Will,

I agree - each to his own system.

But I think I understand your question not to be about that.

So here's my answer.

If you write chord symbols, then you are leaving it up to the guitarist to interpret and voice the chords as they choose, in which case all you need is the basic chord (A7, Dmaj7 etc) and let the melody indicate any relevant extensions.

The only exception would be a Sus4 chord where you ideally would prefer to avoid the clash betwen 3rd and 4th, so you would need to include the "sus" (A7sus, Dmaj7 etc)


On the other hand, if you are writing in Tab then the issue gets a little more complicated as it depends how you are using it.

If you have a song where the melody is sung, while the guitar accompaniment is spelt out in guitar tabs, then unlike chord symbols, you restrict the accompanist to specific voicings.

So there are two approaches.

1. writing for beginners, so that they can find chords by looking at the tab whlst singing the tune.

2. For more advanced guitarists when you want them to play exactly what you have written.

In the latter of these two, if the guitarist is playing the melody and the chords as part of one guitar piece, and you are writing in Tab, then the extensions will inevitably show in each tab.

Though from a stylistic point of view, I'm not sure if you would ever really need to write such dense blockish chords in succession as the harmony would sound very static. I might be more tempted to play the passing notes in isolation, and if more harmonic detail were required, I would use passing chords to ensure harmonic movement and interest.


Any use?