You are here:

Selecting music

Selecting regions of measures is required whenever you want to copy music from one place to another or apply changes to a region of music using one of PrintMusic's many editing functions. Although the Selection tool is the primary tool for selecting and editing music, regional copying and editing can be performed at any time as long as one of the following tools is selected:

In addition to selecting and editing regions of measures, the Selection tool can also be used to select individual musical elements for moving or editing. For details, see Selection tool.

Regional and partial selection

PrintMusic includes two distinct types of regional selection:

Regions including full or partial measures, but not full measures in all staves. This is the most common type of selection. Edits to these regions are generally focused on editing the entries and items attached to entries or measures without changing the measure-specific information itself (e.g. key signatures). These are regions edited within the existing measure structure. For example, copy and insert a region including partial measures (or full measures in some but not all staves) to push subsequent music to the right the number of inserted beats. See Copying music. Here are some examples of this type of selection:

or or
Full measures in all staves, or "Stacks." A stack selection is indicated by highlighting between staves. Edits to these regions can also include entries and items attached to entries or measures, but can also include measure-specific information (e.g. key signatures). Additionally, stacks can be treated as autonomous units. For example, copy and insert a stack to push all subsequent measures to the right. See Copying music. Here is an example of a stack selection:

A one measure stack is one measure as played by all the instruments in the staff—in other words, a one-measure vertical slice of a score. (Generally, the term measure in the PrintMusic manual refers to one measure of one staff.) A stack can include any number of full measures.

A full measure selection in a system with a single staff is also a stack selection indicated by highlighting above and below the staff:

Most of PrintMusic's editing commands work with partial measure selections. However, if you try to use a full-measure–only command after selecting only part of a measure, PrintMusic will let you know; you’ll have the choice of canceling the command, or applying the command to all measures that are even partly selected.

Mouse click or keyboard command	What it does
Click a measure	Selects the full measure
Click and drag diagonally across any measure region (partial or whole measures)	Selects the (full or partial) measure region. When you select a partial measure, PrintMusic highlights an area from the left edge of the first selected note to the right edge of the space after the last selected note, to help reinforce the fact that you’re actually selecting a stretch of musical time.
SHIFT-click and drag diagonally across any part of a measure	Selects full measures only
SHIFT-click before or after a selected region	Extends the selection to wherever you click
SHIFT+LEFT or RIGHT ARROW	Expands or contracts the selected region in entry-by-entry increments. …measure-by-measure increments if the measures are empty. Specify you want to adjust the beginning or end of the selected region by pressing the left or right arrow key first respectively.
With the Selection tool, double-click any partial measure selection Or, ALT-click any partial measure selection with any tool that permits regional selection (The selection can include any number of measures starting and/or ending with a partial measure)	Expands the selection to include full measures.
With the Selection tool, double-click a full measure Or ALT-click any full measure selection with any tool that permits regional selection	Expands selection to include the full stack.
Click to the left of the staff	Selects an entire staff
SHIFT-click to the left of a staff	Extends the selection from any other staves you've selected
Edit > Select All or press CTRL+A	Selects the entire document
Hold down CTRL+SHIFT+LEFT or RIGHT ARROW	Expand or contract the selected region by full measures
SHIFT+UP or DOWN ARROW	Expands or contract the selected region vertically (staff-by-staff)
SHIFT+END or HOME or PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN	Select all measures right, left, above, or below a selection

PrintMusic User Manual Home
Leave feedback on this topic
Finale PrintMusic 2014 for Windows

7007 Winchester Circle, Suite 140

Boulder, CO 80301