Chords
How to understand them
Chords was written for teachers and advanced students of harmony and composition. It is based on classical Dutch/German (North-West European) harmony, but if you're curious about the modern notation of chords, as used in jazz and popular music, you will not be disappointed.
In modern notation, a chord symbol is made as simple as possible. All it does, is tell you which notes to play. In classical harmony a chord is named after its position and function within a mode (key). Harmony symbols don't tell you where to put your fingers on the guitar or piano.
If you studied classical harmony, you might want to use this paper to learn and understand the
modern notation of chords. Chords is not a course in classical harmony. If you're really
interested in harmony, I suggest you study
Harmony and Voice Leading
I hope you will find Chords to be very useful.
Chords - Version 3, 2011. It is a free download.