Re: Chords in LilyPond

[Ivan Kuznetsov]

I realize I am late on this thread, and I have not even read
the other responses, but I will try to explain why adding
"semantics" to a chord data structure is a mistake.

This "every chord can/should be given a name" hypothesis is a
popular/amateur musician idea that does not exist in the
concert/conservatory musician world.  Having lilypond chord
structures contain this information will burden lilypond
with a lot of useless and even _wrong_ information.
Ultimately, giving a chord a name is "analysis" of music,
it is not a part of music notation.


This does not mean that some notation does not include
chord names, of course it does.  In this case though,
the chord name is a part of the notation that specifies
to the read what notes to play.


Getting back to the original point,  how is this semantic
information going to get into the data structure?:

>         root note
>         quality (major, minor, augmented, diminished)
>         extension (7, 9, 11, 13, etc.)
>         added notes (6, 9, etc.)
>         suspensions (sus4, sus2, etc.)
>         alterations (flat-5, sharp-9, etc.)
>         omitted notes
>         added bass note
>         inversions

Is lilypond going to "on the fly" do analysis and supply
this information?  With much music I notate, the above
terms have no meaning.  Even with late 19th century chromatic
music, assigning the above terms to chords can be
a complex process that can be open to debate.

To conclude:

Charles Winston <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> Here is a rough
> list of semantic information I believe should be included in the data
> structure:
>
>         root note
>         quality (major, minor, augmented, diminished)
>         extension (7, 9, 11, 13, etc.)
>         added notes (6, 9, etc.)
>         suspensions (sus4, sus2, etc.)
>         alterations (flat-5, sharp-9, etc.)
>         omitted notes
>         added bass note
>         inversions

You belief is incorrect on this.  What you are suggesting is
"naive" musical analysis which should not be a part of
such a powerful notation program as lilypond.