Chord notation

[Chriske]

Hi,

Another question from a novice player.

Were can I find a list of chords with correct notations.
I now and then see on the net that the notation of a chord is different compared to the notation on another site. I'm not talking about regular/easy chords here, but the more difficult, say less used chords.
It is very confusing.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Chriske

Hi,

Another question from a novice player.

Were can I find a list of chords with correct notations.
I now and then see on the net that the notation of a chord is different compared to the notation on another site. I'm not talking about regular/easy chords here, but the more difficult, say less used chords.
It is very confusing.

You mean notation on a staff?

The issue with guitar chords is you can have many shapes for any one chord.

E.g., a D major chord always contains the notes D F# and A, but they can be doubled or tripled, and can be played in any order, and in different positions on the fretboard. Each of those will be notated differently (the D F# and A notes will occur in different octaves).
Another issue is that guitar music is written an octave higher than concert pitch, so a D chord on guitar that sounds the same as one on piano (same pitches, same octave, same voicing) will be written an octave higher than the piano chord.

Can you give examples of sites where you've seen the same chord notated differently?

[MC5C]

Do you mean the way scribists write the name of the chord above the staff? Like Dm vs Dmin vs D-? DM7 vs Dmaj7, and so on? Basically you need to know them all, and translate for yourself, because there isn't a "right way". Example is m7b5 written as a half-diminished chord - little circle with a slash through it (my keyboard doesn't do the little symbol, nor the little triangle that is often used for M7). A never ending source of confusion can be altered chords - often they don't tell you which note they want changed, nor which way - sharp or flat...

Edit: here is a question I've pondered on and off for years. Why is a dominant 7 chord notated D7 instead of Db7? It's a seventh one step flat from the scale tone, after all. I can see the confusion - is it a D(b7) or is a Db (b7), so I get the compromise - but it's the only chord where the alteration of the note to flat isn't in the common chord symbol.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by MC5C

Edit: here is a question I've pondered on and off for years. Why is a dominant 7 chord notated D7 instead of Db7? It's a seventh one step flat from the scale tone, after all. I can see the confusion - is it a D(b7) or is a Db (b7), so I get the compromise - but it's the only chord where the alteration of the note to flat isn't in the common chord symbol.

Minor 7ths (10 half-steps above the root) are the most common kind of 7th (5 in the major scale, only 2 major 7ths), so they are regarded as default. "maj" is used for the rarer major 7th (11 semitones).
At the same time, major 3rds are regarded as default. "m" is used for a minor 3rd.

This makes for a neat shorthand, where the commonest chord types get the shortest symbols:

D7 = D F# A C = major 3rd, minor 7th - most common combination. (Known as a "dominant" 7th because it derives from the dominant (V) degree of major or harmonic minor.)
Dm7 = D F A C = minor 3rd, minor 7th
Dmaj7 = D F# A C# = major 3rd, major 7th.
Dm(maj7) = D F A C# = minor 3rd, major 7th - both changed from default.

You could assume from all this that chord symbols are based on mixolydian mode (everything major or perfect aside from the minor 7th), but that's only the way it looks. In fact, the system is simply a shorthand evolved from common practice.

Likewise, when you see a "6" chord it's always a major 6th, whether the triad is major or minor. "A6" and "Am6" both have F#, not F.

Slightly different rules apply to diminished chords:
"dim" = dim triad (root, minor 3rd, diminished 5th);
"dim7" = dim triad plus diminished 7th (half-step smaller than minor 7th);
"m7b5" = dim triad plus minor 7th - known as "half-diminished" because it has just one diminished interval (5th), unlike the "full" dim7 which has two (5th and 7th).

[rick-slo]

If you are looking at chords that have been named within a piece of music they can be named different ways with no one name being the "right" name.
Depends on context (the key, perhaps a slash chord naming, etc.).

[TBman]

Just a comment, make sure the book/tab you have is intended for guitar. Just because it has chord diagrams doesn't make it that way. I remember plenty of times buying a song book as a kid and it was really piano music with guitar chord boxes on top. Quite often it was the wrong inversion of the chord shown.

JonPR and Rick are pointing you in the right direction, btw.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Chriske

Hi,

Another question from a novice player.

Were can I find a list of chords with correct notations.

Hi Chriske

I've met traveling guitarists who are very proficient, and they often sell their own compositions in score form, with TAB, so the proper notation of each chord is there. I've also met amazing guitarists who have just sent their stuff to a transcriptionist, and the accuracy of their charts and TAB is all over the map. The difference is often one guitarists reads music, the other plays totally by ear.

Totally accurate charting is rare.

Over-the-counter fake books will have very generic markings, and often the player/writer was a guitar player and their transcription is a pianist. Totally different focus and outcome.

Jazz charts like the Real Books from 30 years ago (if you learn to read their chicken scratch) will also give you pretty accurate notation. But they are not playing or charting the same songs as everybody else.

Part of the growth process as a guitarist is to learn the basic chords, their common forms of alteration and those fingerings (G to G7 to GMaj7 etc), then learn inversions and barre chords. As your knowledge grows so does your ear hopefully, so when you see/hear a song being played you pick up on the subtle differences in what's written on the chart and what the guitarist actually plays.

I'd never limit myself to 'totally accurate' charts.