How to make a BACKING TRACK with Band In A Box

Practicing with backing tracks can be a fun way to improve your timing, develop the skill of improvising, and help get you out of a rut. You can find premade backing tracks… but I like to make my own. Here’s how I do it.

Outline of the Steps

  • Find a song
  • Determine the key

    • Usually at the top on the sheet 

    • First and last chord

    • Find the sheet music

Link to RGS lesson: How to Find the Key (log in)

  • Now for Band-In-A-Box

  • Select Key

  • Choose style

    • type title in song picker

    • choose which ever sounds good

  • Type in the chords
    • Sing the words

    • You may refer to the sheet music if you are unsure

    • Play the song to test 

  • Add intro: Edit > Song Form > Add Intro

  • Sing along and make changes

You can also…

  • Change keys

  • Change Tempo

  • Play along with guitar

  • Experiment with different grooves

  • Improvise over chords

Download as an MP3

More Information…

I don’t remember where I originally bought Band-in-the Box but I’m pretty sure I started with the least expensive version. I have upgraded several times over the years directly from https://www.pgmusic.com.

I currently own the Band-in-a-Box UltraPAK 2020. I purchased my last level upgrades on a portable hard drive which they mailed to me.  The file for the versions with the Real Tracks are quite large (many Giga Bytes) and it would take a lot of my time to download them. I run the program directly from the hard disk. 

Here’s a forum post on the PGMusic website that explains the different versions Understanding the Different Band-in-a-Box PAKs  

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