Courtesy key signatures

Under usual circumstances, the key signature for a staff appears only at the beginning of each line, or at a key change. If you want, however, you can force the key signature to be displayed in any measure. You can also hide the courtesy key signature that appears at the end of a staff system (when the key changes at the beginning of the next line).

To force the display of the key signature in a measure

1. Click the Measure Tool  , and then double-click barline handle of the measure in which you want the key signature to appear. The Measure Attributes dialog box appears.
2. From the Key Signature popup menu, choose Always Show. Click OK (or press return). You can also hide a key signature in a measure where it would normally appear by choosing Always Hide.

To hide the end-of-line courtesy key change (globally)

When a key change occurs at the end of a line of music, it’s customary to display the new key signature at the very end of the system, as well as at the beginning of the following system. This end-of-the-line key signature is sometimes known as a cautionary, or courtesy, key signature.

Some musicians prefer to omit this end-of-line warning and let the key change (on the next line) stand on its own. Then, too, sometimes one movement (or piece) ends and another begins on the same page; if the new movement begins in a different key, you wouldn’t necessarily want the new key signature to appear in the last measure of the preceding movement. In either case, take the following steps.

1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options and select Key Signatures. The Key Signature Options appear.
2. Click Display Courtesy Key Signature at End of Staff System, so that it’s no longer selected. Click OK (or press return).

To hide the end-of-line courtesy key change (in one place)

If you want Finale to suppress the end-of-line cautionary key change everywhere in the file you’re working on, see “To hide the end-of-line courtesy key change (globally),” above.

In some cases, however, you may want to hide the key or time change only in one place; for the remainder of the piece, you do want Finale to provide this advance warning. These instructions show you a special method of hiding only one end-of-line key or time change.

1. Click the Measure Tool  , and double-click the barline handle of the blank measure. The Measure Attributes dialog box appears.
2. Click Hide Cautionary Clefs, Key and Time Signatures.
3. Click OK.  

To alter the key signature of the courtesy key signature

On rare occasions, such as a key change at the beginning of a Coda, you may need the courtesy key signature to be different from the key signature at the beginning of the next line. To create a custom courtesy key signature, follow these steps:

1. Click the Measure Tool  . Select the first measure of the next line.
2. From the Measure Menu, choose Insert. The How many measures dialog box appears. To select the default of 1 measure, click OK.
3. Click the Selection Tool  ; then click the new measure. Press the Up arrow key to move it to the end of the previous line.
4. Click the Key Signature Tool  ; then double-click the measure. The Key Signature dialog box appears.
5. Set the desired Key Signature for the courtesy key signature. For more details, see Key Signatures. Make sure the region is set to the current measure only and click OK.
6. Click the Staff Tool  . The Staff Menu appears.
7. Select the measure in all staves. See Selecting music for hints on selecting shortcuts.
8. Choose Apply Staff Style from the Staff Menu. You can also select Apply Staff Style from the contextual menu by control-clicking in the staff. The Apply Staff Style dialog box appears.
9. Select Blank Notation: All Layers from the popup menu and click OK. The default rest will disappear.
10. Click the Measure Tool  . Double-click the measure. The Measure Attributes dialog box appears.
11. Next to Barline, choose Invisible. Check the Change Width checkbox and enter zero. Under Options, check Hide Cautionary Clefs, Key and Time Signatures. Click OK. The invisible dummy measure will have its own measure number. If you want your score to display measure numbers, you may want to use the Measure Tool to set up 2 different measure number regions. See Measure numbers for more information.