Reproducing the Finale v27 Japanese version chord suffix library in Sibelius
- tarokoike
- Jun 24
- 5 min read
In the previous article, I talked about how Dorico Pro version 6 finally allows users to create their own chord symbol libraries with a reasonable amount of work, just like Finale.
For those who have chosen Sibelius over Dorico as their replacement, you may be wondering how it works in Sibelius.
In conclusion, although Sibelius does not offer as much freedom as Finale or Dorico, it is still possible to a sufficient extent. In this article, I’d like to introduce how to reproduce the Finale v27 Japanese version chord suffix library in Sibelius as much as possible.
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2. Customizing chord symbols in Sibelius
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1. Comparison of chord symbols between Finale and Sibelius
First of all, here is a part of the chord suffix library created by the Japanese domestic distributor that comes standard with the Japanese version of Finale v27, and a file that has been created by using it.
Here is a file that reproduces this as much as possible in Sibelius.
In Finale, for example in measures 1 to 3, three suffixes were registered for C minor: “Cm”, “C-”, and “Cmin”, but in Sibelius, they are all “Cm”. The same is true for the major seventh “Maj7” in measures 34 to 36.
Also, Finale places tensions in the upper right corner to save horizontal space on chord symbols, such as “C7(♭9)” in measure 42, but in Sibelius, all are placed in a single row.
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2. Customizing chord symbols in Sibelius
When customizing chord symbols, Finale does not have a global setting, such as applying either “Maj7” or “△7” to a major seventh, but instead sets local settings for each individual suffix to determine how it should be expressed.
On the other hand, in Sibelius and Dorico, chord symbols are customized in two stages: global settings that affect the entire project, and local settings that affect individual suffixes.
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(1) Global settings: Engraving rules
In Sibelius, global settings are made in “Appearance tab > House Style > Engraving Rules > Chord Symbols”. The settings here are effective unless local settings are made individually in the “Edit Chord Symbols” dialog, which will be described later.
For example, if you select ”C^” in the “Major 7th Chord” column, typing “CMaj7”, “CM7”, “Cma7”, etc. on the keyboard will all result in “C△”. If you then change this to “C^7” by adding “7”, for example, the corresponding chord symbol will all switch to “C△7”.
This global setting only affects the file you are working on, and does not affect other files, including newly created files, but you can apply the same settings to other files by exporting/importing it as a house style.
To make Sibelius' chord symbols closer to the style of the Japanese version of Finale v27, first of all make the following global settings in “Engraving Rules > Chord Symbols”.
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(2) Local settings: Edit Chord Symbols
On the other hand, local settings for customizing individual suffixes are done in the “Edit Chord Symbol” dialog that appears when you click the expand button at the bottom right of the “Text tab > Chord Symbols” column.
The settings here are saved in what is called the Chord Suffix Library in Finale, so they are valid for all files, including the file you are editing and newly created files.
When you are opening an existing file with a different suffix applied, the most recently set suffix will not be applied just by opening it, but you can select the relevant part and execute “Appearance tab > Design and Position > Reset Design” to apply the most recently set suffix to that part.
In the “Edit Chord Text Suffix” dialog, which can be opened by clicking the “Edit Suffix” button just below the chord symbol display window, you can select your preferred expression for each suffix, including the display of minor and parentheses, such as “m7(♭5)”, “m7♭5”, “m7-5” for minor seven flat five.
This selection is possible by checking “Override Appearance” after opening the dialog, and the selection results take precedence over the global settings in the “Engraving Rules” dialog mentioned above. (In other words, the local settings override the global settings.)
In the case of minor seven flat five, the suffix elements are divided into two parts: the minor part and the flat five part, and each can be customized by switching between them in the “Suffix Element” pull-down menu at the top of the dialog.
In addition, editing in the “Edit Chord Symbol” dialog is only valid for a single suffix. For example, in the above example, a separate edit is required for the similar chord “m9(♭5)” (minor nine flat five).
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3. Chord symbol font settings in Sibelius
By default, the font used for chord symbols is Opus Chords (Std), a font with a Times-like shape, but this can be changed in the “Staff Text Style” dialog, which can be opened by selecting “Appearance tab > Engraving Rules > Chord Symbol > Edit Text Style”.
In the case of Finale v27, the alphabet part of the chord symbol uses Arial in the Japanese version and Times New Roman in the English version.
In Sibelius, you cannot use general-purpose English fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman as in Finale and Dorico, and you must choose from the six fonts included with Sibelius.
Opus Chords Sans Std is probably the closest look to the Japanese version of Finale v27, which uses Arial. For scores that may have dense chord symbols, such as jazz ballads, Opus Chords Sans Condensed Std can save some horizontal space.
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In Sibelius, you cannot change the position or size of the tension part as in Finale and Dorico. In addition, the type of fonts that can be used for chord symbols is limited.
However, if you actually try to customize chord suffixes in Finale or Dorico, you will see the hurdles suddenly rise up in various aspects such as the energy required to master the operation, the actual amount of work, and the stability of the software, when you go beyond editing chord quality and try to edit the tension part.
You can create custom chord symbols as libraries, so even if it's a pain at first, once you've created them you can reuse them. However, how much effort you put into customization depends on the purpose of the music you're creating.
In general, the more advanced features added to software, the less user-friendly it becomes. If more advanced features are added even though most users use them relatively infrequently, the product will be labeled as “it can do everything but it is difficult to handle”.
In that sense, Sibelius can be said a well-balanced and more practical product for many people, as it has just the necessary functions required in the site and is simple, easy to understand, and intuitive to use.
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