https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/215729367-General-Discussion-House-Rules

The more we know, the better we can help. Meanwhile, you may find your answers here:

https://usermanuals.finalemusic.com/FinaleWin/Content/Finale/Chord_symbols.htm

… In the chord symbol tool, is there any way to change maj to M? …

If I understand you correctly, you always need M, but never maj - right?

Chord suffixes are document specific.

The first step is to browse the window Chord Suffix Selection, to check whether the document has a ready made M suffix.

If there is no M suffix, create it yourself, or load a chord suffix library with the M suffix.

When there is a ready made M suffix, go ahead, and delete the maj suffix (from the Chord Suffix Selection).

If the maj suffix is already entered in the score, Finale will warn you, and offer you the opportunity to replace the maj suffix with another suffix of your choice.

… Is there a shortcut for the half diminished symbol? …

I suppose that you mean the symbol ø - right?

Yes, there is a shortcut - sort of:

Chord menu > Substitute Symbols (select this option)

When you have selected Substitute Symbols, the shortcut is Shift-5 (= the % symbol).

Finale will look for character #37 (= %), and replace it with character #191 (which is where the ø symbol is located in most music fonts).

Thanks, Peter--this is helpful! I figured out how the tool works. One thing that is illogical is that you can't get to the dialogue box to edit the chord symbols directly from the Chord menu. You have to get to it in a roundabout way.

Thanks,
Paul