Custom chord symbols
You can customize chord symbol components and whole chord symbols, both for all instances of specific chord symbols project-wide and for single instances of chord symbols.
Dorico Pro provides a comprehensive set of chord symbol appearances on the Chord Symbols page in Engraving Options. We recommend checking the available options before customizing individual chord symbols.
You can customize chord symbols in different ways and in different contexts.
- Customizing all instances of chord symbols
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You can change the appearance of all instances of specific chord symbols and chord symbol components project-wide from the Project Default Chord Symbol Appearances dialog. For example, if you want to change the arrangement of components in all Gmaj7 chord symbols in the project.
When you open the Edit Chord Symbol Component dialog from inside the Project Default Chord Symbol Appearances dialog, the edits you make to the selected component affect all chord symbols that use the component project-wide. For example, if you want the major seventh triangle component to appear smaller in all major seventh chord symbols.
- Customizing single instances of chord symbols
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You can change the appearance of single chord symbol instances in the Edit Chord Symbol Appearance dialog, independently of other instances of the same chord symbol. For example, if you want the first Gmaj7 chord symbol to appear differently than all subsequent Gmaj7 chord symbols.
When you open the Edit Chord Symbol Component dialog from inside the Edit Chord Symbol Appearance dialog, the edits you make to the selected component only affect the selected chord symbol. For example, editing the “maj” component for a single Gmaj7 chord symbol instance does not affect the “maj” component in Fmaj7 chord symbols in the project.
Changes to the appearance of single chord symbol instances appear in the Single Overrides list of the Project Default Chord Symbol Appearances dialog. You can promote overrides to single chord symbol instances to the project default appearance for that chord symbol.