I need a way to show fingerings in Chord diagrams

• Nov 16, 2020 - 08:33

Editing chord diagrams in MuseScore (via the Inspector) is refreshingly intuitive!

However I don't see an option to adding guitar left hand fingerings to diagrams. It seems this is an essential feature that has not yet been added to MuseScore. With a chord diagram selected I can change the symbols above the nut to X or 0 or "none" ... but there's no option for specifying left hand finger numbers

For instance I might want to show recommended finger numbers for a G guitar chord ... along with open strings and muted strings, like any of these likely scenarios:

    320003
    3X0003
    320033
    3X0033
    3X0003
    3X000X
    355433
  
And Ideally there would be a property to show:
    • the finger numbering above the nut
    • the finger numbering below the diagram
    • place the fingering below the diagram and 0 and X chars above the nut
    • an option to make the omit char X or x (upper or lowercase)
    • a option to have unique fingering above the nut AND below the diagram
     (or a list of alternate fingering below the favored fingering.

Chord Diagrams - Examples for MuseScore.png
Ex. 1: Fingerings, open strings, omitted, all shown above the nut. This is fairly common, though a little dense and crowded
Ex. 2: This is the same as example 1 but there’s a slight vertical stretch on the fingering fontFace which dramatically improves legibility when diagrams are small
Ex 3: Omits the 0 chars that indicate open strings. Very clean. My favorite.
Ex 4: Shows fingering only, above the nut
Ex 5: Shows fingerings only, below the diagram
Ex 6: Shows open strings above the nut, fingering and omitted string are below the diagram. My second favorite!
Ex 7: Fingering below the diagram. Open and omitted strings above the nut.
Ex 8: Two fingerings: Recommended/Preferred fingering above the nut. Alternate fingering below the diagram.

NOTE: Bars are handled well in MuseScore chord diagrams and those options should be preserved.

   

Chord Diagrams - with Finger numbers on Strings.png

Ex 1b Like Example 7 above. Shown Omitted and open strings above the nut.
Ex 2b Like Example 3 above. Omits the 0 chars that indicate open strings
Ex 3b NOT recommended. Completely removes the string between frets. Distracts the eye. And finger 1 and 3 look like they are centered in a rectangle
Ex 4b A way of representing bars

Thanks for considering!

scorster


Comments

+1 for this idea: it's very practical. I agree that Ex 3 is the cleanest but I prefer a lowercase "x" for unused strings as it's a bit less intrusive.

In my original post I included examples of fret diagrams bearing finger numbers ON the frets:

Chord Diagrams - with Finger numbers on Strings.png
However I forgot to mention, in my opinion, the "finger number" alone is sufficient, and better than the common various approaches that enclose it in a circle:

a) the circles have to be awkwardly small to avoid overlap, or the diagram must be widened.
b) if you don't want a widened diagram, then the fontSize in the circle will be nearly illegible.

In short, a circle imposes unnecessary constraints on the available space and results in a needlessly small fontSize for the finger number.

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