[Quoting Jan Nieuwenhuizen, on December 3 1998, 11:31, in "RE: Chord Transposit"]
> Ok, i guess we'll go for the chords first. I didn't
> think of fingerings, but they can be typeset using the
> same input, no?
No. For fingerings, additional information is required (e.g. which
finger to put on which string or key).
> > Rules exist to calculate the individual notes from a chord name, e.g.
> > Cmin7 => <c e g bes>.
> > Problem area: incomplete chords, e.g. <c e bes>, that would lead to
> > verbose names, e.g. Cmin7no5.
> >
> That's ok, use wierd chords, type long names.
> Btw, why the "no", 3 and 5 can't be added?
3 and 5 are part of a chord by definition. E.g. C => <c e g>.
Additionally, 9 implies 7, 11 impies 7 and 9, etc, so
C9 => <c e g bes d>.
> I made some annotations, the lines not starting with '?' are
> the proposed rules for Lily. Note that strings and numbers
> can't be concatenated as in cmin or c69 (use c min, c6 9).
No point. A simple preprocessor can handle this.
> ? maj7 major 7th chord [Cmaj7]
>
> Why the explicit 'maj7' here, is this some kind of shorthand?
> I hope that C7 the same as Cmaj7, and no exception from C9, e.g.
The 'maj' refers to the 7, not to the chord.
C => <c e g>
C7 => <c e g bes> ; dominant-7
Cmaj7 => <c e g b>
(Eventually, you'll get used to things like this ;-).
> ? % half-diminished 7 chord [C%]
> Is this some kind of shorthand, or do we need this (what's the
> pitchlist?)
Half-diminished (o-slash) is shorthand for m7b5.
C% => <c es ges bes>
Diminshed (small o or zero):
Co => <c es ges a>
> What about [adding] 2,4,8,12?
Chords are considered to be composed of triads. By adding triads, you
get:
c (tonic) e (3) g (5) bes (7) d (9 == 2) f (11 == 4) a (13 == 6)
Higher additions would not add new notes.
Also: the additions are relative, e.g. adding a 7 to an `c' would add
a bes, but it is still denoted a `7', not a `b7'.
> 2,4,6,7,8... chord additions [c7, c2 44]
Yes, and no. First, 7, 9, 11 and 13 only. 6 is permissible. But
remember: C9 is not just C + 9, but C + 7 + 9.
> 3,5 chord substractions [c5, c3 5]
Although syntactically correct, I do not think this is acceptable
since it is totally different from customary and confusing.
Also, would `C 7 9' mean: CEG + 7 + 9, or CEG + 9 (implying a 7) - 7?
> [where 'c min 3' would be an error, there's no 'e' in 'c min', but an 'es']
No. the `3' refers to the third regardless of whether it is a major or
minor triad.
> ? # raise the pitch of the note to a sharp [C 11# 9]
> ? b lower the pitch of the note to a flat [C 11b 9]
>
> This is the most tricky part. Does this really raise/lower *to* a
> sharp/flat, or rather raise/lower *a* sharp/flat, e.g.:
The latter. For this reason, you also see `+' and `-' (hence the need
for `no' to suppress notes). There is no problem to only use `+' and `-'.
> 'A6#' == a cis e fis# => a cis e fisis or 'A6#' == a cis e fis
>From chord perspective, the 6th is `fis', and A+6 would add a `g',
resulting in an A7.
As far as I know, chords do not distinguish between f## and g.
Instruments that can play chords are "wohl temperiert".
> I guess it's a lot handier/standard to do something like this:
> # raise the note a half-pitch [c 11# 9]
> @ lower the note a half-pitch [c 11@ 9]
I think `+' and `-' can be used for this. No need for `#' etc.
Can lily handle "C +9 +11"?
> ? no substract a note from a chord [C9no11]
>
> How can one substract other notes than 3, 5, are there chords that
> implictely include more pitches, e.g., does C9 include 11?
No, but C11 does include the 9 (and 7). I would definitely suggest a
different notation for subtracting notes.
> What about "suspended2/4", would that simply be 'c 3 4' and
> 'c 2 3'?
sus == sus4 == 4 no 3. Don't know about sus2.
Again, I think the syntax "c 3 4" to denote "subtract 3, add 4" is not
good.
> > Yes, I have some perl programs that do this. Basically one routine
> > parses a chord name in a vector of notes, and two other routines turn
> > a vector into an ASCII name, or PostScript code to typeset the chord
> > symbol (see attachment A for an example).
> >
> Ah, i thought you had (example-) code that would produce the
> non-asciified chord name, as in things like "C\delta$^7$".
It does produce things like "C\delta$^7$", but in PostScript, not
(La)TeX.
BTW: I wonder if there are (pseudo-)official standards for naming and
notating chords; I have my knowledge from text books and fellow
musicians, and it may be based more on common practice than on
official standards.
-- Johan
