7

I'm a beginner piano student and have come across a type of chord notation I'm not familiar with, and can't find anything on the internet.

Below is a photo of part of the chord chart for the worship song 'A thousand Hallelujah's by Brooke Ligertwood.

Photo of chord chart from the worship song 'A thousand Hallelujahs' by Brooke Ligertwood

I believe the superscript numbers mean 'add the 2nd degree of the tonic scale' - so G♭² is a G♭ major chord with the 2nd degree of the G♭ scale added. That is, Gb - Ab - Bb - Db.

What does it mean when a superscript number has brackets around it though? E.g. A♭⁽⁴⁾?

Thank you!

aaronsnoswell
  • 171
  • 2
  • 1
    This is just a guess: It could be that the 2 without brackets means suspended 2nd, which means there's no third - as in Gb - Ab - Db, and the (4) with the brackets means it's an added 4th, with the third also, as in Ab - C - Db - Eb. One reason why I'm suggesting that is if you imagine this being played on guitar with a capo on the first fret and played in C, and then you leave a finger on the first fret (above the capo) of the B string and then play these chords while leaving that finger there, you would get Db (C with capo), Gbsus2 (Fsus2), and Abadd4 (Gadd4). – Todd Wilcox Oct 12 '22 at 00:32
  • Based on this video, I think my theory might be right, although it doesn't look like she's holding the C for the Abadd4: https://youtu.be/XM6Ap_JuJlk – Todd Wilcox Oct 12 '22 at 00:35
  • 1
    I guess @ToddWilcox is already writing an answer. I should add that the superscripts, subscripts and parentheses don't matter, they are used only help to make the symbol easier to read. See also https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/86953/standard-chord-naming-conventions for some better examples of notating chords. – user1079505 Oct 12 '22 at 00:40
  • This video is better, and I think this is the person who came up with the guitar part, which is where the chord shapes came from: https://youtu.be/MYHdgEa493g If you're going to do this in a band, I suggest talking to the guitarist about what they intend to play to make sure your keyboard part goes with it. If you're doing it alone, then I'd suggest playing around with sus2, sus4, add2, and add4 and see what sounds best to you. – Todd Wilcox Oct 12 '22 at 00:43
  • This is really helpful advice @ToddWilcox. Not being a guitarist I would never have thought to check how these cords might interact with a capo! Thank you! – aaronsnoswell Oct 12 '22 at 00:55
  • I've been searching through the public domain scores on the SongSelect website (where the above score originated), but I can't find any that use those symbols. However, I found several "sus" markings, which is the standard abbreviation for sus4. That would suggest that the parenthetical (4) is not a "sus4", though it's possible their scoring isn't wholly consistent. – Aaron Oct 12 '22 at 01:48
  • @Aaron thanks for the sleuthing! From the other scores I've looked at form SongSelect I also believe they aren't consistent across different songs. – aaronsnoswell Oct 12 '22 at 02:44
  • It could even be just an alternative chord - either use Ab or use Ab sus, but that would only work when everyone playing agreed on which chord they were all going to play. Since Ab is the dominant, it could also be a strange way to write Ab11. – Tim Oct 12 '22 at 07:56
  • I've talked with a music teacher friend of mine who is familiar with this song, and with the SongSelect database, and they confirmed that this is just a rarely used notation for a sus chord - that is, the number in brackets replaces the 3rd of the chord. – aaronsnoswell Oct 18 '22 at 09:09
  • 1
    OP, if you're satisfied you know the answer now, please consider [writing an answer to your own question](https://music.stackexchange.com/help/self-answer) so this post can be marked as answered. – John Wu Oct 18 '22 at 21:28

1 Answers1

0

Based on discussions with a friend who is a music teacher, and is familiar with the SongSelect chart database, it seems that the brackets are a type of notation used for sus chords. That is, the number inside brackets is supposed to replace the 3rd note of the chord.

So A♭(4) is actually A♭sus4, or the notes A♭ - D♭ - E♭.

aaronsnoswell
  • 171
  • 2