Ties

Finale uses three available tie spans—short, medium, and long—whose lengths you can separately define to best suit your document. Other global settings for each tie span allow you to tailor their overall appearance and placement in the score. You can further position and shape ties in the score individually.

To add or remove a tie (Simple Entry Tool)

  1. Click the Simple Entry Tool  image\Simple_Entry_Tool.gif. The Simple Entry Palette appears.
  2. Double-click the Tie Tool   on the Simple Entry Palette, then click the first note to be tied. If the first note is selected, press T. If the second note is selected, press shift-T. A tie appears. If you click the stem of a chord, a tie appears on every note in the chord; if you click a single notehead, only that note receives the tie. Remove a tie by clicking the note or chord again.

To add or remove a tie (Speedy Entry Tool)

  1. Click the Speedy Entry Tool, and click a measure. The editing frame appears.
  2. Click to position the cursor on the first note of the tied pair, or press the arrow keys to move the cursor. If you are adding a tie to a single note of a chord, use the up or down arrows to position the crossbar squarely on the notehead; to tie every note in a chord, position the crossbar on any line or space not containing a notehead.
  3. Press the equal sign (=) key or T to add a tie. A tie appears. If the insertion point bar was on a line or space not containing a notehead, a tie appears on every note in the chord; if the crossbar was on a single notehead, only that note receives the tie. Remove tie by pressing the equal sign key again.

To add a tie backwards (Speedy Entry Tool)

  1. Click the Speedy Entry Tool, and click a measure. The editing frame appears.
  2. Click the note where the tie end will appear. You can also press the arrow keys to position the cursor. If only a single note of a chord is to be tied, use the up or down arrows to position the crossbar squarely on its notehead; to add a tie end to every note in the chord, position the crossbar on any line or space not containing a notehead.
  3. Press the option and the equal sign (option-=) keys or press shift-T. A tie going to the previous note or chord appears. If the insertion point bar was on a chord stem, a tie appears on every note in the chord; if the crossbar was on a single notehead, only that note receives the tie. Remove a tie by pressing the option-= sign key again.

To change the direction of a tie (Simple Entry or Speedy Entry Tool)

  1. Click the Speedy Entry Tool, and click the measure containing the tie. Click on first note of the tie.
  2. Or, click the Simple Entry Tool. Command-click on first note of the tie.
  3. Press command-F to reverse the direction of the tie. In Speedy Entry, choose Automatic (or press command-shift-F) from the Tie Direction submenu of the Speedy Menu to have Finale automatically set the tie’s direction based on the position of the tied notes on the staff (Automatic is default). Choose Over to set the tie over notes, Under to place the tie under tied notes.

To change the direction of a tie (Special Tools Tool)

  1. Click the Special Tools Tool  image\Special_Tools_Tool.gif, then click the measure containing a tie to adjust.
  2. Click the Tie Tool  . Three handles appear on each tie in the measure.
  3. Select a handle of a tie whose direction you are changing.
  4. Choose Flip from the Tie Direction submenu of the Special Tools Menu (or press command-F) to reverse the direction of the tie. Choose Automatic (or press command-shift-F) to have Finale automatically set the tie’s direction based on the position of the tied notes on the staff (Automatic is default). Choose Over to always place the tie over the notes, Under to always place tie under the tied notes.

To adjust the direction of ties on chords globally

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then select Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Make a selection from the Chords popup menu to set the direction of ties on the inside notes of chords (the top and bottom ties always curve in opposite directions). Choose Stem Reversal to set tie direction based on the tied notes’ position above or below the stem reversal point (set in the Staff Setup dialog box). Choose Split Evenly to divide ties evenly over and under the notes. Outside/Inside is provided only for compatibility with previous versions. SeeStaff Setup dialog box.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To adjust the direction of ties on opposing seconds globally

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then select Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Click on the Opposing Seconds checkbox to allow ties to flip in opposite directions for opposing seconds. Deselect this checkbox to ignore opposing seconds for tie direction.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

Note: This setting is mainly for chords which have more than 3 notes. If there are only 2 notes which are an interval of a second apart (and no other layers are present) ties on seconds will still be opposing.

 

To adjust the direction of ties with mixed stems globally

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then select Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Make a selection from the Mixed Stems popup menu to set the direction of ties on the inside notes of chords (the top and bottom ties always curve in opposite directions). Select from Over, Under or Opposite First Stem which will set the tie over or under depending on the direction of the stem of the first note in the tie.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To adjust the direction of ties in a region

  1. Click the Selection Tool  image\Selection_Tool.gif and select a region of music. See Selecting music for more details on how to do this.
  2. From the Utilities Menu, choose Change, then Ties.  
  3. Check the box for any tie options you wish to change for the selected region.  
  4. To have Finale automatically set the tie’s direction, click the Automatic radio button. To always keep the tie over the tied notes, click Over. Click Under to keep the tie under the tied notes.
  5. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To change an individual tie’s shape and placement by dragging it on the score

  1. Click the Special Tools Tool  image\Special_Tools_Tool.gif, then click the measure containing a tie to adjust.
  2. Click the Tie Tool  . Three handles appear on each tie in the measure.
  3. Use the mouse to drag any of the handles, adjusting the tie’s start and end position, height and inset until it is positioned to your liking. Double-click the middle handle and two handles appear allowing you to change the inset for the left and right side of the tie arc.
  4. To remove any positioning, select a handle and type clear or shift-delete.

To adjust placement of ties globally

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Select the variation of tie for which you would like to adjust the placement settings. There are a number of selections in the popup menu. There are separate settings for ties that are inside chords, and ties that are the outermost ties on chords (noteside and stemside). Each of these have separate settings for ties over notes and ties under notes.

Note: When you are adjusting these settings remember that the notes tied together may not use the same choice from the popup menu. For example, ties with mixed stems may use different outer placement settings. To have Outer placement settings take effect, the Use Outer Placement checkbox must be selected.

  1. Set the horizontal and vertical starting position for the selected tie variation. Enter a number (in measurement units) into the Start H: text box to specify the tie’s starting position horizontally from the inside edge of the first tied note. A larger number moves the tie to the right; a smaller number (including negative numbers) moves it to the left. Enter a number (in measurement units) into the Start V: text box to specify the tie’s starting position vertically from the inside edge of the first tied note. Type a larger number to move the tie up, a smaller number (including negative numbers) to move it down.
  2. Set the horizontal and vertical ending position for the selected tie variation. Enter a number (in measurement units) into the End H: text box to specify the tie’s ending position horizontally from the inside edge of the second tied note. A larger number moves the tie to the right; a smaller number (including negative numbers) moves it to the left. Enter a number (in measurement units) into the End V: text box to specify the tie’s ending position vertically from the inside edge of the second tied note. Type a larger number to move the tie up, a smaller number (including negative numbers) to move it down.
  3. Enter a number (in measurement units) into the System Start Adjustment text box to specify the tie’s distance from the start of the new system. Type a larger number to move the tie to the right; type a smaller number (including negative numbers) to move the tie to the left.
  4. Enter a number (in measurement units) into the System End Adjustment text box to specify the tie’s distance, measured backwards from the end of the system. Type a larger number to move the tie to the right; type a smaller number (including negative numbers) to move the tie to the left.
  5. Select additional tie variations from the popup menu and change as desired. All tie variations will be updated when you exit the dialog box by clicking OK.
  6. Click OK to save all of your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box and discard any changes.

To adjust the placement of an individual tie

  1. Click the Special Tools Tool  image\Special_Tools_Tool.gif, then click the measure containing a tie to adjust.
  2. Click the Tie Tool  . Three handles appear on each tie in the measure.
  3. Double-click the left or right handle of the tie. The Tie Alterations dialog box appears.
  4. Set the horizontal starting position of the tie in relation to the first tied note. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the Start H: text box to position the tie horizontally away from the inside edge of the note. A larger number moves the tie to the right; a smaller number (including negative numbers) moves it to the left.
  5. Set the vertical starting position of the tie in relation to the first tied note. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the Start V: text box. Type a larger number to move the tie up, a smaller number (including negative numbers) to move it down.
  6. Set the horizontal ending position of the tie in relation to the second tied note. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the End H: text box to position the tie horizontally away from the inside edge of the note. A larger number moves the tie to the right; a smaller number (including negative numbers) moves it to the left.
  7. Set the vertical ending position of the tie in relation to the second tied note. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the End V: text box. Type a larger number to move the tie up, a smaller number (including negative numbers) to move it down.
  8. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To adjust the placement of a tie after a system break

See  To adjust the placement of an individual tie in the score.

To adjust the shape of ties globally

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Click the Tie Contour button to display the Tie Contour dialog box.
  3. Select the tie style whose settings you want to adjust from the Style popup menu. Select Short, Medium, Long or Tie End (tie after a system break). To set more than one style, just select another style from the list before you click OK to apply your changes. To change the settings for Short Medium and Long, enter values (in measurement units) into the Short, Medium, or Long Span text boxes. These lengths will allow you to specify different height and insets for short, medium and long length ties.
  4. To change the height of the left and right sides of the arc of the selected tie style, enter values (in measurement units) into the Left: Height and Right: Height text boxes, respectively. A larger number increases the height of the arc; a smaller number decreases it.

Note: The Height setting is actually the height of a control point, an imaginary point that Finale uses to calculate the arc’s curve. Finale draws the actual height of the arc a little less than the value you specify for Height.

  1. Choose an Inset Style. Click Inset percent to specify Inset as a percentage of the tie’s length. Click Inset Fixed to specify Inset as an unchanging amount for all tie spans, regardless of a tie’s length. This has been provided for compatibility.
  2. Specify the shape of the left and right endpoints of short, medium, and long ties. Finale uses the Left and Right Inset settings to shape the left and right tie ends, giving them a more “rounded” or “hooked” appearance depending on the Inset value. If you selected Inset percent as the Inset Style, enter a number into the Left and Right Inset text boxes that is a percentage of the tie length for each span. Increase the percentage to flatten the tie ends; use a smaller percentage to make the ends more hooked. If Inset fixed is the selected Inset Style, enter a number (in measurement units) into the text box that appears for all spans. A larger number flattens to tie ends; a smaller number hooks the ends.
  3. Set how to determine the height of ties that fall between the specified short and medium, or medium and long spans. Click Interpolate height between short and long span to have Finale automatically calculate a proportional height based on the defined Span and Height settings. Click Use medium height between short and long span to always use the Medium Height setting for ties whose lengths fall between the specified spans.
  4. Set the thickness of the left side of the arc for all ties. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the Left text box. The larger the number, the thicker the arc.
  5. Set the thickness of the right side of the arc for all ties. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the Right text box. The larger the number, the thicker the arc.
  6. To avoid staff lines, select the checkbox Avoid Staff Lines By. Enter a different number if you want to change the default of 8 EVPUs. 12 EVPUS is equivalent to centering the tie between staff lines. The only viable range for this text box is 2-12 EVPUs.
  7. Click OK to save your changes and return to the Tie options. Click OK to return to the document. Click Cancel to return to the Tie options without making any changes.

To adjust the shape of an individual tie

  1. Click the Special Tools Tool  image\Special_Tools_Tool.gif, then click the measure containing a tie to adjust.
  2. Click the Tie Tool  . Three handles appear on each tie in the measure.
  3. Double-click the starting or ending handle of the tie. The Tie Alterations dialog box appears.
  4. Set the Height of the tie’s arc. Enter values (in measurement units) into the Height: Start and Height: End text boxes to set the height of the left and right control points of the tie’s arc, respectively. A larger number increases the height of the arc. A smaller number decreases the height.

Note: The Height setting is actually the height of a control point, an imaginary point that Finale uses to calculate the arc’s curve when creating a tie. Finale draws the actual height of the arc a little less than the value you specify for Height.

  1. Set the tie Inset. Enter values into the Left: Inset and Right: Inset text boxes to set the amount of “hook” of the left and right end of the tie. Inset is a percentage of the tie length. Enter a lower percentage to hook the end of the tie more, curving it more sharply. A higher percentage will flatten the ends of tie.
  2. To avoid staff lines select the checkbox, Avoid Staff Lines By. Finale uses the Avoid Staff Lines By: global setting in Document Options-Ties to position the arcs of ties in the region.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To set tie thickness

See To adjust the shape of ties globally.

To horizontally adjust ties over system breaks

See To adjust placement of ties globally.

To use outer placement setting for outer ties on chords and single tied notes globally

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Click Use Outer Placement.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To change the outer placement setting for an individual tie

  1. Click the Special Tools Tool  image\Special_Tools_Tool.gif, then click the measure containing the tied chord.
  2. Click the Tie Tool  . Three handles appear on each tie in the measure.
  3. Double-click the starting or ending tie handle. The Tie Alterations dialog box appears.
  4. Select a desired setting from the Outer Placement popup menu.
  5. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To avoid staff lines with ties over a region

  1. Click the Selection Tool  image\Selection_Tool.gif and select a region of music. See Selecting music for more details on how to do this.
  2. From the Utilities Menu, choose Change, then Ties.  
  3. Click the Avoid Staff Lines checkbox. Finale uses the Avoid Staff Lines By: global setting in Document Options-Ties to position the arcs of ties in the region.
  4. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To break ties across time and key signature changes globally

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Enter a number (in measurement units) into the Left Gap text box to specify the tie’s distance backwards from the time signature. Type a smaller number to move the tie to the left, away from the time signature; type a larger number to move the tie to the right, closer to the time signature.
  3. Enter a number (in measurement units) into the Right Gap text box to specify the tie’s distance forward from the time signature. Type a larger number to move the tie to the right, away from the time signature; type a smaller number to move the tie to the left, closer to the time signature.
  4. Click OK to confirm your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To break ties in a region at time or key signature changes

  1. Click the Selection Tool  image\Selection_Tool.gif and select a region of music. See Selecting music for more details on how to do this.
  2. From the Utilities Menu, choose Change, then Ties.  
  3. Choose On from the Break for Time or Key Signature popup menu. Finale will always break ties in the region at a time or key signature change, regardless of the Tie options global setting. To never break at key or time signatures Choose Off.
  4. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To break an individual tie at a time or key signature change

  1. Click the Special Tools Tool  image\Special_Tools_Tool.gif, then click the measure containing a tie you want to edit.
  2. Click the Tie Tool  . Three handles appear on each tie in the measure.
  3. Double-click the starting or ending handle of the tie you want to edit. The Tie Alterations dialog box appears.
  4. Choose On from the Break for Time or Key Signature popup menu. Finale will always break this tie at a time or key signature change, regardless of the Tie options global setting. To never break at key or time signatures Choose Off.
  5. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To adjust ties for augmentation dots

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options and select Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Click Start After Single Dot to start ties after notes with a single dot. Click Start After Multiple Dots to start ties after notes with more than one dot.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To shift ties for intervals of a second

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options and select Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Click Shift For Seconds to have all the ties on chords shift in for the interval of a second.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To avoid accidentals for single ties

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options and select Ties. The Tie options appear.
  2. Click End Before Single Accidental to have single ties avoid accidentals.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To remove manual positioning over a region

  1. Click the Selection Tool image\Selection_Tool.gif and select a region of music. See Selecting music for more details on how to do this.
  2. From the Utilities Menu, choose Change, then Ties.  
  3. Click Remove Manual Positioning. This will remove any individual position of ties in the selected region and return the settings to match your global settings.
  4. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

To set a minimum space between tied notes

  1. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then select Music Spacing.
  2. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the Minimum Distance Between Notes With Ties text box to set a minimum distance to leave between tied notes. Enter zero if you do not want any minimum spacing limit applied.
  3. Click OK to save your changes. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box without making any changes.

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