Table of Contents
Notation reference
Chord symbols
Chord symbols describe the vertical harmony of the music at a specific moment. They are frequently used in jazz and pop music, where players often improvise around chord progressions.
Parenthesized chord symbols
Parentheses around chord symbols are often used to indicate an alternative set of chord changes or that chords are optional. In Dorico Pro, you can show parentheses around any chord symbol that uses appearance presets.

Parenthesized chord symbols

Parentheses around chord symbols are often used to indicate an alternative set of chord changes or that chords are optional. In Dorico Pro, you can show parentheses around any chord symbol that uses appearance presets.

You can add chord symbol parentheses both when inputting chord symbols and by parenthesizing existing chord symbols.

By default, parenthesized chord symbols show parentheses on both sides. You can show only a single left or right parenthesis on individual parenthesized chord symbols.

Note

You cannot show parentheses on custom chord symbols; that is, chord symbols whose appearance you have overridden.
You can change the default appearance of chord symbol parentheses project-wide, including suppressing parentheses around alterations inside parenthesized chord symbols in different circumstances, in Engraving Options > Chord Symbols > Parentheses.