The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Hi folks, I'm a non-guitar player, and I'm wondering if there is any existing program that can quickly determine whether a given chord is playable. So, if I enter a series of pitches, the program would say "yes" or "no", or something to that effect.
    Thanks!

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    There's 3 "programs" I know of:

    1/ a guitar player
    2/ a keyboard player
    3/ a vibes player

    If it's a chord to be played in a Jazz context, then the chordist will make it playable by determining the voicing and/or deletion of non essential chord tones.

    But, that's probably not what you're asking, maybe a little more info might help?

  4. #3

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    Oh, I see. As a composer you want to know if you're writing something playable by a guitarist. I don't know of any. But there might be.

  5. #4

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    Seriously, just ask a guitar player, not only will he/she be able to tell you if a chord is playable, but they should also suggest workable alternatives, probably better than a computer program could.

    Why better? Because a computer can't do "taste".... well not yet anyway

  6. #5
    Got it, thanks!

  7. #6

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    Just be sure to ask someone who reads music, many guitar players can't! - or not well enough to determine positional options for given chord voicings...

    Also, FWIW, Band In A Box may be able to convert music you create upon a staff in the program via mouse, to guitar TAB, in several position options you may nominate. But you'd still need to be a guitar player to determine their playability.

    Or if you are prepared to spend some time, you could do a "feasibility" study yourself by placing fingers on an a makeshift fingerboard that emulates the BIAB TAB. If your 4 fingers can find a workable fingering, chances are a guitarist can play it.
    Last edited by princeplanet; 10-11-2014 at 11:53 AM.

  8. #7

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    Go here: Chord

    Presumably you know how to name a chord.

    Put the name in (Ex. Gm7) and it will show you fingerings for the chord.
    Last edited by Drumbler; 10-11-2014 at 11:53 AM.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Drumbler
    Go here: Chord

    Presumably you know how to name a chord.

    Put the name in (Ex. Gm7) and it will show you fingerings for the chord.
    Cool program, but pretty sure it won't help the OP, for example i put in an impossible to play chord and it still gave it several names....

  10. #9

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    Go ahead and ask here now. You'll get plenty of expert opinions. (Note: Only slight sarcasm for humorous effect was intended.)

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by kenbennett
    Go ahead and ask here now. You'll get plenty of expert opinions. (Note: Only slight sarcasm for humorous effect was intended.)
    WTF? That comes across like you're an "expert" having a snarky dig at our less -than -expert- attempts...

    No need for sarcasm, you don't even need to be an "expert" to help the OP in this instance.... I know from years of composing and creating scores for all sorts of situations how hard it is to know what certain instruments can and can't play. I would have been helped by any advice I could get back in the day.

    Sheesh.... GFYAW!

  12. #11

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    First of all, THANK YOU for even caring whether the chords you write are playable. Most arrangers are clueless and careless about that sort of thing.

    I think your best bet would be to get a simple diagram of the notes on the guitar. A Google search will produce all kinds of guitar fretboard diagrams. If the notes you want to use are more or less in the same proximity on the neck, the chord is probably playable. However, the more notes you put into the chord, the more likely it is that the chord will be unplayable or cumbersome. The acid test would be to pick up a guitar and actually put your fingers on those notes, but step 1 alone would probably work most of the time.

    What's playable is also a matter of opinion and context. There are stretch chord voicings I can play in the right context, but I'm not going to grab them when I've got two beats in an uptempo tune. Keeping the notes within three or four frets of each other usually ensures that it workable.

    My only other thought on the matter is that it's usually better to write the chord symbols and let the guitarist choose the voicing, unless you really need specific voicings in a section. A good guitarist will choose the most musical voicings available.

    Good luck; hope this helps.
    Last edited by Jonathan0996; 10-11-2014 at 12:39 PM.

  13. #12

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    What can be done composing/arranging chords for guitar when we don't play it:

    Investigate the mechanics of the instrument. For guitar a fingerboard diagram would be a great start.

    Locate the multiple places where the notes of your chords can be found and visualize how
    an average human hand might negotiate them.

    Study chordal guitar scores with the fingerboard chart as a reference.

    You will notice that some chords are possible to be play at multiple places at the unison.
    Lower strings have a darker sound.

    Proximity to before and after events are a factor.
    Tempo can also be a factor to determine viability of a given voicing or series of chords.

    Writing for a soloist with time and interest to problem solve our intricate creation
    is a very different situation than a need to nail it on a 1st or 2nd take sight reading recording session .

    Many arrangers choose to write lead lines or bass lines with chord symbols
    and leave it to the discretion of the guitarist to flesh out the details.
    Even more common are chord symbols supplemented with rhythm section cues.

    While a program sounds possible, parameters have to be chosen and there are probably too many variables
    at play to make it a fully successful user tool.

    In summary, investigate, learn what you can and communicate with guitar players.
    If you have any specific examples that you can post, there are many here who can offer feedback.

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by bako
    ... write lead lines or bass lines with chord symbols
    and leave it to the discretion of the guitarist to flesh out the details.
    Even more common are chord symbols supplemented with rhythm section cues.
    If you don't know the instrument or your player, you'll do best with bako's advice.

  15. #14

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    Actually I think your best bet is to have a guitar player (believe it or not, some of us are fluent in reading notation) review your composition or what you have written as a guitar part on the piano, assuming you are a pianist. A competent guitarist can easily tell you whether what you wrote is playable.

    As a general rule of thumb, anything you play with two hands on the piano within a three octave range from the lowest bass note of your composed part is usually arrange able for guitar. The actual range could go another octave higher, but one has to consider voice leading limitations in the bass if your melody extends beyond the three octave range. Some of the close voicings on the piano might need to be revoiced on the guitar, but usually will sound very nice in competent hands.

    BTW, if you want to send me an e-mail with the 'guitar' part notation as an attachment, I would be happy to review and edit it for you.

    Jay
    Last edited by targuit; 10-11-2014 at 02:34 PM.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Drumbler
    Go here: Chord

    Presumably you know how to name a chord.

    Put the name in (Ex. Gm7) and it will show you fingerings for the chord.
    Cool. I didn't know about that one.

  17. #16

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    I just had a NYC sax player and composer arranger asked this on facebook last week. He was arranging some music. His specific question was how to write guitar parts in Bb or Eb but indicate the use for a capo. He wanted the open string sound. It was for some pop song but the singer needed to do it in Bb or Eb. He tagged all of these jazz guitar players who can read. It was very good and informative. The question, to be clear, was how to write the rest of the music, single lines and double stops, when certain sections necessitated a capo be used. Did it change the notation or how would guitar players like to read this.

    It's good when people ask.

  18. #17

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    I think if you had asked Ted Greene, the answer would always be yes.

  19. #18

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    Something just popped into my head. John Cage wrote a piece for solo violin called (googles) the Freeman etudes: Freeman Etudes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    He was writing for a specific violinist, and asked him many times whether something was possible to play or not. Here's a sample:



    It was thought to be unplayable for years until a virtuoso played championed it.

  20. #19

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    Some composers what more specific parts and control than just chord symbols. If a composer wants to write notation but doesn't know if it's playable how does he know if he doesn't play guitar? I believe that is the question. Orchestration books have guidelines and range information about writing for all kinds of instruments. Answering by trying to avoid the problem by writing in chord symbols is a cop out and avoiding it altogether. Unhelpful.

  21. #20

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  22. #21

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    Most note combinations can be played in some form. Sometimes you have to leave out the root or one of the other tones.

    The guitarist can play the important chord tones (3rds and 7ths) and harmonize with the other instruments.

    In other words, the guitarist doesn't have to play all the notes in the chord.

  23. #22

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    Guitar is mostly about open voicings. Paul Jefferies who was Monk's last tenor and one of Mingus' last arrangers told me he approached writing arrangements from the POV of a guitarist since "open voicings always sound good."

    He was also a guitarist.
    Last edited by henryrobinett; 10-11-2014 at 08:36 PM. Reason: i wasnt finished

  24. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by ll00l0l
    Hi folks, I'm a non-guitar player, and I'm wondering if there is any existing program that can quickly determine whether a given chord is playable. So, if I enter a series of pitches, the program would say "yes" or "no", or something to that effect.
    Thanks!
    I've never used really expensive notation software, but the stuff I've used like notepad and musescore (the nightly build with tab) worked pretty well for giving you a rough idea of possible voicings using the guitar tab staff. Seems like on those you would enter the notes on the staff and then copy and paste onto the guitar tablature staff. I had to delete the nightly build of musescore. It was beta and pretty buggy, but I would think a lot of basic notational software would do this. Even guitarists who don't read well could probably look at that and tell you what doesn't work. You can probably import midi into things like tux guitar which are free, but what are you using?

    I know that musescore shows notes in a different color which are considered out of range or at the edges (for vocal parts at least). Surely there are some that have some degree of playability algorithms? The ones that I've used will revoice the entire chord when you change a note to another string, essentially "messing with" the structure.

    That's all assuming that you've got a ballpark voicing. Henry's suggestion re. open (I guess open structure; not open strings?) voicings is good. Drop 2's work well on guitar.
    Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 10-11-2014 at 09:08 PM.

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    Something just popped into my head. John Cage wrote a piece for solo violin called (googles) the Freeman etudes: Freeman Etudes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    He was writing for a specific violinist, and asked him many times whether something was possible to play or not. Here's a sample:



    It was thought to be unplayable for years until a virtuoso played championed it.
    Piece 'o piss Big Daddy, I can read that in my sleep, in fact, I think I did last night!

  26. #25

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    ...must have been a nightmare.