Band in a Box is a versatile program for creating accompaniments.  It is also a creative tool for writing music and an instructional tool for exploring various elements of music.  Available for both Mac and Windows, BB is relatively inexpensive, making it a good starter program for anyone wanting to explore music technology.

Used by musicians and educators around the world, Band in a Box has many educational applications.  After reading about some of these applications and examining specific examples, you can download a demo version of the program from http://kellysmusic.ca/bb.asp

Creating Accompaniments

Band in a Box can quickly create accompaniments in almost any style.  Simply enter the chords for the music, choose an appropriate style and click play.  BB will automatically generate a five-part accompaniment based on the chords and style.  There is a broad range of styles to choose from, and a new arrangement is created each time a different style is selected.  Existing styles can be edited, or new styles can be created from scratch.

A melody can be added to the accompaniment by recording it from a keyboard, or importing it from a MIDI file.  It is also possible to use the mouse to enter music directly onto a staff, or by clicking the on-screen keyboard.  This melody can be harmonized in a number of different styles - close four-part or “super-sax”, for example.

The possibilities for creating accompaniments with this program are endless.  Folk music and children’s songs music, for example, can quickly be entered into Band in a Box.  Creating your own play along tapes or CDs for a beginning band is also easy – and freely distributable.  Of course, BB is most widely used by jazz bands and choirs for automatically creating rhythm section parts that can be recorded for private practice or classroom demonstration.

There are many obvious benefits of creating these accompaniments.  They can help develop a sense of tonality and modality, and provide a rhythmic foundation.  It can motivate students and contribute a sense of authenticity to their performance while providing the teacher with more mobility in the classroom.

Benefits of Accompaniments

Using an accompaniment with a singing exercise or beginning band method book can help provide students with a tonal reference point.  Teachers can ask students to listen for cadences and other harmonic movement that reinforces the tonality.  BB allows you to easily shift modalities from major to minor.  Students can be directed to listen to the modality while the sing/play.  Transposing the accompaniment is also quite easy, and can help give the students a tonal center to focus on while teaching them to transpose a simple melody by ear, for example.

Teachers can use BB to help students develop a sense of pulse.  The drums can be muted, and students can be asked to provide the missing sense of pulse.  Beginning jazz ensembles can develop a better sense of “swing” by listening to a virtual rhythm section that can play almost any style.  BB can also provide a rhythmic foundation for movement exercises.

BB can be used to provide a realistic context in which the music was intended to be performed.  Most music was not written to be performed only as a melody, or with limited accompaniment, but instead the melody was constructed within a harmonic context.  BB can help create some of the original framework the music was created in. 

Teachers find that BB can give them the freedom to interact with students while providing all of the advantages of an accompanist.  The software can be more sophisticated than a tape recorder or sequencer since it allows you to change tempos on the fly, start/stop at any point, transpose, and change styles with the press of a button.  Of course, it would never replace a real accompanist, but when you do not have access to one, Band in a Box can be a real help.

Providing students with a musical context in which to perform can be very motivating.  Beginning band students, for example, can be more motivated when they can perform simple melodies in a larger musical context.  Popular styles appeal, of course, but so can an authentic musical experience.

Although Band in a Box would never replace a real accompanist, it does offer some unique advantages.  The program allows you to save accompaniments for future use and modification.  You can also print any part of an accompaniment or export music to other programs for further refinements and developments.  Students and teachers alike can create accompaniments on their own, without requiring a lot of time or keyboard skills

Creative Tool

Band in a Box is not a true notation or sequencing program, but it does include limited aspects of both.  Although limited in this sense, it is still a great tool for creativity.  For example, students can use BB to create accompaniments for their own melodies or variations.  Young composers can then take the ideas for accompaniments or improvisations from Band in a Box and then further refine them in a notation/sequencing program.

In addition to accompaniments and improvisations, students can use Band in a Box to experiment with different harmonizations.  Students can try a chord and hear the effects immediately.  BB does not require the user to understand the theoretical aspects of chord structures.  Without knowing the rules of functional harmony, students can experiment with different sequences of chords and immediately hear the effects of their changes.

To simplify the process, chords can be entered in a number of different ways:

• Chord names (C, F, G, etc.)
• Chord functions (I, IV, V, etc.)
• Solfege (Do, Fa, So, etc.)
• Nashville (1, 4, 5, etc.)

Chords can also be played on a MIDI keyboard and BB will interpret and label them, based on the current key signature.

Students can also experiment with styles and discover which style suits their music best.  As part of a composition project, students can use BB to compose music “in the style of” various composers.  BB can help identify key features of various styles and student can incorporate these features into their melodies.

Of course Band in a Box as a creativity tool goes beyond just accompaniments.  True to its roots as an aid for jazz musicians, the latest version of BB includes soloists that create improvisations based on the chords and styles entered.  Students can get ideas from the soloists by entering the chord sequence and then choosing from the hundreds of different soloist included in BB.  Students can modify or adopt these ideas for their own compositions or for their own improvising.

Using Band in a Box, students can build up a library or repertoire of “licks” or sequences to use in their own playing or writing.  In addition to providing ideas, BB can give students the appropriate context while they experiment with improvising.  The software can be used like traditional “music minus one” or Jamey Abersold play-along recordings.  Aside from being in tune, technology also offers the advantage of instantaneous transpositions and tempo changes, and endless repeats!

Instructional Tool

Band in a Box is well known for its application as an auto-accompaniment and creativity tool, but perhaps even more valuable for educators is the potential that it holds as an instructional tool.

Band in a Box can be used to help students discover, compare and experiment with the follow elements of music:

• Style
• Harmony (harmonizing melodies)
• Harmonic Progression
• Improvising
• Modality and tonality

Viewed from a technological standpoint, BB provides a number of teaching opportunities.  In order for any of the functions of BB to work musically, the developers had to define a set of rules or characteristics.  For example, each style has to have certain instruments defined, strong beats, note density, and other unique identifiers.  Students can gain insight into these elements by studying them from the stand-point of defining or discovering the rules.

BB allows you to edit and create your own styles, harmonies, and solos.  Students can learn about the rules or characteristics that govern or define the differences between various genres, etc. as they try to create their own or edit existing elements.

Younger students can be asked to compare different styles.  Question can be asked as different styles are examined, such as

• What instruments are different?
• How do the drum patterns differ?
• Where are the strong beats?
• How does the piano part differ?

Another comparison exercise that can be quite useful is to examine the effects of different styles.  (This can also provide many hours of amusement or agony as Bach does the macarena, etc.)  Questions to be explored:

• Why does one style suit a particular melody but not another?
• Why would you choose one style over another?
• Where would you expect to hear music of this style?  What composers, etc.

Experimentation with harmonic progressions can lead to wonderful learning opportunities.  Give students time to ask themselves: “what chords sound good with this melody and why?”  Open twenty different traditional songs that come with BB and challenge students with questions such as: “what are the top three chord choices?”  Other guided questions can lead to further discovery: 

• What chords sound good with what scale degrees?  Why?
• What notes does BIAB use when you tell it to play a C chord?
• How do C and C7 differ?

On a more basic level, ask students to listen for cadences as the music plays, then use the numerical view to watch for the 5-1 conclusion.  Using the solfege view allows students to sing along with the chord changes, reinforcing their sense of tonality and harmonic progression.  BB allows students to both hear and see the effects of changing the mode, etc.

Conclusion

Band in a Box is a relatively inexpensive program that can provide auto-accompaniments, and also act as a creative and instructional tool.  For educators just getting started with technology, Band in a Box provides an affordable entry point.  A versatile program, it can be used with all ages.

For more information on Band in a Box, including a free demo, a PowerPoint presentation with more details and links to other information, visit our web site at http://kellysmusic.ca/bb.asp