Generating Chord Symbols from Selected Notes

Sibelius can recognize the harmony of existing notes and chords. Whenever you make a selection that contains notes, the status bar at
the bottom of the window shows the pitches of the selected notes (or the first note or chord of a passage if you have a range of music
selected). It also shows the harmony of the chord made up by all of the selected notes at the start of the selection, spanning multiple
staves as necessary, displayed as a chord symbol.

To detect the harmony of a selection of notes:

1 Select the first note of bar 9 in the 5-string Bass Guitar staff.
2 Hold Shift and select the first chord of the bar in the Electric Guitar part (everything in between on the Electric Stage Piano staff is
also selected).
3 The Harmony readout on the status bar at the bottom of the window should display “Bbm7.” Use the Harmony display to identify
what chord symbols to add to your score.
4 Choose Text > Chord Symbols > Add From Notes.
5 In the resulting dialog, specify the options you want to determine the frequency and location of chord symbols calculated from the
selected notes.

Equivalent Chord Text

Sibelius automatically picks the best chord symbol for a set of pitches, but sometimes you may want to see a different chord type.

To select other chord possibilities for the same pattern of intervals:

1 Select the chord symbol (or chord symbols) whose chord type you want to change.
2 Choose Text > Chord Symbols > Equivalent Chord Text or right-click and choose Equivalent Chord Text from the Chord Symbol
submenu.

Press Command+Shift+K (Mac) or Control+Shift+K (Windows) to select equivalent chord text.

For example, to respell Ab7 as G#7, see Respelling a Chord Symbol.

To use equivalent chord text:

1 Select the Ab13(#11) chord in the first bar of the Electric Stage Piano staff.
2 Press Command+Shift+K (Mac) or Control+Shift+K (Windows) to change the selected chord to the next equivalent chord text.
3 The chord type changes to D7[ïíî Î]/G#.
4 Press Command+Shift+K (Mac) or Control+Shift+K (Windows) to change to the next chord symbol.
5 The chord type changes to Ab7[#11'13].
6 Keep changing the chord text in this way until you cycle back to Ab13(#11).

In this way, you can quickly change the chord text of a chord symbol if it is not initially spelled as you want, or if the chord voicing
you’re using suggest a different type of chord.

Check to ensure that the all the added chord symbols correctly notated. If you need to, change them by pressing Command+Shift+K
(Mac) or Control+Shift+K (Windows).

To edit an existing chord symbol:

1 Do one of the following:
• Double-click the chord.
• Select the symbol you want to change and press Return (on the main keyboard).
2 Play the chord again on your MIDI device or type the correct plain English text for the chord symbol you want.

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Chord Symbols