Chord Definition

 

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How to get there

Click the Chord Tool  image\Chord_Tool.gif. Choose Manual Input from the Chord Menu. Click a note in your score where you want to add the chord symbol. If the note already has a chord attached to it, double-click the handle to edit the current chord, or click the note again to enter a new chord.

The Chord Definition dialog box also appears if you select the Chord Tool and press shift with a letter or number. Pressing shift and a letter or number is the sequence for programming a Chord Metatool, useful for quickly adding chords to your score.

What it does

The Chord Definition dialog box offers an easy way to enter an entire chord symbol by typing it into a single text box. Or, if you prefer, you can enter the root, alternate bass note, and suffix into separate text boxes. You can also access the Fretboard Editor to create custom fretboard diagrams.

When you type a chord symbol, then press tab (or click another field), Finale updates the settings that control the display of the separate parts of the chord.

If you access this box by using a Metatool, Finale will memorize any chord you build in the dialog box and assign it to the number key you pressed. For example, if you press shift-5 and build an E13/G chord in the Chord Definition dialog box, then you can pop this chord into the score at any point just by clicking the note to which you want it attached while pressing 5.

If no match is found for the suffix you type, an alert appears. Click Cancel to return to the Chord Definition dialog box. Or, click OK to create a new suffix from the suffix you typed in; the Chord Suffix Editor dialog box appears with the suffix characters already entered. Edit the suffix or set playback for the suffix, then click OK. Finale adds the new suffix to the chord suffix library, and returns you to the score, where the chord symbol appears in the piece.

For a list of keyboard shortcuts you can use to enter chords, see the Keystroke table in the Chord Menu/Type into Score section.

Finale ignores lowercase settings when displaying Nashville and Solfeggio chord styles, which follow different conventions. Lowercase chord roots always affect playback, unless a chord suffix is selected. Finale plays a major triad for uppercase chord roots and a minor triad for lowercase chord roots when no chord suffix is selected.

When you specify a suffix by clicking the Select button in the Chord Suffix Editor dialog box, Finale automatically selects the checkbox for the Chord Suffix ID, so it will appear in the score.

Finale ignores lowercase settings when displaying Nashville and Solfeggio chord styles, which follow different conventions.

Note that the capitalization of a chord’s root may affect playback when the chord doesn’t have a suffix (zero appears in the Chord Suffix ID text box); for example, in the key of C Major, the chords C and d will play back major and minor, respectively. This setting also affects the display of major and minor fretboards.

For example, to create an E flat chord in the key of C, enter a 3 in the Root Scale Tone box (which would normally create an E chord symbol), but enter –1 in the Alteration box. To specify an F sharp chord in the key of C, enter a 4 in the Root Scale Tone box and enter 1 in the Alteration box.

For example, to create a C chord over a B flat bass note in the key of C, enter 1 in the Root Scale Tone box (to create the C chord), 7 in the Alternate Bass text box (to create the B bass note), and enter –1 in the Alteration box to lower the alternate bass note by a half step (to B flat).

If the Chord Suffix text box already contains a number (other than zero), click the Chord Suffix Edit button to enter the Chord Suffix Editor, where you can edit the chord suffix. For example, you can change its spacing, specify a font for any character, or determine whether it notates a major chord suffix as "maj." or "M" (see Chord Suffix Editor dialog box).

When you specify a suffix by clicking the Select button in the Chord Suffix Editor dialog box, Finale automatically selects the checkbox for the Show Suffix, so it will appear in the score.

When you click the Chord Suffix ID Listen button, play the chord suffix alone (the remaining notes of the chord, without the root and without the bass). If the corresponding suffix has been defined (by you, Finale, or by loading a Chord Suffix Library), the suffix’s number appears in the Chord Suffix ID box. If the chord suffix hasn’t yet been defined for this piece, no new number appears there.

See Type Into Score (Chord Menu) , which provides a table of keystrokes for typing chord symbols.

 

Tip: In C major, 1 = C, 2 = D, 3 = E, 4 = F, 5 = G, 6 = A, 7 = B.

 

Note: To display fretboards on all chords in the piece, Show Fretboards must be selected in the Chord Menu.

 

See Also:

Chord symbols

Document Options-Chords

Chord Tool

 

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