Ranges

Each instrument has a limited number of pitches within its range. A range is the scope of pitches within an instrument's performance capability. For example, a piano has a fixed range of 88 notes, from A0 (MIDI note 21) to C8 (MIDI note 108). While keyboard and string instruments generally have a fixed range, limited to the tuning of the keys, strings, and number of frets, other instrument families, such as brass, have ranges that depend on the capabilities of the performer. For example, a beginning trumpet player can be expected to perform as high as E5 whereas an advanced player can easily play much higher.

Finale can identify pitches that are out of range for any instrument, and transposes your music automatically when copying to instruments of different registers. See Copying between instruments of different registers. Finale also transposes music when an instrument is changed to one of a different register using the Score Manager.

To identify out-of-range notes

As long as "Beginner," "Intermediate," or "Advanced" is selected in View > Out-of-Range Notes, Finale automatically analyzes all pitches and identifies notes that are out of range by displaying them with orange noteheads (onscreen only). You can change the color of out-of-range notes in Preferences-Display Colors.

Tip: Orange noteheads can also indicate that a note in a percussion staff is not defined in the staff's assigned percussion layout, or that certain properties of a note may be unlinked.

To change the range experience level

Indications for instruments without a fixed range can also depend on the selected experience level of the performer (beginner/intermediate/advanced). To adjust the range to a different experience level, choose View > Out-of-Range Notes > [experience level]. This is a program setting that will apply to all documents. For a list of ranges, see Instrument Ranges.