C hord symbol legend

C hord symbols in wri en music should meet the requirements of any symbol language: S imple, clear, short and well visible from a
certain distance (music stand distance). S o the default S ibelius chord font of 12 pt is too small, especially now in the days of the
tablet replacing the paper. 15 pt or even 16 pt and a clear, not handwri en font will give you a much be er result.
T he use of the minus sign for minor, like the old "R eal B ook" notation, was in itself not a bad idea. H owever giving the minus away
for that the extensions needed flats and sharps which makes it necesary to use parentheses in order to avoid the flat and sharps to
be part of the chord root. T herefore we be er use "m" for minor and we use plus and minus for the extensions.
T his way we can have big and clear symbols without those busy parentheses.

F or analyses and study scores you could of course use a different notation. T he symbol does not need to be so compact in that case.
C C‹ C& C€5 C“ C6
& w
w bw
w #w
w bw
w ˙˙˙ ˙˙˙
w w w w ˙
keyboard input: c cm caug c(b5) csus c6
C^ C7 C‹7 C‹^ C7&
& w
w
w bw
w
w bbw
w
w bw
w
w #bw
w
w
w w w w w
c^ (c,shift6) c7 cm7 cm^ c7aug

CØ Cº C9 C^9 C‹9
& bbbw bw
w w
w w
bw
w w b
w
w bbw
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
c@ or chalfdim co or cdim c9 c^9 cm9
C7€9
# C9&11
˙ C9€5 b˙ C‹11 ˙˙C13 ˙˙
b#˙˙˙˙
w
& bbw b ˙˙˙˙ bb˙˙˙˙˙ b ˙˙˙
w w
w
w
w ˙ ˙ ˙ bbw
w
w
w
b˙˙˙ b˙˙
˙ ˙
c7b9 c9+11 c9-5 cm11 c13

C7ôÅ C7óÆ C7öÁ C13ôÅ

w w bb˙˙ ˙˙
bb#w
C‹13 C‹^13
w w bb#˙˙˙˙ bb#˙˙˙ b#b˙˙˙ w
& bbw
w w
w b#b˙˙˙˙ b ˙˙˙ ˙˙ w
w
w
w
w w
bw
w ˙˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ w
w
w
cm13 cm^13 c7+11-9 c7-13-9 c7-9+5 c13+11-9

C7&9 C7€10 CØ9 CØ11 Cš2 C2 [= Cadd9] C4 C5 [= power chord]

b˙ ˙˙˙
& b#˙˙˙˙˙ b ˙˙˙˙ bbb˙˙˙˙˙ b ˙˙ ˙ ˙˙ w
bb ˙˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙˙˙ w
C hords
˙ ˙˙ w
c7+9 use A lternative c@9 c@11 csus2 cadd2 cadd4 c5
in text menu

C% Cm74 A¨/C [= Cm€6 or Cmü ] A¨2/C [= Cm7€6 or Cm7 ü ] Cº^9 bbCº€13

˙˙
& ˙˙˙˙ bb˙˙˙ bbbw
ww ˙˙˙
˙ bbw
w
w w
b
b ˙˙ b˙˙˙
C hords
c6/9 ab/c ab2/c co^9 use A lternative
in text menu

N.B. the choices between respectively +5 or -13, -5 or +11 and +9 or -10 depend on each diatonic/chromatic situation.