Guide to the Notation used on this Site and for Guitar Lessons

Here is all the notation systems I use on the site, or will use in future articles. You can read more about them in their individual articles:

Remember scale degrees are numbered, by convention, with the Major Scale as a baseline (Thus Major is numbered 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 , with no flats or sharps. When a degree in a scale is a half step lower (aka one fret down) than the Major we say its flatted, when a half step higher (aka one fret up) we say its sharped. We then call the resulting degree the flat or sharp (insert the number name here). For example the blues we've been discussing has a “flatted third scale degree” which is commonly referred to as "the flat three."

G7 and G Dominant 7th Mean Exactly the Same Thing

We've all seen 7th chords (A7 G7 etc.) Their full name is Dominant Seventh Chords. Rarely do you hear them called Dominant 7th chords, though. Because a Dominant 7th chord is the most common form of seventh chord, we shorten the name to seventh chord.

So an A Dominant seventh chord is written A7, and pronounced either "A Seventh" or A "Seven". So your regular old 7th chord is really a dominant seventh. You could also have a Major Seventh, Minor Seventh, or Diminished Seventh chord (a half-diminished chord always has a seventh so we don't need to say "half diminished seventh").

What the heck is that crazy symbol? Shouldn't that be written another way?

Both music theory and notation have numerous systems to express the same ideas, concepts, theories, and so on. Don't lose sight of the fact that all of these systems are simply explaining how notes, sequences of notes, and simultaneously sounded notes SOUND when played with certain RHYTHMS.

I use one system for each area (i.e. chord symbols, Functional harmony, scales) consistently, choosing the systems that:

1. Are what good players use most so you can play with them sooner
2. Are the ones that have proven the most effective in producing good players during my teaching experience (rather than getting music professors tenure.)
3. Use American terms derived from the Blues tradition rather than European Classical Music traditon (Classical Music terms sound great in Italian but aren't very sexy in English)
4. Are the ones that I personally think sound or look cool (Guitar is about personal style after all)