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Lyrics window

How to get there

Click the Lyrics tool . The Lyrics menu appears.
If the Lyrics window has been closed, choose Lyrics > Lyrics > Lyrics window.

What it does

The Lyrics window appears when you select the Lyrics tool and can be used in conjunction with Type Into Score or Click Assignment (see Lyrics menu). Within this window, you can also create variations in the main font (which you’ve specified with the Set Default Fonts command in the Document menu)—for example, you can italicize a phrase within the lyrics. If you’ve copied lyrics from an external word processor, you can paste them directly into the Lyrics window by pressing CTRL+V.

The Edit and Text menus are available when the window appears so you can copy and paste text, change fonts and styles, and carry out other editing tasks. Note that only the Text menu commands that affect the display of text characters are available for lyrics; the Line Spacing and Edit Page Offset commands as well as the commands in the Inserts and Justification submenus are not available.

Once you’ve put these lyrics into the score (by either typing them directly into the score or click-assigning them), the lyrics in the score are dynamically linked to the lyrics in the Lyrics window. Change a word in the Lyrics window and it is also changed in the score; delete it, and all the syllables in the score slide to the left to close up the gap. You may notice a slight delay before an edit in the Lyrics window is translated to the score, which is normal. (Bear in mind that the same process works in reverse when you use the Type Into Score feature to edit your lyrics in the score: any word deleted from the score is also deleted from the Lyrics window—but not when you erase lyrics from the score using the Selection tool or the Adjust Syllables feature. In those cases, you’re just removing lyrics from the score, but they remain in the Lyrics window.)

When Click Assignment is selected under the Lyrics menu, the Lyrics window provides the viewer indicating the next syllable to be entered. Click a note to place a syllable into the score and the next syllable becomes highlighted in the Lyric Window. To specify the next lyric to be assigned, click to the left of the desired lyric. You can move the Lyric Window by dragging its title bar, and you can close it (and exit the Click Assignment mode) by clicking its close box. If you click a note while pressing CTRL, Finale will automatically distribute all the syllables in the Lyric Window to the notes in the score, until it runs out of either notes or syllables.

You can cut, copy, and paste lyrics from one place to another within a single screenful of Lyrics window lyrics, as well as from one set of lyrics to another. To cut or copy, select the text by dragging the cursor through it. Then press CTRL+X to cut it (and place a copy on the Clipboard) or CTRL+C to copy it. To paste the cut or copied text, click at the location where you want the lyrics to appear and press CTRL+V.

[Lyric entry mode buttons: Type Into Score • Click Assignment • Edit Word Extensions • Clone Lyrics • Shift Lyrics • Adjust Symbols]. Use these buttons to quickly change lyric entry modes (e.g. from Type Into Score to Click Assignment). Clicking these buttons is the same as selecting the mode from the Lyrics menu. For a description of these items, see Lyrics menu.
Lyric: Verse • Chorus • Section • ___. Use this drop-down list to choose what type of lyric you want to create or edit. Enter the verse number, or use the UP and DOWN ARROW to switch to different verses, choruses or sections.

The three types of lyrics (Verse, Chorus, and Section) are technically identical as far as Finale is concerned. They’re only there to help you keep your lyrics straight, and to make it easy to change the font or style for a large chunk of lyrics at once (you can specify a different font for Verses, Choruses, and Sections by choosing Set Default Fonts from the Document menu).

When the current lyric is changed in the Lyrics Window, it is the same as changing the current lyric in the Specify Current Lyric dialog box (Lyrics menu > Specify Current Lyric). When the current lyric is changed in the Specify Current Lyric dialog box it is also changed in the Lyrics window (and vise versa).

[Four positioning triangles]. When Click Assignment is selected, four triangles also appear at the left edge of the screen. These triangles are handles that control the baseline for the lyrics (the invisible line against which the bottoms of the letters align).

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

Dragging the leftmost triangle up or down moves the baseline for this set of lyrics vertically, affecting the entire piece. The second triangle sets the baseline for this set of lyrics for this staff only. The third triangle, whose effect is only visible in Page View, sets the baseline for this staff in this system only (which can be useful if, for example, you have a vocal passage of very low notes requiring that the lyrics be moved down a little bit to make room). The rightmost triangle sets the baseline for the next syllable you assign if you’re "clicking in" one syllable at a time or for the next syllable you enter using Type Into Score.

OK • Cancel. Click OK if you want Finale to store the lyrics or modifications you’ve created, and assign a number to any new sets you entered. You return to the score. Click Cancel if you want Finale to ignore any text you’ve entered or changes you’ve made while in the Lyrics window. You return to the score.