Kite's thoughts on hi-lo notation

Hi-lo notation is for naming chord voicings. It applies to all tunings, even conventional ones like 12-edo or meantone. It allows arrangers, composers and theorists to discuss specific voicings much more accurately than the conventional 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, etc. nomenclature.

Hi-lo notation identifies every chord member by its interval from the chord root as 3rd, 5th, etc., written as 3, 5, etc. It then describes what needs to be done to the root position close voicing (known as the basic voicing) in order to change it into the given voicing.

• C E G = C (the basic voicing is the default voicing)
• C G E = Chi3 (hi3 because relative to the basic voicing, the 3rd is raised by an octave)
• G C E = Clo5 (aka 2nd inversion, the 5th is lowered from basic)
• E G C = ChiR (R stands for root) aka 1st inversion
• E C G = Clo3 (another example of 1st inversion)
• G E C = ChiRlo5

When there are multiple high or low notes, the terms hi and lo are only used once:

• C G E B = CM7hi37
• G Bb C E = C7lo57

"Add" is used for duplicated notes:

• C E G C = Cadd8
• G C E G = Caddlo5
• G C E G C = Cadd8lo5
• C E G E = Caddhi3 or Cadd10
• C C E G = CaddloR or possibly Chi35add8

This doesn't conflict with the usual use of "add" in chord names:

• C E G D = Cadd9
• C E G C D = Cadd89
• C D E G = Caddlo9 or Cadd2
• D C E G = Caddlo2

"No" is used as usual to omit notes, as in C9no5. The 4 words are used in this order: no - hi - lo - add - hi - lo. First omit notes, then move notes higher, then move notes lower, then add notes, then add high notes, then add low notes. Following this order removes any ambiguity:

• Chi3add8 = C G C E
• Cadd8hi3 = C E G C E
• Caddhi38 = C E G E C

"Add" can optionally be written more concisely with a comma: Chi3add8 becomes Chi3,8. This follows the comma usage of ups and downs notation and color notation.

The common open chords of a guitar:

• C major: x32010 = C E G C E = C,8hi3
• D major: x00232 = A D A D F# = Dhi3,8lo5
• E major: 022100 = E B E G# B E = E,8loR5 or possibly Ehi3,8hi58
• G major: 320003 = G B D G B G = G,8hi38 or possibly Glo5,8loR3
• A major: 002220 = E A E A C# E = Ahi3,8hi5lo5

Use addhi8, not add15. No degrees higher than 13 are used, analogous to chord names.

The terms hi and lo and degrees R-8 cover voicings up to a 3-octave range, because every note is in either the lo octave, the central octave or the hi octave. Degrees 9-13 go even higher. To extend the range an extra octave both above and below, use hihi and lolo. For example, lolo7 is a note a 9th below the root.

To find the number of voices in a chord, start with the obvious: a triad has 3, a tetrad has 4, etc. Then subtract the "no" notes and add the "add" notes. For example, A7no5hi3,8 has 4 (A7 is a tetrad) - 1 (no 5th) + 1 (add 8ve) = 4 notes.

For more examples, see Kite Guitar Chord Shapes (downmajor tuning).

Notating chord progressions

There are sometimes two possible names for a voicing, depending on what one considers the "home octave" to be. As we saw, C C E G can be either CaddloR or Chi35add8. This ambiguity can be removed by designating one note in a specific octave as "the" tonic, then naming all chord roots relative to that tonic as hiC, loF#, loVII, etc. Unlike octave numbers which only increase when going from B up to C, the hi-lo categories only change in the region of the tonic. This has the advantage that transposing to a new key won't change the hi-lo categories.

G major scale in both scientific pitch notation and hi-lo notation

SPN names	D2	E2	F#2	G2	A2	B2	C3	D3	E3	F#3	G3	A3	B3
hi-lo names	loD	loE	loF#	G	A	B	C	D	E	F#	hiG	hiA	hiB

Chord progressions can be written out as e.g. Cadd8 - loAmhi3add8 - Dm7 - loG7hi3. The entire 4-part harmony can be deduced note-for-note from this. Here are the notes, where the lower octave uses underlined letters and the upper octave uses lower-case letters:

• C E G c
• A E A c
• D F A c
• G D F B

This works with relative notation as well: Iadd8 - loVImhi3add8 - IIm7 - loV7hi3.

Naming the roots as hi or lo almost allows us to reduce a barbershop tag to a mere succession of chords. However voices sometimes coincide or cross. See Kite Guitar Translations by Kite Giedraitis#Barbershop tags

Hi-lo notation was invented by Kite Giedraitis.