(add) Chord Notation

• Sep 22, 2022 - 16:10

It's been a while since I asked a stupid question... ;)

I looked but couldn't find an answer so I'll ask, is there a chord symbol for (add) chords that offers correct playback?

In my example I am re-scoring an old piece of sheet music that uses a Bb7 (add G) chord which if written that way will playback as just Bb2 in the bass and Bb4 on top. I used a Bb7/G chord instead but of course the voicing is incorrect.

It's not a big deal, I was just wondering...

Thank you in advance for any insight provided.


Comments

FWIW, the much simpler way to notate this would be Bb13. Technically it's not identical because the Bb13 includes a ninth (C) but Bb7add6 does not. But no musician who reads these types of chord symbols would actually play these chords any differently. They'd either include the ninth or not according to their own taste regardless of which way you write it. But they'll be much less likely to make errors if you stick to the more common notation Bb13 - then they don't have to think as hard to parse what you mean.

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