JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Music Theory and Education What do these symbols on sheet music mean?

I'm learning to play a song from sheet music (Embraceable You) and it has the chords written above the notes. Two symbols are used that I'm not familiar with.

One is a plus sign, as in G+

One is an "o" as in C#o

Anyone tell me how the "+" and the "o" modify the chord?

Thanks,
Scott

Hey Scott,

You have three notes in a triad, a basic chord. Let's say G, it would be G B D. You can't change the G or it wouldn't be any kind of basic G chord. If you flat the B, it's G minor. If you double flat the B...essentially making it a G A D, it's a G suspended second (Gsus2). If you play G B D it's a G major. If you sharp the B, essentially making it G C D, it's a G suspended fourth or a regular G suspended chord (Gsus, which some irreverently call the "God" chord...but I think the Lord has the Supreme Sense of Humor, so I trust it's ok no lightning please).

Now we get to the D note and all the chords it Denotes. If you play G B D it's, as mentioned before, a G major. If you take the G major and sharp the D, G B D#, it's a G augumented (Gaug or G+). If you take the minor chord, G Bb D, and flat the D, G Bb Db, it's a G diminished (Go....in you're case the C# minor, C# E G#, would have a flatted G#, C# E G, and that would be a C# diminished (C#dim or C#o). The "0" should be written superscript, the way we write degrees in fahrenheit (German for "travel high" just some trivia) but I don't know how to do that on the forum.

You can, for example, sharp the D in the Gminor or even flat the D in the G major, but that's for another time, another place in this whacky adventure we call MUSIC THEORY.

Mike

Hi Mike:

Thanks a million!

So I'm getting that G+ just means Gaug and C#o just means C#dim. Nice to know the shorthand. Yes, it appears as a superscript on the sheet music.

Appreciate the detailed explanation of the different modifications of the chords too!

Thanks again,
Scott

There's one other "alternate" shorthand name or symbol I've seen that sometimes shows up:

A "triangle" or delta symbol meaning major, in conjunction with 7 or 9. E.g Gmaj7 notated as G (delta) 7

Hey Scottie Wottie!
There is also the use of a "minus" sign to stand for a minor key as in G- for G minor. There is a cool web page that explains about all the symbols if you want to check it out at:
http://cnx.org/content/m11995/latest/

Heidi

That IS pretty cool, all on one page. About the only nit I have with it, a small one, is in the discussion about Csus4 versus C11. Usually - like about 98.654321% of the time - on 11th and 13th chords, the 3rd is omitted since it clashes unmusically with the 4th/11th. So, in many cases a C7sus4 will stand in OK for a C11.

I've also seen a lot of the "complicated" chords written as "triad" (or other, simpler chord) over bass note. E.g. Bb/C (meaning Bb major triad with a C bass note) which is essentially a C11 chord.

In Theory, Practice and Theory are the same. In Practice, they're not. LOL


John

Good link, Heidi.

John, I like calling it a seven suspended when it doesn't have a nine. Thirds? We don't need no stinking thirds. Unless, of course, we're Jimi Hendrix.

"In theory, practice and theory are the same, in practice they're not." I love that...how true. Too many people play music with their eyes. I had a friend who used to make an advocation of trying to find mistakes in my number charts. Sometimes I chart things in a theoretically "incorrect" way to make the charts easier to sight read. He'd bust me on that, but when the band read his charts, they'd make more mistakes.

Hey John:

Thanks for adding still another symbol to the list. Love the practice/theory quote....


Hey Mighty Heidi:

Cool site - thanks


Funny story, Mike


Scott

Yeah, you're right about the 7sus.

I kinda like the triad/bass note to keep things straight: bass player, you play what's on the right of the slash, guitar player(s), you play what's on the left unless you're feeling froggy - then do both [GRIN]

I hope you told your friend to get a life! LOL

Time is money. So whatever makes it easier is definitely right.

Dudes,

You gotta take this stuff with a grain of salt. I regularly write "Gp" and "Dp" on my charts. *I* know what they mean! (And I'm afraid if I wrote the real chord name - I wouldn't!! :-P )

Jeff: Yeah. It really just boils down to how to get the idea across quickly and easily.

My take was/is that the more folks know all the different little 'tweaks' or idiosyncrasies or vernacular, the better.

Hey Jeff,

It all depends on with whom you are using such symbols.

If you're writing charts only you will read, you can call the chords whatever you choose, but if you want other folks to read those charts without your being there to interpret, then you'll probably want to use more standard names or symbols.

The advantage of studying theory is that you're not continually "reinventing the wheel." I hear a lot of music which songwriters say is "new" and "different," that is actually reworking of fairly standard chord changes, rhythms, and melodies

All the Best,
Mike