Yeah, just what I was going to say ;) Either Darcy types like the wind (I think he does) or he had this somewhere ready to paste into the email.
THAT is a serious answer to a question. It takes a while, but it shouldn't be too hard for a musician who is familiar with functional harmony to learn the names of jazz chords. When I taught theory and harmony, I insisted that my students learn both the Roman numeral names and the jazz names for everything they encountered. One is good for telling where you are in the key - how far you are from a cadence, the other is quicker for getting the vertical note grouping and neither will tell you much about the voicing. Also, since this is a language - not a scientific experiment, there are variables and ambiguities that are hard for a machine to analyze. Christopher indicated as much in his response. Sometimes you have to look at surrounding chords in order to tell what to call a particular chord, and even then, good musicians may disagree. Chuck On Jan 26, 2011, at 8:58 PM, Darcy James Argue wrote: > Hi Matt, > > Close: > > E G# A# B# D = E7 (#11 #5) > > (Though the actual chord symbol would have the #11 stacked vertically above > the #5, with both alterations enclosed in tall brackets.) > > I've never encountered what you are looking for on the internet but you could > do worse than to pick up The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine. > > But the short version is that jazz chord quality is determined by the basic > chord tones --i.e., the root, 3rd and 7th: > > Root + MA3 + MA7 = MA7 -- C E B = CMA7 > Root + MA3 + mi7 = 7 -- C Eb Bb = Cmi7 > Root + m3 + MA7 = mi(MA)7 -- C Eb B = Cmi(MA7) > Root + m3 + m7 = mi7 -- C Eb Bb = Cmi7 > > The natural fifth can be added to all of the above chords, but it's not > essential. > > Fully diminished and half-diminshed chords require a (flattened) 5th in > addition to the 3rd and 7th: > > Root + m3 + dim5 + m7 = ΓΈ [or mi7(b5)] -- C Eb Gb Bb = > Root + m3 + dim5 + dim7 = o7 [or dim7] -- C Eb Gb Bbb = Co7 > > On MA7 and mi(MA)7 chords, you can substitute the 6th for the seventh -- this > is frequently done to avoid a clash when the root is in the melody: > > Root + MA3 (+ P5) + MA6 = 6 -- C E (G) A = C6 > Root + mi3 (+ P5) + MA6 = mi6 -- C Eb (G) A = Cmi6 > > Natural extensions are the 9th and 13th -- they can be indicated by replacing > "7" with "9" or "13." The 13th implies the presence of a 9th. For instance: > > Root + MA3 (+ P5) + MA7 + MA9 = MA9 -- C E (G) B D = CMA9 > Root + MA3 (+ P5) + m7 + MA9 + MA13 = MA13 -- C E (G) B D A = CMA13 > > On minor chords, the 11th is also available as a natural extension (and > implies the presence of a 9th): > > Root + mi3 (+ P5) + mi7 + MA9 + P11 = mi11 -- C Eb (G) Bb D F = Cmi11 > Root + mi3 (+ P5) + MA7 + MA9 + P11 = mi11(MA7) -- C Eb (G) B D F = Cmi11(MA7) > > Alterations include #5ths, b9ths, #9ths, #and 11ths. Alterations are most > often applied to dominant seventh chords. They are listed in parentheses. > Multiple alterations are usually stacked vertically, with the highest > alteration on top. (That's hard to do in email without resorting to > fixed-width fonts, so I won't do that here -- I'll just list them > horizontally.) > > Root + MA3 + mi7 + aug9 = 7(#9) -- C E Bb D# = C7(#9) > Root + MA3 + mi7+ mi9 + aug11 + MA13 = 13 (#11 b9) = C E Bb Db F# A = C13 > (#11 b9) > > There's obviously a lot more to it, but the above outlines the basic > principles and should allow you to generate understandable chord symbols for > most commonly-used jazz chords. > > Cheers, > > - DJA > ----- > WEB: http://www.secretsocietymusic.org > > > > On 26 Jan 2011, at 10:47 PM, Matthew Hindson (gmail) wrote: > >> So, something like: >> >> E G# A# B# D and it will give whatever it is (Eaug7#11?) >> >> (Sorry if the chord is wrong, I'm not much of a jazz theoretician.) >> >> Matthew >> >> On 27/01/11 12:43 PM, dershem wrote: >>> On 1/26/2011 4:55 PM, Matthew Hindson (gmail) wrote: >>>> Forgive if this is a dumb or simplistic question, but does anyone know >>>> of such a thing on the 'net wherein you can specify letter names and it >>>> will give the variety of jazz chord names for such a chord? >>>> >>>> Thanks in advance >>>> >>>> Matthew >>> >>> Not sure what you mean. Can you give an example? >>> >>> cd >> _______________________________________________ >> Finale mailing list >> Finale@shsu.edu >> http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > > > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > Finale@shsu.edu > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale Chuck Israels 1310 NW Naito Parkway #807 Portland, OR 97209-3162 phone: (503) 926-7952 cell phone: (360) 201-3434 www.chuckisraels.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
