Custom Fretboards

To make a custom fretboard

1. Click the Chord Tool  . The Chord Menu appears.
2. From the Chord Menu, select Show Fretboards and Manual Input.
3. Click on a note. The Chord Definition dialog box appears.
4. Type in a chord name in the Chord Symbol text box: Cmin for this example. If you now hit the Tab key (this lets Finale know you’re done typing the chord name), you’d see that Finale has automatically selected a fretboard for the chord you entered. If you clicked OK, that fingerboard would appear in the piece. For our example, let’s assume you want a different fingering of Cmin.
5. Click the Select button in the Fretboard section of the dialog. The Fretboard Selection dialog box appears. You could select from existing fretboards or create a new one.
6. Click Create. The Fretboard Editor dialog box appears.
7. Enter the name of the group you will be creating. For example, “min. - root on the 5th string.” The name is only for your convenience, but you should select a name that will help you identify this fretboard in the future.
8. From the Instrument list, choose an instrument. If the desired instrument isn't listed then see To define an Instrument for Custom Fretboards.
9. Click the Show Group Button. The dialog box expands to show the fretboards for this group, one for each root. One function of the group is to allow you to specify what fretboards should appear if your piece is transposed; Finale gives you as much or as little control over this as you’d like.
10. Click on the C fretboard. The C fretboard now appears in the editing window.
11. If the fretboard you’re creating isn't positioned at the nut, click Show in the Fretboard Number section and enter a fret number. For this example, enter 3.         
12. Using the tools to the left of the fretboard editing window, you may now design your fretboard. For more details, see the Fretboard Editor dialog box.

If you want a dot, click on the Dot tool, then click on the fretboard in the fretboard editing window to place the dot. All the other marking are entered the same way, except the Barre.

A Barre is entered by choosing the Barre Tool and then clicking at the desired beginning point and dragging to the desired ending point. While you are dragging you will see the barre being created.

To erase a marking select either the Eraser Tool or the tool associated with the mark to be removed, and then click on the mark. All marks on the fretboard can be removed by click on the Clear Items button.

13. If this fingering will be used for all the roots in this group, then click the Generate button. Finale fills in the fretboards for the other roots.

In case you want to use one fingering for a certain set of roots and a different fingering for other roots, add each fingering at the first root where the fingering change happens. Let's say the standard third fret Cmin for the C fretboard, and the open position Emin for the E fretboard. Now clicking generate uses the nearest fingering to fill in each fretboard.

14. Click OK, Select and OK until you return to the document. You could select a chord from the group you’ve created (or from another group) to appear in the piece by double-clicking on it then clicking OK. Note: The fretboards you have designed can be saved in a Chord & Fretboard library. See Save Library dialog box.

To define an instrument for custom fretboards

1. Click the Chord Tool  . The Chord Menu appears.
2. From the Chord Menu, select Show Fretboards and Manual Input.  
3. Click on a note. The Chord Definition dialog box appears.
4. Type in a chord name in the Chord Symbol text box: Cmin for this example. If you now hit the Tab key (this lets Finale know you’re done typing the chord name), you’d see that Finale has automatically selected a fretboard for the chord you entered. If you clicked OK, that fingerboard would appear in the piece. For our example, let’s assume you want a different fingering of Cmin.
5. Click the Select button in the Fretboard section of the dialog. The Fretboard Selection dialog box appears. You could select from existing fretboards or create a new one.
6. Click Create. The Fretboard Editor dialog box appears.
7. Click on the Edit Instrument button. The Fretboard Instrument Definition dialog box appears.
8. Click the New button, and then enter the name of the Instrument. Use a descriptive name such as Guitar - DADGAD, or whatever is appropriate.
9. Enter the number of strings and the number of frets.   
10. Enter the pitches on the strings. Note: You can play the pitches by first clicking in the appropriate text field and then clicking the Listen button.
11. If this is the Instrument you will be using most of the time, then click the Set as Default button.  
12. Click OK. You return to the Fretboard Editor with your newly defined instrument. Note: Fretboard Instruments can be saved in a Chord & Fretboard library. See Save Library dialog box.

To define Fretboard Style for use with custom fretboards

1. Click the Chord Tool  . The Chord Menu appears.
2. From the Chord Menu, select Show Fretboards and Manual Input.   
3. Click on a note. The Chord Definition dialog box appears.
4. Click Edit Styles. The Fretboard Styles dialog box appears. Think of Fretboard Styles as “templates” for future fretboards you will be making.
5. Click New and give the style a name. Here you can control just about everything having to do with the way your fretboards will look. See Fretboard Styles dialog box.
6. If this is the Style you will be using most often, then click the Set As Default button.   
7. Click OK and OK to return to the document. Note: Fretboard Styles can be saved in a Fretboard Style Library. See Save Library dialog box.

Tips on Opening and Saving Fretboards and Styles.

1. The fretboards you have designed can be saved in a Chords & Fretboards library.
2. Fretboard Instruments are saved in a Chords & Fretboards library.
3. The Chords & Fretboards libraries are designed so that duplication of suffixes will be eliminated and only new fretboards will be added to the existing library as long as suffixes match exactly in font attributes and positioning.

Chord Charts with Lyrics

To create a chord chart with lyrics, without staves or notation (as seen below) is entirely possible in Finale. This can be done by adding lyrics and chords to a notation staff, and then hiding the staff.

To create a chord chart with lyrics

1. Create a new single-staff document. You can also use the LyricsChords template located in the General Templates folder. See Finale Score Templates.
2. Enter the melody in layer one, and then add the chords and lyrics. Since we'll be hiding the staff, the exact melody isn't required, just notes or rests to attach the chords and lyrics to. For more on adding chords and lyrics, see Chord Symbols and Lyrics.
3. Choose the Staff Tool  .
4. Double-click the staff. The Staff Attributes dialog box appears.
5. Click the Staff drop down menu, and choose 0-line with Full Barline.  
6. Under items to display, uncheck everything.
7. Under Options, uncheck Display Rests in Empty Measures.
8. Click the Select button under Alternate Notation.  
9. Choose Blank Notation and click OK.  
10. Click OK to return to the document. Now, let's remove any remaining measure numbers.  
11. Choose the Measure Tool  .
12. From the Measure Menu, choose Measure Numbers > Edit Regions.
13. Click Delete to remove all measure number regions.
14. Click OK. Now, we’ll adjust the lyric positioning.
15. Choose the Lyrics Tool  . The lyric positioning triangles appear on the left side of the score.  
16. Click and drag the leftmost positioning arrow to move all the lyrics into place.  
17. Use the Page Layout Tool to finalize the layout. For example, you might want to drag the left and right page margins towards the center of the page a bit. For more on page layout, see Page layout.