Is it possible to represent chords with roman numerals (I, ii, iii, IV, V, etc.) in the new chords implementation?
Currently I’m using the lyric option.
No. The lyrics option is quite a good workaround if your project doesn’t contain lyrics.
A couple of tips for those who are not familiar with this workaround:
- You can get rid of the extender line by putting a high number in Engraving options → Lyrics → ‘Minimum space for extender line’.
- You can make it look really good by changing the lyrics font to something like ‘Opus Roman Chords Std’ (from Sibelius) in the Font styles dialog (Engrave mode)
- If you want them above the staff: input one numeral, change the line placement in the properties panel, and then continue entering. (Or with the new filtering function, it’s super easy to change all of them later)
They will input easily and display beautifully.
Thank you so much.
Thanks Anders for this tip! I looked in my Sibelius documentation and found that typing 6, then shift-4, will produce the proper superscript and subscript for 6-4 chords, that’s excellent.
Does anyone know how to type a viio7 chord with this font? I can’t find it in the Sibelius documentation, and I can’t get it to appear correctly in Dorico.
Stephen, forget the Sibelius documentation. Dorico might have the same developers that used to work on Sibelius, but all of their Sibelius work is owned by a different company (Avid), and for legal reasons they’ve had to rethink everything in Dorico.
Thanks! I know about the history of Dorico and Sibelius - it’s just that the Sib instructions for Roman numerals use the “Opus Roman Chords Std font”. I didn’t know how to get superscripts and subscripts to appear, and the Sib instructions worked.
Just now on Mac, I tried option-O (which is how you get the degree symbol) and it worked! I should have thought of that before…
Arrgh, sorry - it’s “option-zero” not “option-O”, to get the diminished symbol in Opus Roman Chord Std.
Is it possible to create chord symbols from scratch? I am trying to create a set of roman nummerals and functions using the chord editor, but I cannot find a way to save them under their own name.
While I believe it would be technically possible if you’re determined enough, it would be problematic. Chord symbols refer to pitch, while roman numerals describe function. Indeed, you cannot save a function or scale degree “under its own name”, because it has no pitch! At best, you can work with a fixed-do system…
Hiya - 2 & a half years on… any likelyhood this may be implemented?
It would seem to me that a roman numeral root could be implemented in the same way that we now have the options for Solfege/Nashville (it’s very similar to the Nashville system I think). Root Appearance under the Chord Symbols section in Engraving Options. Would be handy for jazz worksheets etc.
In your case, stalkpiece, you really want chord symbols that otherwise look exactly like regular chord symbols, except that the root should be shown as a Roman numeral? Really if Dorico were to accommodate this it would have to do it automatically based on the current key signature, and I guess that would prove problematic when you have moving key centres without explicit key signatures.
It’s a bit of work, but this is certainly possible now by modifying the Nashville symbols:
I agree that this would be a very useful feature for analysis and a Roman numeral feature would be welcome. A lot of times for analysis though I imagine you’d want to combine Roman chord symbols with normal chord symbols in the same document. That would be a bit tricky and would likely involve moving chord appearances to Notation Options so they could be handled on a flow by flow basis. I assume that’s a pretty large request in terms of development time.
Yes, it would certainly have its limitations, but I’m thinking of it for things such as examples in worksheets where it’s reasonable to change the key signature for each example - so yes please. I’ve not really heard of the Nashville system other than within Dorico, but is that how that works?
Looks like that’s what FredGUnn is suggesting anyway.
Well, as Fred suggests, you can do this now if you edit the numerals used by the Nashville system to be Roman numerals instead of Arabic ones, which can be done via the Project Default Chord Symbol Appearance dialog.
I don’t think Dorico would need to analyze functional chords for the user (just yet) especially with moving tonal centres. But that would be cool.
This hasn’t worked for me on Windows… Would anyone know how to get dim. and half dim. symbols working on Dorico ? I tried to download Dan Kreider’s project but it wouldn’t let me save, and I don’t have the other Finale fonts from there.
edit: I have found a workaround, as suggested by MarcLarcher for single fermatas, to add them as playing techniques ( from Opus Roman Chords )
Hi Frank, glad you found a workaround. Let me know if you want to track this down still. What do you mean by “wouldn’t save”? Error message?
I think this is the font you need: Dropbox - FINNUM__.TTF - Simplify your life
Hey Dan. Thank you for the font, I have now installed it. Yes, I get two error messages, one about note perfomer not installed (not an issue I think) and then about saving to zip, which is odd
First message doesn’t matter. Second message is because the file is read-only. You need to save as something else.
Okay got it. That has worked. Before I had the font installed it wouldn’t let me save a something else either.
So you essentially copy the text straight from this project when adding functional analysis (including the secondary dom. workaround).
This provides an easier method for inputting all the types of functions. Thanks Dan.