Last month I mentioned that I’ve started using a piece of software on my Android tablet called iReal Pro, which seems to be the de facto choice among local jazz musicians and thus handy for the purpose of being able to share charts with my peers. I’ve since been pleased to discover that it is also relatively easy to create and edit charts and it also comes with some useful practise modes. I never got round to getting a copy of ‘Band in a Box’ but now I’ve got a similar, though probably not as fully featured, workalike program that can not just display and transpose chords but play them too.
I’m taking it into a new context tomorrow. I’ve been trying to work out how I’m going to have the music I still need as an aide memoir for tomorrow’s gig with Martin. I had thought about printing out strips of paper that I could stick to the top of the mandolin but then I remembered iReal Pro and decided to plug the chords in there. It’s taken a little work but now I’ve got the set – seven blocks consisting of fourteen tunes in all – ready to display. For a folky gig like this, I’d really like to have the whole lot memorised but this will do as a stepping stone.