
The bassist ( electric bass or double bass) uses the chord symbols to help improvise a bass line that outlines the chords, often by emphasizing the root and other key scale tones (third, fifth, and in a jazz context, the seventh). As such, a jazz guitarist might voice the C major chord with the notes E, A and D-which are the third, sixth, and ninth of the chord. Jazz chord voicings often omit the root (leaving it to the bass player) and fifth. In jazz, particularly for music from the 1940s bebop era or later, players typically have latitude to add in the sixth, seventh, and/or ninth of the chord. A rock or pop guitarist or keyboardist might literally play the chords as indicated (e.g., the C major chord would be played by playing the notes C, E and G at the same time). Chord-playing instrumentalists in the rhythm section, such as pianists, use these symbols to guide their improvised performance of chord voicings and fills.

These chord symbols are used by musicians for a number of purposes.

The three parts of the symbol (C, aug, and 7) refer to the root C, the augmented (fifth) interval from C to G ♯, and the (minor) seventh interval from C to B ♭.Īlthough they are used occasionally in classical music, typically in an educational setting for harmonic analysis, these names and symbols are "universally used in jazz and popular music", in lead sheets, fake books, and chord charts, to specify the chords that make up the chord progression of a song or other piece of music. These indicate a chord formed by the notes C–E–G ♯–B ♭. a slash chord).įor instance, the name C augmented seventh, and the corresponding symbol C aug7, or C +7, are both composed of parts 1 (letter 'C'), 2 ('aug' or '+'), and 3 (digit '7'). the bass note if it is not the root (e.g.whether the chord is a triad, seventh chord, or an extended chord (e.g.minor or lowercase m, or the symbols o or + for diminished and augmented chords, respectively chord quality is usually omitted for major chords), In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more of the following: Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts to represent musical chords.
