The Guitar Chord tool can be accessed from the workspace in the following ways:

Button	Menu
	Tools-Next Chord

It appears as shown below, and helps you to explore possibilities for the next chord in a progression.

If your song has a Chords track and you open it in Mixer View or Track View, the Next Chord tool has a stronger connection to the song than the other harmony tools.

In this case, the tool is connected, and you can use Prior Cell and Next Cell buttons to move through the segments in the track, as you would in the workspace.  Changes you make in the selection of the Chord directly update your Chords track.

If there is no Chords track or in other views, the tool is disconnected.  In this case, the movement buttons are hidden, you must select the Prior Chord using a drop down button, and results are not returned to the workspace.

Controls

Prior Chord

Here is displayed the chord for which you are seeking another chord to progress to.  In connected mode, this is the chord in the segment prior to the one you have selected.

The prior chord is also indicated in the chord matrix with a larger dark blue dot.

In disconnected mode, an arrow arrow button appears on right hand side, which produces a drop down chord matrix for selecting a chord.

Play Prior Chord

Auditions the sound of the selected Prior Chord, for comparison with the sound of the selected Chord.

Chord

Displays the chord you are currently using or considering as the next chord in the progression.  You can update this chord by choosing a different selection from the main chord matrix.

Depending on the situation and your settings (as described below) your chord selection can be passed directly back to the song to update the Chords track.

Play Chord

Auditions the sound of the selected Chord, for comparison with the sound of the selected Prior Chord.

You can also audition any cell in the chord matrix without selecting it, by pressing the middle mouse button as you hover.

Highlight

Helps you to choose a next chord by highlighting suggestions, based on the Prior Chord.  A light blue dot is placed in the chord matrix to indicate chords of interest according to the highlight scheme.

There are several highlight schemes available:

1st Siblings - chords which have one note different from the prior chord.  For Cmaj (=C-E-G), one of the chords highlighted would be Am (=A-C-E), which is a commonly used chord change.

2nd Siblings - chords which have two notes different from the prior chord.  For Cmaj (=C-E-G), two of the chords highlighted would be Fmaj (=F-A-C) and Gmaj (=G-B-D), which are commonly used chord changes.

3rd Siblings - chords which have three notes different from the prior chord.  For Cmaj (=C-E-G), one of the chords highlighted would be Dm (=D-A-F), which is a commonly used chord change.

Same Sizes

Specifies that only chords with the same number of degrees as the Prior Chord are to be highlighted.  This is enabled only if a highlight scheme is selected.

Show Sizes

Adds a number in square bracket to the headings in the chord matrix controls, indicating how many degrees there are in each chord type, eg. maj [3].

Play Change

Auditions the sound of the selected Prior Chord followed by the selected Chord, for a clear demonstration of the chord change.  This also happens automatically when selecting a chord from the matrix, if Interactive Sounds in the sound settings is active.

Update Move

Specifies whether changes to the selection of the Chord are automatically returned to the song to update the Chords track as you navigate between segments.

If unticked, any changes are discarded when you move to an adjacent cell.  Appears in connected mode only.

Prior Cell

Moves the focus of the Next Chord tool to the prior chord cell in the song, and you will see the selection change in the background.  Appears in connected mode only.

If the Update Move option is ticked, the focus chord will be updated with any new Chord selection before the move.

Next Cell

Moves the focus of the Next Chord tool to the next chord cell in the song, and you will see the selection change in the background.  Appears in connected mode only.

If the Update Move option is ticked, the focus chord will be updated with any new Chord selection before the move.

Update

Updates the song with the selected Chord, closes the Next Chord tool and returns to the workspace.  Appears in connected mode only.

Cancel

Closes the window and returns to the workspace.

Help

Opens Songtrix Help at this topic.