Finale Forum

I'm using Finale Songwriter. I put in all the chords. Then I come back and a chord is missing...I click there and see that it IS there, in black, not red, and doesn't have the little box with the line tying it to the note. WHERE DID IT GO? But worse...I can't fix it. It doesn't have anything to do with the layers, because the black chord is in the same layer as the red chords. HELP!

Can you post the file, so we can have a look at it?

No I can't post it. I described it very well, though. Surely someone has had the same problem and knows why. The problem is at a student's house where I am teaching him how to use Finale Songwriter. I have Finale Print Music and have never had this problem. Can you think of some things for me to try to fix it?

btancred1 wrote:I'm using Finale Songwriter. I put in all the chords. Then I come back and a chord is missing...I click there and see that it IS there, in black, not red, and doesn't have the little box with the line tying it to the note. WHERE DID IT GO? But worse...I can't fix it. It doesn't have anything to do with the layers, because the black chord is in the same layer as the red chords. HELP!

I'm having the same problem and haven't found an answer either. One chord disappeared and I can't even delete it and reenter it.

Can you post a file? It's a lot easier to troubleshoot when I can open it on my computer.

You have to ZIP a .mus file to upload it to the forum.

I've had this exact problem, too. The problem with simply sending you the file is that, for some reason, the problem seems to fix itself after you leave Songwriter and come back sometime later. Suddenly, the missing Chord Symbol will be there. Frustrating, though. You can't fix it as you work on it. [EDIT: Yes, you can. See my post immediately below.]

Okay, the original poster's problem has reoccurred for me, again and again, and I've finally learned how to "fix" it. (I haven't fixed the problem with the program, but at least I can fix the score when it happens.)

When this "invisible chord" problem happens, click on the next note to the right and enter the same chord there. When you do that, the program will suddenly show BOTH chords, like it should. Then just delete the one you just added, and the original chord will stay there . . . like it should have been all along.

EDIT: It may not be necessary to actually enter the second chord on the note to the right. It may be that just clicking on the note to the right while in Chord Tool and then exiting it will be enough.

The current version of Songwriter still has this bug. It is genuinely pathetic that it hasn't been repaired by now.

I've been having the same problem and finally sent a help request to support. If I'd seen this forum posting before, I would have directed them to it so they'd know it's not just me... I did try Jack's workaround and have chords now -- thanks Jack! However, I had to add a few chords before it showed up, and feel MM should just fix the bug. Please. I've found SW to be a bit buggy in general. Still happy to have it though, thanks Finale.

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