Some good points Boo. I don't think music teachers are holding info back on purpose. I think they don't have a clue as to what an arranger is or does. It would be unthinkable for most of them to think "chords" instead of reading notes.
Boo, all the arrangers I've had in the past few years have been able to record the intros, ending , fill-ins, etc., in real time in the sequencers. The only ones I know of that have a dedicated chord loop recorder are Korg and Roland, but the "easy record" feature on Yamaha does the same thing.
DonM