But in the context of written music, with a melody ... When you see the symbol C maj7, the ‘maj7’ element is telling you to play the 7th which is one semitone below the chord name, which ...

Li. With you so far. Lead? Pb. There are actually a few things that help explain the dissonance between elements’ names and their symbols, says Sam Kean, author of The Disappearing Spoon and ...