The major sixth chord is encountered on occasion, which contains a major sixth scale degree rather than a seventh jazz musicians will often treat this as interchangeable with the major seventh chord when improvising melodies or accompaniments.

Several other symbols are common, however, such as a capital M or some abbreviation of the word “major.” (These persist likely in part because they can be typed using symbols available on a standard computer keyboard.) C major seventh A triangle symbol has become common, and is preferable because it is unambiguous and easy to read. Most of the time, when a jazz musician thinks of a “major” chord, this is the chord he or she means, since it is more colorful and stylistically characteristic than the plain triad. When a major seventh is intended, it must be specified. By convention, using the 7 alone with a note name indicates the lowered seventh: C seventh

The notes shown on the staff here are the corresponding pitch classes, stacked in root position in the thirds familiar to students of classical theory, though a jazz musician, composer, or arranger would rarely voice a chord in this way.Īlmost always, there should some variety of seventh specified, using the numeral 7 (and when it isn’t specified, it is often implied). The letter “C” above the staff is the chord symbol. But in the rare cases that they do appear, they are indicated with a single note name: C major Simple major triads aren’t common in most “modern” (post-1940) jazz. Depending on the situation, printed jazz music may include written notes only, or notes plus chord symbols, or even chord symbols alone. In jazz, the symbols are generally non-specific with respect to inversion, and players of chord-capable instruments (such as piano or guitar) in jazz are accustomed to making independent choices about inversion and voicing. But they are also used for performance, like Baroque figured bass notation, with the musicians using the symbols as a framework for improvising melodies and/or accompaniments. As with the Roman numeral system used in classical music theory, jazz chord symbols may be used as a tool for analysis. Printed jazz music often uses chord symbols to indicate the music’s underlying harmony.

Jazz chord charts piano