Finale Notational Defaults
Finale adheres to the standards of music
engraving practice that follow. There are many more “rules” or “standards”
that govern music notation, and indeed, the standards themselves may vary
from publisher to publisher. The ones listed here are automatically supported
by Finale.
Placement of Text
Staff names are centered vertically on
each staff. Both full and abbreviated staff names are right-aligned.
Chord symbols are placed 1/2 inch above
the top line of the staff. If Guitar Fretboards also appear, the Chord
Symbol appears one inch above the top line of the staff, and the top of
the fretboard appears 1/2 inch above the top lines of the staff.
Lyrics appear 1/2 inch below the bottom
line of the staff.
Notes, Stems
and Beams (Ligatures)
Single notes with single stems are stemmed
down when the note is positioned on the middle line of the staff or higher.
Down stems are positioned on the left side of the note. Single notes with
single stems are stemmed up when the note is positioned on the second
space of the staff or lower. Up stems are positioned on the right side
of the note.
Single stems are exactly one octave in
length. If there is more than one note on a stem, the stem length is calculated
from the note closest to the end of the stem.
Stems of notes on ledger lines which would
not normally reach the middle line of the staff are extended to reach
the middle line of the staff.
A beam is the thickness of half a space.
The normal stem length will accommodate two beams. For each additional
beam the stem length is extended one space. The angle up or down of any
beam does not exceed one space, and the direction of the slant is determined
by the general direction of the movement of the notes.
Placement of
Note Heads
In an interval of a second on a single
stem the lower note is placed on the left of the stem, the upper note
on the right. In this configuration the note head on the wrong side of
the stem is called a “displaced” note. Chords with opposite stems or on
separate staves are aligned according to the properly placed note heads,
not the displaced note heads.
Accidentals
in a chord
When accidentals cannot be aligned, the
highest accidental is placed in the normal position and the next lower
accidental is placed to the left of it. Accidentals continue to be placed
to the left until an accidental can align with the top one, in which case
the procedure is repeated until all the accidentals have been placed.
Accidentals
across barlines
When a note with an accidental is tied
across a barline, the accidental is not repeated on the first note of
the next measure. However, if the note appears later in the measure, the
accidental is repeated.
Modifying Symbols
Articulations are placed on the notehead
side, opposite the stem. Bowing marks are placed above the staff, regardless
of the stem direction.
Music Spacing
(Time Spacing)
There are no absolute rules governing time
spacing, but Finale follows the general principle of spacing notes according
to their duration. Longer notes are followed by larger spaces than shorter
notes.
Barlines have no rhythmic significance
and do not affect the time spacing. Neither do accidentals, except in
those situations when the normal time spacing may not allow enough room
for the accidental, in which case additional space is allotted for the
accidental.
Rests are treated the same as notes, except
for the whole measure rest which is centered in the measure.
Grace Notes
The stem direction is up for grace notes.
Slashes appear on flagged grace notes (unless Slash Flagged Grace Notes
is deselected in the Document Options dialog box).
Tuplets
Tuplets can appear as a number placed within
a bracket, or, on the beam side, just a number. The beam of a rhythmic
group is extended over any rests within the group. The bracket slope adjusts
to the notation, following the slope of beams and stems.
Multimeasure
Rest (Block Rest)
A Multimeasure or block rest is built into
Finale. The rest appears centered on the middle staff line. The thick
horizontal line in 3 pts. (1 space) thick (the same thickness as beams),
and the thin vertical lines, which extend from the second to the fourth
staff line, are 1/2 point thick.
The multimeasure rest number appears just
above the staff. The width of the measure is 1 1/4 inches to contain the
multimeasure rest symbol.
Line Thickness
Beam thickness is three points (half a
space). Barline, ledger line, staff line, and stem line thickness are
half a point. Other lines (such as tuplet and repeat brackets) are also
half a point thick.
Spacing of Basic
Elements
A certain amount of space appears before
and after basic musical elements. One space appears before clefs, key
and time signatures, and before the first note or rest in a measure. An
additional half space appears after key and time signatures.
Maestro Font Default file
The Maestro Font Default file is what appears
when you choose the File menu > New > Default Document. It consists
of one treble staff with 31 measures, in common time. Measure numbers
appear at the start of each line, above the clef. It contains libraries
for music spacing, chord symbols, musical text and shape expressions,
articulations, and so on. See Finale
Libraries for more information.
The page size is 8.5 by 11 inches with
1/2 inch page margins all around except for the left margin which is 3/4
inch. The first system is indented (from the page margin) 1/2 inch, and
is dropped 1 1/2 inches to allow for a title, and other text. A place
holder for a title appears centered 1/2 inch below the top margin, and
page numbers appear beginning on page 2 in the form “-2-”. Music appears
and prints at 100%.
