Modern Chord Chart Notation

Before I get into the two types of Modern Chord Notation, allow me to first let YOU know that the OLD use of the minus sign (-) was banned some 30 or 40 years ago with an agreement at a world council by the International Federation of Musicians. Naturally, this did not stop millions of Jazz players and other 'old school' musicians from continuing to accept and use a minus on charts (even to this day!) where the minus sign is/was present, sometimes in abundance.

The reason the minus was 'banned' (but not officially outlawed) was that its use could be confusing, due to the fact that it not only indicated a minor chord, but was also used to represent any type of a diminished chord. It was recommended that the practice should be dropped/stopped, but some 'old school' musicians simply ignored the ban and refused to make any change in their (bad) habit regarding the use of the minus sign. Few, if any, 'old school' musicians have made corrections to their 'old school' carts in regard to the issue of the minus sign, (which is a shame for such a great legacy of older Broadway and Jazz tunes), so that the modern musician can interpret and play the songs correctly. That said, here is what is considered to be internationally acceptable as PROPER Chord Notation in the 21st Century, below. (No matter WHAT the 'old-schoolers' say! In a way, the minus in music went out with conversational Latin!)

Now then, the primary and (modern) 'standard' form of chord notation is based on the "rules of assumption" and begins with the basic 3-note (Major) TRIAD. This process is worked up from scale tones. (You need to understand scales & how they are built.) When just the root note-name designates all three notes, it is assumed that the 3rd is Major and the 5th is 'perfect': (1, 3, 5). Any changes to these are called 'alterations', the same as with tailoring clothes. More notes than three are referred to as additions or extensions. Less than 3 notes are 2 notes (obviously), which are usually the root & fifth, called 'power chords' and designated with a large '5' after the root-note name, such as C5, F#5 or Gb5, etc., leaving out any manor of a 3rd. > (Chords imply harmonic relationships; therefore, any single note can't be called a 'chord', just as a single person can't be a 'family'.)

As seen in the photo, some charts have the name of a chord above a 'finger chart' that shows guitar players how that chord can be formed (fingered). Other 'fake' music charts may only have the chord name over the point in a measure where they are played, similar to the 'fingering' or 'where to place your fingers' chart info. Music sheets without guitar 'fingering charts' assume you already know where to place your fingers. In many cases, the 'finger chart' may show the simplest form of the chord, but not necessarily how it was actually played (fingered) by the recording artist.

There are 7 scales that anchor on a Natural root note, 6 that anchor on a Flat and 2 that have a Sharp note as a root. Six of these scales are actually the same pair of 3, just using 2 different names for the same notes. These scales are all listed below with their scale tones in ascending order: (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do). Only 13 of the 15 scales are normally used in modern music. The other possible 2 scales have been used in a few Classical tunes, but are rare today, yet they still exist. The only 2 key tones that are still common in duality are: Gb or F# and Db or C#. However, a third duality might be seen in some rare sheet music: Cb (B).

Key of A: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A

Key of B: B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B

Key of C: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C

Key of D: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D

Key of E: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E

Key of F: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F

Key of G: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G

Key of Ab: Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab

Key of Bb: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb

Key of Eb: Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb

> You might notice that every key-scale (with or with-out sharps or flats) makes use of each Natural letter-name once only. (Not counting the root's octave.) Beyond the initial 15 keys, this is no longer the case as it no longer works and therefore, not applicable.

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Key of Gb: Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb

Key of F#: F#, G#, A#, B#, C#, D#, E#, F#

The duality above is used either way, but the C# (below) is preferred over Db because the reader can simply sharp all the notes; The same (inversely) as the Cb use is better than B, just flat all. (No need to remember which are flats, naturals or sharps and which aren't.)

Key of Db: Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db

Key of C#: C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#, C#

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Key of Cb: Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb

(Same notes as the [sharp] Key of B, but with alternate [flat] designations.)________________________________________________________________

Commonly, there are 6 types of Triads, with only the Major Triad not needing any further symbol (except for the root note-name) to indicate what all three notes should be. These are Major, Minor, Sus4, Aug.(+), m7, b5 (0) and the odd one 'out' or very rare: Major, flat 5. Any chord as: 1, 2, 5 (= 4, 5, 1) is really an inverted or re-voiced sus4 chord. The very rare Major with a flat 5 is better defined from its flat 5 as: 7, b5, no 3. This may not seem simpler, but it's much clearer. Example in C: C flat5 = C, E, Gb = Gb7, b5, no 3 = Gb, C, E, or 1, 3, b5 = 1, no 3, b5, 7.

Next is the Minor Triad, (Major 3rd Lowered 1/2 step or Lowered 1 note: a flat 3), which is indicated by a small 'm' after the root note-name, such as Am, C#m or Ebm, etc. (Some add a small 'i' along with the m, as in: Ami, C#mi or Ebmi, etc., but you probably won't see this nearly as much.) IE: The Major 3rd is lowered a half step (1 note) to the minor third, with the (perfect) fifth unaltered. (1, b3, 5) The other alteration to the Major 3rd note is raising it 1/2 step or 1 note. This results in a sharped 3rd or #3, which is also the same as the 4th. Normally called a Suspended (sus chord) or sus4 and even just a '4' chord, as in C4, F#4 or Gb4, etc. Also normally seen are Csus4, F#sus4 or Gbsus4 as well as Csus, F#sus or Gbsus, etc. In these cases, any of the indicators are usually placed small in the same way a little 'o' for degrees is done; high, smaller & just to the right. (also see: sus7 & sus9 below) *Special note: sus11 & sus13 are not only redundant, but the groups of 5 or 6 different notes would be named (designated) in a simpler manor with a different (5th) root. (m sus7 & m sus9)

Two alterations to the 'perfect' 5th are: Raised 1/2 step, or sharped 1 note and Lowered 1 note, or a flat 5th. Raised is called 'Augmented' (aug or +) and Lowered is Diminished (o). Examples in C are: Caug or C+ (C#5 is rarely, if ever, used because it looks like a C# power chord.) On occasion you might see: C+5, but this is also very rare & rather unnecessary. The Augmented (+) is a Major chord, whereas any Diminished is a Minor (b3, b5).

There are 4 types of Diminished chords, the most basic being the 3-note or Diminished Triad. It may be indicated by a simple small 'o' (like degrees), but is best indicated as a "minor, flat 5". With a C root it would be: Cm, b5 or Co. 1, b3, b5. The other 3 types are both alterations AND extentions, (as is also a suspended minor and other chords, all discussed below). Full Diminished (4 notes) is 1, b3, b5, b7.... < a Dominant 7 lowered to a 6th. The m7, b5 is the Diminished chord that does not lower the Dominant 7th. The one Diminished chord that retains its Major 3rd would be (in C): C b5, or 1, 3, b5. In this rare case, be sure the flat sign goes with the 5th & not the root-name. (smaller & upper register.)

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Extensions are notes added to a chord, giving it more than three notes, such as Major Sevenths (M7), Sixths (6), Dominant Sevenths (7) and Suspended Sevenths (sus7), all with 4 notes; plus 5 or more notes, as in Ninths (9), 11ths & 13ths, etc. (Some of these multiple added notes can also be 'altered' &/or even added individually.)

The first extension (or added note) is the 6th. (This note is very rarely altered.) Common examples you might see are: C6, F#6, Gb6; also Cm6, F#m6 and Gbm6. This added note is usually positioned one step (2 notes) higher than the 5th.

The next is a (Dominant or Dom. 7th) for both majors and minors, usually indicated by just a '7' after the root note-name, such as: C7, F#7, Gb7, or Cm7, F#m7 and Gbm7. This note is usually positioned one & a half steps (3 notes) higher than the 5th, or a step (2 notes) below the first upper octave of the root. In some rare cases, you may see the 7 added to chords like an augmented, such as Caug7 or C+7 or C7+ or C7, #5.

The last extension or added note (with-in the initial octave) is the Major 7th, (M7). Its position is usually 2 steps (4 notes) above the 5th, or 1 note below the first upper octave of the root.

Next comes the notes added in the second octave above the root. These are known as the ninth (9), eleventh (11) and thirteenth (13). When added alone, the word ADD falls just before the number, as in Cadd9, Cadd11 and Cadd13. (Never use the plus (+) sign to mean "add", since the plus sign is already used to mean a raised or sharped (#) 5th, being other-wise known as an Augmented 5th.)

Normally, the "rules of assumption" apply to 9th chords, 11th chords and 13th chords. This means that it's assumed the Dominant 7th is included with the 9th, the (Dom) 7th and 9th are included with the 11th and the 7th & 9th & 11th are included with the 13th, making a common 9th chord encompass 5 different notes, an 11th encompass 6 different notes and a 13th encompass 7 different notes. Chords consisting of more than 7 notes are possible, but rarely, if ever, used. Commonly, 9ths are the limit (especially on guitar), 11ths are rare and 13ths are usually played with one or two notes skipped (left out), even on piano. What 'makes' an 11th chord is the Major 3rd in the first octave against the Suspended 4th (#3) in the second octave. What 'makes' a 13th chord is the Dominant 7th in the first octave against the 6th note in the second octave. In each case, the 'count' of scale tones beyond the octave (8th), goes up in odd numbers that over-lay (in the 2nd octave) the even count in the 1st octave, except 1 > 8. IE: 2 > 9, 4 > 11 & 6 > 13. (These note pairs each share the same 'name', but are an octave apart.)

Take notice that what 'makes' a M7 chord sound the way it does, is the same "1 note more or less than an octave" relationship between 2 notes in the 11th & 13th chords as well. M7 & 13th are 1 note shy between the octaves and the 11th is 1 note more than an octave in between.

Two 'standard' variations of the 9th chord are the Major 9th (M9) and the 6/9 chords. The M9 uses the Major 7th instead of the more common Dominant 7th and the 6/9 chord uses the 6th note (instead of the Dominant 7th) with the 9th. These (in C) would be: CM9 and C6/9. Two other variations of the 9th chord form are: sharp 9 (#9) & flat 9 (b9). Both of these are rare, but examples of them are:

#9: the "Hendrix" chord, found in his tunes "Purple Haze" and "Foxy Lady", as well as the tune by both the Spenser Davis Group & Chicago (CTA) called "I'm A Man". Typically, based on E: (Voiced low to high for guitar) E, B, E, G#, D, G -or- E (open), E^, G#, D, G, E^^ (open).

b9: the tune by Lenny Welch (& many others) called "Since I Fell For You". However, it is subtle in that it's more in the melody alone than backed by a b9 chord; but in an instrumental 'jazz style' chord-melody version, the b9 chord would be present. (Both of these forms commonly include the Dominant 7th note.) * A Beatles song, "I Want You / She's So Heavy", found on the Abbey Road album, includes a more prominent flat ninth. It's an E7b9, the third chord in the initial (slower) 'round', which also repeats many times at the end of the song. (Eb9 appears to be an Eb ninth and not what is wanted here. The 7 separates the flat sign to the 9, rather than the root note-name. This is why it's important to properly use upper & lower case as well as upper & lower 'register' placement of the correctly-sized symbols.

IE: Always use upper case for root-names, small case 'b' for a flat & small 'm' for a minor. Upper register number sign (#), for a sharp, upper case M for a Major7 and smaller case/upper register for everything else: 'sus', 'add', 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, etc.) The notes of this particular E7b9 chord for guitar are: The upper 4 are picked from mid-low to high. The first 2 (lowest) can be fingered, but are not (in this original arrangement) played: (E, B) E, G#, D, F.

If you want an 'assumed' included note of a chord to NOT be included, the term 'no' is used. Examples: C11, no9 -or- G13, no11. The 'no' indications are commonly small (half-size) and placed in the upper register, just to the right. > With large chords like 11ths and 13ths, 1 or more notes might be left out: C13, no9, no11 -or- C13, no 9 or 11. In such cases, it might be better to use the word 'add' as in: C7add13. (The simplest is usually the best.)

The 4-note Diminished chords mentioned earlier are the 'full' Diminished 7th (o7) and the minor 7th, b5, (m7, b5). In either case, (as in the Diminished Triad), the 3rd & 5th are each lowered a half-step, (1 note). Example: C (major) = C, E & G becomes C, Eb & Gb. The difference is with the Dominant 7th: The 'full' diminished also lowers the Dominant 7th to a 6th, but the minor 7th, flat 5 does not. In C, these look like: Co7 & Cm7, b5.

The other (very rare) Diminished-type chord is actually a major with a flat 5. As in: C, b5. The notes in 'C' would be: C, E, Gb. Oddly enough, when either of the 2 notes (A or Bb in this case) being the b7 (6th) or the (Dom) 7, it changes the chord designation entirely. In the key of C, the notes would be: C, E, Gb, A = Am6 &/or C, E, Gb, Bb = Gb7, b5. (A 'voicing' issue.)

Suspended chords can also have extra (assumed/included) note(s). The two most common are sus7 and sus9. In C, the 3-note suspended chord is: C, F, G. (C4, Csus4 or just Csus). The Csus7 would be: C, F, G, Bb & the Csus9 would have a D as well: C, F, G, Bb, D. A possible variation would be: Csus, add9, as in: C, F, G, D, but rare, since this combination of notes is also the simpler: Gsus7. > The Csus9 could also be notated as: Gm7sus4, as they have the same group of notes. Any group of notes can use one of them as the root note and relate the other notes to it, but the simplest is always the best. However, it CAN depend on what the lowest or 'bass' note is. Should you see a chord with a slash after it with a single note-name, it indicates that a different bass note (other than the root) is to be played. Examples: C/G, C7/E and Cm6/A. It is interesting to note that any of the 3 notes in an augmented can be a root, as well as any of the 4 in a full diminished. Normally, a chord is 'voiced' according to a root note-name, having that root note as the lowest (bass) note of the chord. Basic Triads can be 'voiced' in 3 ways: 1, 3, 5 -or- 3, 5, 1 (8) -or- 5, 1, 3. These are called root, first inversion and second inversion, (respectively).

Once in a while you might see the number 2 after a root note-name. This actually indicates a different voicing of a suspended chord that is more like a simple ninth chord. The 9th note is positioned in the first octave and usually surplants/eliminates the 3rd. In C, this would be: C, D, G. This can also be notated as G4/C, or Gsus/C rather than C2. However, C2 is simpler. If a G is wanted in the bass, then C2/G could be used, but in this case, G4 or Gsus is the simplest.

Take notice that some chords have the same group of notes as others, such as C6 & Am7. Each one (in this case) has the notes C, E, G, A, or A, C, E G. Designation (how it's named) usually depends on which one is the root note (bass note) &/or the note order; 'voicing' = what notes are where. The more notes that comprise a chord, the more variations of note order (voicing) are possible, although it also depends on the limits of the instrument utilized.

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The 2nd form of chord notation involves Roman Numberals. This eleviates the need for a 'key' designation and specific root note-names, allowing a song's chord changes to be charted ONCE and used in or for any key. This developed as the need arose, allowing musicians to perform most songs for any vocal range. It is commonly used with tunes that follow scale-tone chords, since out-of-scale (more complicated songs) are difficult to chart this way. Key-scale numbered references are similar (but should not be confused with) numbered chord-note positions. I is always the (major) root chord (do), II is the 2nd (minor) re, III is the 3rd (minor) mi, IV is the 4th (major) fa, V is the 5th (major) sol, VI is the 6th (minor) la and VII is usually a diminished triad, ti. The chords in C would be: C, Dm, Em. F, G, Am and Bm, b5. Read for any key as: I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII. Alterations, extensions and additions are all done the same way as previously shown and described. IE: I7 for the key of C is a C7, V6 is a G6, etc.

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A solo artist (Folk?) on guitar may need to simplify some larger, more complex chords, but with a bassist, a 2nd guitar &/or with keyboards, any complicated chord can be 'broken down' and parts shared to get the full chord intended. Further education into orchestration (especially 'big band' style horn arrangements) will make this technique much clearer. A simple example of this is done alot by pianists/keyboardists when they separate/share more complex chords between their right & left hands. IE: To play a CM9 (C Major 9th chord) they can play an Em7 (E minor 7th) with the 4 fingers of their right hand and the C (in the bass) with their left. Basically, complex chords (4 or more different notes) can actually be seen as 2 (or more) chords over-layed or intertwined, some having 1 or 2 common notes like CM7 (C, E, G, B) having a C chord (C, E, G) and Em (E, G, B) together; or a more complex chord like a C11 (C, E, G, Bb, D, F or 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) in reality being a C Triad & a Bb Triad together.

There are many other possible (more complex &/or rare) chord forms I have not gone into here, but this should be enough to get you to a 'pro' level, where you can read and understand most chord charts, commonly referred to as 'fake' charts, since it isn't necessary to read musical chords in sheet music form as stacked notes on lines and spaces. IE: Non-readers can easily decipher the chord symbols in these 'fake' versions, once they understand the application to their instrument(s).

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