Adding Guitar Fingerings

Once chords have been created, Song-Bank can immediately display fingerings. However, fingerings are dynamically created each time the screen is refreshed (whenever a key is pressed), so it may be best to keep the fingerings hidden until you are ready to output the file.

The first step is to select a guitar. The default guitar is a standard tuned 6-string guitar. If a different guitar is desired, use the Song | Select Guitar... menu command to display the Guitar Selection Dialog which has the list of available guitars.

Song-Bank uses a cascading system to determine the proper fingering to display. The program looks first in the song database for a fingering matching the chord. If it fails to find one, it next checks the user database. During a display operation, if a fingering hasn't been found in those two places, a question mark is displayed instead of the fingering.

The Song | Select Chord Fingerings... menu command displays the Chord Fingering Dialog which will calculate a fingering in addition to the two database searches already described. When the user presses , all of the chord fingerings are added to the song database.

Fingerings can also be added manually using the Song | Manage User/Song Fingerings... menu command, which displays the Guitar/Chord/Finger Dialog. This dialog allows the user to add guitars, chords, and fingerings to both the user and song databases.

The quickest way to create the necessary fingering is to use the Chord Fingering Dialog.

1)   Select the Song | Select Chord Fingerings... menu command. The Chord Fingering Dialog will display all of the chords used in the song, the fingerings being used, and their source.

2)   Double-click on a chord/fingering combination to display all available fingerings for that chord (using the Guitar Fingering Dialog). You can select another calculated fingering or enter one of your own (using the button). Pressing returns you to the previous dialog.

3)   Press OK to accept the fingerings. The fingerings will be added to the song database as the defaults.

If you wish to modify the fingerings of one chord, this can be done from the Chord Dialog.

1)   Select the chord that you wish to set the fingerings. The Chord Dialog can be displayed either by double-clicking the chord or by using the Chord | Edit... menu command.

2)   Press the button to display the Guitar Fingering Dialog.

3)   Select the a calculated fingering from the list or enter one of your own using the button.

4)   Press OK (in the Guitar Fingering Dialog) to accept the selected fingering.

5)   Press OK (in the Chord Dialog) to accept the change to the chord.