Your question re: Amaj7 inspired me to consider this issue more closely. I think you're right. I don't think that, in isolation, there is any difference really, between different variations of Amaj7. At least not that big a one.

I think what the issue is -- and what I'm not communicating well -- is a psychological difference. The verses and the chorus are a simple, switching between A and E. For the bridge, I'm looking to signal that this is a different tone/mood from the verses/chorus (as is common, of course, for a bridge) and that the bridge is a bit more moody. Hence the desire for a minor chord notation and also something that is not just a variation of A, which is one of the only two chords in the rest of the song -- not because the sound is different, obvoiusly it's not, but because I want to signal to the creative team that this is a "minor" feel and a different feel from the verses/chorus.

[br]This is why I was asking about which notation to choose. I don't want to overly complicate things by using the C#m option when there is a simpler one, but C#m "feels" more right for this part of the song. And those tiny kinds of nuances can affect how a musician approaches the song in the studio.

On the other hand, having a session musician be annoyed with the composer for using an overly complicated notation when a simpler one would do (thus looking like the composer doesn't know what she's doing or is trying to be pretentious) would also be a problem.

Hence my dilemma. I think if this were a songwriting forum primarily rather than a guitar forum, it would be easier to communicate that sort of in-the-weeds songwriting thing, and I recognize that it probably sounds a little nitpicky. But especially since right now, everything has to be virtual -- no sitting around in the studio working out the song -- the need to communicate feel/nuance via the lead sheet and written notes becomes even more important.

I have read the first of the Zollo books, but not the rest. I agree, they are good reads, though I feel like Zollo has a bias that shows through pretty heavily in which songwriters he chooses to interview. He's a bit of a snob... but still, good stuff and I do want to make the effort to get the other volumes at some point. Really good process stuff in there.