Chord notation
In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more of the following: For instance, the name C augmented seventh, and the corresponding symbol Caug7, or C+7, are both composed of parts 1 (letter 'C'), 2 ('aug' or '+'), and 3 (digit '7').
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",[1] 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.
In a jazz context, players have the freedom to add sevenths, ninths, and higher extensions to the chord.
In some pop, rock and folk genres, triads are generally performed unless specified in the chord chart.
Chord-playing instrumentalists in the rhythm section, such as pianists, use these symbols to guide their improvised performance of chord voicings and fills.
In jazz, particularly for music from the 1940s bebop era or later, players typically have latitude to add in the sixth, seventh, and/or ninth of the chord.
Jazz chord voicings often omit the root (leaving it to the bass player) and fifth.
In a journal of the American Composers Forum the use of letters to indicate chords is defined as, "a reductive analytical system that views music via harmonic motion to and from a target chord or tonic".
[2] In 2003 Benjamin, Horvit, and Nelson describe the use of letters to indicate chord root as, "popular music ([and/specifically] jazz) lead sheet symbols.
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, a C augmented seventh chord is a C augmented triad with an extra note defined by a minor seventh interval: In this case, the quality of the additional interval is omitted.
For instance, a C augmented major seventh chord is a C augmented triad with an extra note defined by a major seventh interval: In both cases, the quality of the chord is the same as the quality of the basic triad it contains.
The table below shows the names, symbols, and definitions for the various kinds of seventh chords, using C as the root.
In a jazz ensemble with a bass player, the chord-playing instrumentalists (guitar, organ, piano, etc.)
Another way to resolve might be to convert the chord to minor by lowering the third, which generates a clash between the ♭3 and the 9.
The table below shows the names, symbols, and definitions for the various kinds of ninth chords, using C as the root.
Similarly, omission of the third as well as fifth in C11 results in a major chord with alternate base B♭/C, which is characteristic in soul and gospel music.
For instance: The table below shows the names, symbols, and definitions for the various kinds of eleventh chords, using C as the root.
A very common voicing on guitar for a 13th chord is just the root, third, seventh and 13th (or sixth).
The table below shows the names, symbols, and definitions for some thirteenth chords, using C as the root.
The most commonly encountered of these are 6/9 chords, which are basic triads with the sixth and second notes of the scale added.
Upper structures are notated in a similar manner to inversions, except that the bass note is not necessarily a chord tone.
Therefore, upper structures are most useful when the composer wants musicians to play a specific tension array.
The most commonly found form of a polychord is a bichord (two chords played simultaneously) and is written as follows: upper chord/lower chord, for example: B/C (C–E–G—B–D♯–F♯).
Some fake books extend this slash rhythm notation further by indicating chords that are held as a whole note with a diamond, and indicating unison rhythm section rhythmic figures with the appropriate note heads and stems.
and the bass player should stop accompanying for the length covered by the "No Chord" symbol.
An even more stringent indication for the band to tacet (stop playing) is the marking solo break.
In jazz and popular music, this indicates that the entire band, including the drummer and percussionist, should stop playing to allow a solo instrumentalist to play a short cadenza, often one or two bars long.
This rhythm section tacet creates a change of texture and gives the soloist great rhythmic freedom to speed up, slow down, or play with a varied tempo.
