Re: [tablatures] Power chords

[Carl Sorensen <c_sorensen@xxxxxxx>]

On 9/13/10 2:35 AM, "Patrick Schmidt" <p.l.schmidt@xxxxxx> wrote:

> Am 12.09.2010 um 23:09 schrieb Carl Sorensen:
> 
>> 
>> On 9/12/10 2:21 PM, "Patrick Schmidt" <p.l.schmidt@xxxxxx> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi all,
>>> 
>>> here is a solution for typesetting power chords and their symbols.
>>> The solution is not new and I didn't invent it but including the
>>> little file makes life a tiny bit easier. Maybe these few lines of
>>> code could become part of the lilypond bundle thus making it
>>> unnecessary to have to include them in each and every file containing
>>> power chords??? Where would they have to go?
>> 
>> I think they could be added to ly/chord-modifiers-init.ly
> Ah, right. Now I found that there is already a definition for 2-
> voiced power chords in ly/chord-modifiers-init.ly (Definition of
> partialJazzMusic)! For test purposes I "switched on"
> 
> partialJazzExceptions=
> #(sequential-music-to-chord-exceptions partialJazzMusic #t)
> 
> and used
> 
> \set chordNameExceptions = #partialJazzExceptions
> 
> in my example. So why is partialJazzExceptions set to #f by default?

I have no idea.  This setup preceded my time with LilyPond.  If you have a
better idea, by all means propose it.

> While it might be historically correct to classify power chords as
> originating from jazz music it's not very user friendly. I'd think
> most people associate it intuitively with rock music. Would it be
> difficult to write commands like \powerChordsOn and \powerChordsOff?
> Or maybe just \powerChords would be enough as the chord name
> exceptions turn themselves off as soon as standard chords are used?

Is there a reason *not* to have power chords?  What we're talking about
here, IIUC, is the chord name we get when we see c:1.5 or c:1.5.8.  In rock
music, you can indicate it by C^5, but in "traditional" music, we don't have
a name for this chord.  I don't think there's a clash.

> 
> Meanwhile I could add the definition of 3-voiced power chords to the
> definition of partialJazzMusic.
>> 
>>> 
>>> The following example shows that there are quite a few ways of coding
>>> power chords. Personally I like using for example c1:1.5 or c1:1.5.8
>>> for two- and three-voiced power chords as it's short and shows
>>> clearly which steps are in the chord.
>> 
>> I concur with the c:1.5 and c:1.5.8  I prefer these to c:5^3 and c:
>> 5^3.8
>> 
>> These should be added to Appendix A.2 Common chord modifiers.
> Ok, I'll do that.

Thanks.

>> 
>>> If no one objects I could offer
>>> to add a few lines of text to the manual concerning power chords??!!
>>> Is it worth adding this example to the snippet repository?
>> 
>> Since this uses \set, it belongs in the manual in the form of a
>> snippet.
>> Write the documentation right into the texidoc for the snippet, and
>> make
>> sure it gets added to the LSR with a docs tag and a fretted strings
>> tag.
>> 
>> Then, we'll need to modify the Selected Snippets section of NR
>> 2.4.2 to
>> include your snippet.
> I will do it but I won't have enough time for this before thursday/
> the end of the week.

That will be great.

>> 
>> Also, I'd recommend that we consider adding the power chords to
>> ly/predefined-guitar-fretboards.ly.  Currently, the manual shows
>> how they
>> could be added as alternate voicings of regular major chords.  But
>> now that
>> you have specific chord modifier sequences for power chords, I
>> think it
>> makes great sense to add them to the predefineds.  If we do that,
>> then we
>> don't need to worry about adjusting minimumFret when transposing
>> (and the
>> predefined fretboard will automatically be transferred to the
>> tablature).
> Hm, I'm not too sure about this. This would mean to add five
> respectively four voicings for 2-voiced respectively 3-voiced power
> chords to ly/predefined-guitar-fretboards.ly. I remember vaguely that
> it's difficult (if not impossible) to add different fretboards for
> the same pitch name, e.g. a,:1.5.8 can be played in first position on
> the fifth string or in fifth position on the sixth string, etc.

It's actually impossible to add different predefined fretboards for the same
pitch name.  The way we get different predefined fretboards for the same
chord is by using different octaves for the chord.

> Very often when I transpose chords I decide against the form that was
> just shifted up or down the fretboard that is if I have for example a
> c minor chord in third position I might prefer to see a chord in
> first position (instead of fifth position) after transposing it to d
> minor. For this reason I actually prefer the automatic calculation or
> define the chords individually.
> So does that make sense to you?

Yes, that makes perfect sense to me.  There's always a tradeoff when using
the predefined diagrams.  If you don't feel like it makes sense to add power
chords to the predefined diagrams, I'm OK with that.

Thanks,

Carl