Number Charts for Lead Sheets

• Oct 6, 2011 - 23:46

Hi there- First, I'd like to say thanks for making such a fantastic program!

I make charts often for other session players in Nashville, TN and we use a numbered chord naming system so that we can easily switch keys and go with it if necessary- For example, in the key of C, Cmaj7 would be "1maj7", a D-7 would be "2-7", etc. The jazz font used in the lead sheet template (again, thanks for that) interprets the letters C-A, and then appends the extensions in smaller script, but doesn't react the same way to a number typed first instead of a chord letter. Is there a way I can create this functionality, or is it possible to include it in a future version?

Thanks,

Bob

Comments

• Oct 7, 2011 - 03:32

This would be extremely useful when preparing harmony worksheets etc as one of the conventional ways of describing the chord is like this followed by a letter to denote the inversion.

So - Ib would be a first inversion tonic chord IC Va Ia would describe a Cadential 6/4 sequnce V7d the Third inversion of the Dominant 7th and so on.

I was taught this way at college, but at school we used figured bass to describe harmony structures.

regards
Michael

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• Oct 7, 2011 - 16:38

The fact that there is already a facility to interpret B as H for the benefit of German user suggests this might be possible to implement, and I agree, I hear of this system being used often enough that it seems MuseScore should support it better.

However, given that two of the main reasons for MuseScore's chord parsing system being so strict are so that transposition and MusicXML export will work properly, and neither of those are probably issues for you, things actually should work pretty well just to type your chord symbols as "1ma7" or whatever, then do the superscript manually using the font controls at the bottom of the screen. It's an extra step per chord (except for major triads, which you get for free), but at least it should work.

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• Oct 7, 2011 - 20:37

Perhaps a method that could work well within the existing chord parsing framework is to add functionality to the transposition tool, or make it a plugin- In order to transpose, I assume the program must be aware of the scale degrees, etc. Perhaps it would be possible to "convert chords to numbers"- For instance in the key of C: D-9 G13 Cmaj9 would be 2-9/ 5(13)/ 1maj9.

C = 1
D = 2
Eb= b3
F# = #4
Bb = b7
etc...

If there was an Ebmaj7(#11) chord in the key of C, it could be notated with the flat behind the number, like "b3maj7(#11)". The same would be true for an F#, notated "#4".

(I have since used the font tool, and it works well, thank you for that tip, Marc!)

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• Oct 8, 2011 - 01:34

Using chord numbers makes transposition irrelevant, as it's purpose is to be a chord naming system that is key-independent, thus enabling the player to play in any key (s)he chooses.

I don't know how MuseScore stores the chords internally, but if it can transpose them maybe it already has them in memory as numbers?

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• Oct 8, 2011 - 18:51

Good point. But not necessarily problematic, as it won't particularly matter if MuseScore "thinks" that 1ma7 means Cma7 even though the chart is really in A minor. I suppose it would be nice to get it right for MusicXML export, assuming that it would need to be converted to standard root names. Or maybe MusicXML already allows for the Nashville numeric notation? And of course, one could imagine a command to convert back and forth between Nashville and standard chord notation, and that would need to know the actual tonic. So eventually, a way to indicate this would indeed be useful.

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• Oct 8, 2011 - 19:13

I think that "A minor" WILL be the "1".

That is the whole point of this request. Therefore the numbers must be independent of the actual note names and instead delineate the harmonic movement..

This seems to me to be less complicated than I think people assume.

If i write a chord chart as : "1maj7, 2minor 7, 5 dominant 7", it means that that's the sequence, no matter the key. I can then put this in front of someone and say, "Key of F# and that is all the instruction they need to properly interpret the score. Ergo, if I say "1 minor 7" in the key of A minor, that is understood to be an A minor chord.

Or am I misunderstanding something?

Regards,

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• Oct 8, 2011 - 20:08

As long as you don't need the "1ma7" to actually *mean* anything in particular to MuseScore, then indeed, you are right, there is no issue. All one would need to do is get the parser to recognize the numbers as valid chord roots and also know not to transpose them, ever.

The complication - and it's not a large one - comes in if you need MuseScore to actually interpret the chord symbols in some way. Like if you wanted to implement chord playback, or a command to convert between standard and Nashville notation, or if you needed to export the chords to MusicXML or some other format as standard chord symbols. Right now, MuseScore "knows" the key signature is no flats / no sharps, but it doesn't "know" if that means C major or A minor. So MuseScore wouldn't know how to interpret "1ma7" with respect to any of that - is it Cma7 or Ama7? Of course, it's probably also no big deal to add a field to the score representation to specify the tonic. And it might as well go that way as opposed to just major versus minor, to leave open the possibility of modal keys.

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