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When you choose a setting for whether a variation plays with a chord, you are not choosing a chord built on a specific chord root, such as C or F. Instead, you are choosing the functional position, such as I or IV, of the chords in the segment.
The variation choices work jointly with the key of a segment. After you create settings in the Variation Choices window, the behavior of the variations in a pattern remains consistent for any segment you use to play the style or pattern. If you place a new chord in a segment, the variations in the pattern are selected to play with that chord according to the chord's role in the key of the segment.
All segments use a key setting identified by a root name only. It is assumed that the key is major, regardless of whether you intend the segment to have a minor sounding key. For example, a segment you design to sound as though it is in the key of A minor must have a key setting of C major. A minor is the relative minor of C major. The relative minor of a major key is always a minor third below the root of the major key.
For information about setting the key of a segment, see Chord Track Properties.
The Variation Choices window is not affected by a pattern's chord for composition. If you use the Variation Choices window to enable a variation for a chord type, the notes of the pattern adjust to fit that chord and its scale, even if the new chord is radically different from the original chord for composition.
For example, if you create a pattern using a Gmi 7 chord and place the notes Bb, C, D, and F in a variation, these pitches are considered steps 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the Gmi 7 chord and its scale. If you enable the variation to play with an Fmaj 7(#11, #5) chord, the steps 3, 4, 5, and 7 are interpreted as the notes A-natural, B-natural, C-sharp, and E-natural. The nature of the variation changes considerably from what you may have intended when you chose the original chord for composition.
The chord criterion buttons are grouped into the following four categories:
Functions include the chord root, based on the seven pitches of a major scale, and the chord quality on which the variation can play as it encounters chords in a segment. When you choose the chord root, you are selecting from the seven tones in the major scale of the segment's key. When you choose the chord quality, you are identifying whether the basic triad of the chord is major (uppercase Roman numerals), minor (lowercase), or diminished or augmented (lowercase italic).
These buttons specify whether a chord root must specifically be one of the seven tones in the major scale of the segment's key or if it can be a chromatic alteration (sharp or flat) of a scale tone.
These buttons specify whether a variation can play using a triad, a chord with an added 6th or 7th tone, or a complex chord. Complex chords contain more than four notes and are usually a 7th chord with an extension of a 9th, 11th, or 13th.
These buttons specify whether a variation can be used with a chord that leads to a destination chord built on the 1st or 5th step of the segment's key. For example, if the ->I button is selected, the variation is used with a chord that leads to another chord built on the 1st of the key. However, the chord being played must also fit all other settings for function, root, and type.
As soon as the ->I button is used in a variation, all other variations that do not have the ->I button turned on are ignored, even if their chord criteria settings match the chord being played.
You can turn on the ->I or ->V button in more than one variation. In this case, a chord that leads to a chord built on the 1st or 5th of the key can use any variation set for ->I or ->V, respectively, selecting from them at random.