Re: polychords: what's the current state-of-the-art?

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi Harm,

> I have some general concerns about the sense of polychords. Imho, it
> is a very, very rare case that you _hear_ two chords with it roots at
> the same time. Almost always it's one chord with one root and
> (probably numerous) extensions.

Perhaps technically/theoretically you are correct — though even that could be 
argued  — but *practically*, for most of the pianists I know and work with 
[especially in the musical theatre world], G | B is far easier to sightread 
than B(b6#9), and E | F is easier than F7(#9#11), etc.

> That said, I have to admit writing polychords is quite common.

I use chord symbols in >95% of my musical theatre scores, and nowadays in 50% 
or more of my “classical” scores, too [!!].

> Thus here my new take

Thanks! I'm heading off-grid for two weeks, but very much look forward to 
checking this out when I return from the wilderness.

Best,
Kieren.