What do the following mean?

[Hammerteur]

If there is a plus after the chord name i.e. C+? Which keys need to be pressed?

If there is a degrees symbol after the chord name ie C^o? Ditto above.

Thanks for your helpful responses.

[jimmywilliams]

If there is a plus after the chord name i.e. C+? Which keys need to be pressed?

Augmented chord. Play a major triad, but raise the fifth by half step.

If there is a degrees symbol after the chord name ie C^o? Ditto above.

Diminished chord. Play a minor triad, but lower the fifth by half step.

In key of C for example:
Major: C,E,G
Augmented: C,E,G#
Minor: C, Eb, G.
Diminished: C, Eb, Gb

[andyg]

This chart was intended for my keyboard students, but will also do nicely for those playing 'home organ', pops, standards etc. I hope it may be of some help, hammerteur.

http://www.box.com/shared/by876gpqja

Andy G

[jimmywilliams]

Hi Andy. I notice that on your chart you use the "degree" symbol for both the diminished and the diminished 7th. I've only known that symbol by itself used for the diminished triad, not the dim-7. Is that standard notation? Let me know. Thanks!

[jdoc]

nice Andy....I play by ear but know most of my chords, now i can get the rest....great chart

[Hammerteur]

Thanks for the useful chart. It will be a great help as I usually fudge the chords I don't know and press the keys until it sounds about right! Sadly with this chart there's no excuse for making mistakes now is there?

[andyg]

Remember that the chart was created for keyboard players. In keyboard books and some fake/buskers books the degree symbol tends to get used for both, and 'dim' often means 'dim 7'.

I personally always write dim or dim7 as appropriate, and also never use the triangle or 'house' signs, or even just a 'j' for major 7ths, "-" for minors or to indicate flattened notes instead of a b sign. Not everyone knows what they mean and clarity is the name of the game, or at least it should be!

[jimmywilliams]

I didn't realize there were all those alternate ways to represent the same chords. Thanks for the info Andy!

[grummph]

Andy, thanks for the chart. Very useful.

[TuckerLacy]

Augmented chord. Play a major triad, but raise the fifth by half step.


Diminished chord. Play a minor triad, but lower the fifth by half step.

In key of C for example:
Major: C,E,G
Augmented: C,E,G#
Minor: C, Eb, G.
Diminished: C, Eb, Gb

Thank you for the reply! Very helpful answer, now I get it.

[myorgan]

This chart was intended for my keyboard students, but will also do nicely for those playing 'home organ', pops, standards etc. I hope it may be of some help, hammerteur.
http://www.box.com/shared/by876gpqja

Andy,

I've been watching this thread for a while, and just covered this topic in class. Is there a reason you chose to use inversions to represent the chords, rather than listing them all in root position? Perhaps that was for hand placement on the keyboard?

Thanks for the useful chart.

Michael

[jimmywilliams]

I know this is an old thread, but in case anyone was researching these chords/symbols here ...

I am working on a Hammond Chord Organ. The chord they use a minus sign for is a diminished 7th. So I guess that is another symbol for a diminished 7th chord. Also the 9th chord on that organ is only 4 notes - missing the fifth IIRC. So there are alternate ways to play a 9th chord too (I always knew it as a dominant 7th chord with an added 9th).

Andy - just so I know - please clarify what you mean when you say your chord chart was written for "keyboard music" use. Is this different from "organ/piano" music, or different from other types of instruments? If I get hold of music that uses the degree symbol then am I generally to assume this is a diminished 7th and not a diminished triad? I have also seen a degree symbol with a slash through it - which corresponds with the "Minor 7th (-5)" chords on your chart.

[Michael J]

Most keyboards are not equipped with pedals, "proper" organ music has a third stave for the feet.

I would never rely on people to use the same symbols. They might show their meaning only once at the beginning, possibly on a separate page, and stick to it from then on, but there is no guarantee that one person's degree/minus/whatever symbol means the same as another's. They should tell you somewhere what they mean.

Some symbols/notations are standard in their genre, e.g. jazz typically uses doublets to show "swinging triplets" (middle note not played, it creates a bouncy timing, daa da daa da daa da daa). You just have to know that you don't play exactly as written.

[andyg]

Actually, a lot of 'proper' organ music - for entertainment organ, not classical - is well written on two staves. Publishers could fit more pieces into a book that way, charge more money, but have the same print and production costs!

As I've said on other threads on this topic, I personally don't use the old copyists' "shorthand" of using, say. "-" for a minor chord or for a flattened note in a chord. Just imagine Cm7b5, written as C-7-5! I don't use the "triangle" or "house" signs or "j" for major 7ths, and I prefer to use "dim" or "dim7" rather than the superscript 0 symbol or the one with the slash through it. The golden rule when writing out music is clarity, if something's ambiguous, you've done it wrong!

I've never come across the "-" being used for diminished chords. The chords in my chart work perfectly well on organ, maybe not so well on piano! When you see the degree symbol in popular organ music, it's a 50/50 chance! Try the straight diminished first, then look to see if the written melody or left hand line has the 'missing' flattened 7th that would create the diminished 7th chord. If it does, you could add in that note to the chord. If it doesn't then try adding the 7th and see if it helps the sound.

Regarding Swing. If you frequent the notation software sites, you'll be shouted down by some if you suggest the use of a metric modulation symbol ie two quavers = triplet crotchet plus triplet quaver! I've always done this, and I'm in good company - a lot of the leading composers for jazz piano books do exactly this, and even the exam boards. But I'm told that you should just write the word "Swing" at the start and everyone will know what to do..... Hmmm, try explaining that to a 7 year old! I tell them that f they see "Swing" or the metric modulation, a written pair of quavers will sound as dum-di and four quavers will go dum-di-dum-di. Three triplet quavers go di-de-ly. It works, it's not 100% accurate, perhaps, but all my students can play swing with no problems!

Same as in a bouncy 6/8 piece. Recognise this one: Dum di dum di dum di dumm. Dum di dum di dumm dumm. Dum di dum di dum di dumm. Dum di di-de-ly deeeee. (Clue, the first two phrases are on the official T-shirt for this BBC radio show)

[alandlees]

Why did I read this thread, now I have The Archers theme in my head... It may stay there all day!