Building musical chords starting from (a lot of) rules

[bvdp]

Mr.SpOOn wrote:
> So for example in jazz music it is more common the minor seventh than
> the major, so writing just G7 you mean the dominant seventh chord
> (with minor seventh) and you have to write just the major one with
> maj7.

A minor 7th has a flatted 3rd (ie. C, Eb, G, Bb). Don't confuse your 
readers and yourself by thinking that "minor" equals "dominant" in this 
context. It never does. Spelling is usually Cm7.

A 7th is always a dominant (C, E, G, Bb). The only spelling I've ever 
seen for this is C7.

A major 7th is just that (C, E, G, B). Spelling include CM7 (note the 
uppercase M) and Cmaj7.

And then there are things like minor major 7th (C, Eb, G, B) ...

and the problem with all this is that the spellings really aren't 
standard. It varies with different music book publishers, geographic 
locales and time.

There are a number of books around (some out of print) which discuss 
this in great detail (insert the word tedious if you want). One good 
reference, if you can find it, is: Carl Brandt and Clinton Roemer. 
Standardized Chord Symbol Notation. Roerick Music Co. Sherman Oaks, CA.


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