Is there a way to write FMi7 instead of FMI7 for Chord Symbols?

• May 26, 2016 - 00:17

For minor chords, is it possible to write the chord name with a lower case "i" instead of upper case "I"? For example, for F minor 7, write it as FMi7 instead of FMI7?

Thanks much!
Don


Comments

Controls for this can be found under Style > General > Chord Symbols, Fretboard diagrams. What's interesting is that if you didn't touch any settings there, it should come out FMi7. Make sure all the settings look like this, and you should be good:
chords style.png
Edit: Is there any chance you have the caps lock key on?

As long as you are on a relatively recent version of MuseScore, it should come out pretty much however you type it. "Mi" really isn't standard or recommended (the capital "M" should be used only for major chords) but MuseScore will happily accept it.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

HI Marc,
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I've tried it several times, but I can't get it to work. I'm using the current version (2.0.3) on an iMac.

Let's say I want F minor 7, but I want it displayed as F, then small Mi, then 7.

If I type FMi7 i get F, large Mi, then 7.

If I type FMI7, I get F, then small MI, then 7.

I'm stuck needing MA for major and Mi for minor because I'm working with someone who's published a series a books using this notation and I'm helping with the next in the series. He had been using Finale, but I'm a MuseScore fan, so want to stick to MuseScore.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!!
Don

In reply to by Dkelly

It looks like Standard font does (lower case) ma and mi only, and Jazz font does (upper case) MA and MI only.

Is there a MuseScore developer that I might hire to created a custom chord font by tweaking the jazz font like my client needs? Thinking it would be just a few minor changes.

Don

In reply to by Dkelly

Hmm, it sounds like maybe you are saying you want capital "M" in the "Mi", but you want that capital "M" to be *smaller* than the capital "F"? That much indeed is not directly supported. You'd need to create a customized chord description file to do this. Should be easy enough, just a couple of lines tweaked from either the existing standard or jazz versions. You ant the jazz version otherwise? Just create your own copy (put it in your "Styles" folder), then search for the string "Ma", and add another line just it below, but with "Mi".

Or, simply find a font that has the capital M smaller than the capital F and use that font for your chord symbols. Probably such fonts exist. but you won't be able to use that font with the jazz style - the special formatting requires MuseJazz specifically.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Marc,
Yes, that's right, cap M in Mi is what I need. The Jazz style does everything else I need, so sounds like one minor mod will do it.

I'll see if I can figure out how to add it per your suggestions. Thanks so much, sounds like it'll work well, and hopefully I'll see learn how the style files work too!

Don

In reply to by Shoichi

But be aware - "try" is the operative word. Nightlies are for testing purpsoes only, they are *not* to be used for real work. Scores created in nightly versions won't be openable in any current release and might well not be openiable in any future release either, plus the nightlies are quite unstable and might crash, cause corruption, etc.

In reply to by Dkelly

It really should have been literally as simple as the one line change I mentioned - sinmply duplicating that one line but changing"Ma" to "Mi". So my guess is the problem isn't with your edit, but with how you are trying to tell MuseScore to use your edited file. Be sure to save your edited file in your own Styles folder, then go to Style / General / Chord Symbols, select "Custom" style, then click the brose button to select your edited file. After that you should be able to type "Mi" and have it render smaller. It's possible this won;t immediately affect some older scores, but it should work with new ones created from scratch.

If that doesn't work for you, pleae psot the specific score you are having problems with and a screenshot demonstrating how it renders for you. You can also post your XML file (you might need to wrap it in a ZIP) but it really is just a question of duplicating that one line but replacing "Ma" with "Mi", so I kind of doubt that is the problem.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I tried the nightly build (thanks, by the way!), and maybe it's me, but still can't get the right look. Please see the attached screen shot.

I'm trying to get FMi7 and FMA7, but with the "Mi" and the "MA" in smaller font (not the same font size as the "F").

It might be me poorly explaining it, so sorry if I'm confusing everyone. Or maybe I'm not entering the chord correctly somehow.

Don

Attachment Size
DKScreen.png 13.03 KB

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

That's it, you guys rock! (notice the musically-themed pun...)

The author I'm working on uses a capital A in the "MA" but that's a 99.99 % solution. Looks great.

Let me make sure I know how to get it to work on my end.

P.S. Marc, I'll be glad to tell you who I'm supporting with this book if you'll send me a private email at don.kelly@mac.com. Just didn't want to post it on the forum.

Don

In reply to by Dkelly

Marc,
Attached is an example of what I'm trying to get the font to look like. All the books in Greg's series have used Finale, but I'm helping him on the next few books in his series, but want to use Musescore.

After a closer look at the examples you sent, the "A" in the smaller "MA" in the Musescore font is harder to read (little or no opening in the A), and Greg uses "Mi" (lower case i) as seen in the attached example.

I guess what I'll do is go ahead and help him get his next book configured, and then see if I can get the font tweaked after I have all the exercises are entered in Musescore.

Don

Attachment Size
Etude Exp.jpg 1.32 MB

In reply to by Dkelly

Yes, that's what I mean. It's a "small caps" font, created specially to emulate the standard way chord symbols are written in many publications (see, for instance, anything publisher by Chuck Sher). It seems the closest thing to what your book does, and it's more standard anyhow, so I'd propose simply using that.

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