A chordshape or scale position has no musical meaning until you know what instrument and tuning it is played with.
By specifying the notes of the open strings, an instrument tuning allows a chordshape or scale position to be evaluated in terms of the notes it contains, and therefore which chord or scale it represents.
Instrument Types
ChordWizard can be used with any stringed instruments that have from 3 to 8 strings, such as the guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, bass guitar and so on. For examples, see the standard instrument tunings.
Instruments such as the 12-string guitar or mandolin have strings arranged in pairs tuned to the same note and fretted together. The strings within each pair are tuned either in unison (the same pitch) or an octave apart.
Instruments and Libraries
Since a collection of chordshapes is meaningless without knowing the instrument they are played with, ChordWizard stores the instrument and its tuning together with the chordshapes in each library.
When you create a new library, an essential step is to choose an instrument and tuning for the library.
Once chordshapes have been added to a library, the instrument and tuning cannot be changed, since this is likely to make the existing chordshapes inappropriate. However, you can create a new library for the new instrument and tuning, and import the chordshapes from this existing library.
The library's instrument also defines the fretboard in several other areas in ChordWizard, including Relations View, Scales View and the Tuner tool.
If you want to explore a different instrument, you will need to change it by opening a new library based on the instrument you want. The easiest way to do this is with Switch Library.
The Status Bar indicates the instrument and tuning for the current library. This can also appear in the footer or banner of any reports that you print.
See Also
