Hi John,

I of course agree that (F-A-C-E) should & must be recognized as Fmaj7, but WHY does (F-C-E) ALSO have to be recognized as Fmaj7?

John, how often (if at all) do you ever play an Fmaj7b5? If I did ever need to, I certainly would never voice that chord without including the all important 3rd of the chord (note: A). If a pianist ever wanted to play Fmaj7b5, they would NEVER play (F-B-E) as it is missing the "all important" color tone (maj/minor tonality) 3rd of of the chord.

The (E-A-D) voicing admittedly has a dual function and I can see where this voicing might be commonly used for for playing Asus. It just so happens that this (E-A-D) voicing is also a very popular piano comping voicing for C6(9) as well.

As far as F5b is concerned, I think this is an essoteric chord at best. I assume that this symbolizes an F triad with a flatted fifth. Does ANYONE really play this chord at all? I certainly haven't run across it in any of my MANY (hundreds of) fake books/charts. This chord voicing is instead, a very popular (rootless) voicing for G7(9), popularly played by pianists when playing classic R&B-Soul where the 9th is commonly played. John, you say that you play praise worship/soft rock music. Can you tell me a specific song where F5b comes up? And if so, would you actually want to play (F-B-E) as a voicing for this chord? I mean, where's that all important note A (the 3rd of the chord)?

In all my years as a keyboard player, I don't remember coming across a chart with Fmaj7b5, or F5b. If I ever did, I certainly would NEVER use the voicings that Solton assigned them because they lack the ALL IMPORTANT 3rd (color tone) of the chord.

In conclusion, I agree (with you John) that the best solution might be for keyboard arranger manufacters to come up with a "user programable" feature which allows us the player, to setup/customize our own custom chords & related voicings which best meet our indiviual playing styles/needs. In fact, this EXACT feature is already available on the "newest top of the line model" Lowery brand Organ (essentially a full sized electronic Organ version of a portable arranger keyboard). This new Lowery Organ feature is winning acclaim by keyboard professionals worldwide so I hope the arranger keyboard manuafacers will follow suit by implementing this feature.



Scott
San Francisco Bay Area, CA