New to stum machine… I’m trying to capture a new song for practicing. I need an intro with G for 4 &, then a measure of G for 1 2, a D7 for 3 and an Em for 4, C for 1,2,3,4 G for 1,2,3,4 D for 1,2,3 then G for 4, then a measure with G for 1,2, D7 for 3, Em for 4, then C for1,2,3,4, then G for 1,2,3&, D7 for 4, then G for 1,2,3,4 … and so on. It’s not intuitive to me on how to do this with the chart function. Not sure if Strum machine can split all the way to 1/16 notes (to handle rests and quick accents on upstroke such as an & count)? I haven’t found anything else in the help and faq …
(I moved this to a new thread to keep the other thread on-topic.)
My guess here is that you are counting 1 2 3 4 as “onbeats”, or the beats that the bass plays. This is great! Strum Machine is designed around this way of thinking. Each “cell” (each visible chord letter) in the song editor represents one onbeat / one bass note / one “boom chuck”. In 4/4 time (or in 2/4) time, these would be referred to as half notes.
The difference is that Strum Machine puts two of these in a measure. So a count of “1 2 3 4” (like you hear in Strum Machine’s count-in) spans two measures. This is one of several valid ways of approaching counting and time signatures in bluegrass, and I know that not everyone is used to that convention, but that’s what Strum Machine uses.
Therefore, the chord progression you describe should probably be entered like this:
| G G | D7 Em | C C | C C |
| G G | G G | D D | D G |
| G G | G D7 | G G | G G |
Note that I omitted the “4 &” pickup notes. The chart should pretty much always start with the “main downbeat” of the melody, and any preceding notes should be played during the count-in.
The “Subdivide Beat” feature under Chart lets you change each quarter note beat to be a different chord. You can break up a “boom chunk” into two chords this way. Strum Machine doesn’t let you divide the beat further because I have not found this to be necessary (or physically possible on the guitar in most cases) outside of pushing and pulling the beat forward and back which is something I plan to add to Strum Machine in the future.
I hope that helps. Let me know if there are any unresolved questions. And for general information on adding songs and using the editor, please watch this video. Thanks!