This has perhaps become off-topic and I don’t wish to prolong that; however, I 
have to take issue with the idea that “sus” could somehow apply to the 7th.  It 
can’t.  Suspensions specifically apply to replacing the 3rd with either the 4th 
or the 2nd (the latter being rare except in folk music played on guitar in the 
first position, and even then only a few chords lend themselves to this).  The 
7th cannot be suspended; it can be flatted or natural, in which case this is by 
convention denoted as a 7th or major 7th; the term “sus” is never applied to 
the 7th.  There should be no possible ambiguity when “sus” and “7” are used in 
the same chord.  

The main problem for me with “x7sus4” as a chord name is its length; when there 
are four chord names in a bar, every character counts in terms of legibility.  
Things can get crowded fast.  (This came up in preparing a chart for the Vince 
Guaraldi song “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” in which all the chords in the 
soloing section are suspended dominants.  Lots and lots of them, actually 
sounds pretty terrible on guitar; works somewhat better on piano which was 
Guaraldi’s instrument, but IMHO seriously overdone on this song).

However, I find that when I give musicians lead sheets done by the 
Roemer-Brandt standards I never get any question about what any chord means.  
It may not be especially modern but it is certainly effective.

Tim


> On Jan 26, 2015, at 6:08 PM, Kevin Barry <barr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 10:57 PM, Flaming Hakama by Elaine 
> <ela...@flaminghakama.com <mailto:ela...@flaminghakama.com>> wrote:
> (Also, what is wrong with interpreting that the 7th resolve to a 6th?  That 
> seems pretty coherent.)
> 
> This allows for two possible interpretations of the same symbol, which is why 
> it is preferable to specify the chord (C7) and the suspension (sus or sus4) 
> separately: putting the `sus' in between `C' and `7' makes it unclear whether 
> it applies to the seventh or to the fourth.
> 
> The absence or presence of the seventh does not affect the chord quality (it 
> does not affect its function)
> 
> I have to disagree with this: there are plenty of situations where adding a 
> seventh does indeed change the chord's function.
> 
> Of course, getting any of the notes wrong is regrettable, which is why 
> unambiguity (i.e. C7sus4 IMO) is so desirable.
> 
> Kevin 
> _______________________________________________
> lilypond-user mailing list
> lilypond-user@gnu.org
> https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user

_______________________________________________
lilypond-user mailing list
lilypond-user@gnu.org
https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user

Reply via email to