[Dixielandjazz] European chord symbols

[Craig I. Johnson]

Hi DIck, thanks.
I was having trouble with the convention of using the numbers on the left side of
the chord symbol. Gary Kizer sent me a note indicating that they had to do
with the bass note of the chord. I haven't fully absorbed yet what he said, but
have the idea that they translate to something like  C7/E in the notation I am 
familiar with - which Boudoin would write  3 C7 where the 3 is in the lower left
quadrant and the 7 is, as usual, in the upper right. 
There's a bit more to Gary's explanation, but that was the basic clue.
Gary gave me some references to particular chord tables in the book along with 
his explanation and I haven't yet looked those up, but I think I'm getting it. 
Need to look at a few and see if I have it straight tho. I had originally wondered if 
the numbers related to an ADDED note to the chord. Well they do if the bass 
note was not in the original chord, but I'd missed the basic fact that those left 
hand numbers related to the bass specifically.

For anyone who cares and doesn't quite understand what I'm talking about, Gary has
2 of the tables from "Anthologie des Grilles de Jazz" on his website at:

Ain't Misbehavin'
http://www.massifjazz.com/images/aintmis.jpg

Alexander's Ragtime Band (see the verse)
http://www.massifjazz.com/images/aragband.jpg

You'll see a few cases of what I mean by "left hand numbers".

This may seem pretty basic to some, but I'm a "by ear" trumpet player when I play
jazz. (One note at a time.)  My encounter with chord "spelling" is when I have to write 
lead sheets and it's one of my weak points.

This notation is great for a concise description of the song chord progressions. I wish
I could write a program that would go through my Sibelius lead sheets and pull the chords
out of the chart and put them into one of these tables for the folks who only need the
chords (e.g. banjo, tuba et al.)  The companion (melody charts) book that goes with
"Anthologie des Grilles......" also uses the same chord notation  as the tabular form --
below (not above as, I'm used to) the staff - including the use of the left hand numbers
for the bass. That is where I was getting confused. At some point I'lll put the
other parts (from Baudoin's book) of the explanation of the structure of the chord table 
notation onto  my website for those who have never seen this book.. In that 
explanation you see things like "C7M" is Cmaj7 and couple of other notations 
for things like 1/2 diminished which does not use the slashed "degree" symbol.

Regards,
Craig Johnson
"The Main Street Paraders"
http://Mainely-Jazz.com

On 1/26/2006 4:57:43 AM, d.  sleeman (d.sleeman at hccnet.nl) wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Craig I. Johnson" <civanj at adelphia.net>
> To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 10:42 PM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] European chord symbols
> 
> &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
> Does anyone have a cheat sheet for interpreting European chord symbols
> found in jazz?
> (Actually a couple
> I've seen might not even be known to me in American symbols)
> I'm trying
> to interpret some of the symbols from the "Anthologie des Grilles de Jazz".
> 
> -- and the ones
> I'm talking about are not covered in the explanatory pages in the front.
> &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
> 
> Hello Craig,
> 
> Which ones you don't
> recognize?
> 
> Dick Sleeman, Lelystad, Holland. <d.sleeman at hccnet.nl>
> 
> "...Of all the musical instruments in use today, the trombone is one of,
> if not THE most difficult of instruments. I know, 'cause I have one..."
> 
> (Dewsnap in "THE TROMBONE", December 10, 2002)