discovering chords

When you move a chord shape over a guitar neck, you get the same chord with a different root (A major becomes B major by moving up two frets). This is easy to replicate in ableton using the chord device: +4 & +7 would make a major chord out of any key you play (an A note becomes an A major, a B becomes a B major). However, this is isn't so useful for finding progressions when only a couple of chords of the same "quality" will be in the same key.

On a keyboard, moving shapes works a bit differently. Think about your basic C major triad. If you move this up the white keys, say to E, you don't get E major but rather E minor - in fact, you'll get an in-key chord of different quality for every note as long as you stick to the white keys with this shape. With this in mind, even if you don't know the chords in C major, you can "discover" new in-key chords that work together to find a progression. This is the kind exploration we're after with this trick.

Putting it together is simple enough - just put a chord device at the start of your chain followed by scale, preferably the "C Major" preset to start with. Change the "base" to the key of your song (or it's major equivalent if in minor). Then, adjust the chord to whatever you like & play a single note on the keyboard; you'll now be able to move this "shape" around & the resulting chords will always stay in key.