New flexible chord symbol entry and rendering

New flexible chord symbol entry and rendering

Starting with the most recent nightly builds for 2,0, there is a new more flexible chord symbol system. We're still working out the final details of how the different options will work, and I'd like to get some feedback from other users.

How chord symbols work in 1.3

In 1.3, everything about chord symbols is controlled by the chord description file you select in Style / Edit General Style / Chordnames. For example, cchords_muse, (the default for the Jazz templates) uses "ma" for major and "mi" for minor, and parentheses around alterations. If you type your chords that way, all is well:

On the other hand, if you try to use "maj" for major, or use parentheses around your alterations, the chord will not be recognized. Unrecognized chords will not transpose or export to MusicXML, and the rendering looks bad:

If you want to use abbreviations other than "ma" or "mi", you need to load a different chord description file - and hope there is one that fits your preferred way of writing chords.

How chord symbols will work in 2.0

For 2.0, there will be two modes of operation. One is similar to the 1.3 model in that a chord description file will control how your chords look. However, you will be able to type a chord using whatever abbreviations you like, with or without parentheses, anf MuseScore will render it according to your selected chord description file:

In the other mode, MuseScore will simply render your chord symbol as you type it:

The hope is that the poorly rendered, non-transposing chords that were unfortunately all too easy to create in 1.X will become a thing of the past.

To give you an idea of the range of chords the new system will allow you to type, check this out:

To try out the new system, download a recent nightly build. The first of the new two modes described above is now the default. Meaning, you still use chord description files to control the rendering of your chord symbols, but anything you type will be recognized and rendered according to your chord description file. To try the second of the two modes - where you type whatever you want and MuseScore renders it *as you typed it*, download the following two MSS files into your MuseScoreDevelopment/Styles folder. Then for any score you wish to convert to to the second mode ("what you type is what you get"), just go to Style / Load Style and select either wysiwyg.mss or wysiwyg_muse.mss. The former works with most fonts you mighthave selected as your chordname text style; the latter is specially optimized for work with MuseJazz. By release, we should have an easier method of selecting this mode; it might even become the default.

I welcome feedback - how the system works for you, any chords you try to enter that still act like they are unrecognized, etc.