Lyrics Menu
How to get there
Click the Lyrics tool 
.
What it does
The Lyrics Menu contains all the commands you’ll need to create and
edit lyrics, adjust the positions of individual syllables, draw word
extensions for syllables that are sustained, and so on.
You can have as many verses of lyrics
as you want.
- Type Into Score. To enter lyrics, first
specify the verse number for the lyrics you intend to create (by choosing
Specify Current Lyric from the Lyrics Menu). Choose Type Into Score from
the Lyrics Menu. For a full discussion, see To
type lyrics directly into the score.
- Adjust Syllables. This command lets
you move an individual syllable anywhere you want it. Click the staff
above a syllable; a handle appears. Click a handle to select its syllable;
shift-click to select additional syllables attached to the same note.
Drag the handle to move its syllable (or all selected syllables) to a
new position; press backspaceclear to restore a selected syllable to its
original position. To remove a selected syllable (or all selected syllables)
from the score, press delete.
- Edit Word Extensions. A Word Extension
is the underline following a syllable sustained beyond the note to which
it’s attached.
- Auto-Number Lyrics. Check this option to automatically number verses in the score consecutively. Numbers are added to the left of the first syllable of each verse and automatically aligned. SongWriter automatically numbers additional verses added when this option is checked. Uncheck this option to remove auto-numbering of lyrics.
- Ignore Syllable Edge Punctuation. Check this option to ignore punctuation at the beginning or end of a lyric for improved alignment and centering. Characters ignored are: ,.?!;:'"“”
To create a Word Extension, choose the command from the
Lyrics Menu. Drag the handle to the right as far as you want to draw
the Word Extension underline. To remove the Word Extension, click its
handle and press Delete.
- Use Smart
Hyphens and Word Extensions. With this menu item checked, SongWriter
can create hyphens over system breaks automatically and also uses the
hyphen character of the font specified for lyrics. Also, Smart Word Extensions
appear automatically as lyrics are entered in the score and adjust to
future lyric changes accordingly.
- Specify Current Lyric. Choose this command
to display the Specify Current Lyric dialog box, where you can specify
which verse you want to edit or Type Into Score. (See Specify
Current Lyric dialog box.
- Insert Hard Space. Choose this command to enter a 'hard space' in your lyrics. A hard space is an invisible character that Finale thinks of as a syllable, even though it’s invisible on the screen.
- Insert Hard Hyphen. Choose this command to enter a 'hard hyphen' in your lyrics (instead of pressing Alt+0173). A hard hyphen will not separate the word into syllables.
- Insert Symbol. Choose this menu item to open the Symbol Selection dialog box where you can choose from all the characters in the current font. When you select the character, it will be inserted into the current text block.
