Chord Symbol (Alternate)
I haven't found any documentation to support this style yet. On first reader I would guess that it is the style used if your composition uses a capo for chords. However, making changes to this style does nothing to change the location or appearance of the capo chord symbol. How is Chord Symbol (Alternate) used? And are we still stuck with capo chord symbols beside concert pitch chord symbols instead of over them?
Comments
It would seem that we're still stuck with capo chord symbols that can't be moved from beside to above the concert pitch chord symbols, meaning I have to use the workaround from MS 2.X: add all the capoed chords first, move them, apply a style of my own creation, then add the concert pitch chords.
In reply to It would seem that we're… by km2002
I don't use chords much, so I don't know a lot about them, but I do understand how styles work a bit. Why can you not use the alternate Chord Style for the capo chords and change the default style for them? Select a capo chord and change the style in the inspector, just like you would a custom style.
I just did some testing, and as I said, I'm quite ignorant when it comes to chords. I entered a chord on a note. I exited chord entry mode then selected the same note again. When I entered another chord it appeared above the first chord, but used the same style. I then adjusted the alternate chord style (made it italics and underlined just for grins), selected the top chord and applied the style to the top chord. One bad thing, I don't see a way to only select the top chords all at once without using ctrl+click to add chords to the selection until after the new style is applied. One other bad thing, You can't put the top row of chords in without selecting each note again, unlike the bottom row of chords where you can move several beats or notes before you enter then next chord.
In reply to I don't use chords much, so… by mike320
Normally you wouldn't use alternate chords in the same way as normal chords - that is, you wouldn't have an entire new set of chords, but more just pick and choose particular spots where you want alternates. Think of it as like ossia for chord symbols.
This has nothing to do with capo, it's for you to use to enter alternate chords (eg, a reharmonization). So, enter a chord symbol normally, then use the Inspector to change its style to alternate, and it will be displayed differently to indicate it is an alternate chord.
In reply to This has nothing to do with… by Marc Sabatella
Pity. I keep hoping (I think I even put this on the wish list several years ago) that MS will come up with a way to put capo chords over concert chords rather than beside them. The workaround, which involves inserting all the capo chords, applying a style that at the very least moves them up by about 2.5sp, then inserting the concert chords on an alternate voice, is awkward at best in MS3, given that, at least as far as I have seen, 3 wants to misalign chords if you change chords on a long note. I've had to use almost all four voices to get the chords to sit properly.
In reply to Pity. I keep hoping (I think… by km2002
I agree that options to control position / formatting of capo chords is a good diea, just hasn't risen high enough in priority to get implemented. The more people that request it, the more likely it becomes.
When you say 3.0 wants to misalign multiple chords on a long note, I guess you mean, it doesn't automatically widen the measure to avoid collision between such chords, so it instead resolves the collision vertically. The solution here is to widen the measure using the stretch command. Eventually we'd like to re-implement that automatic spacing, it just wasn't as straightforward given the new layout algorithm.
In reply to I agree that options to… by Marc Sabatella
Your guess is correct. It was odd watching the cursor jump as I spaced along a measure trying to enter chords. I had not thought about using stretch to widen the measure; it's not a feature I use that often. It is hoped that automatic spacing can return in 3.0.#. I guess also that I'll have to go back to the IWBNI board and request alternate placement of capo chords.