sequence in which a group of chords are played in a song or a piece of music. Putting chords together into a progression is an extremely efficient way of practicing. Pocket GuitarRef Elite allows you to group any number of chords together, loop them a given number of times and assign picking patterns to each chord.

Progression Manager

The Progression Manager holds all over your progressions for easy viewing and access to editing. Progressions are categorized by their tuning. From here, you can add, edit and delete progressions, as well as see their details and even sample what they sound like.

The Progression Manager also allows import and export of progressions so that you can share your creations with the world.

A selected progression's information appears below the list of progressions.

Icon meanings:

	Add progression
	Edit progression
	Delete progression
	Export progression
	Import progression
	Stop progression (if playing)
	Play progression (if stopped)

Adding a Progression

To add a progression, simply click the Add Progression button on the toolbar. The dialog to the left appears and you can enter all the specifics for this new progression.

You can choose to Copy from an existing progression, for example, if you'd like to modify a progression, but keep the original intact.

Each tuning setting has its own set of progressions. You select which tuning you'd like this progression to be associated with from the Tuning droplist.

Deleting a Progression