macOS version 7 manual
(Version 8 is now available. Yes, we are creating a full manual for version 8 on macOS and iOS)
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE MANUAL FOR THE IOS VERSION OF MAPPING TONAL HARMON PRO 7? CLICK HERE
Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro is a great tool to study tonal harmony. This interactive map reveals the inner workings of harmony. Available for macOS and iPad.
Visit the Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro page here
Symbolism in Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro
What’s new in 7.8.9
- Two amazing ADD-ONS are now available: TARGET NOTES & UPPER STRUCTURES
- Randomize the number of voices in the piano accompaniment
What’s new in 7.8.2
- Avoid parallel fifths and octaves option available in the voicings panel.
- New Map Theme (white background)
- Print the Map using the current layout and settings
- New keyboard shortcuts to go to the next/previous chord in the progression and insert inversions from the Map
- Undo in edit menu (COMMAND+Z)
What’s new in version 7.6.3
Replace audio files in progressions w/audio-sync with your own files.
We found a method to import tracks from Apple Music and DRM protected files.
- Download the track from Apple Music.
- Use MacSome iTunes Converter or similar to convert the track into mp3, or aac, etc.
- Open the audio-sync window in Mapping Tonal Harmony, select the audio-sync you want to replace and drag & drop your new converted file
- Remember to enable edit on the progression and save your changes.
What’s new in version 7.6.1
Note Harmonizer: Click on any note in the panel’s keyboard to find all the functions in the map that contain that note as a chord-tone. The chords that contain the selected note will be enclosed in a blue shape. Circle: the note is the root of the chord, Triangle: the note is the third (or 4th if it is a sus4 chord), Pentagon: the note is the fifth, Heptagon: if the root is the seventh (or 6th for 6 chords)
Interactive Keyboards: You can now click on the keys in the Scales & Chords panels to listen to each note
What’s new in version 7.6
Choose between split panels or independent window panel. (Click on the SPLITS button on the top tool menu bar to view the different workspace options)
This feature is great for smaller laptop screens, and to gain more freedom in how you create your own workspace in the app
What’s new in version 7.5
Audio-Sync: Sync real audio tracks with harmonic progressions. Click on the link below to read how to use it and how to create audio-syncs
Troubleshooting the Audio Interface
If you are having problems with Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro crashing on launch there are two possibilities:
- You macOS version is not 10.13 and up
- Your sound settings are not compatible with Mapping Tonal Harmony
(audio input & output should be a non-aggregated device at the same rate, you can try setting both to 44.1KHz 32Bits for example)
What’s new in version 7.2.5
Reharmonizer: Reharmonize any progression using different reharmonization techniques with the click of a button.
Auto-Spacing: Use auto-spacing to make space between chords symbols on dense harmonic progressions. Disable auto-spacing to evenly space quarter notes and measures
New Play-Along Styles: Styles with a Z prefix use a new algorithm that favor playing all chord changes in the progression (instead of other styles which favor balance in the piano and bass accompaniment tracks)
Quick Tour
Let’s start with a quick tour of the menus and what you can do with each of them. We have included a quick tutorial video for each menu and panel in the app.
The Top Menu
- Tutorials
Visit our YouTube channel with plenty of tutorials on how to use the app here - Splits
Choose the workspace layout. View just the map or split it in different panels to view the harmonic progression on the right, and/or other panels below the map. - Import Book
Launch the import window to add progressions to your catalogue in book-files. - Open
Launch the catalogue window to search for progressions in you catalogue and load them into the app - Save
Saves the current Progression - Duplicate
Create a copy of the current progression to work with - New
Start a new progression - 12 Keys Workout
Convert up to 8 measures into a workout over twelve keys - Edit Info
Change the progression’s related data, such as Title, Composer, tempo and more - Print
Print the current progression using the current layout - Staff Preferences
Adjust the way you want to display the notated score - Voicings
Adjust the way Mapping Tonal Harmony will play the chords - Metronome
Set tempo and metronome patterns
The Map and the Map Menu
Map Menu button: Show or Hide the Map Menu. Maps Drop Down Button: Choose between different map layouts based on styles. Jazz, Blues, Late Baroque & Early Classical, etc. Levels: Choose the map level from basic diatonic to complete map. Keyboard: Change the map’s current key
Jazz Button: Turn on or off the way Mapping Tonal Harmony plays chords and shows the functional notation of the map. With the jazz button enabled the app will play chords using tensions above the chosen chord (except when you choose triads) it will also show subV’s and subs instead of bII7 or augmented sixth chords
Secondary Button: Enable the secondary button to display the related roots for secondary functions in the map.
Cadences Button: Show or Hide the most-often used harmonic paths or cadences
Hide Unused: Hide functions not present in the current progression.
Paths & Arrows: When working with progressions you have the option to hide the lines or path arrows connecting functions in the current progression
3/5/All Segemented Button: If lines connecting functions enabled, there is a choice of how many lines will appear on the screen. “All” will show all the connecting lines in the progression. “3” and “5” will show respectively 3 and 5 connecting lines from the current place in the progression.
The Functional Button: Switch between chords and functions. The Flat Button: Change the key to be displayed as sharps or flats, if applicable. The House Button: Choose between major or minor keys. The change is subtle since the map always shows both modes simultaneously. However it is very useful for functional analysis
The Bass Detector: You can’t click on it, but it will reflect the bass lines created from function to function
The Double-Flat Button: Simplifies accidentals to show chord roots that are double flats or double sharps. Notes with accidentals will be replaced with a simpler enharmonic spelling. For instance Gbb7=F7 or A#7=Bb7
The Inversions Panel: Choose the inversion you want the next chord to be.
You can lock any inversion so that every function you play uses that inversion
Chords on the Map
Click on any chord on the map to play it. If you are in Edit-Mode creating a progression the function will be instantly added to the progression in your current selected beat in the progressions panel.
Cadences: The cadences will automatically light up when you play a sequence of functions that follow that cadence
Right-Click on any chord to bring up the chord-chordscale pair options for that function in the style you are working. Every function will have a different set of pairs depending on its location in the map and the current map style.
The voicings will also reflect the current chord-scale/chord pair selected
The Progressions Top Menu
- Edit Button: To make changes in a progression you must enable the edit mode button. When the edit mode button is switched on, any chord you click on the map will be added to the progression
- Repeat Button: Switch the repeat button on to let the app know you want the play-along to repeat the song. Choose how many times you want the song to repeated by changing the number next to it.
- Play-Along Play Button: Play or stop the play-along accompaniment.
- Play Voicings Button: Play or stop the voicings accompaniment.
- Arrows and Brackets: If enabled, Mapping Tonal Harmony will display the arrows a brackets analysis of the progression.
- G7 Button: Shows/hides the chord symbols in your progression.
- Scales Button: Shows/hides the chord scales.
- V7 Button: Shows/hides the functional analysis.
If you are in edit mode you may tap on the Title of your song to make changes to its related data, such as name, composer, tempo, time-signature, etc.
You may tap on any beat in the progression to play the current chord or function
Edit Tools Panel
The tools panel will only show up if you are in edit mode. The auto-steps box will also appear to the right. Change this number to automatically move a specific number of beats after every function is inserted.
Choose any tool in the panel and then use it on the written music to make changes. The hot spot of every tool is on the left top, so be aware of that when you click on the score.
Pointer: Use the pointer to select any beat in the progression
Erase Chord: Erase any chord by clicking on the beat on which it starts
Move Next System Break: Click on the bar-line where you want to next system break to be
Move Previous System break: Click on the where you want the previous system break to be
Split Tool: Insert a system break
Double Bar-line: Insert double bar-line
Final Bar-line: Change to final bar-line and remove anything written after that measure
Add a start repeat: Click on the left side of any bar-line to input a repeat sign.
Add or increase an end repeat: Click to add an end repeat barline, click again to increase the amount of times the section should be repeated
Decrease or remove an end repeat: Click to decrease the amount of times the section will repeat
First ending: Add a first ending to the score. The second endings are automatically inserted.
Sections Markings: Add a section marking. Every time you click it will increase the letter shown. It will cycle from A through G and then will go back to empty.
Segno: Add a Segno sign. Click just to the right of the bar-line where you want to add a “Segno” sign
Coda sign: Click just to the right of the bar-line where you want to add the “Coda” sign
Fine sign: Click just to the left of the bar-line where you want to add the “Fine” sign
D.S al Coda: Click just to the left of the bar-line where you want to add the “D.S al Coda” sign
D.S al Fine: Click just to the left of the bar-line where you want to add a “D.S al Fine” sign
Coda sign: Click just to the left of the bar-line where you want to add an “al Coda” sign
Erase any form symbol inserted on the barline left or right
Bottom panels & their menus
These menus allow you to split the panel in two, close the current panel and load the different available panels. All panels are resizable so you can customize your work-space.
History Staff Panel: Here you can see the last 8 functions you’ve played.
The panel will clean up when you change keys, since it shows the current key’s key signature.
You can show or hide different types of analysis: Arrows and brackets, Chord symbols, Functional analysis and Include Tensions in the chord symbols
The voicings shown are the ones played by the app. These voicings change depending on your voicings settings and whether jazz is enabled or not.
Use the trash can to clean the history
Play the entire sequence with the play button
Voicings Keyboard panel
Shows the last voicing played, on a Piano keyboard
Scales Keyboard Panel
Shows the last chord’s chordscale. You have the option of discerning between chordtones and tensions with this button. Chord-tones are shown in blue. Available tensions are shown in purple and avoid tensions in red
Audio and Play-Along Mixer
Here’s where you customize the way the app will play your progressions.
Turn the metronome on if you want to hear the metronome while playing the progression as block chords. Choose the tempo and metronome volume.
Choose how many voices you want the app to use when playing by enabling or disabling the voices channels. You may also adjust the volume on each voice and have the option of playing the bass voice using a bass sound.
You can also choose between spread voicings and closed voicings with the Favor Spread Voicings button.
Allow the app to randomly choose the voices by enabling the Randomize Voice-Leading button or use the best voice-leading possible by disabling it.
The play-along has three instruments: bass, keyboard and drums.
Use the console to adjust or mute each instrument’s volume.
You may also limit the volumes on the midi notes for each instrument. The app uses the full range of midi volumes if you leave these sliders on 0 and 127 but if you want to limit the range of volumes you can set the limiters to other values.
You can choose the style of the accompaniment using this drop down menu, and play the accompaniment with the play button
Each instrument may contain variations of the accompaniment, which you can find in the top-down menus above each instrument.
Staff Preferences
Here you can customize the way you want the music to look like in the chart.
We have included different templates or you can create your own
To choose a template use this drop down menu.
Enable the Worksheet Button if you want the music to show as a grand staff without beats. This is perfect to create worksheets or tests for students. Uncheck it if you want to view it as a single staff with beats.
Save the analyses types you want to include in the analysis by enabling or disabling arrows & brackets, chord symbols, scales and functional analysis
Let’s say you want to hide the chord symbols to create a worksheet for students so they can fill-in the chords based on the analysis. Just switch the chord symbols off and now the score doesn’t show them anymore.
Staves-Visibility-Count: Choose how many staves you want to fit on your window or paper. The score will reflect the changes only when the entire score doesn’t fit the visible page.
Staff Proportion: That’s how wide versus how tall you want the each staff to be. A 2:1 will make each staff very tall and a 12:1 will make them really short compared to their width.
Vertical Positions and Sizes: You may adjust the vertical position and size for every element in the score. You may also abbreviate the scale names when you want to fit many chords in a small space. Once you have adjusted your staff preferences you can save your customized layout or delete one you don’t want.
The current staff layout is always applied to any progression you load, and use for printing.
22 Tips & Tricks on how to use Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro 7
We have put together a set of 22 tips & tricks to make your life easier when using the app.
mDecks Music Blog 