Diminished chord playback
So, I'm not sure whether this is a bug, a feature request, or just a playback setting that I've missed, but I noticed today that the voicing used to play back a half-diminished chord symbol is identical to that used for a diminished triad.
Now, I understand why MuseScore has to differentiate between Co & Co7, and can even see the argument for treating C^ as a major triad (whether or not I agree with the decision), but it's just plain incorrect to treat ø as a triad. There's no cause to ever write Cø7, which is what MuseScore requires before playing back the half-diminished chord. In every context I've ever encountered it, both classical and jazz, ø inherently includes the b7.
Am I missing something? Was this an intentional decision, or some quirk of the coding related to when the program recognizes a seventh chord?
Comments
See #311353: ø (Half-diminished) symbol wrongly interpreted as o (diminished)
In reply to See #311353: ø (Half… by Jojo-Schmitz
Thanks! That suggests it's fixed. Am I not up to date on my version, or is the fix waiting to roll out with a future update?
In reply to Thanks! That suggests it's… by abnyc
Indeed, fixed in MuseScore 4, which isn't yet released.
In reply to Indeed, fixed in MuseScore… by Jojo-Schmitz
Thanks as always for the impressive work you all do.
In reply to Thanks as always for the… by abnyc
The fix also is part of https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/pull/9000 for 3.x
It's not true that there is no cause to write Cø7 - that's the common standard used by those publishers and style guides that call for this symbol in the first place (most recommend notating as minor seventh flat five instead, but that's another matter). Yes, it's true human musicians will be able to figure out you probably meant the seven since ø by itself is otherwise meaningless, but still, I would not at all recommend omitting it. not sure which professionally-published scores you are thinking of that don't include the 7, but I can't think of any myself. I'm sure some must exist, but definitely they would be outliers.
In reply to It's not true that there is… by Marc Sabatella
Not a score, per se, but from the nearest thing handy. Just a moment flipping through Levine's Jazz Theory yielded this example (both in the body text & musical except).
Most people do prefer -7b5, but whenever I've encountered someone who prefers ø, they've used the symbol by itself.
The only reason that ø without 7 is "otherwise meaningless", is because ø7 is redundant.
In reply to Not a score, per se, but… by abnyc
Example noted. Still, as I said, certianly an outlier - the vast majority of published music does not do this. There is no reason to shy away from the standard 7 that the most publishers use.
In reply to Example noted. Still, as I… by Marc Sabatella
Honestly I don't know that it is an outlier, but I'm sure you've got a larger library than me, and I can't speak to the house styles for specific publishers. But FWIW, I've seen working musicians use ø, never ø7.
In reply to Honestly I don't know that… by abnyc
Indeed, I have a large library as well as having played with hundreds of professional musicians, so I do have a pretty wide experience to draw from here.
In any case, as mentioned, this is fixed for MuseScore 4, but meanwhile, if you really still want to use the half diminished symbol with no 7, just do that but turn off playback, and also add the correct symbol (with 7) but make it invisible.