At 09:02 PM 13-02-01 +0100, Frank Nordberg wrote:
>I think the attempt to standardize chord notation is laudable, but I'm
>still not sure whether it's a good idea or not - or even if it's
>possible at all. We've already discussed the lack of standardisation in
>the field of "standard notation", but the rules for tadpoles are
>extremely rigid compared to the ones for hord notation.
>
>Here are a few examples:
>
>C minor might be notated:
> Cmin
> Cm
> C-
>or c (which might mean either C major or C minor)
>
>-----
>
>Cmaj might either mean C major or C with a major 7th (C-E-G-B)
>
>-----
>
>Cdim might either mean C-Eb-Gb or C-Eb-Gb-A
>
>-----
>
>A major with a C# in the bass might be notated
> A/C#
> A/3
>or A/C# (according to John C.)
>or even:
> C#mb6 (which might either mean C#-E-A or C#-E-G#-A)
> C#m-6 (ditto)
> C#m#5
>or C#m+5
I don't see this as a problem. This splits into two separate things -
how we input the information into abc, and how an abc processing
program chooses to display that information. The important thing is
the information - the program internally needs to know its got a C
minor chord. What the program chooses to do with that is another
question that the program can have options to deal with.
E.g. a typesetting program might well have an option to display minor
chords with an "m" after them, or a "-", or display 7th chords with a
triangle after them (I might have misremembered the details of that
example but I'm sure somebody was asking for it, or something like
it recently).
If I'm writing a chord with a bass note on manuscript paper I write
the chord on top and the bass note in small letters underneath. A
friend of mine does it the other way around. A good transcription
program would have an option so that he can select the option he
wants and I can select the option I want. We can still use the same
abc input.
We don't have to standardise existing musical notation (thank goodness).
We just need a way of unambiguously expressing things in abc notation
so that processing programs have enough information to make their own
decisions about how to present things to the user.
Bob
----------------------------------------------------------
-- Bob Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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