Theory Symbol Cheat Sheet

Here are some examples of what you would type on your computer keyboard to enter common kinds of theory symbols into Harmonia's theory line. For complete information about how to enter theory symbols please see the various HowTo documents under Harmonia’s Help menu.

Pitch Classes

A pitch class symbol consists of a staff-line letter (C, D, E, F, G, A, or B) and possibly an accidental (sharp, flat, double sharp, or double flat).

For symbol ...	... you type
C (natural)	C or Cn
D sharp	D# or Ds
E flat	Eb or Ef
F double sharp	F## or Fss
G double flat	Gbb or Gff

Pitches

A pitch symbol consists of a pitch class and an octave number. The “middle C” octave is octave number 4.

For symbol ...	... you type
Middle C	C4
D flat in octave 4	Db4
E flat in octave 5	Eb5
F double sharp in octave 2	F##2
G double flat in octave 6	Gbb6

Intervals

An interval symbol consists of a quality (diminished, minor, major, or augmented) and a staff-line distance.

For symbol ...	... you type
perfect unison	P1
minor third	m3
major third	M3
augmented fourth	+4 or a4
diminished fifth	o5 or d5
doubly augmented second	++2
doubly diminished seventh	oo7

Triads

A triad symbol consists of a root (pitch class) quality (diminished, minor, major, or augmented) and inversion (root position, first inversion, or second inversion).

For symbol ...	... you type
C major triad, root position	CM
C sharp minor triad, first inversion	C#m6
E flat augmented triad, root position	Eb+
B diminished triad, second inversion	Bo64

Seventh Chords

A seventh chord symbol consists of a root (pitch class) quality (minor, major, major-minor, half-diminished, or diminished) and inversion (root position, first, second, or third inversion).

For symbol ...	... you type
C major seventh, root position	CM7
D major-minor seventh, 1st inversion	DMm65
E flat minor seventh, 2nd inversion	Ebm43
G half-diminished seventh, root position	G/o7
F sharp diminished seventh, 3rd inversion	F#o42