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* Sometimes a power chord will be written as "Root5" (ex. G5). This technically isn't even a chord, but chord charts and chord symbols often write it in place of chords.
This is enough to specify most chords; however, it cannot represent a number of chords typically found in Jazz. Additional symbols are used to ''alter'' the chord after its basic structure is established. These take the form of {{s}}/+ or {{b}}/- then a number. The number indicates the member note of the chord by its interval against the root. "{{s}}" or "+" indicates to sharp that note a half-step, while "{{b}}" or "-" indicates to flatten the note by a half-step. (Jazz typically favors using "+" and "-" over "{{s}}" and "{{b}}", but their meaning is identical.) For example, Cm{{7}}{{b}}5 means to take Cm{{7}}, which consists of (R - m3 - P5 - m7 ) and flatten the P5 to a d5, giving us (R - m3 - d5 - m7).
If the note was not already part of the indicated chord, this means to add that note into the chord. Our "baseline" version of the note is the one from the major scale (R M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7), but we are only really adding 9ths (2nds), 11ths (4ths), and 13ths (6ths) - the other notes are guaranteed to already be part of the chord. So our baselines are M2, P4, and M6. For example, C{{7}}{{b}}9 indicates the C{{7}} (R - M3 - P5 - m7) but adds a flattened M9 (m2) into the chord (R - M3 - P5 - m7 - m9).
