Frustrating! Experienced keyboardist trying to write lead sheets and primary need is for Chord names above the bars.
Where is this so-called Chord Tool? I cannot type a simple flat into a Chord description (e.g.) Ebm7.
All I constantly get in any font is a small Capital B.
This is a basic rudiment to any notation software.
Would appreciate ANY ANSWER!
The Finale Products Comparison Tool at http://www.finalemusic.com/products/compare-finale-products/ says Notepad only supports "manual entry" of chords.
If you like the Finale workflow but don't like the Notepad limitations, you may find one of the paid upgrades worth the money.
There's other freeware out there, of course, but I never found any for notation that could improve my productivity. I asked myself 'what my Time was worth' and the freebies never measure up, dang it.
Dear Robert.
Sure the answer wasn't immediately apparent, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.
OK, so now all else has failed, so you need to find and READ the RIGHT INSTRUCTIONS, and the very kind people at FINALE have provided these for free as well as their wonderful notepad program for years.
What will help is to access the specific "Notepad " manual for your version of Notepad at
https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115010573607-User-Manuals-NotePad-2012-NotePad-2009
Then find the NOTEPAD instructions for guitar chords, and also read the references it points to for TEXT BLOCKS, and especially for the Maestro Character Set.
Of course if you're being paid to arrange for full-time orchestras, you've got a responsibility to invest in your "productivity", but many if not most people who spend money on the software to find the chords for them are doing it because they can't be bothered to do the hard yards and learn even the basic fundamentals of musicianship, dang it
For Notepad 2012 the guitar chord entry is at
In short, you need to use the "A" text button instead of looking for a chord button.
The text button won't work unless you double click the place where the chord is going to go. (That's the point where I had to look up the instructions - so I get your frustration, but disagree with buying an answer instead of reading a manual. People who buy even the most expensive programs and still don't bother to read manuals will NEVER get the professional productivity the program had to offer anyway)
After that, obviously, you type in your chord, use the Text menu at the top of the page to change the font to Maestro and add your sharps, flats and embellishments. I don't like nor agree with most computer - generated chord structures. As a jazz guitarist, I habitually second - guess every arrangement that is handed to me anyway: Often a mess of diminished, augmented and other larger chords is a clumsy arranger's way of trying to notate what is actually merely a phrase like a lick or a hook instead of bothering to provide accurate notation.
The Maestro Character Set in the notepad manual has a list of keyboard short-cuts for not only sharps, flats but every type of chord, articulation, dynamics, etc in manuscript and TAB
An argument for simple guitar chord symbol arrangement.
A "chord" is a combination of as few as two notes, so there are actually more chords available for ANY arrangement than will ever be room to insert symbols for them.
The more specific and profuse you get with your chord symbol arrangement for guitar, the less versatility you offer real guitarists to provide the expression you pay them for, and the more you frustrate and confuse beginners who can't work out which of all your pretty little symbols are actually useful to any performance of your song.
If you want to do professional arranging for guitar, masses of chord symbols will never cut it, and you'll need to bother to notate your licks, chops, hooks and solos if you actually want to give a musician a chance to accurately play the music you've created. If you want to sell your arrangements to guitarists or band leaders, you'll need to provide both manuscript and TAB for sight readers, or all you will end up with is someone turning what might have been a magnificent piece into oompa oompa.
The advice I read above seems to come from people who didn't want to bother with the sense to find a solution to the problem you spoke about and had the spare dollars to buy an answer instead. Many professional musicians are broke and Notepad is a GODSEND, especially for those of us who will never need a computer to work out what chord to play.
Thank you so much to the programmers at Finale for giving us Notepad and relying on their freeware's capacity to entice arrangers into getting hungry for more parts and gadgets instead of EVER pretending that Finale's Notepad can't measure up and produce quality arrangements.
TIP
(When you read the instruction manual, if you also check out the Notepad KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS, you'll realise how powerful notepad actually is, and save yourself a ton of time as well, especially if you produce TAB arrangements)
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