cuadue / chordimate

Animates guitar chords, scales, and modes on a fretboard in your browser

Chordimate (Chord Animate)

Chordimate is a jQuery plugin to display and animate chords, modes, and scales on a guitar fretboard.

Live Preview and Demo

Requires

jQuery and a modern-ish browser (tested in Chrome and Firefox)

Usage

    $(function() {
        $('#fretboard').chordimate()

        var c_maj = music_theory.make_scale('C', 'major')
        var g_min = music_theory.make_scale('G', 'minor', 'desc')

        $('#cmajor').click(function() {
            $('#fretboard').chordimate('change', c_maj)
        })
        $('#gmin').click(function() {
            $('#fretboard').chordimate('change', g_min)
        })
    })

Motivation

I don't claim that traditional music notation is dead, but its learning curve is steep. Tablature is more acessable, but it's limited:

• It only notates one fret position per string at a time
• It tries to mimic traditional notation where each note is prescribed. This can lead to an awful ocean of numerals, wherein locating differences is difficult.
• It's very difficult to synthesize any scale from the notes.
• It doesn't offer a particularly good way to indicate changes.

Chordimate tries to solve these things and encourage improvisation even if you don't know Myxolyidian mode or how to spell a Cmin#7b9.

The display is something like Guitar Chord Generator but this project doesn't claim to be an authority on any theory beyond the dead-simple. The idea here is to assist the creative process, not to suggest or impose anything. The user could, for example:

1. Write a song
2. Spell the chords
3. Fit those chords into scales or modes
4. Type those chords into Chordimate and line up the timing.
5. Send that score to the rest of the band

MIT License