POP CHORD SYMBOLS

Standard Notation Rules

TRIADS

• Major: Root in caps, e.g., Bb
• Minor: Root in caps, ''m", e.g., Bbm
• Diminished: Root in caps, superscript "o", e.g., Bb^o
• Augmented: Root in caps, "+", e.g., Bb+

SEVENTH CHORDS

• MM7^*: Root in caps, ''maj7", e.g., Bbmaj7
• Mm7:  Root in caps, ''7", e.g., Bb7
• mm7: Root in caps, "m7", Bbm7
• mM7: Root in caps, "m(maj7)", Bbm(maj7)
• +m7: Root in caps, "+7", e.g., Bb+7
• oo7 (fully diminished seventh):  Root in caps, superscript "o", "7", e.g., Bb^o7
• om7 (half diminished seventh):

1. Option 1 (preferred): Root in caps, "m7b5", e.g., Bbm7b5
2. Option 2: Root in caps, superscript “ø”“7”, e.g., Bb^ø7

SUSPENSIONS

• Suspended 4th: Root in caps, "sus4", e.g., Bbsus4
• Suspended 4th with a minor seventh: Root in caps, "7sus4", e.g., Bb7sus4
• Suspended 9th, no seventh: Pop chord symbol for the triad, "sus9", e.g., Bbmsus9
• Suspended 2nd: Same as suspended 9ths except use a "2" instead of "9", e.g., Bbm7sus2, Bbsus2  

INVERSIONS

• Follow the above rules for the root and quality of the chord, then add a slash ("/") and the bass note, e.g., Bbmaj7/D.
• Pop chord symbols without a slash ("/") represent chords in root position. 
• When you want to be extra sure that the chord is played in root position, you may include the slash (“/”) and the root, e.g., Bbmaj7/Bb.

^*These are seventh-chord quality symbols, where the first character is the quality of the triad (M-major, m-minor, ^o-diminished, +-augmented), and the second two characters are the quality and size of the interval from the root to the seventh (M7-major seventh, m7-minor seventh, and ^o7-diminished seventh).

NOTE

There are many alternatives to the above rules, some of which are widely used and accepted. This list is not all-inclusive. There are many other chords beyond the scope of this list.