AI chord sequencer

One night I was trying to figure out a practical way for the AI chatbots like ChatGPT to help out with writing music. I had recently installed a locally run application called Jan and downloaded the biggest language model the interface thought my PC could handle (Yi 34B Q5). I then presented it with the following task:

can you give me a spicy, jazzy chord progression with complex chords that would fit in a 1980’s pop sensibility

To which the language model.. well, it went a little nuts. 

Sure, let’s create a spicy and jazzy chord progression that would fit in an 80s pop sensibility. The 1980s were known for their use of electronic instruments, synthesizers, and a blend of rock and dance music. Here’s a chord progression that incorporates some complex jazz chords with a catchy pop feel:

Verse Chorus
| Dm7 │ G7sus4 │ Cmaj9 │ F#o7b5 │
| Em7 │ A7sus4 │ Dm7/F │ G7(#9) │
| Am7 │ D7sus4 │ Gmaj9 │ C#o7b5 │
| Bm7 │ E7sus4 │ Am7/G │ D7(b9) │

Chorus
| Cmaj9 │ F#o7b5 │ Gm7 │ Bb7(#11) │
| Dm7 │ G7sus4 │ Cmaj9 │ F#o7b5 │
| Em7 │ A7sus4 │ Dm7/F │ G7(#9) │
| Am7 │ D7sus4 │ Gmaj9 │ C#o7b5 │

Bridge
| Fm7 │ Bb7(#11) │ Ebm7 │ Ab7(b9, #13) │
| Dm7 │ G7sus4 │ Cmaj9 │ F#o7b5 │

Outro
| Am7 │ D7sus4 │ Gmaj9 │ C#o7b5 │
| Bm7 │ E7sus4 │ Am7/G │ D7(b9) │
| Cmaj9 │ F#o7b5 │ Gm7 │ Bb7(#11) │
| Dm7 │ G7sus4 │ Cmaj9 │ F#o7b5 │

(…)

When playing these chords, you can add some extra spice by emphasizing the seventh, ninth, and sharp eleventh (when present) with your left hand on the piano. On guitar or other chord instruments, you can use extended voicings or add some chromatic passing tones to make the progression more interesting. The 1980s pop sound often featured a strong focus on the bassline and synth pads, so be sure to include those elements in your arrangement as well.

What do I do with this?

So there I was, got exactly what I asked for with no idea what to do with this block of text. I tried playing these chords, but I’m not that used to finding sharp elevenths and diminished sevenths etc., so every chord was followed by a brief pause while I contorted my fingers and/or rubbed my beard for the next one. No flow, no inspiration.

After musing on it a while, I hit upon the idea of programming some chords into the Reason’s Chord Sequencer player, so I could simply click on a chord and quickly try how they sound in succession. I was happy to find out that it didn’t take very long to fill the 16 initial chord slots, and Chord Sequencer keeps track of the kind of chord you’ve put in, so long as you make sure the root note is correct.

Clicking at the chord slots when done did immediately start to sound like something, and I noticed myself starting to find some progressions that sounded nice. Of course it wasn’t anywhere close to what the AI had spat out, and I found myself ignoring some chords entirely. But the point of the exercise was not to ask the AI to write a song for me, but rather to ask it for a starting point where I can launch off from.

Before you know it, you’ll have 16 chords to play with. The slash chords (like Am7/G) don’t list as such, hence the few duplicate labels in chord slots.

What does it sound like?

After a bit of faffing about, I had recorded a verse, a bridge and a chorus section using only the chords in the sequencer pictured above. Here’s a clip.

CP80, FM synth bass and a drumkit built around these chords could sound a bit like this

Afterthoughts

I went ahead and asked the free version of chatGPT (currently 3.5) for another set of chords and gave them the same treatment. After the reasonable initial setup, it’s quite fun to mash on the chord buttons and feel my musical brain start up with ideas. You do have to be thoughtful about it and not get caught in the AI weirdness that our current generation of the tech almost invariably produces. Like what the heck is a Verse Chorus? Why is that Outro so damn long? And why specify the diminished chords that they also have a flat fifth, I thought that’s implicit when you say “diminished chord”. Just use your musical expertise to cut through that noise.

I’ve tried this only with two prompts, so I don’t know when things are going to start to repeat, but initially it seems you could get started with any genre or style using this method. Hopefully it gave you some ideas, especially if you’re struggling with getting started!