Nashville numbers and chord symbols
I think now is the time (and has been for a long time) to implement the function to be able to generate Nashville numbers from chord symbols and vice versa. It's a pain in the xxx not to have this.
/Bjarne Bertelsen
Comments
I would also love to see this feature. I've been told that writing a plug in to do this would not be terribly difficult but when I look into how to write one it seems a little beyond my abilities. If anyone would like to take a shot at creating this feature as a plug-in, please do!
In reply to I would also love to see… by Al Loast
https://musescore.org/en/node/309285 suggested:
var harmony = newElement(Element.HARMONY);
harmony.subStyle = Tid.HARMONY_NASHVILLE;
harmony.placement = 0;
harmony.text = "17"
cursor.add(harmony);
etc. This works, but the Nashville numbers are not formatted properly
EDIT: With
harmony.harmonyType = HarmonyType.NASHVILLE
instead of
harmony.subStyle = Tid.HARMONY_NASHVILLE;
All is well!
In reply to I would also love to see… by Al Loast
Check out my plugin
https://musescore.org/en/project/convert-chord-symbols-nashville-numbers
and post problems here
In reply to Check out my plugin https:/… by elsewhere
Very nice, thank you! I notice that the chord extensions do not appear along with the generated numbers (i.e. 2maj7, 4dim! 6m, etc). Am I doing something wrong? Is this possible to achieve? My usage is to produce charts where the Nashville numbers replace the letter chords entirely.
In reply to Very nice, thank you! I… by Al Loast
Thank you. I have no experience with Nashville numbers and so I followed:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Number_System
and Nashville.pdf (attached & recommended by MuseScore)
They both alter the chord name and the extensions, as does MuseScore.
What you request: simply replacing let’s say Bm7b5 in the key of Bb by b2m7b5 is probably fairly simple to do. I’ll have a look and let you know. But is this an alternate standard?
Nashville.pdf
EDIT: How do you handle inversions e.g. Cdim/Eb in the key of ...
In reply to Thank you. I have no… by elsewhere
Hi, yes including the extensions is standard for NNS charts. The classic form is a simple text document allowing musicians to quickly follow along with a singer who knows the lyrics and melody, but perhaps in a different key than the original. See "number-chart.jpg", attached.
This chart also shows how to handle inversions, which are simply indicated by a slash, with the number on the bottom being the bass note as counted from the root key, NOT relative to the chord being played i.e. in C, an F chord with an A in the bass (first inversion) is marked as 4/6 (NOT 4/3). This may be a little beyond the capabilities of a simple plugin :)
I am hoping simply to have the extensions attached to the numbers so that when I generate lead sheets I can replace the chord symbols with numbers entirely, as in my example "ich-kusse-nns.jpg", below.
Thank you again for taking the time to explore this request - it's greatly appreciated!
In reply to Hi, yes including the… by Al Loast
Is this what you want? (I changed one line of code)
HeadOnlyHarmony2Nash.qml
In reply to Is this what you want? (I… by elsewhere
Gotta love simple fixes! :) The conversions are correct, although the sizing disparity is a bit extreme (jazz-size.jpg). When I switch the chord style to standard the sizing looks fine (standard-size.jpg). I'm not sure how to fix that, changes to the extensions in the style dialog seem to have no effect.
In reply to Gotta love simple fixes! :) … by Al Loast
Setting chord symbols to jazz style is no longer needed in this case. It's only needed if you need conversions of eg o to ° etc. So all is well.
Or better yet: try this (I commented out that the harmony should be in the Nashville style)
HeadOnlyHarmony2Nash.qml
EDIT: I take that back. It causes other problems. Just stick with the standard style.
In reply to Setting chord symbols to… by elsewhere
The conversion is working great, but that font size issue in Jazz Style is pretty intractable. I can't seem to have any effect on the size of the extensions no matter what I try. I've been through just about every style setting and properties format I can think of. Do you think it is worth making a separate post to see if someone can help us work out the sizing issue?
In reply to The conversion is working… by Al Loast
I don't seem to have that problem. What system & version MU are you on ?
![NashAllKeys.png]()
I'm on Windows MU 3.6
EDIT: What happens if you enter the Nashville numbers by hand? Or if you use 'standard' chord symbol style?
In reply to I don't seem to have that… by elsewhere
Older OSX 11.6 (Big Sur), most recent MS4.3.2. I also get the same problem of tiny extensions when entering nashville numbers by hand (good call) so it looks like it's just a local issue on my side. Jazz Font only, Standard Font sizing is normal. Other than that, the plug-in is great and much appreciated - thank you again!!
In reply to Older OSX 11.6 (Big Sur),… by Al Loast
So it's probably a MS4 issue. Worth reporting on GitHub. Can't remember just how off the top of my head.
EDIT: It is https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues
Click on New Issue
In reply to So it's probably a MS4 issue… by elsewhere
The plugin works fine on my system, with 4.3.2
In reply to The plugin works fine on my… by graffesmusic
Windows? Mac? Issue mentioned is not resolved...
In reply to Windows? Mac? Issue… by elsewhere
Linux -- default settings
![nashville.png]( "nashville.png")
New score via jazz -> Jazz Lead Sheet.
In reply to Linux, no changes to default… by graffesmusic
Thank you. Is this worth reporting on GitHub? Can you do it? Should I do it?
In reply to So it's probably a MS4 issue… by elsewhere
My bad. Issue has been reported
https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/16220
In reply to My bad. Issue has been… by elsewhere
Just for the sake of having the info here in this thread, it looks like this is a known issue but not an urgent one so it may not be fixed for a while. The workaround is copied here from that github discussion:
"The different "Appearance" settings were never designed to work with Nashville numbers and simply should not be used in that context. If you want to use Nashville numbers, stick to the "Standard" setting under Appearance, but then change font to MuseJazz Text if desired (in Format / Style / Text styles / Nashville number)."
In reply to Just for the sake of having… by Al Loast
Wow! This is super. Would there be a way to do the opposite? Convert Nashville numbers to ordinary chord symbols? It would also be nice to be able to delete the normal chord symbols in a quick way without deleting the numbers. Or vice versa.
In reply to Wow! This is super. Would… by Bjarne Bertelsen
As I wrote on the plugin page:
"To remove the original chord symbols:
Open the .qml in notepad and uncomment line 277 //removeElement(annotation);"
Uncomment means: change line:
// removeElement(annotation);
to
removeElement(annotation);
About doing the opposite: there are too many styles of chord symbols (e.g. C, CM, CMaj, C(triangle)) to make this feasible.
In reply to Just for the sake of having… by Al Loast
Fixed a bug upon key change. Use the version posted on the plugin page!!
In reply to Fixed a bug upon key change… by elsewhere
Ok, I finally found the code line (in texteditor, mac) and it works. Super. But it still is a pain in the xxx not to be able to get the regular chords back.
In reply to Ok, I finally found the code… by Bjarne Bertelsen
Ok workaround. Convert the chords to nashville.
Both chords and nashville numbers are visible.
Right click on a chord (or a nashville number) / select / more / same type (don't know the exact english word since I have musescore in swedish).
Make the selected chords or nashville numbers invisible.
If the invisible elements and the visible elements end up on top of each other making a mess of themselves, Don't show the invisible elements.
This way you can only show the nashville numbers or only show the chord symbols but you can get both back if you need to.
In reply to Check out my plugin https:/… by elsewhere
Not at all sure what I've done wrong (most likely because I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to coding)...I'd love to try and get this to work for me. I loaded your plugin into MuseScore 3, but when I hit the plugin on the dropdown, the only changes are to the very first chord, and then the first chord after the intro. That's it. Only those two. I tried copying the entire code into Notepad, loading it into the Creator, and there's no difference. Could it be something in my system here? Windows 11...
In reply to Not at all sure what I've… by scootergal555
Can you post your file? Does it have chord symbols (entered with Ctrl-K) and not 'text"?
EDIT: I need your file in MU3 or musicxml format. I'm not on MU4, so I cannot read MU4 files.
EDIT2: Have you tried the NashAllKeys.mscz file from the plugin page?
In reply to Not at all sure what I've… by scootergal555
The same thing happens to me often, but not always. Last time I had to go back to an earlier version of the score to make it work. I haven't figured out what to do to make it work always.
In reply to The same thing happens to me… by Bjarne Bertelsen
If you post a score that does not work here I can investigate
In reply to If you post a score that… by elsewhere
Hello.
I will try to submit exaple of score that works and does not work.
In reply to Hello. I will try to submit… by Bjarne Bertelsen
As I mentioned above: I need your files in MU3 or musicxml format. I'm not on MU4, so I cannot read MU4 files.
EDIT: Does your 'bad' file have a tempo marking or other annotation? That could be the problem. Working on a fix.
EDIT2: I take that back. Are you sure there is a note (or a rest) under every chord symbol?
In reply to As I mentioned above: I need… by elsewhere
You could read Mu4 scores, if using my MuseScore 3.7 Evolution...
In reply to You could, if using my… by Jojo-Schmitz
You are right Jojo, as usual. I'll give it a try.
EDIT: I'm up and running. Might be useful to add to the wiki that you have to scroll down to see the artifacts area.
EDIT2 On my system (Windows10) I only see Program Files(x-86). When I moved the unzipped file there it 'disappeared'. So I just moved it to C: and that worked
In reply to You are right Jojo, as usual… by elsewhere
No need to move anything to Program Files or C:
I've added the hint to scroll down
In reply to No need to move anything to… by Jojo-Schmitz
Moving is recommended by Yonah and I agree. I often clean out the entire Downloads map in one sweep:
• Move this new folder to a more suitable location since the downloads folder is typically only used as a staging area.
In reply to Moving is recommended by… by elsewhere
True, but Program Files is not the place I'd recommend, more the Document folder
In reply to True, but Program Files is… by Jojo-Schmitz
Good advice, but Yonah suggests Program Files
• Any folder can be used, (e.g. Program Files), but not a cloud sync'd folder, (OneDrive, DropBox etc). You may be asked for confirmation.
Could you also change that in the wiki? Thanks
In reply to Good advice, but Yonah… by elsewhere
Oops, will change
In reply to Hello. I will try to submit… by Bjarne Bertelsen
Found the bug: download latest version from the plugin page.