Pickup measures

To create a pickup measure at the beginning of a piece

The following method, in effect, places an “invisible rest” at the beginning of the first measure of your piece. Follow these steps to convert the first measure into a pickup measure. If you wish to add a pickup measure before the first measure of your piece, first insert a measure with the Measure Tool. See Measure Menu. Any notes you enter will be pushed to the right of this invisible rest. Finale will also automatically skip over your pickup measure when displaying measure numbers. There is another method which some users prefer to create both pickup measures at the beginning of a piece and pickup measures within a piece. See  To create a pickup measure within a piece.

1. From the Document Menu, choose Pickup Measure. The Pickup Measure dialog box appears containing rhythmic values.
2. Click the rhythmic value corresponding to the sum of the pickup note or notes. If the duration of the pickup notes is equivalent to a dotted note, click the dotted note.
3. Click OK (or press return), and enter the pickup notes. Finale will still play back the entire measure—including the invisible rest before the pickup measure. If you’ve entered the notes before creating the pickup measure, you may need to reapply music spacing.

To create a pickup measure within a piece

1. Enter the pickup notes first. For the moment, notate them at the beginning of the measure.
2. Choose the Selection Tool   .
3. Click the pickup measure. Then, from the plug-ins menu, choose Measures > Split Measures. The Split Measures dialog box appears.
4. For Split Measure After _ Beat, enter the number of beats in the pickup measure. You can leave Move Second Part of Split Measure To Next System checked as this setting is irrelevant here.
5. Click OK. The measure is now split in two.  
6. Double-click the second half of the measure (to select the full measure stack). Then, from the Edit Menu, choose Delete Measure Stack.
7. Choose the Measure Tool .
8. Double-click the pickup measure to open the Measure Attributes dialog box.
9. In the Barline column, select the Normal icon and click OK. Now, you can use the beat chart to adjust the spacing. To do so, click the lower handle on the barline to the right of the pickup measure. Then drag the beat handle accordingly. To restore the measure to a normal (non-pickup) measure, click the Time Signature Tool, double-click the measure, uncheck "Use a Different Time Signature for Display" and then adjust the number of beats to match the time signature. See Time Signatures.