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Selecting music

Note: View the Selecting and Editing Music QuickStart Video for a demonstration of these features.

Selecting regions of measures is required whenever you want to copy music from one place to another or apply changes to a region of music using one of Finale's many editing functions. Although the Selection tool is the primary tool for selecting and editing music, regional copying and editing can be performed at any time as long as one of the following tools is selected:

Note: See The Selection tool for a tutorial on general mass-editing techniques, including selecting, copying, transposing, and working with measures.

Selection Tool
Staff Tool
Measure Tool
Key Signature Tool
Time Signature Tool
MIDI tool
Clef tool
Repeat tool
Mirror tool

Note: In addition to selecting and editing regions of measures, the Selection tool can also be used to select individual musical elements for moving or editing. For details, see Selection tool.

Finale includes two distinct types of regional selection:

Regions including full or partial measures, but not full measures in all staves. This is the most common type of selection. Edits to these regions are generally focused on editing the entries and items attached to entries or measures without changing the measure-specific information itself (e.g. key signatures, barline styles, etc.). These are regions edited within the existing measure structure. For example, copy and insert a region including partial measures (or full measures in some but not all staves) to push subsequent music to the right the number of inserted beats. See Copying music. Here are some examples of this type of selection:

or or
Full measures in all staves, or "Stacks." A stack selection is indicated by highlighting between staves. Edits to these regions can also include entries and items attached to entries or measures, but can also include measure-specific information (e.g. key signatures, barline styles, etc.). See Edit Filter dialog box. Additionally, stacks can be treated as autonomous units. For example, copy and insert a stack to push all subsequent measures to the right. See Copying music. Here is an example of a stack selection:

A one measure stack is one measure as played by all the instruments in the staff—in other words, a one-measure vertical slice of a score. (Generally, the term measure in the Finale manual refers to one measure of one staff.) A stack can include any number of full measures.

A full measure selection in a system with a single staff is also a stack selection indicated by highlighting above and below the staff (see below).

Most of Finale's editing commands work with partial measure selections. However, if you try to use a full-measure–only command after selecting only part of a measure, Finale will let you know; you’ll have the choice of canceling the command, or applying the command to all measures that are even partly selected.