CHORD NAMES, SYMBOLS AND QUALITIES

Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts, to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and the corresponding symbol are typically composed of one or more of the following parts:

1.       The root note (e.g., C).

2.       The chord quality (e.g., major, maj, or M).

3.       The number of an interval (e.g., seventh, or 7), or less often its full name or symbol (e.g., major seventh, maj7, or M7).

4.        The altered fifth (e.g., sharp five, or ♯5).

5.       An additional interval number (e.g., add 13 or add13), in added tone chords.

For instance, the name C augmented seventh, and the corresponding symbol Caug7, or C+7, are both composed of parts 1, 2, and 3.

    More rarely, a bass note other than the root (e.g., In the key of C Major, "G/B bass", which means a G Major chord with a "B" as the bass note). Except for the root, these parts do not refer to the notes that form the chord, but to the intervals they form with respect to the root note. For instance, Caug7 indicates a chord formed by the notes C-E-G♯-B♭. The three parts of the symbol (C, aug, and 7) refer to the root C, the augmented (fifth) interval from C to G♯, and the (minor) seventh interval from C to B♭. A set of decoding rules is applied to deduce the missing information. Although they are used occasionally in classical music, typically in an educational setting for harmonic analysis, these names and symbols are "universally used in jazz and popular music", in lead sheets, fake books, and chord charts, to specify the chords that make up the chord progression of a song or other piece of music. A typical sequence of a jazz or rock song in the key of C Major might indicate a chord progression such as "C Maj/a minor/d minor/G7".

Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts, to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and the corresponding symbol are typically composed of one or more of the following parts:

CHORD QUALITY

Chord qualities are related with the qualities of the component intervals that define the chord (see below). The main chord qualities are:

·         Major, and minor

·         Augmented, diminished, and half-diminished.

·         Dominant.

Some of the symbols used for chord quality are similar to those used for interval quality:

·         m, or min for minor,

·         M, maj, or no symbol (see rule 2 below) for major,

·         aug for augmented,

·         dim for diminished.

In addition, however,

Δ is sometimes used for major, instead of the standard M, or maj,

− is sometimes used for minor, instead of the standard m or min,

+, or aug, is used for augmented (A is not used),

o, °, dim, is used for diminished (d is not used),

ø, or Ø is used for half diminished,

dom may occasionally be used for dominant.

Chord qualities are sometimes omitted. When specified, they appear immediately after the root note or, if the root is omitted, at the beginning of the chord name or symbol. For instance, in the symbol Cm7 (C minor seventh chord) C is the root and m is the chord quality. When the terms minor, major, augmented, diminished, or the corresponding symbols do not appear immediately after the root note, or at the beginning of the name or symbol, they should be considered interval qualities, rather than chord qualities. For instance, in Cm/M7 (minor major seventh chord), m is the chord quality and M refers to the M7 interval.