In this video, let's take a look at the advantages of the 'chromatic note' mode
and how you can use this to play chords.
To do this I've also attached a midi keyboard via USB,
and let's just have a quick look at the set-up before we get started.
If you have a midi keyboard and you want to follow along with this particular video
make sure you've connected your keyboard and opened the preferences in Live
to make sure it's connected.
You can play notes and chords on Push using the pads.
The pads are usually set to the default 'In Key' mode, as you can see in the display.
Currently the key is set to C and the scale is major.
In order to play a chord, I have to play a minimum of 3 pads.
For example, if I play these 3 pads
I can play a major chord.
And I can move this shape around the pads to play different chords.
In the 'In Key' mode, you can play any chords that consist of notes
to the currently set scale.
In this case: C major.
But just because you're playing the same shape
doesn't necessarily mean you're playing the same type of chord.
You can also play chords in the 'chromatic' mode.
So let's switch to that now.
In the 'chromatic' mode, you can still play chords using particular shapes.
So for example, I can play a C major chord like this...
The advantage of being in the 'chromatic' mode means that I can transpose this shape
across the pads to play the same type of chord.
So if I move across the pads I can actually play different major chords.
So regardless of what shape I play on the pads to play a chord
I can transpose this shape across the pads.
The advantage of this is that if I'm playing along to music that changes its key,
or I'm looking for particular chords,
I can play these easily in the 'chromatic' mode.
In the 'chromatic' mode, I can still play the key and scale that is set in the display
simply by following the visual feedback of the pads that are lit.
I can play the C major scale by simply playing the lit pads.
And by turning the encoder to 'minor' I can play the C minor scale
by following the lit pads.
By using a midi keyboard connected to your computer,
you can also learn the shapes of certain chords
by simply playing them directly from the midi keyboard
and then watching what pads light up on Push.
I'm going to play 2 chords on the keyboard,
and see which pads light up to learn the shapes of these chords.
If I want to learn certain progressions I can play these and record them as a clip
and then play them back to see what they look like to learn the shapes.