Slurs

There are two ways to create a slur in Finale. The quick, easy way is to use a Smart Shape. A Smart Shape slur expands and contracts with the music and automatically breaks in two if it straddles a line break. A bend (with regard to Finale behavior) is just a special case of a slur.

Note: Slurs and phrase markings technically serve different musical purposes. However, you use the same Finale techniques to create both. In this discussion, the term slur refers to both kinds of markings.

If there are times that you don’t want to create a note-attached slur, choose Attach to Measures from the Smart Shape Menu to create measure-based slurs.

Tip: if you want all note-attached slurs or bends to be over or under, choose the slur direction without any slurs or bends selected. This menu action sets the default direction.

See also Engraver Slurs.

To create a note-attached slur

1. Click the Smart Shape Tool   in the Main Tool palette. The Smart Shape Palette and Smart Shape Menu appear.
2. Click on the Slur Tool    in the Smart Shape palette, then position the cursor on the slur’s beginning note. Make sure that a checkmark appears next to Attach to Notes in the Smart Shape Menu.
3. Double-click the mouse, holding the mouse button down on the second click. The note will be highlighted and a small slur line will appear. Continuing to hold down the button, drag the slur to the right until you reach the note marking the end of the attachment. When Finale highlights that note, let go of the mouse button. The new note-attached slur appears.

To create a slur spanning two consecutive notes, just double-click the mouse on the first note. Finale places the slur on the adjacent notes.

To move, reshape, or delete Smart Shape slurs

1. Click the Smart Shape Tool  . The Smart Shape Palette and the Smart Shape Menu appear. A small handle appears on all existing Smart Shapes in the score.
2. Click the handle of the slur you want to modify. You can also use the Tab key to select the desired slur, then hit Enter to modify the slur. The slur displays several diamond handles and a polygon connecting the handles.

3. To move the slur or change its arc or its end points, drag the appropriate handle.  

You can modify the slur in a few additional ways if you press shift while dragging: shift-drag an outer curve diamond handle to limit the direction you reshape the slur to one direction. Shift-click an outer curve diamond handle or Bezier control handle and drag it to the right or left to reshape the slur and change the “sharpness” of the slur’s inset; dragging away from the center of the slur makes the slur “fatter”, and dragging inward makes the slur more “pointed.” Shift-click a Bezier control handle and drag it up or down to reshape the arc of the curve.

Note: Constrained dragging is temporarily disabled while slurs are edited. If you would like to use constrained dragging press the shift key while you are moving the slur. See Program Options-Edit for more information on the Constrain Dragging option.

5. To remove the slur from the score, press delete.

To change a note-attached slur’s direction

1. Select the slur whose direction you want to change (for instructions on selecting slurs, refer to “To move, reshape, or delete a note-attached slur”).
2. From the Smart Shape Menu, choose Direction, then select the direction (Automatic, Over, Under) that you want Finale to place this slur. Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut command-F to flip the slur.

To define Slur Contour (height and shape) settings for note-attached slurs

1. Click the Smart Shape Tool  . The Smart Shape Menu appears.
2. Choose Slur Contour from the Smart Shape Menu. The Slur Contour dialog box appears.
3. Choose the desired Slur length—short, medium, or long or extra long. A slur appears in the Active display area beside a small square handle (the control point handle). The Staff display area shows the slur in proportion to other elements in your score.
4. Drag the control point handle vertically or horizontally to change the slur’s height and inset, respectively. If you prefer, you can enter values into the Height and Inset text boxes. The height is displayed in the measurement unit you’ve selected. The inset is a percentage of the slur length. Click Reset at any time to return the slur to Finale’s built-in settings.
5. Click OK (or press return) when you’re ready to save the new settings. Or click Cancel to discard any changes you made to the settings.

To define Slur Placement settings for note-attached slurs

1. Click the Smart Shape Tool  . The Smart Shape Menu appears.
2. From the Smart Shape Menu, choose Smart Shape Placement. The Smart Shape Placement dialog box appears.
3. Choose Slur from the Smart Shape type popup menu in the dialog box.
4. Select a slur from the list box. The slur appears in the Active display area.
5. Drag the slur end point vertically and horizontally until the slur attaches to the notes the way you want it to attach to similar types of notes in the score. Instead of using the mouse, you can enter values into the text boxes using the measurement unit you’ve selected.
6. Drag the other end-point of the slur to adjust it.
7. Click Reset at any time to return the slur to Finale’s built-in settings.
8. Click OK (or press return) when you’re ready to save the new settings. Or click Cancel to discard any changes you made to the settings.

Note: All slurs of this type that you create from now on (in this document) will use the Slur Placement settings. The settings also apply to slur end points that haven’t been manually adjusted in all similar existing slurs.

To define Slur System Break settings

1. Click the Smart Shape Tool  . The Smart Shape Menu appears.
2. Choose Smart Slur Options from the Smart Shape Menu. The Smart Slur Options dialog box appears.
3. Enter a number into the Avoid Staff Lines by at Least text box to specify the desired distance between the slur and the outside staff line closest to the slur.
4. Enter a value into the System Start Adjustment and the System End Adjustment text boxes, specifying where the slur should start and end in each of the staff systems spanned by the slur.
5. Click OK (or press return) when you’re ready to save the new settings. Or click Reset at any time if you want to restore the original built-in settings.

Note: All slurs created from now on will use these settings for each system break. These settings also apply to end points of existing slurs (from one staff to the next), if the end point hasn’t been manually adjusted.

To define Slur Thickness

1. Click the Smart Shape Tool  . The Smart Shape Menu appears.
2. From the Smart Shape Menu, choose Smart Slur Options. The Smart Slur Options dialog box appears.
3. Enter a number (in a measurement unit you’ve selected) into the Slur Thickness text boxes to specify the desired line thickness and shape of all slurs. Each slur is composed of two curves, an inner curve and an outer curve. These settings determine the relationship between the curves - how fat the slur is, how fast it tapers and whether one side is thicker than the other (for a “hand drawn” look).

The V setting determines the general thickness of the slur. Equal values give a balanced slur; unequal values make it thicker on one end than the other. The H settings can make the slur taper more or less quickly: a positive value on the left (mirrored by the opposite value on the right) will make it appear to taper more quickly, a negative value less quickly.

1. Enter a number (in a measurement unit you’ve selected) into the Slur Tip Width text box to specify the desired thickness of the tip of a slur.
2. Click OK (or press return) when you’re ready to save the new settings. Or click Reset at any time if you want to restore the original built-in settings. Click Cancel to discard any changes you made to the settings.

Note: All slurs you create from now on will use these settings. Also remember that all slurs already in the score will change to reflect these settings.

To copy Smart Shape slurs

Using the following technique, you can copy Smart Shape slurs from one place in the music to another, or from one staff to another. See also SmartFind and Paint dialog box.

1. Click the Selection Tool  .
2. From the Edit Menu, choose then Copy Items. The Edit Filter dialog box appears.
3. Click Smart Shapes (Attached to Notes). Click OK (or press return).
4. Select the region containing the Smart Shapes you want to copy. See Selecting music for some region-selecting shortcuts.
5. Drag the first source measure so that it’s superimposed on the first target measure. If the first target measure is not on-screen, scroll until you see it. Then, while pressing option and shift simultaneously, click the first target measure. In either case, the “How many times?” dialog box appears (unless you’re copying to the same measure on a different staff).
6. Type the number of times you want the Smart Shapes copied (horizontally). Click OK (or press return).