Expression menu

How to get there

Choose the Expression tool . The Expression menu appears.

What it does

The Expression menu provides several options for controlling the adjustment and manipulation of expressions.

  • Adjust Above Staff Baseline • Below Staff Baseline. Choose Adjust Above Staff Baseline to adjust the baselines for expressions set to Above Staff Baseline in the Vertical Positioning popup menu of the Expression designer dialog box. Choose Adjust Below Staff Baseline to adjust the baselines for expressions set to Below Staff Baseline in the Vertical Positioning popup menu of the Expression Designer dialog box.

    If neither Adjust Above Staff Baseline OR Adjust Below Staff Baseline is selected, the positioning triangles to the left do not display. You can find the Vertical Positioning popup menu under the Measure and Note positioning tabs of the Expression Designer dialog box.

  • Favor Attachment to Active Layer. Expressions can be assigned to any layerAn independent overlay of music in the same measure. Each Finale document consists of four transparent layers, each of which can contain its own rhythmically independent inner voice. Only one layer can be active (frontmost) at a time, however; the layer selection pop-up menu appears in the lower left corner of your Finale window, indicating which layer is active. Note that each layer may also contain 2 independent voices.. Choose this command to tell Finale to assign expressions to the active layer when more than one layer exists in the measure. If notes exist in the active layer in the measure the expression is added, Finale assigns the expression to that layer. A number of additional conditions apply when this command is selected:
    • If only one layer exists in the measure, the expression is automatically assigned to that layer.
    • If there are no notes in the measure, the expression is assigned to "All Layers".
    • If there are multiple layers in the measure, but the active layer is not one of them, the expression is attached to "All Layers."
    • If there are multiple layers in the measure, and this command is unchecked, the expression is assigned to "All Layers."
    • Expressions attached to a barline are assigned to "All Layers."
  • Copy Expression to Staff Above • Staff Below • All Staves Above • All Staves Below. Choose Copy Expression to Staff Above to copy selected expression(s) to the staff directly above. Choose Copy Expression to Staff Below to copy selected expression(s) to the staff directly below. Choose Copy Expression to All Staves Above to copy selected expression(s) to all staves higher in the score, up to the top staff. Choose Copy Expression to All Staves Below to copy selected expression(s) to all staves lower in the score, down to the bottom staff.

    These commands apply to all non-Score List expressions (i.e. Dynamics, Expressive text, and Technique text). You can show Score List expressions (i.e. Tempo Marks, Tempo Alterations, and Rehearsal Marks) on additional staves using the Score List options in the Category Designer. See Category Designer dialog box.

  • Edit Rehearsal Mark Sequence. Select an auto-sequenced rehearsal mark, then choose this command to open the Rehearsal Mark Sequence dialog box where you can restart a rehearsal mark sequence. See To add rehearsal marks.

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