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Builder: Frequently Asked Questions about Groove Builder

Unanswered questions can be submitted in the feedback section. You can also post your question to the FretBuzz forum about WholeNote.

1.1 What is the Groove Builder?
1.2 How do I enter chords?
1.3 How do I play back the groove?
1.4 Is there a way to change the arrangement of my groove?
1.5 Can I change the sound or make it faster/slower?
1.6 How can I save my grooves?
1.7 How can I use my groove in a lesson?
1.8 Is there on-line help for the Groove Builder?
1.9 Why do I get a script error upon entering the Groove Builder?
1.10 Why is my chord entered twice each time I select it?
1.11 Why is nothing updating when I click to insert a chord?
1.12 Why don't I hear anything when I create a long groove with infinite looping?


1.1 - What is the Groove Builder?
The Groove Builder lets you create simple arrangements of chord progressions quickly. You can then play along with these progressions to easily practice what you've learned on the site. You can also use it to quickly compose new ideas for your own tunes with a few simple clicks. You can also include them as backing tracks or the main music in an on-line lesson using our Lesson Builder authoring tool.
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1.2 - How do I enter chords?
You can enter chords into your groove by selected the radio button pertaining to the root of your chord and its quality (i.e. "D" and "Major"). This selection will be automatically inserted into the groove, and the current slot to be edited will be advanced. If your desired chord is not a "Major" or "Minor", find it in the drop-down menu, and select the root of your desired chord in that row of radio buttons.
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1.3 - How do I play back the groove?
There is a Play button and a Stop button, which you can use to control groove playback. In addition, you can select a subset of measures to be played. Simply use the drop-down menus located next to these buttons to select the start measure and end measure to use for playback.
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1.4 - Is there a way to change the arrangement of my groove?
WholeNote has provided a set of pre-determined arrangement formats. You can apply any format to any chord progession you've entered by simply choosing a different format in the format drop-down menu, and hitting the play button. For more information, check out our Visual Overview of the Groove Builder.
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1.5 - Can I change the sound or make it faster/slower?
The Groove Builder uses the playback preferences located in the bottom of your browser window (i.e. tempo, sound, click, and loop), so you can speed up or slow down your groove, use a different guitar sound, add a click track, or loop it.
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1.6 - How can I save my grooves?
Members can save their grooves by using the Member Groove Builder. You specify a title and at the same time, create it. If you decide to use it in one of your lessons, then your groove will appear in the lesson in its published form. For non-members, the only way to save your groove is to e-mail it to yourself or to your friends. In the upper-right hand corner of the Public Groove Builder page, there is a link to the "Email this to a friend" page. This page allows you to email the URL for this groove to yourself or anyone else who might be interested. By clicking on the emailed link, you or your friends will automatically be taken to the Public Groove Builder, pre-loaded with your groove, and ready to go.
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1.7 - How can I use my groove in a lesson?
Members can include their grooves as backing tracks or as the main music in their lessons. Refer to our Visual Overview of Lesson Authoring to learn how easy this is.
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1.8 - Is there on-line help for the Groove Builder?
Yes. In the upper-left hand corner of the Groove Builder, there is a button to launch a popup help window that you can use for reference when creating grooves with the Groove Builder.
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1.9 - Why do I get a script error upon entering the Groove Builder?
Occasionally, scripting errors will occur at the WholeNote site due to differences in how certain browsers deal with Javascript. If this occurs, simply choose the option of "Continue to Run Scripts in this Page".
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1.10 - Why is my chord entered twice each time I select it?
With certain older browsers, selected chords may be entered twice into the groove. This is an unfortunate side-effect of how the Groove Builder functions. If this occurs, you should download the latest browser from either Microsoft or Netscape.
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1.11 - Why is nothing updating when I click to insert a chord?
Make sure that you can see the frame below the input section of the Groove Builder. This section is where the chords for the groove are displayed, and should appear as you start to insert chords or rests. If you are having problems viewing this section (and this may occur with low-resolution monitors), simply grab the frame handle above the groove display, and drag it upwards. You should now see the chord progression that comprises your groove. Note: IE4.0 users on a Mac will not be able to drag this frame, due to a bug in the browser. For more information on this bug, consult our known bugs & issues page.
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1.12 - Why don't I hear anything when I create a long groove with infinite looping?
Long grooves with looping set to "4 times" or "infinite" can generate a lot of MIDI data, and some browsers will not play MIDI files that are above a certain size (100-200K). If this occurs, simply choose a low loop count in your playback preferences and re-play the groove.
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