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I created an Android app that displays chords randomly to give me practice in recognizing and playing them. But I am not sure I am displaying the staff and chord to best advantage.

For example, if I were to indicate the Db Major triad for example (DbEAb), should I show a staff with no signature and show the notes Db and Ab with accidentals, or show the Db key signature on the staff and no accidentals on the individual notes? At the moment I am showing the key signature and the triad with no accidentals.

Following is an example image (different signature I think) but shows the issue.
[img:center]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s18e_90OPWWElsR1FocFlqX1IzVjJVNzFFZEtFcnlDYWZv/view[/img]

Thinking out loud - A chord does not belong to any given key. Like, a C (major) chord is I of C major, IV of G major (1 sharp in signature), V of F major (1 flat in signature) - so which key signature would you use? What do other apps and tutorials choose for this? Or.... If you're doing this for yourself you can even mix & match. Why not a C chord in any of those keys (no sharps or flats, one sharp, one flat), just for practice?

DbEAb, would be seem to actually be: C#EG#, key sig for that would be of B major. What kind of cord is DbEAb?
Maybe my thinking is wrong, I dunno.

Db E Ab is a misspelled Db minor chord. It should be Db Fb Ab. Or C# E G# if you meant C# minor.
Db major has F and not E.

I think showing the key signature and no accidentals next to notes would be more useful for learning, given how we read chords most often in repertoire.

I think I meant Db F Ab in the key of Db major. Sorry. I've been typing so many chords I'm getting punch drunk. :-(

So far I've added the major and minor triads and still have to add diminished and augmented, as well as inversions, etc, etc. Sigh....

I just wanted to see if the approach was sound before I continued.

Also, should I have variability in the octaves shown on each staff? At the moment it is hard coded, but they could also change randomly (within a range for each.)

+1.

I just scribbled out a number of key signatures in which I might find a Bb (major) chord.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/puggerhdfoa7sqw/zchords.jpg?dl=0
This goes to my original point. A given chord occurs in more than one signature. We read chords in repertoire, but within various key signatures. I first thought of two flats as being "the" key signature for a Bb chord - but is it really?

Perhaps you should set the key on the outset, and then have 10 questions or whatever all relating to that key. Then you can scale difficulty by narrowing it down to very common chords and then add other ones in. So set the key as Bb Major, have easy level questions with BbMaj, EbMaj and FMaj in first inversion. Then mix up the inversions and add in the other diatonic chords and extensions as you increase in difficulty. Next key have the key of Eb, where Bb will be in again but as the V etc.

Another vote for key signatures with no accidentals. When I created my chord flashcards, this way turned out to be the closest to the way I read sheet music.

Another thing to consider, ascending/descending chord notes. I found those very useful for general sight-reading. And of course inversions.

RVDowning, how about the user choosing the key signature, in the beginning of each session? Then (s)he can decide which key signature to work on, and the accidentals for each chord will display according to the key signature.

For example, if the user chooses Eb major as key signature, the E in a C major chord would be shown with a natural sign in front of the E note on the sheet music display.

Mine was the first response after the question, and I immediately brought up the fact that any chord can occur in several keys. In a major key, there are three major chords. Right after I wrote this, it was suggested that the chord should be written with "the" key signature. Which key signature? To make it more clear, I wrote out an example of how a Bb (major) chord might appear in various keys, with different key signatures. Right after that post, there was another post suggesting that using "the" key signature was a good idea, because that facilitates sight reading. I don't expect everyone or anyone to agree with me, but sort of hope that what we write gets considered.

If you are truly concerned about sight reading, the fact is that in the key of G major you will see a C (major) chord with a signature of one sharp in the signature. No sharps or flats is not the only thing you'll see. There is no single key signature associated with a chord.

And what do you do when you get to diminished and augmented chords? With a dim I guess you can assume that it's the 7th of a major key, and the 2nd of a minor key (depending on which kind of minor scale) but it will get dicey.

This finally gets at the problem:


Excellent suggestion!

Might I suggest that an additional option be the one where everything is shown as accidentals. That may be a good reminder of which notes are sharped or flatted.

ThedorN: You are an evil person. A question in another beginner thread about how to go about learning chords had a response that suggested that playing the chords essentially randomly would be a learning benefit. That person suggested playing them by going up a thirds, or fifths, doing them in order of the circle of fifths, or in reverse, etc, etc. But I thought there was no better random than random.

As a retired software engineer I thought I would just write an app that would display the chord keys randomly as a learning aid for myself. A couple of others expressed an interest in my project so I started embellishing it, adding stuff that I myself am not yet in any way equipped to handle.

I am having problems though in that I am trying to add some stuff that I just don't have enough musical knowledge to do. I am also somewhat notationally challenged, but I will post that question in another thread.

Your suggestion is indeed an interesting one, but that will have to wait until a future version of this project. (which I am calling Piano Flash Chords.)

All those would be great in a flash card app.

I'm an evil person? Sorry, but if this was supposed to be a joke, it's a bit on the nasty side. If you're referring to the complexity of doing this, which I read between the lines in your last paragraph, I cannot accept I'm evil just because I'm suggesting something that is hard to implement.

I may be ill-informed about software, but that doesn't make me evil. I actually have two years behind me in computer science BS, and know a thing or two about programming. I know that MIDI stuff, and sheet music in general, is difficult to implement, and actually started on that road myself a few years back.

If my suggestion is beyond your reach, then simply ignore it, and I withdraw it.

In that event might I suggest that you stick with accidentals? There is no key signature "of" a chord.

Sorry. That was meant in jest. I'm sorry you didn't take it that way. The "evilness" is that it is a good idea, but hard to do.

OK no problem. Good luck with your project, however you implement it.

This is what I did with my chord flashcards. I created the chord notation in MuseScore and then exported the images to Flashcards Deluxe (iOS). Works great especially with the Leitner method.

One more thing, I might add, since we're discussing software, where things have to be well-defined and accurate. It's about the title of the original post.

We can't actually choose between key signature or no key signature with accidentals. There is no thing as no key signature in sheet music.

If we want to show every raised or lowered note (sharps and flats) as an accidental, we're actually using the key of C major. So there'll always be a key signature, and the only question is, which one.

That said, I agree it's best to stick to C major, and show every accidental, and no natural signs, since every note in C major is a natural. I can imagine it's very complicated to account for up to twelve key signatures, having to code different methods and functions for each one.

It shouldn't be coded as different methods and functions for each of 12 key signatures. It should be a multi-part process, using general code that works the same for all key signatures:

1. what pitches do I want to display?
2. what key signature do I want to use?
3. for each pitch I want to display, how should I display it with that key signature?

For example:
1. I want to display pitch Ab.
2. I want to use a key signature with 4 flats.
3. Ab is in the key signature; display the note without an accidental.

Or:
1. I want to display pitch Ab.
2. I want to use a key signature with 0 flats or sharps.
3. Ab is not in the key signature; display the note with an accidental.