Lyrics

Noteman says: View the Using the positioning triangles QuickStart Video for a demonstration of how to use the positioning triangles.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyric menu appears. If you want to specify a lyric type (Verse, Chorus, or Section), choose Lyric > Specify Current Lyric. If you don’t specify a type, your first lyrics will be a Verse.
2. If you’re returning from other lyric editing, choose Lyric > Type Into Score.
3. Click a note to display a blinking cursor beneath the staff. You are now ready to start typing. A set of four positioning triangles appears at the left edge of the screen. The triangles control the baseline of the lyrics (against which the bottom edges of the words line up). For a full discussion, see To set the baseline (vertical position) for lyrics graphically, below.
4. Type the lyrics. Each time you type a space or a hyphen, Finale automatically moves the insertion point in preparation for entering the next syllable. As you type, Finale automatically scrolls the music so you always know where you are.

If you make a mistake, just press BACKSPACE. (At the previous syllable, Finale highlights the whole syllable so that you can replace it all at once with anything you type.) To change a word you’ve already typed, click in the staff so that the syllable is highlighted, and then type its replacement. Or, you can change the text in the Lyrics window.

Noteman says: When you enter lyrics using this method, pay special attention when entering additional lyric lines, one beneath another. To add a new lyric line, be sure to change Verses before typing in each new line; to do so, , choose Lyrics > Specify Current Lyric. Otherwise, all the lyrics, even successive lines, are all part of the same “verse,” and unexpected results may occur.

If you encounter a melismatic passage, where one syllable is sustained through several melody notes, press the space bar for each note of the melisma; the cursor will skip ahead to the next note and a word extension will appear for the duration of the melisma.

As you type, Finale stores each syllable in its built-in text processor, the Lyrics window. It’s important to understand that the Lyrics window and the lyrics in the score are dynamically linked. If you change a syllable in the Lyrics window, every occurrence of the syllable is automatically changed in the score—and vice versa.

Notice the syllables you type also appear in the Lyrics window. You can also use the Lyrics window to make changes to the font, style, or size of lyrics. Also, once Lyrics appear in the Lyrics window, they can be click-assigned anywhere in the score.

Tip: if you want a quick MIDI audio check of the notes you’re attaching lyrics to, hold down CTRL and SPACEBAR and drag the cursor across the staff. Finale plays any note the cursor touches, no matter which direction you drag.

This is the first step to adding lyrics to the score using the Click Assignment method.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics window appears.
2. Type the lyrics, including hyphens within polysyllabic words.
   • If you’ve copied lyrics from another program (such as a word processor), press CTRL+V (for Paste).
   • If you make a mistake, press the BACKSPACE key.
   • If you’re anticipating a melisma (one syllable held over several notes), type Alt+0160 and a regular space for each extra note through which the syllable is held. (Word extensions will be placed in the score where appropriate).
   • You can cut (by pressing CTRL+X), copy (by pressing CTRL+C), or paste (by pressing CTRL+V) any selected text; select text by dragging through it.
   • To view another Verse (or Chorus, or Section), select it from the drop-down menus.
3. When you’re finished, click OK.

Noteman says: View the Clicking-in lyrics QuickStart Video for an overview.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics window and Lyrics menu appear.
2. Choose Lyrics > Click Assignment, or click in the Lyrics window.
3. In the Lyrics window, click to the left of the first syllable you want to enter. A blinking cursor appears to the left of the syllable. If the first syllable you would like to enter is the first one listed in the text box you can skip this step.
4. To place one syllable at a time, click the first melody note. You must click on the staff at the position of the note—not necessarily on the note itself. When you click, the next syllable in the Lyrics window becomes highlighted, indicating the next syllable in queue. Note: you must have the layer in which the notes are placed active for lyrics to be attached. (Also, if you want to attach lyrics to notes in Voice two, hold down the SHIFT key, then click on the note.)
5. If you want to assign all the lyrics at once, click the first melody note while pressing CTRL. This technique, called CTRL-click-assigning, tells Finale to assign each of the syllables, one after another, to consecutive melody notes, automatically skipping rests, tied notes, and notes in different layers and voices. If any syllables are assigned to the wrong notes, see To correct misaligned lyrics below.

You have to repeat this process for each Verse, Chorus, or Section. If you have a second verse, for example, simply scroll back to its beginning spot, click the up button next to Verse 1, and CTRL-click-assign again.

If you wish, you can move the next syllable to be assigned (the "on-deck" syllable) by highlighting it, placing the cursor next to it, or selected a series of lyrics with the desired word first. If you make a mistake, when you Undo the assignment, the "on-deck" syllable will automatically 'back up' to allow you to correctly re-assign it.

The method described below is useful for making small changes to lyrics you’ve already placed in the score—correcting a misspelling, for example. If the editing you need to do is more extensive, it may be easier just to do it directly in the Lyrics window. After specifying the lyric type and number (by choosing Lyrics > Specify Current Lyric), choose Lyrics > Lyrics window. Any changes you make in the Lyrics window automatically affect the lyrics in the score.

Noteman says: If you have placed the same syllable on more than one note in your score, all instances of the syllable will be changed.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics window and Lyrics menu appear.
2. If you’re returning from other lyric editing, choose Lyrics > Type Into Score. Click on the staff at the position of the syllable you want to edit. The syllable is highlighted.
3. Type the new syllable. Anything you type replaces the highlighted syllable.
4. Press SPACEBAR to advance to the next syllable. Press BACKSPACE to remove what you’ve just typed. To select any syllable, click within the staff lines; the syllable becomes highlighted, so that you can replace it with whatever you now type.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Adjust Syllables.
3. Click on the staff at the position of the syllable you want to move so that its handle appears.

   Don’t click the syllable. Just click within the staff lines in line with the syllable you want to move or delete.

4. Adjust the syllable:
   • Drag the handle to reposition the syllable.
   • Select the handle and press the arrow keys to “nudge” it for fine positioning.
   • Select the handle and press DELETE to remove the syllable.

     Note that this method of deleting a syllable doesn’t pull the following syllables one note to the left; it allows you simply to remove a selected syllable, leaving all other syllables where they are. To delete a syllable and have the remaining syllables slide over to compensate, see To correct misaligned lyrics above.

5. To restore a syllable to its original position, click its handle and press BACKSPACE.

1. Choose the Selection tool and select a region. See Selecting music for some region-selecting shortcuts.
2. Choose Edit > Clear Selected Items. The Clear Selected Items dialog box appears.
3. Click None to deselect all items, then select Lyrics.
4. Click OK.

1. Choose the Selection tool and select a region. See Selecting music for some region-selecting shortcuts.
2. Choose Edit > Edit Filter. The Edit Filter dialog box appears.
3. Click None and select Lyrics.
4. Click OK.
5. Drag the first selected measure so that it’s superimposed on the first target measure. If the first target measure isn’t on the screen, scroll to it, and then CTRL+SHIFT-click it. In either case, the lyrics are copied from the source selection to the target music.

   Finale only places lyrics in the target region on notes that fall on the same beats as they did in the source region.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Clone Lyric.
3. Select the region containing the lyrics you want to copy.

   You can use the Lyrics tool to select a musical region just as you would with the Selection tool: select one measure by clicking, additional measures by SHIFT-clicking, a screenful by drag-enclosing, or an entire staff by clicking to the left of it.

4. Drag the first selected measure so that it’s superimposed on the first target measure. If the first target measure isn’t on the screen, scroll to it, and then CTRL+SHIFT-click it. In either case, the lyrics are copied from the source selection to the target music.

   Finale only places lyrics in the target region on notes that fall on the same beats as they did in the source region.

An elision is when two or more syllables are sung under the same note, such as in a folk song, chant or foreign language. Because Finale advances to the next note if you enter a space, you’ll need to add a hard space between the two syllables. You can also use this method to place verse numbers with the first syllable.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Lyrics window. The Lyrics window appears. If you prefer, choose Lyrics > Type into Score. Type the lyrics in the usual way, up to the elision.
3. Type the first syllable and press CTRL+SPACEBAR to insert a hard space. Continue by typing the next syllable, which will be attached to the syllable before it.

   You can also insert a hard space by choosing Text > Insert Hard Space.

4. Complete the remaining lyrics with the same method. When you enter these lyrics using the CTRL-click assignment method (see Lyrics), Finale distributes the syllables you just created to the corresponding notes of the melody, but treats the elision as a single syllable.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Lyrics Window. The Lyrics window appears. Type the lyrics in the usual way, up to the elision.
3. Type the first syllable. Without adding a space, type a capital I, then the second syllable.
4. Drag to select the I. Choose Text > Font. Choose EngraverFontSet and click OK. Complete the remaining lyrics.
5. Click OK. When you enter these lyrics using the CTRL-click assignment method (see Lyrics), Finale distributes the syllables you just created to the corresponding notes of the melody, but treats the elision as a single syllable. A slur will appear between the two syllables.

You can set the height of the lyric line with respect to its staff either before or after you’ve placed your lyrics in the score. You can also set the baseline (on which the bases of the letters align) independently for each staff in each system—and for each set of lyrics of each type. Finally, you can drag any syllable anywhere you want (see To move or delete a syllable below). (For information regarding lyric baselines in linked parts, see Baseline Positioning in linked parts.)

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Adjust Baselines. The Adjust Baselines dialog box appears.
3. Specify the lyric type and number for which you want to set the baselines. Also specify the staff and system number, if desired. You specify a staff and system number by clicking the Prev and Next buttons beside the Staff and Staff System boxes. If you just want to move the baseline for the entire piece at once, you don’t need to adjust the staff or system controls; just click in the Piece text box.
4. Enter the distance you want the baseline to be from the center line of the staff in the appropriate box or boxes. The center line of the staff is the zero position. The units are whatever you’ve selected using Edit > Measurement Units.

   For example, to set the baseline half an inch below the center line, you’d type –.5 (inches) in the Piece box. It’s a negative number because you’re moving the line down. If there were very low melody notes and you felt that the baseline in the third system needed to be a quarter inch lower still, you’d set the Staff System counter to 3 (by clicking the Next button twice), and you’d enter –.25 in the Staff System: 3 box. (If you ever want to restore all baselines to their original positions, click Set Piece Offsets to Default Font.)

5. Click OK (or press ENTER).

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Specify Current Lyric to specify the lyric type and number, if you want.
3. Choose Lyrics > Click Assignment or Type Into Score. Move the Lyric Window out of the way, if necessary. At the left edge of the screen is a row of four small triangles pointing to the right. They control the baseline for the lyrics. If necessary, click the staff whose lyrics need adjustment.
4. Drag the leftmost triangle up or down to set the baseline for the entire piece (for the selected lyric type and number). As you drag it, the other three triangles move with it.
5. Drag the second triangle up or down to set the baseline for the selected staff only, all the way through the piece (for the selected lyric). As you drag this triangle, the two triangles to its right move with it.
6. Drag the third triangle up or down to set the baseline for this staff, this system only (for the selected lyric). As you drag this triangle, the rightmost triangle moves with it. Use this third triangle only in Page View (so you can see the system you’re affecting).
7. Drag the rightmost triangle up or down to set the baseline for the next syllable, before it’s entered. This option is useful when you’re entering lyrics with the Type Into Score feature or by Click Assigning one syllable at a time.

For information regarding lyric baselines in linked parts, see Baseline Positioning in linked parts.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Adjust Syllables.
3. Click on the staff at the position of the syllables in question. Don’t click the syllable; click in the staff lines. The syllable handles appear.
4. Select the handle above the syllables.
5. Choose Lyrics > Alignment to change the position of the note relative to the syllables. See Lyrics menu–Alignment for more details.
6. Choose from the Lyrics > Justification to change the position of the syllables relative to the notehead. See Lyrics menu–Alignment for more details.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Lyric Options. The Document Options - Lyrics dialog box appears.
3. Adjust the settings under Syllable Positioning:

   Noteman says: Alignment refers to the positioning of a note relative to the syllable. Justification refers to the horizontal position of a lyric syllable relative to the notehead.

   • If you would like specific alignment and justification settings for word extensions, select Syllables with Word Extensions and set the alignment and justification settings.
   • If you would like specific alignment and justification settings for the first syllable in your score, select First Syllable in Lyric and set the alignment and justification settings.
   • If you would like specific alignment and justification settings for the first syllable of every system, select Syllables at Start of System and set the alignment and justification settings.
   • Select the alignment and justification settings for the remainder of the syllables in your score using Others.

   The order of the alignment and justification items in this dialog box also indicate order of precedence. For example, if you have a syllable which is the first syllable in the system, but also has a word extension, the Syllables with Word Extensions settings will be used instead of the Syllables at Start of System (assuming you have both these items checked).

4. Click OK.

You may discover that your lyrics don’t correspond correctly to the melodic notes after CTRL–click-assigning. You may have entered too many syllables, failed to remember a melisma, or skipped a word. Using the following technique, you can shift all syllables by one note to the right from a selected point.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Shift Lyrics. The Shift Lyrics dialog box appears.
3. From the Shift Lyrics to The drop-down menu, choose Right or Left. These directions tell you which way Finale will shift lyrics relative to the notes.
4. Under Options, select the appropriate range.
   • Choose Shift Syllables by One Note, to the End of the Lyric to shift every syllable from the one you click to the last one in the piece.
   • Choose Shift Syllables by One Note, to the Next Open Note to shift every syllable only as far as the first note that doesn’t have a syllable attached to it. Subsequent syllables will remain where they are.
   • Choose Rotate syllables if you’ve created a set of lyrics with more syllables than there are notes to attach them to. Click this option on those rare occasions when you want to replace the syllable on each note with the syllable to its right or left—but without changing which notes have lyrics (see the figure below).
5. Click OK (or press ENTER). You return to the document.
6. Shift the syllables as needed:
   • If you specified a right shift, click the note above the first syllable you want to move. The syllable at which you clicked, and subsequent syllables, shift to the right by one melody note, automatically skipping notes, rests, and tied notes. (You should click in the staff at the position of the note—not on the note itself.)
   • If you specified a left shift, click in the staff above the note just before the first syllable you want to move. The syllable on the following note, and subsequent syllables, shift to the left by one melody note, automatically skipping notes, rests, and tied notes.

You’ll often discover that some of your lyric syllables overlap—or have more space than they need. You can use the Music Spacing command (which you normally use for respacing the notes in your music) to correct lyric collisions.

1. Choose Document > Document Options and select Music Spacing. The Document Options - Music Spacing dialog box appears.
2. Under Avoid Collision of, ensure that Lyrics is selected.
3. Click OK.
4. Choose the Selection tool .
5. Select the music you want to respace. In general, you’ll want to choose Edit > Select All, so that all staves are highlighted.

   If you select only the lyric staff, for example, you could get unexpected spacing in other staves, because the Music Spacing command sets the measure widths for all staves according to the spacing of the selected region.

6. Choose Utilities > Music Spacing > Apply Beat Spacing or Apply Note Spacing.

   For a description of the differences between the two options, see Document Options - Music Spacing. they work equally well in correcting lyric overlaps.

Finale's default lyric spacing options accommodate long syllables at the beginning of measures by automatically nudging the syllable to the left of the note when appropriate and/or shifting the position of the attached note.

1. Choose Lyrics > Adjust Syllables.
2. Right-click a syllable handle and choose Align Default to allow syllables to "float" automatically (this is the default setting).

   The following example illustrates the difference between left-aligned, center-aligned, and default-aligned ("floating").
   
   

This will set the default font for lyrics you are about to enter. It will not change the font for lyrics already entered in the score. See also Change Fonts Plug-in.

1. Choose Document > Document Options > Fonts. The Document Options - Fonts dialog box appears.
2. From the drop-down menu for lyrics, select the lyric type you want to change (Verse, Chorus, or Section).
3. Click Set Font. The Font dialog box appears.
4. Select the type style you want for your lyrics. Under normal circumstances, Finale scales the type size of lyrics proportionally with the piece; if you reduce the music to half size (using the Resize tool), the lyrics also shrink to half size.

   If you’d prefer to specify a fixed size for the lyrics, so the text won’t vary with the size of the notes, select Fixed Size.

5. Click OK (or press ENTER) twice. Use this method to set the primary font for your lyrics. If there are occasional variations within this primary font, see To change fonts within a lyric below.

To set the primary font for a lyric, see To set the font for lyrics globally above. Use the following method for exceptions to the primary font.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears. If you want to specify a particular lyric type or number, choose Lyrics > Specify Current Lyric.
2. Choose Lyrics > Lyrics window. The Lyrics window appears. If you have several lyric sections of the same type, use the drop-down menus to select the ones you want to change.
3. Select the text whose font you want to change (so that it’s highlighted).
4. Choose Text > Font and select the desired font and click OK.
5. Click OK (or press ENTER) to confirm your settings.

See the note on step 4 in To set the font for lyrics globally above or To prevent attached lyrics from shrinking.

About hyphens

Noteman says: Documents created in Finale 2003 or earlier that contain lyrics retain all hyphen positioning information when converted to a newer Finale format. However, due to possible conflicts with existing hyphens, Smart Hyphens are not active in converted documents by default. Hyphens in documents converted from earlier Finale versions do not extend over system breaks automatically and always use a dashed line instead of the lyric font’s hyphen character. If you want to activate Smart Hyphens in an older Finale document, choose Document > Document Options, select Lyrics, and select Use Smart Hyphens. Click OK to confirm your settings. This setting applies to new hyphens and existing hyphens already added to the score.

A hyphen (or a space), when typed into the Lyrics window, indicates the end of a lyric syllable. When Finale distributes lyrics automatically into the score (see Lyrics), it looks for a hyphen or space as its cue to advance to the next melody note.

The default hyphens are called Smart Hyphens because they automatically extend over system breaks and use the hyphen character from the font selected for lyrics in Document Options - Fonts. You can edit the default space between hyphens, and adjust the default positioning in the hyphens section of Document Options - Lyrics.

In certain situations (melismatic passages, for example), you may not want Finale to assume that a hyphen is the end of a syllable.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics window appears.
2. To create a hyphenated word, all of which will be assigned to a single note, hold the ALT key and type 0173 on the numeric keypad instead of a regular hyphen. When these lyrics are click-assigned into the score, the ALT+0173 hyphen will not separate the word into syllables.

Noteman says: Documents created in Finale version 2003 or earlier that contain lyrics retain all word extension positioning information when converted to a newer Finale format. However, due to possible conflicts with existing word extensions, Smart Word Extensions are not active in converted documents by default. If you want to activate Smart Word Extensions, select Word Extensions in the Document Options - Lyrics dialog box and select Use Smart Word Extensions. Then click OK twice to confirm your settings. Old word extensions disappear and are replaced with Smart Word Extensions. (Uncheck this option to revert back to the old word extensions that existed in a document prior to turning Smart Word Extensions on).

When a syllable’s note is tied over to another note or sustained through several notes (as in a melisma), a common practice is to draw an underline following the syllable to indicate its extension. As you enter lyrics, word extensionsAn underline that is used to indicate that a syllable is being sustained through more than one note. In Finale, word extensions expand and contract along with the music as you enter additional lyrics and modify the page layout. are defined automatically where appropriate, including over system breaks. A word extension will extend to the next syllable of the same lyric type and number regardless of the baseline difference of the individual syllables. They will also extend to any syllable of a different type (verse, section, or chorus) provided it lies on the exact same vertical baseline as the previous syllable. Word extensions do not terminate at the start point of the next syllable if it is of the same type, but a different number (verse 1, verse 2) regardless of the next syllable’s baseline position.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Edit Word Extensions.
3. Click near the syllable to be extended. A handle appears at the end of the syllable.
4. Drag the syllable’s handle to the right. As you drag, you create an underline. To remove the underline, click its handle and press DELETE. To clear manual positioning, press BACKSPACE.

   You can edit the default visual appearance of Smart Word Extensions, such as the baseline and offset from the left or right syllable, in the Word Extensions dialog box. Changes made in this dialog box apply to existing word extensions, as well new ones added to the score.

Noteman says: If Smart Word Extensions if turned Off in the Word Extensions dialog box, underscore characters will not convert to word extensions.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Lyric options.
3. Choose Word Extensions. The Word Extensions dialog box appears.
4. Check Only Create on Lyrics with Underscores (_).
5. Make sure Use Smart Word Extensions is checked.
6. Click OK twice to confirm your settings.
7. Add an underscore ( _ ) after a syllable to define a word extension either while using Type Into Score, or while entering into the Lyrics window.

1. Choose Document > Document Options and select Lyrics. The Document Options - Lyrics dialog box appears.
2. Click Word Extensions. The Word Extensions dialog box appears.
3. Under Lyric Alignment, enter new values into the Vertical Offset from Baseline and Horizontal Offset from Syllable text boxes.
   • Vertical Offset from Baseline is the distance between the underline and the baseline (against which the bottoms of the lyric syllables align).
   • Horizontal Offset from Syllable is the distance between the end of the syllable and the beginning of the underline.

   The units are whatever you’ve specified under Edit > Measurement Units.

4. Click OK (or press ENTER).

Automatic numbering can be added to lyrics (verses/sections/choruses), and the numbers can be placed either immediately to the left of the first syllable or left-justified according to the leftmost number. The font for the auto-number is defined by the default font for that verse, chorus or section in Document Options - Fonts.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics window and Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Auto-Number, and then the type of lyric you would like to number, Verses, Choruses, or Sections.

   The three lyric types are mostly for labeling/organizational purposes.

3. Choose Document > Document Options and select Lyrics.
4. Under Automatic Lyric Numbers, choose the desired option.
   • Select Group under the same note to maintain horizontal alignment with different lyrics.
   • Select Keep with first syllable in lyric to shift the position of the number to wherever the lyrics begins.
5. Click OK (or press ENTER) to confirm your settings.
6. Enter the lyrics. Whether you use Type Into Score or Click Assignment, Finale adds automatic numbering to your lyrics; subsequent verses/sections/choruses under the same note will be numbered consecutively.

1. Choose the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
2. Choose Lyrics > Adjust Syllables. Handles appear on all the syllables.
3. Right-click the handle of the syllable you would like to number and choose Include Lyric Number. A number appears next to the syllable; subsequent verses/sections/choruses under the same note will be numbered consecutively.