Re: Jazz Chord Symbols

[me]

Hi,

I do occasional jazz lead sheets in LilyPond, and I've found the
following code sufficient for my needs:

%%%%% begin %%%%%

raisedSharp = \markup \raise #0.6 \sharp

chExceptionMusic = {

  % Major
  <c e g>1-\markup ""
  <c e g a>1-\markup \small "6"
  <c e g a d'>1-\markup \small {
    \override #`(baseline-skip . 1) {
      \general-align #Y #DOWN \column { "6" "9" }
    }
  }

  <c e g b>1-\markup \small "maj7"
  <c e g b d'>1-\markup \small "maj9"
  <c e g b d' f'>1-\markup \small "maj11"
  <c e g b d' a'>1-\markup \small "maj13"

  <c e gis>1-\markup \small \concat { "(" \raise #0.6 \sharp "5" ")" }

  % Minor
  <c es g>1-\markup \small "-"
  <c es g a>1-\markup \small "-6"
  <c es g bes>1-\markup \small "-7"
  <c es g b>1-\markup \small "-(maj7)"
  <c es g d'>1-\markup \small "-(add9)"
  <c es g bes d'>1-\markup \small "-9"
  <c es ges bes>1-\markup \small \concat { "-7" \flat "5" }

  % Dominant
  <c e g bes>1-\markup \small "7"
  <c e g bes d'>1-\markup \small "9"
  <c e g bes d' f'>1-\markup \small "11"
  <c e g bes d' a'>1-\markup \small "13"

  % Dominant alterations
  <c e ges bes>1-\markup \small \concat { "7" \flat "5" }
  <c e ges bes d'>1-\markup \small \concat { "9" \flat "5" }
  <c e ges bes d' f'>1-\markup \small \concat { "11" \flat "5" }
  <c e ges bes d' a'>1-\markup \small \concat { "13" \flat "5" }

  <c e gis bes>1-\markup \small \concat { "7" \raisedSharp "5" }
  <c e gis bes d'>1-\markup \small \concat { "9" \raisedSharp "5" }
  <c e gis bes d' f'>1-\markup \small \concat { "11" \raisedSharp "5" }
  <c e gis bes d' a'>1-\markup \small \concat { "13" \raisedSharp "5" }

  <c e g bes des'>1-\markup \small \concat { "7" \flat "9" }
  <c e g bes des' f'>1-\markup \small \concat { "11" \flat "9" }
  <c e g bes des' a'>1-\markup \small \concat { "13" \flat "9" }

  <c e g bes dis'>1-\markup \small \concat { "7" \raisedSharp "9" }
  <c e g bes dis' f>1-\markup \small \concat { "11" \raisedSharp "9" }
  <c e g bes dis' a>1-\markup \small \concat { "13" \raisedSharp "9" }

  % Suspended
  <c d g>1-\markup \small "sus2"
  <c d g bes>1-\markup \small "7sus2"
  <c d e g>1-\markup \small "add2"

  <c f g>1-\markup \small "sus4"
  <c f g bes>1-\markup \small "7sus4"
  <c e f g>1-\markup \small "add4"
}

chExceptions = #(sequential-music-to-chord-exceptions chExceptionMusic #t)

%%%%% end %%%%%

It tries to emulate as closely as possible the notation found in the
Hal Leonard Real Books. Feel free to expand and improve as necessary
:)

On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 8:32 PM, Louis Guillaume <address@hidden> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> This may be a FAQ but I can't find definitive answers by googling.
>
> I'm looking for more control over chord symbols.
>
> For the most part - what I'm looking for is something close to what we see
> in the Real Book. But that's actually in handwriting, so some changes would
> obviously be wanted or needed for a LilyPond-engraved output.
>
> The thing is - With LilyPond we seem to have the Ignatzek and alternate
> chord styles. These are both pretty far off from what I'm used to. Is there
> a way to create a new "set" of symbols for rendering chords?
>
> In particular, I have these requirements:
>
>  o 6th, 7th, 9th, etc. chords would have the "7" at the same
>    font size as the Chord letter. e.g. "C7" should not have
>    the 7 in superscript.
>
>  o Minor would use `-' instead of `m'.
>
>  o Major 7th would look like "Gma7" - no superscript.
>
>  o Extra Tensions on a chord would be added as superscipt. e.g.
>
>      - "Fma7#11" would have the "#11" in superscript.
>      - "C7b5" would have the \flat 5 in superscript.
>      - "A-7b5" would have the \flat 5 in superscript.
>      - However "B9" and "E-11" should have NO superscript.
>
>  o Multiple tensions would be stacked in a column to the right.
>
>      - C7#9/b9/b13 would have the 3 tensions stacked, next to
>        the 7 in the small superscript-size text.
>
>      - A7sus2/sus4 would have those suspensions stacked.
>
>  o Inverted chords, e.g. "A/C#" would be written as shown here,
>    but the bottom of the "A" would be close to the top of the
>    "C". So they aren't exactly in-line. The intent is to try and
>    mimic the way these are typically written.
>
>  o Polychords e.g. "G over F" would be written with a horizontal
>    bar between both letters.
>
>
> And there's probably a lot more... Any help or direction towards this end
> would be great. Thanks,
>
> Louis
>
>
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