Description
Hi
There are a lot of well-known chords that can be implemented because their concept is simple and closed. But there are many others that are variants of the first and whose implementation with the current system would lead to develop hundreds, if not thousands, of new chords, which are in fact subtle variants. This will always happen in music that is somewhat more sophisticated than pop or rock. For example, jazz in all its currents, clasic and folk music such as Brazilian, from bossa nova to samba.
For example, let us take as reference the dominant chords, whose defining characteristic is that they contain a third major and the seventh flat. This leads us to the dominant chord (7 or dom7) which is formulated as follows: 0, 4, 7, 10. But there are modifiers that can be added, such as "7-9", "7-10" , 7-11, 7-13, or for example "7 + 9", "7 + 10", "7 + 11", "7 + 13". Developing all versions of all possible chords is practically impossible. What has been done so far... is OK, but is far from complete.
The second related issue that deserves a public discussion is the "altered chord". It is a very special chord that is based on the altered scale, which has been constructed from a dominant chord to which has been added the compilation of the most frequent alterations, that is, +5 and -5, +9 and -9 +11 -13
The altered scale is as follows:
C (root),
D ♭ (minor ninth) (-2 = -9)
D♯ (augmented ninth) (+2 = +9)
E (major third) ----> mandatory in dominants chords
F♯ (augmented eleventh) or G ♭ (diminished fifth) +11 or -5
G♯ (augmented fifth) or ♭ (minor thirteenth) +5 or -13
B ♭ (minor seventh) ----> mandatory in dominants chords
The problem is that when we find in a score the "alt" (altered) chord we only know for sure that it includes the notes [0, 4, 10], like in all chords of the dominant family: the root note, third major and the seventh flat. The rest of the notes are optional for the interpreter, which can be selected from those available on the scale. That is, an ALT chord can be only ALT or ALT -9 or ALT + 9-5 or ALT + 5-13 or ALT + 11, or any other of its possible combinations. Developing all the altered chord combinations would lead to hundreds of possibilities.
A possible solution to the two previous problems would be to create an optional THIRD parameter in the chord function. That is, the first parameter would be the root of the chord as before, the second parameter would indicate the harmonic space as now, with full compatibility with what currently exists and a THIRD parameter, which could be defined as "modifications" (mod) or" alterations "(alt) that indicates the notes that must be added or modified on the base chord.
For example, if we need a dominant chord with a sharp 13, it would no longer be necessary for the chord to be "7 + 13", because it would be constructed with this function call:
play_chord (: G3,: dom7, "+13")
The versatility is complete, since you could even create non-existent chords:
play_chord (: G3,: dom7, "-11+13")
In the case of altered chords, any combination would also be possible:
play_chord (:G3, :alt, "-13")
play_chord (:G3, :alt, "11+5")
play_chord (:G3, :alt, "-9-5")
The rest of the chords would remain as it is, but they could also work with the new syntax.
For example, a minor seventh to fifth augmented chord could be used with the current format:
play_chord (:G3, "m7 + 5")
Or with the new format:
play_chord (:G3, :m7, "+5")
Think about it.
Regards