Fretboard diagrams

Creating guitar-fretboard chord diagrams is easy in Finale; they’re intelligent, too, because they transpose automatically when the music is transposed.

To create or show fretboard diagrams globally

1. Click the Chord Tool  . The Chord Menu appears.
2. From the Chord Menu, choose Show Fretboards. If you have already added chord symbols to your piece, the guitar diagrams now appear. Individual chords with Show Fretboards unchecked in the Chord Definition box will not have fretboards. See Chord symbols for instructions.

If you haven’t yet added chord symbols, add them as described in Chord symbols; as you add each chord, its fretboard diagram will also appear.

To create custom fretboard diagrams

See Custom Fretboards.

To show and hide fretboards for a region

Fretboards must be set to display globally to allow regional fretboards. See To create or show fretboard diagrams globally above. See Change Chord Assignments dialog box under the Utilities Menu.

To show and hide fretboards on individual chords (Manual Input)

To show fretboards on all chords, choose Show Fretboards from the Chord Menu. When selected, fretboards will appear on all chords in the score, except for those chords where you specifically hide the fretboard.

1. Click the Chord Tool  . The Chord Menu appears.
2. From the Chord Menu, choose Manual Input.
3. Click on the note containing the chord you want to edit.
4. Double-click the handle of the chord. The Chord Definition dialog box appears.
5. Under Show, uncheck Fretboard. Click OK. You return to the document, where the fretboard no longer appears for that chord. (If you later decide you want the fretboard to appear, check the Show Fretboard box.)

To remove all fretboard diagrams

1. Click the Chord Tool  . The Chord Menu appears.
2. From the Chord Menu, choose Show Fretboards. The diagrams disappear, and there should no longer be a checkmark next to Show Fretboards in the Chord Menu.

To move the fretboard diagrams up or down

1. Click the Chord Tool  . The Chord Menu appears, and four small triangles appear at the left edge of the screen. These control the baseline of the chords (against which the bottom edges of the symbols line up).
2. From the Chord Menu, choose Position Fretboards. You’ve just told Finale that the triangles should adjust the baseline for the diagrams instead of the textual chord symbols.
3. Drag the triangle handles up or down. Drag the leftmost triangle to set the baseline for the entire piece. As you drag it, the other three triangles move with it.

Drag the second triangle up or down to set the baseline for this staff, all the way through the piece. As you drag it, the two triangles to its right move with it.

Drag the third triangle up or down to set the baseline for this staff, this system only. As you drag it, the rightmost triangle moves with it. Use this third triangle only in Page View (so you can see the system you’re affecting).

Dragging the rightmost triangle doesn’t move any existing fretboards; instead, it sets the position for the next one you enter.

To change Fretboard Style or capo settings in a region

See Change Chord Assignments dialog box.