Hm, I understand now better. that is for sure not easy. I accomplised to set the ma and mi on the spot you want I think with only a change to 1 root. You have to set it higher in the chord symbol componet panel, by double clicking on the ma. Then it works for all roots. The G7(13) I made by removing the ADD. But that is for every so a lot of work.
Chords.dorico (640.7 KB)
I have to admit that I don’t understand a lot of chord symbols you give me here, but that is problaby a lack in my knowledge.
Well, they’re not what I at least would call “everyday” chord symbols. When I get to a certain level of supra-diatonic harmony in my jazz work, I tend to go for polychord notation. It just goes to show the limits in capturing the chromatically rich harmonic language of jazz through essentially tertian labels.
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What does B♭12 mean?
It sure is interesting, always something to learn. 
Perhaps in the academic world, this is considered more sophisticated. If I were to write this spelling in the circle of musicians I play in, I expect they would scratch their heads for a minute and then say, “Hey, Music Fellow (probably using a different honorific with the same initials), if you want me to play a flat 9, just write flat 9.”
Perhaps you could explain why one would write #15 instead of b9.
I am not philosophically against seeing Dorico expanded to include user-conceived chords, but I really don’t think it is fair to say that Dorico doesn’t support jazz chord symbols. I have written well over 1000 arrangements and read thousands more, and I have never come across that particular chord spelling, as valid as it may be.
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Slightly OT, but I find it interesting that no less a harmonically advanced jazz player and composer than Chick Corea insisted on incredible minimalism in his chord symbols.
He states in his *Use of Chord Symbols: Philosophy* preface to his published song books:
“I use chord symbols as a direct invitation to the player [italics mine] to improvise and add his own notes and embellishments.”
[…]
"I find it confusing to try to ‘write out’ a voicing by only adding extra numbers and signs to the chord symbol itself. Usually the essential coloring notes are written as the melody line [which, it seems to me, is quite true of his won and the Jerry Bergonzi examples @Remi_Bolduc shares above] or as any other counter line that’s written. In this case, all that’s needed is the basic information about the harmony.
"Chord symbols that indicate the first four notes in a chord (bottom to top) are usually sufficient to give all the information that the player needs, quickly and at-a-glance. […]
“I never include in the chord symbol altered notes that are written in the melody. […]”
It’s (ahem) noteworthy seeing how deeply melodic Chick’s conception of harmony was.
ADDENDUM (which may or may not adjust @Mark_Johnson’s response below): Don’t get me wrong: I admire Bergonzi for sure! I just personally find that style of chord notation to be overly cluttered. (Though I’ve also never been comfortable keeping it quite as minimal as Chick’s — no doubt because I and my bandmates don’t have the big ears he and his did!)
But each of us shapes things according to the whisperings of our muses, it seems to work for him and the musicians he performs with, and it’s his prerogative.
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Amen to all of that.
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It is like writing a drum part literally indicating every stroke, versus giving the drummer an outline of what you want. Give a great drummer a stroke-by-stroke chart and you should expect the “Hey Music Fellow …” treatment. 
Sophisticated piano/guitar players are going to voice things themselves.
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Of course, I understand. These aren’t the chord symbols we use every day, but when I’m arranging one of Bergonzi’s tunes, I want to use the chord symbols he uses in his compositions. I’d like the freedom to do that. And of course, we had a few moments of head-scratching ourselves, haha. I have a video/lesson on JazzHeaven.com with Jerry explaining his concepts. For example, the Bb12(#5, #9) chord is built from the bottom up as D, F#, Ab, C#, F. This comes from the Vth mode of the harmonic minor scale, as opposed to the 7th mode of the melodic minor scale, which we find in an altered chord. Anyway, the point is, I’d like to have the option to write them that way.
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Fidelity to the ur-text: dig it.
I don’t use this system in my own writing, but my understanding is that it indicates a kind of polytonality in which the natural 9th is part of the sound of the harmony underneath an altered extension in an upper octave. For example, a Cma7(#15) would imply something like a Cma9 chord with an A major triad voiced or arpeggiated or implied above this.
Not to get too far off topic, but I’ve long felt that the world of music theory has done an insufficient job of systematizing how we experience and understand register, compared to how deeply and thoroughly we have systematized our understanding of goal-directed tonality (schenker), interval content (set theory), etc.
I too would love to see a more flexible chord system in Dorico, in terms of different suffixes (as we used to call them in Finale), though I do appreciate many many other things about Dorico’s chord handling. But I also think that it’s worth continuing to find workarounds until those other features are in place. Especially if working on lead sheets, I wonder if using the text tool and some copy/paste work might suffice as a temporary, though possibly irritating, substitute.
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Yes, exactly. It’s a C9,13 chord with a #15. The #15 refers to the b9 (flat ninth) above the natural 9th. From the bottom up, the notes are: Bb, D, E, A, and C#.
This creates an A major triad with a D added over a C7 base, derived from the D harmonic minor or harmonic major scale (if you add the F#).
As you mentioned, having this kind of flexibility would be great, especially since I have done recordings with Bergonzi and needed to arrange his music.
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I seem to remember hearing that this labeling was originally a Joe Henderson thing, but maybe I’m imagining that.
That’s very possible. He uses similar sounds in Isotope.
I usually would call something like this Dma7|Cmaj7, but it’s not even that unusual. Bud Powell was using this type of harmony in his bebop lines in the 1940s in this exact key. The melody to “Un Poco Loco” has lines like the one below plus the 16th note run from F# to C# on a Cmaj chord that he repeatedly uses throughout the melody:
Pianists like Jaki Byard use that sound a lot too. Dorico’s chord nomenclature is great for 95% of use cases, but we really need more flexibility to create custom chords for the other 5%.
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Great, that’s awesome. However, the point is that Bergonzi refers to it differently. I just published a book of his transcriptions done in Finale, and, as you said, I want to use the specific symbols I’ve chosen.
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