Chord symbols
Music theory · Chords · Level 3 · 12 min
In popular music and jazz, chords aren't written note by note: we use symbols placed above the melody. There are two conventions: letter names (C, D, E, F, G, A, B), used in English-speaking countries and internationally, and fixed-do syllables (Do, Ré, Mi…) used in France, Italy, Spain and Latin America. Jazz and pop musicians everywhere mostly use letters, but if you play from French or Italian songbooks you'll meet “Dom7” or “Sol7”: it's worth knowing both.
| Chord (on C) | Letter symbol | French symbol | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major | C | Do | C E G |
| Minor | Cm, C-, Cmin | Dom, Do- | C E♭ G |
| Diminished | C°, Cdim | Do° | C E♭ G♭ |
| Augmented | C+, Caug | Do+, Do5+ | C E G♯ |
| Dominant seventh | C7 | Do7 | C E G B♭ |
| Major seventh | Cmaj7, CΔ, CM7 | Do7M, DoΔ | C E G B |
| Minor seventh | Cm7, C-7 | Dom7 | C E♭ G B♭ |
| Half-diminished | Cm7♭5, Cø | Dom7♭5 | C E♭ G♭ B♭ |
| Diminished seventh | C°7, Cdim7 | Do°7 | C E♭ G♭ B𝄫 |
| Sixth | C6, Cm6 | Do6, Dom6 | C E G A (E♭ for m6) |
| Suspended 4 | Csus4, Csus | Dosus4 | C F G |
| Suspended 2 | Csus2 | Dosus2 | C D G |
| Added ninth | Cadd9, Cadd2 | Doadd9 | C E G D |
| Slash chord | C/E | Do/Mi | C E G with E in the bass |
Sus and add chords
In a sus (suspended) chord, the third is replaced by the fourth (sus4) or the second (sus2): the chord is neither major nor minor, it floats. In an add9 chord, the third is kept and a ninth is added, without a seventh.
Slash chords
The symbol X/Y means “chord X with note Y in the bass”. C/E is an inversion (E belongs to C major). But the bass can also be foreign to the chord: F/G (F major over a G bass) is an elegant, gospel-flavoured way to play a dominant.
M:4/4 L:1/4 K:C "Csus4"[CFG]2 "C"[CEG]2 | "Csus2"[CDG]2 "Cadd9"[CEGd]2 | "C6"[CEGA]2 "C/E"[EGc]2 | "F/G"[G,FAc]2 "C"[CEGc]2 |]
- “maj” applies only to the seventh: Cmaj7 is major with a major 7th, Cm7 is minor with a minor 7th, and Cm(maj7) is minor with a major 7th.
- Cm7♭5 (half-diminished) is not C7♭5 (a dominant seventh with a flattened fifth).
- C° is a triad; C°7 has four notes.
- In German and in some older scores, H means B and B means B♭!