Would this work? there may be a way to mask the staff line where the chord is, but I couldn't figure it out. So I put the chords above the staff. Why is this easier than putting them above the treble staff, as usual?

Indeed! It's a notation style being used in a method book (sigh). It eventually transitions to reading staff for the LH, but also continues to use this. The idea is to allow older students to play hands together from the very beginning and sound "cool". I'm trying to replicate it in order to give the student a christmas song. The usual chord above the staff placement would be too foreign at this point.

I tried using alpha notes so you get the circle.. but that won't sit on the staff line, as the alpha note's placement changes depending on the note (even if you get the stripe through the letter). I played with alpha notation and rhythm styles, but couldn't figure out how to combine those ideas. 

This solution seems close enough, and a workable solution for such limited use. Thanks.

I’ve never been a fan of alphanotes. You have to enlarge them so much, before you can see those letters, that you could only fit “Twinkle, Twinkle” on one page.

Anyway, glad I could help!

I can't figure out how to remove the staff line either. It seems they are at the top of the layers Finales uses. Perhaps this would work.

I didn't go EB's way, because what about even simply extended chords, like 7 and m? They won't fit in the circles.

Can you explain how you created the LH part?

Did you use the chord function? If so, how did you get the circle?

or are these alpha notes? If so, how do you position them on the line like that?

Thanks!

Like a lot of the special editing work it requires you go outside of Finale to complete it. If you are willing to do the extra work it can be done but will be tedious.

They won't fit in the circles.

Obliviously if a chord symbol is very large there is only a limited amount of space if the circle is to remain the same size. However that would have been true in the original sample too.

Interesting. Always learning something new :)

It also appears that the circle will enlarge to fit the text, so once you've created all the options (a bit tedious), it does work.

Yes it will. You can select a smaller font size to keep the circle the same or nearly so size. That is what I did on the Bb7 chord.

EB, that’s a great solution. How did you mask the staff lines?

A solution MR, not a great solution.
It requires using and editor outside of Finale. I suspect one could make a graphic and import it into Finale which would lay on top of the staff lines.

Ah. But aren't there ways to put a white-filled background behind certain objects? There is an option to have TAB numbers break the staff lines, which is sort of the same thing.

… But aren't there ways to put a white-filled background behind certain objects? …

Mike Rosen is right.

A) In the Enclosure Designer you can select the option Opaque.

B) In the Shape Designer you can fill an object (= Rectangle, Circle, &c.) with White, and send it to the Background.

Also, you can give the White-filled object a Line Thickness of zero, thus making the line invisible.

That can work and I thought of it a while after I posted the last comment. I got busy with another project and forgot to update my post. You are still going to have the problem MR opined about though. Complex chord symbols will not fit. Perhaps this method book is very basic and only needs majors and sevenths.

Thanks!! Yes, this is very basic for a beginner student, so I don't need any of the more complex chords. I've been able to use all your suggestions and notate a piece for my student. Mission accomplished!

P.S. : zéro staff line is possible if needed :

• Staff Attributes : uncheck Staff Lines under Items to Display

• Or : Score Manager (Instrument List) : Staff = 0 Line...

P.S. : zéro staff line is possible if needed :

That would result in no line at all. That isn't what was asked for.