^^^
Wow! This post alone is so invaluable!!!I should print it out & show it to friends who will be interested to read it!
Just out of interest Diverse, how would you show this voicing on a chord chart:
C-B/ E-G-D..
cmaj9
this would let a person know that the chord should contain the maj7 and the D as the 9
it is up to them whether they should place each tone
that is the beauty of chord charts it allows room for individual taste and conceptualization
now if you wanted to really illustrate that you wanted a particular arrangement of tones
you would need to use figured bass
which most people dont know how to use these days
it is a classical method of notation
so you may write '
C: I7^
9
the little symbol tells the player that is the tone you want in the soprano
and the C tell you it is in the key of C
there fore the I tells the player it is the one chord in the key of c
and the 7 tells the person it is the 7 that is associated with the one chord which is major 7
in figured bass
everything is spelled out down to the exact inversion of every chord
but to be honest
just keep learning and practicing your voicings
and concentrate on playing the melody when you play chord charts
if you do that I promise you you will be playing beutiful music eventually
here are some other points that may help
when you see a minor 9
you dont always have to play a minor 9 most times you can get away with just the minor 7
or you can upgrade to a minor 11
for an added bite
when you see a dom7 chord you can play a sus7
also on most jazz charts not necessarily gospel charts
when you see extensions they are usually there because of the melody
so you can get away with playing just 9th chords
and still end up with a beautiful progression