Chord Symbol Repeat Sign

I engrave jazz charts for a living. Most arrangers and composers do not use these because they simply are not necessary. The chord symbol stays in effect until the next differing one, a long-standing custom. Providing a good layout makes it crystal clear where the changes occur and the player can tell at a glance how many measures a chord is good for.

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Well, what about multi-chord vamps, like 2-5 chains and the like? Can be easier to spot with % than decoding rows of chord symbols…

Benji

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I agree fully. I have looked through hundreds of Jazz/Latin Real Books and other scores, and the only time I noticed repeat symbols for chords was in “Caravan” (New Real Book 3), where there is an optional change from C7 to Db7 for one bar, so the repeat symbols make it clear that you need to go back to C7 if you used the optional chord.

But other than that, I wasn’t able to find a single use instances of chord repeat symbols, and frankly, I would be distracted by them.

+1 for this. I’ve been reading chord charts for a very long time and find repeat chord symbols both distracting and unnecessary. (My opinion of course but it does seem that the use of them is actually the edge case, rather than not…)

P

[quote="Toaster1974, post:24, topic:…it does seem that the use of them is actually the edge case…
[/quote]
Of course! Whatever is needed for clarity.

uhmmm I’m sorry i can’t follow this discussion very well…
I don’t understand FredGUnn’s example either. In order to use that notation I have to put notes in the first measure, but that’s a bit sloppy…

but now maybe we have a solution for this?

I still just do it with a Line for the rare time when this is actually needed, as I have it saved in my default. You don’t need any notes in the first measure to do this, so I’m not entirely sure what you’re doing that requires notes. Just set the Line to be attached to the barlines and it will always be perfectly centered on the bar, even if the layout changes.

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thanks for your reply FredGunn. It looks very good!
Yes I understood and tried this option, but I can’t figure out how to get the right symbol.
Could you maybe explain that to me? See example.


Yeah, I finally made it! I did a test and it looks good!
thank you for your help!

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It “looks” good graphically, but it doesn’t read well. To me it’s much clearer to omit it and know that each chord continues until the next one.

Post #23 above illustrates where this would be needed.

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+1. I usually put the repeats in the bar in this situation, as I think it shows the harmonic structure more clearly than an entire system of slashes.

Yes I get it, but this was just an example to show that it worked. In any case, I think it’s nicer, clearer and neater to put it at the top of the music bar when notes are notated.

but now the next problem.
yesterday i was very happy that it worked, today i open a new project and… all my presets and recent projects are gone, whaattt?
I don’t think this is a big problem because I can retrieve it via timemachine. The problem is that I can no longer copy and paste the symbol into the syllables box…
I think because it’s a picture, but yesterday it did, but why not now?
I got the simbol from here Bar repeats - Standard Music Font Layout (SMuFL)

and it comes via a post from pianoleo Chord Symbol Repeat Sign - #9 by pianoleo

I don’t think there can be any connection between these events. Have you made any other changes to your computer, e.g. installed any software updates?

Hi all. I do agree that it should be possible to do this via chord entry shift-Q. Any chance it might happen Daniel?

Thanks

Sure, all things are possible, given sufficient time, priority and attention.

Since this thread popped up on the FB forum today, it was mentioned over there that the 0-width line trick doesn’t actually work as it’s not really 0-width when printing and you’ll still get a hairline printed in the music. I got bit myself by that issue a while back, so the solution I use now is to use a blank “repeatable symbols” line, rather than a 0-width line. That way you avoid any issues with printing, or having to delete the lines in Acrobat.

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How did you get a “blank” in the body style selection? There isn’t anything there…
thanks

Click the “Line Body Editor,” then Repeatable Symbols in the Category drop-down, then click New to create a new line style that doesn’t have anything in it. Give it a name so you can select it as a Body Style after you hit ok.

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In 3.5 version I do not see what you see in yours…no “Blank Repeatable” option here

jakub