Guitar notation

Guitar parts are often more complex than other parts, because they often combine regular notation with slashes, or hash marks, representing chordal rhythms. There are three ways to accomplish this combination, depending on the kind of part you want to create.

If there’s a passage where you want to indicate ad lib comping, you can let Finale fill in the measures automatically with either stemless, evenly-spaced slashes, or beamed, stemmed rhythmic slashes. See Slashes.

If the part calls for a combination of notes and pitchless slashes, you can enter the melodic parts in one Finale layer, and add the slashes in another. See To combine notes with pitchless slashes on one staff.

If there are only a few slashes that must fall on specific pitches, you can notate the entire part in one layer, temporarily notating the slashes as standard noteheads. Once that’s done, you can change the appropriate noteheads to slashes with the Special Tools Tool. See“To create pitched slashes (note-by-note method).

To enter hammer-ons, pull-offs and other guitar-specific markings

1. Click the Smart Shape Tool   in the Main Tool palette.
2. Click the Slur Tool  .
3. Double click the first fret number. A slur will extend from the first fret number to the second.
4. Hold down the Option key and click the Custom Shape Tool   . You should now see the Smart Line Selection dialog box.
5. Double-click the “H” to select a Hammer-On, or the ”P” for a Pull-Off. You will see many other guitar markings here as well including a bend (B), release (R), palm mute (P.M.), a let ring marking and others. You can find a complete list in the Appendix under Guitar Markings.
6. Click the Select button.
7. Double-click the first fret number and drag to the second. You will see the H or P appear above the fret number. You will see two handles below the hammer-on or pull-off indicating the endpoints of an invisible line. Click and drag either of these to position the H or P accordingly.

You can use predefined metatools to quickly enter these items, and even program your own. See Metatools and To Program a Smart Shape metatool for details. You can also enter several guitar markings as articulations. See Articulations.

To combine notes with rhythmic notation slashes on one staff

1. Choose Layer 2 from layer buttons in the lower-left corner of the screen, and click the Speedy Entry Tool  . You’re going to notate the parts that are to display normal noteheads. See Speedy Entry for instructions in using the Speedy Entry Tool.
2. Click a measure, and enter the notes. For each beat where you’ll want a slash, enter any pitch; we’ll convert them to slashes next so what counts are the rhythms.
3. Click the Staff Tool , and select the notes that will contain slashes. See Selecting music for more information.
4. From the Staff Menu, choose Apply Staff Styles. The Apply Staff Styles dialog box appears.
5. Select Rhythmic Notation, and click OK. See Staff styles for more information.

To create pitched slashes (note-by-note method)

1. Create the part on a single staff. For each note that’s going to be a slash, enter a normal note.
2. Click the Special Tools Tool  , and click the first measure you want to contain slashes.
3. Click the Note Shape Tool   . Double-click the handle of the first notehead you want to be a slash. Finale displays a palette containing every symbol in the Maestro music font.
4. Double-click the slash. You actually have a choice of two slashes; the smaller one (slot #33) usually looks best. (The larger one is slot #243.) You return to the document, where the note now has a slash instead of a notehead.
5. Repeat the process with the other slashed notes. If the stems don’t connect with the notehead correctly, this can be adjusted for each character you use as a notehead. See Stem Connection Editor dialog box for details.

To use a MIDI guitar for entry

There are two components necessary for entry with a MIDI guitar, the MIDI guitar itself, and a guitar to MIDI interface. The guitar to MIDI interface translates pitches from the guitar into MIDI signals to be sent to the computer. Consult the instruction manual that came with your guitar to MIDI interface to insure it is connected properly to the computer. Then in Finale, go to the MIDI setup dialog box (under the MIDI menu) and choose the appropriate MIDI IN driver. For more information on MIDI setup in the Finale Installation and Tutorials.

There might be a slight delay from the time the string is plucked to the time the MIDI information reaches Finale. To compensate for this, you may need to adjust the MIDI Latency setting:

1. From the MIDI/Audio Menu, choose MIDI Setup.
2. In the MIDI Latency text box, enter “25” ms. This is just a first guess. Getting this value to match the precise delay may require some trial and error. You may need up to 150ms to compensate for the delay. The ideal amount of latency will depend on your hardware configuration.
3. Coordinate MIDI channels for your guitar strings. From the MIDI menu, choose Tablature MIDI Channels. The MIDI Channels for Tablature dialog box appears. The MIDI data for each string on a MIDI guitar reaches Finale on its own MIDI channel. In order to properly organize this information, you need to tell Finale the MIDI channel assigned to each string. In this dialog box, enter the channel for each string as defined on your guitar to MIDI interface. Consult your interface’s instruction manual for information on assigning strings to MIDI channels, or viewing the currently selected MIDI channel for each string. See Tablature MIDI Channels dialog box.

Once you have hooked up the MIDI guitar and set the latency and string MIDI channels, follow instructions for Recording with HyperScribe on either a notation or tablature staff. You can also use a MIDI guitar for entry while using the Simple or Speedy Entry Tools. The principals for using HyperScribe for entry with a MIDI guitar are the same as entry with a MIDI keyboard.

See also

Slashes

Tablature