Click Assignment

$image\Click_Assignment.gif$

How to get there

Click the Lyrics Tool $image\Lyric_Tool.gif$ . After creating lyrics with the Edit Lyrics command in the Lyrics Menu, choose Click Assignment from the Lyrics Menu (and then click the note to which you want to begin attaching lyric syllables). (If you’ve created different lyrics types—Verse, Chorus, and Section—the Click Assignment window will display only the most recent lyric type you’ve worked on. Use the Specify Current Lyric command in the Lyrics Menu to specify a different type.)

What it does

The Click Assignment window provides a scrolling display of any lyrics you entered in the Edit Lyrics text processor. Use the lower scroll bar to scroll through the lyrics horizontally (click in the gray area to move one full window to the left or right, and click the arrows to move one syllable at a time). If you entered several sets of lyrics (more than one Verse, Chorus, or Section, for example), use the upper scroll bar to scroll through different sets of the same type. You can move the Click Assignment window by dragging its title bar, and you can close it (and exit the Click Assignment mode) by clicking its close box.

When this window is present, each time you click a note in the score, the lyric at the left edge of the Click Assignment window disappears from the window and attaches itself to the note you clicked. (Your clicks need to be within the staff lines, not necessarily on the noteheads.) If you click within the staff at the position of a note while pressing ctrl, Finale will automatically distribute all the syllables in the Click Assignment window to the notes in the score, until it runs out of either notes or syllables.

Auto Update. If you’re assigning syllables to notes in the score by clicking one note at a time, you can select the Auto Update button to make Finale redraw the measure after you assign each syllable, widening it if necessary to accommodate the lyrics. (If you don’t select Auto Update, the lyrics may overlap slightly as you’re putting them into the score. To space them correctly, use the Music Spacing command.)
[Four positioning triangles]. When the Click Assignment window appears, 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).

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.

Tip: To attach all the lyrics at once, hold down the Ctrl key as you click on the first note.