Proper jazz chord Symbols

• Feb 19, 2009 - 08:47

Another feature I'd like to see implemented is the Jazz font used for the text of jazz sheets.

I'd also like to see proper symbols for jazz chords such as the triangle for major 7, -7 for minor 7, circle for diminished, circle with slash for half diminished and + for augmented.


Comments

Amen. Another feature that I cannot find is the 2 slashes and dots on a barline which means "repeat the previous 2 (or mre as numbered) bars".

Thanks.

In reply to by xavierjazz

As someone who plays both classical and big band 'charts' I would also welcome not only the scoring detail differentials but a slight 'slip in the clutch' between the mechanical notation and midi output that would equate to 'swing' during playback.

:)

just switched to the 0.9.5 pre-release, and i'm enjoying the musejazz font... i would like to see some triangles in there as well, and I'm sure there are all kinds of changes on the way... I found a nice triangle using the standard Symbols L font, and a capital D... i have been just switching to that font for the "major" triangle symbol, and then back to musejazz font... maybe there is a better work around, or an update that i'm unaware of that someone would like to discuss here, as i know lots of us need some triangles... next i'll be looking for circles and circles with lines through them... GREAT SOFTWARE!!

Ok So I can produce a page of all the jazz chord symbols. But there is no way to USE them in a jazz chart. I can't paste them above the line (using control-k) for some reason. Please help.

In reply to by Canuckistani

It isn't clear what problems you are having exactly or what you have tried, but have you read the Handbook entry Chord name or the tutorial on creating lead sheets ? Basically, you click a note, hit Ctrl-K to enter chord mode, then start *typing* your chord symbols according to the specific chord name style you have selected in Style / Edit General Style / Chordname. There is no pasting involved. For the cchords_sym style, which uses the circle-with-a-slash and triangle symbols, you type "-7b5" to get the circle-with-a-slash and "ma" to get the triangle.

In reply to by AaronPDX

Could you be more specific? I take it you have selected cchords_sym as your chord symbol style, and are now trying to type chord symbols into your chart. What characters are you trying to type? If you are using cchords_sym, you should be able to type "C-7" for a minor seventh (and "C-7" is how it will be displayed), and "Cma7" for a major seventh chord (and "C7" is how it will be displayed. If you are seeing something different, could you post your score and tell us *exactly* what you are doing?

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

That's right; I have 'cchords_sym' file selected as the 'chord description file' via Edit Style/Chordnames.

When I enter a chord name above a note (cmd-K on Mac) and then type 'Cmaj7' I do indeed see the triangle symbol. That one works! Cool. But if I type, for example, 'Gdim7' it just stays as-is; I don't get the hollow circle symbol. So it's only partially functional -- or I'm missing a step.

On a related note (frequent pun word around here, I'm sure), is there a cheatsheet showing what text is supposed to result, for each of the chord description files? That's be handy.

Thanks for your quick response! What a great piece of software (if a little confusing so far for this amateur).

In reply to by xavierjazz

The "mss" files are for other type of style files, but chord symbol styles are XML files. I wouldn't say it is *easy* to customize these, in that there is a definitely a learning curve to decipher how it is done. But I can say that most changes can be accomplished with very little effort once you get the gist of it. If you tell me what you want to customize, I can try you tell you how. Most common customization would only requiring editing a half dozen lines or so at the top of the file.

For 2.0, or perhaps soon after, I am very hopeful to have a new system in place that will accept virtually anything you type and then display it according to the rules in selected chord symbol style. And also a system that will provide a GUI to make it easier to customize your chord symbol style. We'll see.

In reply to by xavierjazz

What do you mean by "access" here? In your previous question, it sounded like maybe you were talking about *customizing* one of the XML files, but now it sounds like you are just talking about *using* one. You use them as described in the Handbook under Chord name - go to Style / Edit General Style / Chordnames and load the one you want.

If you are talking about customizing, then are you saying you have loaded one of the XML files into a text editor and can't find the line you need to edit to change how half diminished chords are displayed? If so, a simply text search for "half diminished" within the XML file should yield the correct line, and then all you need to do is edit that line. And if you tell me which file you are starting with and how you want them displayed, I can try to help you perform that customization.

Or are you saying you are *using* cchords_sym.xml in your score and can't figure out how to enter the half diminished symbol? If so, that's easy: type "Cmi7b5". If you'd like to change what you type in order to get that symbol, *then* you might want to customize the file. And as mentioned, searching for the phrase "half diminished" will yield the line to edit. It's the one that defines the entity "parse_diminished". Just replace what is between the quotes with whatever you wish to type.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Not sure if this makes me the devil, resurrecting this thread from 2012. But, I found this through Google and maybe other people will, too.

I'm clearly missing something; I have found the XML files, but I have no idea how to decipher them. Is there a resource that explains it all? The manual online talks about Chords and editing Chord.xml files, but doesn't explain how to read them, unless I missed it.

Here's what I'd like to do; maybe you can give me an idea of how to go about it:
- "add" and the "o" diminished symbol to be superscript. (I'm not used to seeing Do, all at the same height, for example.)
- I guess I like having "6" also superscript, as well as "sus". But "sus" and "add_" I like to have in parentheses.
- Basically, I like the "jazz" positioning for the symbols in chords, but I don't want the jazz-style font. Unfortunately, one is not available without the other.

If you tell me what to add and where, I'm sure I can do it; but also a resource on how to understand these would be good, if you know of one.

Many thanks!

In reply to by quesman1

The file you'd want to customize - by making your own copy and telling MuseScvore to use it in Style / General / Chord Symbols, not by actually modifying the shipped version - is chords_std.xml (this is different than it was six years ago). Directions on customizing it are found within the file itself. You can use chords_jazz.xml as a model.

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