On Dec 3, 2004, at 5:07 PM, Darcy James Argue wrote:
Hi Chris,
The most recent Chuck Sher publications -- like their incredibly comprehensive and useful "Standards Real Book" -- uses the second method for the vast majority of their slash chords. The alternate bass note is very occasionally a smidgen lower than the regular chord baseline -- but usually not by much, and usually only to avoid a collision with the staff above. They also put all their slash chords in a smaller font.
I was looking at the Latin Real Book, and it seems that they are trying to split the difference, as much as collisions with the staff BELOW allows. But then, their chords seem to bounce around all over the place to avoid collisions.
The different sizes of chords got me to thinking how they accomplished that (I'm sure you understand the problems inherent in changing suffix sizes!) Then I realized that if they attached their chords to a hidden layer, then they could resize individual beats at will without affecting the other layer.
They are not 100% consistent about this, though. For instance, "My Man's Gone Now" uses essentially the first method, except -- since they're using a smaller font -- they align the tops of the regular chords with the tops of the top half of the slash chords. And they will frequently adjust individual chords vertically to avoid collisions, which leads to further inconsistencies. But the general rule seems to be "keep the bass notes roughly in line with the non-slash chords."
[I notice they also use "MA" & "MI", which I think is not as good as "MA" & "mi", but not as bad as Finale's default of "M" & "m". (And no hiphop jokes, please. "Mosh" is f'ing great.)]
I agree, and I believe that they use MA and MI because that's what Clinton Roemer recommended, just as the original JazzCord suffixes did. In my experiences, though, players confuse MA and MI at a glance, as they are not different enough.
The first method I described is easier for piano players (which is maybe why I prefer it). The second method is easier for bass players.
Hmm. Chuck Sher, bass player. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?
Splitting the difference (as Finale does) does neither of us any favors. I honestly don't care which alignment method Finale implements, as long as they pick one.
In my request I suggested a toggle (along the lines of "left-align chords") to switch between upper alignment, lower alignment, and the original split-the-difference.
Christopher
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