descriptive harmony

NOTE: this isn't an attempt to create a new theory of music. This is literally help. My reading of standard notation is appalling, but my reading of chord symbols is quite good. Like all musicians I have "little quirks" that I use in thinking about and writing harmonies. I'm putting it down here so you can read my music easier. It's not the "best" or "most correct" way. Just a way.

Harmony is two sounds or more produced simultaneously, or played in such a way as to give the impression of a unified sound.

In contemporary Western music, harmony is normally described based on musical notes or pitches and the relative spacing between the notes heard.

Specifically, two notes sounded together is called a harmonic interval or dyad and three or more notes is called a chord or triad.

Any chord or harmonic interval can be represented by letters. Below follows my method of describing musical chords. They are meant to be easily read by most musicians with a reasonable level of music theory. It combines some functional definitions of Western tonality with pure descriptions of notes.

single notes and dyads

One note [termed a monad] is represented by its name in lower case.

d♭

A random note is specified by r.

Harmonic intervals/dyads are represented as note 1 × note 2, with both note letter names in lower case.

g♯ × f = “g-sharp and f”

Nothing is said about the spacing between the notes: so the two notes could be played in any octave or register. To specify that one note is to be played lower than the other, the forward slash is used and the dyad is written higher note/lower note:

g♯/f = “g-sharp over f”

scales

Sometimes it is necessary to state an implied scale. This is achieved by writing the tonic of the scale in lower case and then an abbreviation of the scale quality:

ddim.(s)
rmaj.

General abbreviations

Of course, this list is neither exhaustive nor prescriptive. As long as you are clear and consistent, you create your own.

three-note chords

Three-note chords [or triads] are based primarily on the semi-descriptive method currently used by many musicians.

Major triads are shown by the root name in UPPER CASE. It says nothing about what order the notes should be played.

F = (c/a)/f OR f × a × c

Minor triads have a lower-case m [in the United States, a minus sign (-)] written after the root.

Dm ≡ D- = (a/f)/d

Augmented triads employ an addition sign (+) after the root, or “aug”

C+ ≡ Caug = (g♯/e)/c

Diminished triads have a superscripted circle (°) after the root, or “dim”

B° = Bdim = (f/d)/b

Suspended triads use “sus”, and then the number of the suspended interval:

Asus2 = (e/b)/a
Asus♭2 = (e/b♭)/a
Asus9 = (b/e)/a
Asus4 = (e/d)/a

To state an inversion, a superscripted number is written before the root:

2D♭ = (f/d♭)/a♭
1D = (d/a)/f♯

A random chord is shown by R.

Raug

larger chords: adding extensions

A major seventh chord is represented by writing maj7 superscripted after the root name and triad alteration.

Esus♯4maj7 = e × a♯ × b × d♯
Fmaj7 = f × a × c × e

The diminished symbol for the triad is also used as the diminished seventh chord. But the half-diminished chord (“minor-seven, flat-five”) is denoted by a ∅ after the root name:

F° = f × a♭ × b × d
D∅ ≡ Dm7(♭5) = d × f × a♭ × c

The dominant seventh chord is shown by simply writing “7” superscripted after the root name and triad alteration.

Gaug7 = g × b × d♯ × f

Added or altered intervals within an octave are written as numbers, superscripted after the root name and triad alteration; and are commonly written in parentheses when a seventh is present.

G6 = g × b × d × e

Larger intervals are always written in parentheses.

Bmaj7(13) = b × d♯ × f♯ × a♭ × g♯

More intervals can be added by using commas after each number:

Bmaj7(♭9,13) = b × d♯ × f♯ × a♯ × c × g♯

Chords with an specified bass note: CHORD/bass note

1Gmaj7(♭5)/c

Non-specific polychords: CHORD1 × CHORD2 × ...

E° × Cmaj7 × B

Specific stacking of chords: HIGHER CHORD/LOWER CHORD/...

B/F/A

Various combinations are possible. But the aim is always to generate a chord description that can be read quickly.

(f♯ × f)/c
(g/f)/(c/b) = Csus4/b
Em7(9,13) = D/Em (specific) or D × Em (non-specific)
D♭sus2/C7(♭5) ≡ F♯7(6,9)/c = C7alt

tone clusters

Tone clusters are notated with curly braces around the scale, and the range of the cluster [in octaves] superscripted outside the parentheses:

{e♭tri.(ch)} ≡ (f/e)/e♭
{f♯pen.}2 = "two octaves of all the notes in an f-sharp pentatonic scale"
{ftet.(mi)}/{ddia.} = "all the white notes starting from d in the lower part; and an f-minor tetrachord in the higher part"

Writing musical symbols in web pages

I used these entity codes to write the musical symbols: