Chord-Calculator.com publishes five types of content: tool pages explaining how each music theory calculator works and what it produces, articles about chord construction and interval mathematics, articles about harmonic function and chord progressions, articles about scale theory and chord-scale relationships, and music theory pedagogy content aimed at musicians from beginner through advanced. This page explains how all five content types are researched, written, reviewed, and maintained.
Who Writes the Content
All content on Chord-Calculator.com is written by Liam, the site’s founder and sole author. Liam is a music theorist and chord tools developer with expertise in chord construction, interval theory, harmonic function, scale theory, and music theory pedagogy.
There are no anonymous contributors and no unreviewed content on this site.
Our Editorial Standard
Every piece of content passes one test before publication:
Would a musician, music student, or theory educator who found this page feel they genuinely understood something they did not before — or would they feel the explanation was vague, technically imprecise, or disconnected from how music actually works?
Theoretical accuracy and genuine insight — not length or keyword density — are the only measures.
How Tool Pages Are Written
All tools on Chord-Calculator.com are pure calculation and lookup tools. They require no microphone, capture no audio, and perform no signal processing. They derive results from interval mathematics and systematic application of established music theory definitions.
Tool pages must document: what the tool calculates or looks up, the interval mathematics or theoretical logic behind the result, how to interpret the output, what the tool cannot determine, and links to related educational content that explains the underlying theory.
Tool pages are not written as feature descriptions. They are written to make the theoretical logic behind the calculation visible — so that a user who receives a result also understands why that result is correct.
For the Chord Calculator: interval pattern documentation is central. Every chord quality has a defining interval formula — major (M3 + m3), minor (m3 + M3), diminished (m3 + m3), augmented (M3 + M3), dominant 7th (M3 + m3 + m3), major 7th (M3 + m3 + M3), and so on. The tool page documents these formulas explicitly.
For the Chord Finder: the reverse lookup methodology — from a given set of notes, identifying the root, quality, and inversion — is documented with the interval analysis logic used to identify chord identity from pitch class sets.
For the Interval Calculator: the semitone counting system, the standard interval names (unison, minor/major second, minor/major third, perfect/augmented/diminished fourth, perfect fifth, minor/major sixth, minor/major seventh, octave), and the significance of each interval in chord and scale construction are documented.
How Chord Theory Articles Are Researched
Chord theory articles cover topics including the interval basis of chord construction, how stacking thirds produces triads and seventh chords, how extensions (9ths, 11ths, 13ths) work, what alterations (b5, #5, b9, #9, #11, b13) do to chord colour and tension, how inversions change the voicing and bass note without changing the chord identity, and how suspended and added-note chords differ from standard tertian harmony.
Research draws from:
- Established academic music theory literature and textbook references
- Classical harmonic analysis traditions (functional harmony, Roman numeral analysis)
- Jazz theory literature covering extended and altered harmony
- Contemporary music theory research on chord quality perception
All interval names follow standard academic music theory terminology. Where multiple naming conventions exist — for example, the enharmonic equivalence of Db and C# as chord roots, or the ambiguity between a chord’s theoretical name and its practical symbol — the content explains the alternatives and clarifies the distinction rather than arbitrarily choosing one convention.
How Harmonic Function Articles Are Researched
Harmonic function articles cover how chords behave within a key: tonic function (chords that provide rest and resolution), dominant function (chords that create tension requiring resolution), and subdominant function (chords that create motion away from the tonic). They cover voice leading principles, common chord progressions, modulation, secondary dominants, borrowed chords, and the functional logic of jazz harmony.
Research draws from:
- Classical harmonic theory (common practice period, functional harmony)
- Jazz harmony literature (ii–V–I, tritone substitution, modal interchange)
- Contemporary popular music theory research
- Established music theory pedagogy on progression analysis
Functional descriptions are grounded in established theory. Where harmonic function is genre-specific or context-dependent — for example, the role of the IV chord differs between classical and blues contexts — the content acknowledges this rather than presenting one genre’s conventions as universal.
How Scale Theory Articles Are Researched
Scale theory articles cover the construction and intervallic content of major, minor, modal, pentatonic, blues, whole tone, diminished, and other scales — and how each scale’s interval content relates to the chords it generates or fits over. Research draws from classical, jazz, and contemporary theory sources.
Scale definitions are grounded in standard academic theory. The interval content of each scale and mode is documented accurately. Where a scale or mode has multiple names or conflicting theoretical interpretations — as with melodic minor — the article acknowledges this.
Our Policy on AI-Assisted Content
Chord-Calculator.com may use AI writing tools as part of the content drafting process. Every piece of content published is:
- Reviewed and edited by Liam personally before publication
- Fact-checked against established music theory references
- Rewritten wherever the draft contains theoretical inaccuracies or imprecision
- Held to the same standard as content drafted without AI assistance
We do not publish raw AI output.
How Content Is Updated
Content is updated when a theoretical explanation is found to be inaccurate, when a tool’s methodology changes, or when a reader identifies an error. Updated articles display a visible last-updated date.
Corrections Policy
If you find a factual error — a chord formula that does not verify, an interval name that is incorrect, a scale definition that contradicts established theory — report it via the Contact page. All corrections are reviewed personally by Liam and applied promptly.
What We Do Not Publish
- Chord formulas not verifiable from standard interval theory
- Interval names that deviate from established academic terminology without explanation
- Scale definitions that contradict standard music theory references
- Harmonic function claims not grounded in established theory
- Content that presents one genre’s harmonic conventions as universal music theory
- Content that exists only to target a keyword with no genuine educational value
Related Pages
- About the Author — Liam’s background and research areas
- About — the site’s mission and purpose
- How It Works — technical explanation of chord calculation methodology
- Chord Calculator FAQ — common questions about chords and the tools
- Contact — submit corrections or feedback
These editorial guidelines are written and maintained by Liam, founder of Chord-Calculator.com. Last updated: June 2026.