Originally Posted By: Mark Hayes
Originally Posted By: MarioD
But couldn't chords greater than n13 be called poly chords? Like CMaj7:DMaj7b9, i.e. C-E-G-B-D-A-C#-Eb. This would make a good cluster chord.


Oh, man, this is so interesting, it raises deep philosophical issues about the nature of musical reality (and I am not being facetious.)

My chord pictured above can be regarded as a C Major with a Bb Major sitting on top of it.

Does that mean that's what it is, really?


Yes that chord could be called a C:Bb poly chord.

Music theory for a guitarist can be very frustrating at times. We can only play up to six notes at a time while mostly we play only 3 to 5 notes, at least in jazz. So your your C:Bb poly chord I could play C-E-Bb-D-G, which is really a C9! Or I could play a Bb-D-F-C, a Bb add9.

I run into this"conflict" a lot when I jam with JonD. JonD is a pianist/keyboardist with lots of theory. Thus what I would call a chord's name he usually adds a number of other chords that contain those 3-5 notes I played on my guitar. We do have fun together trying to find the right chord for our progression. This is where BiaB is a God sent piece of software, i.e. playing around with chords and chord progressions.

As I have told my students learn music theory but don't let it get in the way of your playing. If you ain't playing from the heart then what good is it? YMMV

I just posted a selfie and all of the responses were get well soon!

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware