Roman Numerals
Popular notation for chords and progressions
Roman numerals can be used to notate chords and chord progressions independent of a key. You have the option to display roman numerals instead of chord names in a Palette. The Pro edition of Synfire also supports writing chords and progressions as text input in this format.
Syntax
| Component | Examples | 
|---|---|
| Accidental | b | 
                            
# | 
                            |
| Scale Step, Gender | Major: I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII
                                     | 
                            
Minor: i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x xi xii
                                     | 
                            |
| Other Interval Structures | Diminished: dim, ø,
                                        o
                                 | 
                            
Augmented: aug, + | 
                            |
Other: maj7, (add9),
                                        13, m7b5 | 
                            |
| Bass | /b5, /6,
                                        /7 | 
                            
Examples
The triad implied by the original expression is replaced with whatever chord name you append after a colon. For simple chord extensions that can be written as a number, the colon is optional.
V
#iii
viø, vio, vi:dim (all
                equivalent)
iiv°, iiv+, iiv:aug (all
                equivalent)
bVII/#11
III:maj7
#II6
#ii:m6
i:m7b5/b5
bVII:(7,9,13)/5