Can you set Program-wide Chord Symbol Default Setting?

Newbie from Finale. Checked the forums and help sites, but nothing exactly like this. I want to make a global change to have:

  • Cmaj7 show as C"triangle"7
  • Cdim7 show as C"superscript o"7
  • Cm7b5 show as CØ7
    I did this for Cmaj7 using the Library>Chord Symbols dialog and now entering C^7 or Cmaj7 results in the desired C"triangle"7. Unfortunately, entering D^7 just gets me Dmaj7.
    From dspreadbury’s forum response on a similar topic, it seems getting a set of suffixes to appear on any root is not currently possible (although they are considering it). If I go to the trouble of entering 12 chord symbols for each of the above, is it possible to at least make this a program-wide default setting so it shows up in all projects?

You can change all of the above in Engrave Mode and then save as default, for use in all future projects. No need to alter specific chord symbols, as these are global settings.

Ahhh, doing this in Engrave Mode instead of Write Mode works better. It seems I can create 12 versions (C, C#, D, etc) of each chord that I want (maj, dim, 1/2 dim) that will carry over to other projects by clicking “Save as defaults”. Interesting that doing this in Write Mode doesn’t do it; only in Engrave Mode.

Thanks for the “pro tip”… I’m learning.

UPDATE: This works for the Maj and Dim chords, but entering “ø” in the chord entry popover doesn’t work. Dorico recognizes “^” as meaning Maj and I get the intended chord symbol, but it doesn’t recognize “Option o” (Mac) to mean “m7(b5)”. I can edit the definition of Cm7(b5) to be Cø7, but then have to type "Cm7(b5) to get the intended symbol, which kind of defeats the purpose. Just trying to reduce the ink on the page; at least I got 2/3 of the way there.

@billsshepherd Maybe silly to say but the spelling you use in the popover is not so important. If you type in the popover Dm7b5 and you made the settings in engraving options that this should be appear with that circle with a slash then it should work.

The result you get is what you choose in engraving options.

You speak about engrave mode but you have to set this choices in engraving options.

ctrlshifte and then chord symbols

In engraving options you really set things global. Together with notation options and layout options you give the instructions on a top level. If you can achieve what you want on this level you will save a lot of time because it is global.

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Engraving options not engrave mode.

The popover syntax is what you type to get the chord root and quality that you want. The quality will be displayed based on your settings in Engraving Options / Chord Symbols, NOT by what you’ve exactly typed in the popover. It does not work like “Type Into Score” in Finale. If I type C7+9 into the popover, I will get C7(#9) in the score, as that’s how I’ve told Dorico I want that quality to display.

Do not start editing all 12 roots of each chord (or many more enharmonically) until you understand how Engraving Options / Chord Symbols works. Dorico’s chord symbols work completely differently than other programs, so don’t come in with any preconceived notions about how they “should” work, as you’re currently sort of going about this backwards with a ton of additional unnecessary work.

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You are right of course….it was getting late

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Chd ( half diminished) is the shortest way to input Cm7b5

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Ok, top that is less then I normally do. Thanks!

Bingo! I was looking at Library > Chord Symbols, not Library > Engraving Options. Once you steered me there I could figure out what to do. I’ve now set the options to show chords the way I want and it’s all working just fine.

Thanks also to Carlovanderput for letting me know that in the Popover “d” = diminished and “hd” = 1/2 diminished. I was having a heck of a time trying to figure out why Co would give me Cdim and Do would give me C??? The Engraving Options dialog reminded me that Do is the solfège for C (or a female deer); at least I remember that much from “The Sound of Music”.

Thanks to you both for helping the new guy.

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