4

Why do we have same chord but different name?

I recently saw this post and its revision history. It got me thinking: this post has what is likely a mistake in it, but all the answers (which are all really old, by the way) address the question with the error.

(for those curious, I approved/imporved an edit before I noticed the answers, so I rolled back)

Should this be edited to fix the chord symbol? I'm leaning strongly towards "no", since I doubt it would do our site or the question any good, but I wanted to hear your opinions.

0
7

The original edit changed Cdim7 to C half-dim7. This was a bad edit in my opinion. Full disclosure: I wrote what is currently the top-voted answer on that question.

Although the OP did write "sorry, this question is wrong...." in the comments, it is unclear in what way OP saw the question as wrong. The OP never made any edits or clarifying comments, and it is unclear that changing Cdim7 to C∅ would meet the original intent. It could be that OP mistakenly thought that dim chords and m7♭5 chords are the same thing. The edit would seem to reduce the question to one of chord symbols, but we don't know if that is what OP meant to ask.

Addtionally, there are some answers (all less than a year old, not "really old") which address the incorrect statement. Editing this out invalidates part of these answers.

As a general rule, I tend to reject edits that correct "mistakes" that may be part of some misunderstanding on the poster's part. Correcting these mistakes in an edit can change the question, and edits should not change questions. Correcting such mistakes should be part of an answer. It can be difficult to tell when such errors are just typos; it is best if OP corrects the mistake themselves, or indicates in comments that it is a typo.

2
  • 3
    Just to add to this - if a question has a big mistake, it's much better if we can put it on hold while that is corrected - this stops answers being posted that may be invalidated when the question is corrected. Once relevant edits have been made, we can reopen and folks can answer. – Doktor Mayhem♦ Apr 15 '19 at 18:02
  • 1
    @MaikaSakuranomiya -- you don't need to keep leaving comments here and on the original question letting everyone know that you have flagged the question; the flag is enough. IAC, there is a lack of clarity in the question, but many good questions are a bit unclear, reflecting a lack of clarity on concepts in the asker. In my opinion, this question shows such a lack of clarity in the OP; I and others answered the question in such a way that OP's needs would be met, choosing pedagogy over pedantry. – ex nihilo Jul 10 '19 at 13:19
-2

DISCLAIMER: I am Maika-san, the one who made the edit.

I'll have to disagree with David Bowling here. We all know that Cdim7 and Cm7♭5 chords are not the same, because Cdim7 has the notes C-E♭-G♭-B♭♭ while Cm7♭5 has C-E♭-G♭-B♭. A dim7 chord has no other name, but a m7♭5 chord is also known as half-dim7 chords. In fact, I decided to edit the question out, changing Cdim7 to C half-dim7, as I thought if the OP just "typo-ed" C half-dim7 to Cdim7.

So I'll have to tell the truth that I believe rolling back was a bad idea. As David Bowling had said, it is still possible that the OP mistakenly thought dim7 and m7♭5 were the same. That's why I wrote, "if this isn't what you asked, change it, please," so the OP can change it if he / she disagrees with my edit. I regardless had a strong feeling that the OP actually meant half-dim7 but made a typo which caused all of the answers to "follow" the typo. If he / she agrees with my edit, the "Sorry, this question is wrong" comment would make sense. If my edit was actually right, the answerers can edit their answers to match the question.

So I would like to say it would be better to just go with my edit rather than rolling back, and let the OP be in charge of deciding to agree with it or not.

3
  • 2
    You and I know that diminished chords and m7b5 chords are not the same thing, but everyone does not know this, and we don't know if the poster of the original question knew this before posting. Your edit changed the question; it would have been better to leave a comment and let the poster decide what to do. – ex nihilo Jun 14 '19 at 3:21
  • @DavidBowling - Anyways... I'll have to disagree with your comment here. ±0 – user53472 Jun 16 '19 at 12:47
  • 2
    Which part do you disagree with: that not everyone knows the difference between m7b5 and dim7 chords; or that we don't know if the original poster knew this and made a typo or lacked clarity on these chord types; or that your edit changed the content of the question as asked and answered already by others; or that it would have been better to leave the question un-edited, seeking clarification from the OP instead of making an edit that invalidated part of some answers, just in case your interpretation was correct (and then expecting the non-responsive OP to fix your edit if not)? – ex nihilo Jun 17 '19 at 1:39

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .