Chord types in MusicXML Schema

[Brian M. Ames]

While looking at the enumeration of the kind element I found some differences in the sevenths chord from what I am use to seeing. In particular the values 'dominant' and 'major-minor'. According to the references I checked, these should be defined as follows:
dominant (major triad, minor seventh, V root)
major-minor (major triad, minor seventh)
minor-major (minor triad, major seventh)

I would also add the following:
harmonic-seventh (major triad, harmonic seventh)

Thanks,

Brian M. Ames



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[Michael Good]

Hi Brian,

Thank you for your message. We have had some past discussion on the list about whether MusicXML's major-minor harmony should have been named minor-major instead. Different terminologies are used by different sources and communities. At this point it is too late to change it, as it would break compatibility with existing software.

MusicXML's definition of a dominant chord does match standard practice. But standard practice is not the same as universal practice.

My understanding of the harmonic seventh chord is that this is related to just intonation. MusicXML currently does not represent just intonation or other temperament issues. We will note this request for a future version of MusicXML that deals more comprehensively with temperament and other playback issues.

The goal of the MusicXML 2.0 schema is to be identical semantically to the MusicXML 2.0 DTD, but with stricter validation. We are not adding any new features at this time.

Best regards,

Michael Good
Recordare LLC


While looking at the enumeration of the kind element I found some differences in the sevenths chord from what I am use to seeing. In particular the values 'dominant' and 'major-minor'. According to the references I checked, these should be defined as follows:
dominant (major triad, minor seventh, V root)
major-minor (major triad, minor seventh)
minor-major (minor triad, major seventh)

I would also add the following:
harmonic-seventh (major triad, harmonic seventh)

Thanks,

Brian M. Ames



To unsubscribe your email address, click on the following web page.

[Fireplayer]

Where is a list of the 33 different chord type that MusicXML understands?

[Michael Good]

These are defined in the kind-value simple type in the MusicXML XSD schema.