I guess I spent $200 or whatever it was to be able to access my old music files. I suppose I can use it just for the notation and write chords in by hand. This was the first use of the software for me since buying it, other than to print out old music sheets. After sitting at the computer for 8 hours today for work fixing things for other people, I did not expect to sit for an hour (and not even get 8 bars done) to do something that used to take me 20 minutes.

Just wondering… Did you look at the videos? Do the tutorials? Look up anything in the help files?

With that out of the way, are you using one of the templates? Which one? Are you on Finale 27?

I have not yet. I guess my frustration is that I was hoping to just jump in without a big learning curve because I had already done that with Printmusic. I had that down. I did look in the Help files but could not resolve.

I was just using the default document and then I tried the setup wizard for blank staff. Yes 27. And yes, that is the chord symbol I would love to have. I got a popup asking if I wanted to add it to the library and then several steps to edit the symbol, and then still would not save. Thanks

It is not surprising that full Finale (especially after the jump from PM 2014 to Finale 27, seven or more years' difference) can be complicated, but in Mike R you have an excellent guide given his extensive experience with PM as well as full Finale.

Thomas,

I did that example in F27. I started from the Wizard > Finale Broadway style, and in the next screen, added a blank staff. You can then set up clef, time, and key signatures as you like. To search the available chord suffixes, type the root, colon, zero (C:0). That takes you to the chord suffix frame, where you can scroll down until you find the one you need. (In this case, it was number 64.) The next time you need it, type the root, colon, 64, and there you are.

Awesome, thanks Mike! I'll give it a try later. Sorry, bit of a rant but time was not on my side so was frustrated. I know I shouldn't expect to sit down first time and have it work the same as PM. PM was so basic and easy for my needs which pretty much is just creating lead sheets. Thanks

Agreed. For many users, PM is all they need, and it’s a shame that it was dropped. Still, eventually everyone gets tired of workarounds and still needing “just that one little thing” and moves to Finale.

I would like to see it brought back, although I doubt it ever happening.