Re: Adding text to chord names or note names (replies to discussion)

[kbvw]

Hello Jean, Elaine,

Amusingly, I found this post from 2001: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnu-music-discuss/2001-03/msg00327.html

(The thread continues here: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnu-music-discuss/2001-04/msg00000.html)

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Ha, that's funny indeed. I'd say I completely agree with him there on the topic of the chords (leaving the strongly-worded statements about development aside).

His analogy with TeX and mathematics is a nice one I think: although a proof is a proof of course, the way we think about math/notation evolves, and we don't need TeX to reason about it: we just use it to write it down. And then music theory is a lot less "stable" by comparison: it changes all the time, even the "classical" bit.

(It was also suggested later in that thread to use lyrics mode: makes sense actually, except for the transposition functionality. I would probably use lyrics mode for Roman numerals or anything relative.)

Regarding the different use cases of input modes, chord symbols, etc., I guess one would have to disentangle two underlying concepts commonly addressed by the word "chord", like Elaine mentioned as well. One would be a collection of simultaneous (concrete/instantiated) pitches; let's call it a "voicing". The other would be a sort of specified "harmonic background" (I would say "context" but this might be confused with a LilyPond context), somewhat more related to (abstract) pitch classes. Either for analysis or as a specification of what to play.

In the former view, it makes total sense to have the pitches internally, and I can see many use cases, for automatic analysis, easier input of voicings, etc. In the latter view, if the harmonic background is something that you are specifying and reasoning from (as it often is in improvised music), and if that's what you want on the page, a calculating layer seems more redundant. Maybe it doesn't get in the way now or you can solve it, but it might get in the way with something new you come up with tomorrow?

@Jean:

Thanks for the alternative function for "enharmonicizing" the chords.

@Elaine:

I found it quite interesting reading your replies, as it seems to me that we agree on almost all of the premises: "we only need to transpose root and slash bass", "chords are often enharmonically ambiguous and one could argue for a sharp or a flat", "theoretical concepts are of lesser importance when specifying a chord to an improviser, and simple spellings are easier to read". Yet, we seem to reason from there in opposite directions somehow.

If your only issue is "specifying the pitches every time" then it seems that you are not aware of the chord input syntax, and are instead using pitches.

Perhaps you should invest in learning the chordmode syntax?

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I did learn the chord mode syntax; it's quite intuitive. And I found your list of chord exceptions (posted to this list in the past) helpful, so thanks for that! I should clarify that the "mode" was just some example, as was the "6-9". These things are rather well defined. It was more of an argument of being limited unnecessarily.

Silly new example: suppose I'd want to specify to "tonicize F" for a few measures by McCoy-Tyner-style smashing it as a pedal and playing very freely over it: f^"tyner"? Or I'd want to specify a tonal feeling of D but I'd rather say which pitches not to play. I'm not saying I would actually write those things, but if the specified harmony "is" the composition, why limit yourself?

Besides that, your example of writing out the modes doesn't solve my initial (quite concrete) problem of transposition: if I take your C phrygian and transpose to A-flat, I get a bunch of double flats. (I know you could transpose to G-sharp in that case, but I have many chords in a piece and instruments in several keys: I'd rather just transpose the piece once as a whole.)

The workarounds you present afterwards seem like quite a bit of effort to me. Don't get me wrong: whatever works, and I thank you for the carefully worked-out suggestions! I'd just rather not find individual solutions for individual chords/parts.

All the best,

Koen