My question is this - in a progression such as vi-ii7b-V7-I or maybe ((ii7b)-Ic-V7-I) - what does the small -b- and -c- mean. If this has been covered previously I'm sorry as I've only just joined. I'd be grateful if anyone can enlighten me on this. Thank you in anticipation.
The "b" could mean two things but not quite the way you have written it.
1. vi-bII7-V-I simply meaning the ii is flattened. So if this were in the key of C the chords would be.
Am7- Db7- G7- Cmaj7 (bit of an odd progression though. maybe it would make sense if there was a D7 before the Db7 )
2. vi-II7b9-V-I in this case the "b" is at the end of the roman numeral followed by a 9 meaning dom7 with a b9 extension. It could be followed by any number of extensions though..
Am7- D7b9- G7- Cmaj7. This is a more typical sounding turnaround.
As for the "c" I cant say I have encountered that one, or if I have I simply cant remember itIf it does mean something I'm sure JonR or ChrisJ would have the answer.
Firstly thank you for your reply, I picked this up on a piece about four part chorale writing, as you say by flattening the ii chord you do get an odd sounding close so I don't think that's it. I actually copied and pasted this directly from the site where I saw it first so I am presuming the way it's written is correct. I'm beginning to think along the lines now as to whether the b may mean a first inversion and the c a second. I tried this and it sounded quite acceptable. It's driving me nuts!! again thanks a lot for your help.
This does seem like inversion symbols to me - although I'm no expert on choral writing.
Scroll down to the last paragraph here, on roman numeral notation:
http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory18.htm
Thanks Jon R , I'll check out the link you gave, at the moment it's opening but won't scroll so I'll check it later. Much appreciated.
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