Jazz Chord Symbols

Jazz Chord Symbols

Jazz Chord Symbols

The way we understand chords depends to some extent upon the approach we take.

Jazz and popular musicians use "jazz chord symbols" which explicitly state the nature

of the chord being played, whereas classical musicians tend to use the "Roman

numbering system" which shows the chord's relationship to the key.

To become proficient in either system requires a thorough knowledge of scales.

We will start by looking at the various kinds of chord and how they are constructed,

by which I mean which intervals they contain. (You might want to follow the link and

re-read the interval section)

We will concentrate our efforts on the four most basic types of chords, these are

known as Major, Minor, Augmented and Diminished (do you recall these names

from the Intervals page?). All of these four types are known as "Triads" because

they each contain just three letter names.

Major Chords

Major chords are made of a perfect 1st., major 3rd and a perfect 5th. The type

of chord is derived in this case from the 3rd. which is major. The diagram below

shows several major chords and above each one is the jazz chord symbol which

represents it, note that it is not necessary to specify the word "major" after the symbol.

Minor Chords

Just as major chords have a major 3rd., minor chords have a minor 3rd. (a semitone lower).

Here is the same range of chords but with their minor equivalents - notice that the middle

note (the 3rd.) is lowered in each case.

Augmented Chords

Augmented means adding to the fifth of the chord, in other words, an augmented

chord has a major 3rd and an augmented 5th. See the examples below.

(Note: the symbols you see below could also be written C+ E+ F+ and Ab+)

Diminished 7th. Chords

Diminished 7th. chords have four notes, each one separated by a minor 3rd.

The spelling of these chords varies in order to make for easier reading.

The correct spelling would be - perfect 1st., minor 3rd., diminished 5th. and diminished 7th.

This often results in the use of double flats and the examples listed below show two

different ways of spelling each of the chords, the correct way and the way which makes

reading easier. Notice that the chord can be described with word "dim" or a degree symbol.

The use of symbols does tend to vary from place to place.

Different types of 7th. chords

In Roman symbols, any kind of seventh chord can be represented by putting "7" after the

chord symbol. When using jazz chord symbols, the chord type is specified. A Dominant

seventh is shown by adding "7" after the chord symbol, a major seventh is shown by a

small triangle or the description "ma7" (other combinations are possible), a minor

seventh chord is shown by adding "7" after a minor chords symbol and so on. Here

are a few examples showing some alternative symbols.

A major seventh chords contains a perfect 1st, major 3rd, perfect 5th and a major 7th.

A dominant seventh chord contains a perfect 1st, major 3rd, perfect 5th and a minor 7th.

A minor seventh chord contains a perfect 1st, minor 3rd. perfect 5th and a minor 7th.

A half diminished chord contains a perfect 1st, minor 3rd, diminished 5th and a minor 7th.