Grace notes

To create a grace note

1. Enter the grace notes as “normal” notes.
2. Click the Speedy Entry Tool   and click the measure in question. The editing frame appears.
3. Using the arrow keys, position the cursor on the note you want to change to a grace note, and press the semicolon (;). The note becomes a grace note. On playback, the grace note will play just ahead of the beat—even if there are many grace notes together, forming a run. To change a grace note to a normal note, repeat the above procedure.

To beam grace notes

1. Click the Speedy Entry Tool   and click the measure in question. The editing frame appears.
2. Using the arrow keys, position the cursor on the second note of any pair you want beamed together, and press the slash (/). Repeat this process for any additional grace notes you want to include in this beam group.

To change the size of grace notes

1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then select Grace Notes. The Grace Note options appear.
2. Enter a new reduction value in the Grace Note Size text box. The size of regular notes is 100%; the default reduction percentage for grace notes is 60%.

To add or remove the slashes from grace notes globally

You can eliminate slashes from grace notes by doing the following. See also Slash Flagged Grace Notes Plug-in, Slash Flagged Grace Notes (Remove) Plug-in.

1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then select Grace Notes. The Grace Note Options appear.
2. Deselect Always Slash Flagged Grace Notes. When the checkbox is deselected, slashes do not appear; otherwise, slashes appear on every flagged grace note.
3. Click OK (or press return).

To add or remove the slashes from individual grace notes

This method will only slash flagged grace notes. See also Slash Flagged Grace Notes Plug-in, Slash Flagged Grace Notes (Remove) Plug-in

1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then select Grace Notes . The Grace Note option appear.
2. Deselect Always Slash Flagged Grace Notes if it is selected. When the checkbox is deselected, slashes do not appear.
3. Click OK (or press return).
4. Click the Speedy Entry Tool a and click the measure in question. The editing frame appears.
5. Position the cursor over the flagged grace note requiring a slash and press ` (accent). This will place a slash on the grace note.

To add a slash to beamed grace notes

Normally, Finale adds slashes only to flagged (unbeamed) grace notes. It’s possible, however, to add slashes to beamed grace notes.

1. Click the Expression Tool  ; then click the grace note. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
2. Select Expression.
3. Proceeding through the dialog boxes, click as follows: Shape; Create; Select; Create. You are now in the Shape Designer. The following instructions give measurements in points (1/72 inch). If you’ve been working in different units, choose Rulers and Grid from the Shape Designer Menu and select Points. Also choose “.5 pt” from the Line Thickness submenu of the Shape Designer Menu. Because you’re making a very small shape, choose 400% from the View popup menu to magnify your work area.
4. Click the origin (the small white circle); drag upward and to the right, until the H: and V: text boxes both say 6.
5. Command-click the OK button (or press return five times). You can now adjust the slash by dragging its handle.

To eliminate grace notes from a transcription

When you’re using HyperScribe to notate real-time performances, you may find grace notes in the transcription. The problem is one of quantization—Finale is transcribing too precisely. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution.

1. From the MIDI/Audio Menu, choose Quantization Settings. The Quantization Settings dialog box appears.
2. If you’re importing a MIDI file, in the Import MIDI File Options dialog box, which appears after you have chosen your MIDI file to open, click Quant Settings. The Quantization Setting dialog box appears. If you’ve told Finale not to display the Import MIDI File Options dialog box during a File Open, you can select Quantization Settings from the MIDI/Audio Menu.
3. Click More Settings. The More Quantization Settings dialog box appears.
4. Select either Remove Grace Notes or Convert to Real Notes. See More Quantization Settings dialog box for details.
5. Click OK twice.  

To create a graphic only “slashed” grace note

In addition to the “intelligent” grace notes described above, you can also add a single, stem-up, “slashed” grace note symbol as an Articulation. In the Maestro symbol palette (accessed from the Articulation dialog box), the slashed grace note is #201. The grace note symbol without the slash is #59, and the stem-down grace note is #58. See Articulations for instructions on creating, moving, and deleting articulations.