Linked parts

Noteman says: View the Create parts QuickStart Video or see Parts in Tutorial 7: Formatting your music for a step-by-step tutorial on linked parts.

If you have a score that contains multiple instruments, you most likely want to create individual parts from that score. Finale includes the ability to manage both the score and these individual parts within a single document. Furthermore, the parts maintain a relationship with the score so that edits made in one intelligently affect the other.

In short, these linked parts eliminate the need to make redundant changes to the score and part separately. Their integrated nature offers many other time- and labor-saving advantages.

How linking works

Saying that an element in a part is linked simply means that it has some kind of relationship to the corresponding element in the score. Many items that are linked between score and part can be unlinked; that is, any further change in one no longer affects the other. Likewise, any item that has been unlinked in a part can be relinked to the score, re-establishing the relationship.

Linked parts were designed to be as intuitive as possible while offering the greatest degree of flexibility. For example, general page text (such as the title, composer, and copyright) appears on each part automatically - although you can reposition any of these elements on each part independently if desired. The following general principles apply to all documents containing linked parts:

  • Changes to pitches and rhythms in the part or score always apply to the other.
  • Changes to the definition of markings (e.g., changing expressions from to ) in the part or score always apply to the other.
  • A change to the positioning or shape of any marking in the part unlinks that marking from its corresponding marking in the score.
  • A change to the positioning or shape of any marking in the score also applies to that marking in the part (unless the marking has previously been unlinked in the part).
  • Page formatting, measure layout, and music spacing are never linked between score and parts and are based on Finale’s automatic settings by default. However, you can apply these changes to other parts manually.
  • If any property of a marking is unlinked (positioning, shape, etc.), its color changes to orange (or yellow) in both the score and the part to indicate that at least one property has been unlinked.

For a single chart of all linking behaviors in Finale, see Linking Details for Linked Parts.