Staff styles

Staff styles are named sets of staff attributes that can be applied to a region. Everywhere the same staff style is applied, the same staff attributes apply. If a staff style is changed, it changes everywhere in the document the staff style is applied. Staff styles can be used to create transpositions, change the number of staff lines, or the notation style for the selection region. A number of staff styles have already been created for you in the default file.

For information regarding staff styles in scores with linked parts, see Linked parts.

Note: While most staff styles can be layered on top of each other (i.e. 1-bar repeat and a saxophone transposition), some styles conflict (i.e. 1-bar repeat and blank notation). Finale will alert you to this conflict when you apply or copy a staff style. It will not, however, warn you if you create conflicting styles by editing a layered style.

To create a staff style

Click the Staff Tool $image\Staff_Tool.gif$ . The Staff Menu appears.
Choose Define Staff Styles from the Staff Menu. The Staff Styles dialog box appears.
Click New and type in the style name in the Style Name text box.
Select the items you wish to include in your staff style. See Staff Styles dialog box for details. Remember that a checkbox can be selected, unselected or grayed out which means to leave it as it is.

Tip: choose Copyable to allow the staff style to be copied with the Selection Tool.

Click OK. You are now ready to apply the staff style you created.

To edit a staff style

Click the Staff Tool $image\Staff_Tool.gif$ . The Staff Menu appears.
Choose Define Staff Styles from the Staff Menu. The Staff Styles dialog box appears.
Select the staff style you wish to change from the Available Styles drop-down list.
Make any changes you require in the Staff Styles dialog box.
Click OK. Any changes you have made will be applied to the everywhere that style is used.

To apply a staff style

Click the Staff Tool $image\Staff_Tool.gif$ . The Staff Menu appears.
Select the region you want to affect. See Selecting music for hints on selecting shortcuts.
While pressing the number or letter corresponding to the Metatool, (for example, S for Slash Notation) click a measure. Finale applies the staff style over the range or measures you selected. See the Staff Style library in the Appendix for a listing of metatool assignments in the default file. If you don’t know the metatool, use the steps below.
Choose Apply Staff Styles from the Staff Menu. You can also select Apply Staff Styles from the contextual menu by right-clicking in the staff. The Apply Staff Style dialog box appears.
Select the staff style you wish to apply from the
Click OK.

To clear staff styles from a measure region

To remove the full duration of a staff style or multiple staff styles, see To clear a staff style.

Click the Staff Tool $image\Staff_Tool.gif$ . The Staff Menu appears.
Under the Staff Menu, ensure Show Staff Styles is checked. All Staff Styles are indicated by horizontal bars above the music.
Select the region you want to affect. See Selecting Music.
Choose Clear Staff Styles from the Staff Menu. You can also select Clear Staff Styles from the contextual menu by right-clicking in the staff. The staff styles will be removed from the selected region.

To clear a staff style

To remove all staff styles from a specific region of measures, see To clear a staff styles from a measure region. To delete a staff style definition from the Staff Styles dialog box, see To delete a staff style.

Click the Staff Tool $image\Staff_Tool.gif$ . The Staff Menu appears.
Under the Staff Menu, ensure Show Staff Styles is checked. All Staff Styles are indicated by horizontal bars above the affected regions of a staff.
Click the horizontal staff style bar you would like to clear. The staff style bar changes color to red indicating it is selected. Hold down Shift and click additional staff style bars to add to the selection.
Press the Delete key. Alternatively, right-click a selected staff style bar and choose Clear Selected Staff Styles. The selected staff style is removed.

To delete a staff style

These instructions demonstrate how to delete a staff style definition. To remove all staff styles from a specific region of measures, see To clear a staff style from a measure region. To remove the full duration of a staff style or multiple staff styles, see To clear a staff style.

Click the Staff Tool $image\Staff_Tool.gif$ . The Staff Menu appears.
Choose Define Staff Styles from the Staff Menu. The Staff Styles dialog box appears.
Select the staff style you wish to delete from the Available Styles drop-down list.
Click Delete.
Click OK. The staff style will be deleted from the list and the document.

To create a staff style metatool

Click the Staff Tool $image\Staff_Tool.gif$ . The Staff Menu appears.
Press shift and a number key or a letter. Finale displays the Apply Staff Style dialog box.
Select the staff style you wish to assign from the drop-down list.
Click OK.

To apply a staff style metatool

Click the Staff Tool $image\Staff_Tool.gif$ . The Staff Menu appears.
Select the region you want to affect. See Selecting music for hints on selecting shortcuts.
Press the number or letter corresponding to the Metatool you programmed. Finale applies the staff style over the range or measures you selected. See Finale Libraries in the Appendix for a listing of Staff Style metatool assignments in the default file.

To load a staff style library

From the File Menu, choose Load Library.
Navigate to the folder containing the desired library. The default libraries are found in the Libraries folder in the Finale folder.
Select the library and choose Open.

To save a staff style library

Create only the staff styles you want to move. Delete redundant staff style if needed.
From the File Menu, choose Save Library. The Save Library dialog box appears.
Click Staff Styles and click OK.
Name the library and click Save. The library is now available to load into other files.

To display a staff differently in one part than another

A common case would be using the same score staff for both bass clef baritone and treble clef baritone parts. In these steps you will create a new part and apply a staff style to show it in a different clef and with a different transposition.

From the Document Menu, choose Manage Parts. The Manage Parts dialog box appears. If the score does not yet contain parts, click Generate Parts to create them based on the existing score staves.
Click New Part. The dialog box expands and a new part appears in the list above.
Click Edit Part Name to open the Edit Text dialog box. Enter the name of the part and click OK.
Click the staff you want to use for the part in the right column. Then click Add to Part to add it to the middle column.
Click OK. You have just added a part containing the same score staff as another part. Now, you can use a staff style to apply a different transposition, clef, or other notation style to this part. Notation (and other) changes to this staff in the score will apply to this part as well as the original part.
From the Document Menu, choose Edit Part, and then the part you just created.
Choose the Staff Tool.
From the Edit Menu choose Select All (or press Ctrl-A) to select all measures in the part.
From the Staff Menu, choose Apply Staff Style. If the style you need is here, choose it and click OK and you’re done - the part is now displayed in the new style. If the style is not in the list, click Define. The Staff Styles dialog box appears. Move ahead to step 10.
Click New. Replace “(New Staff Style)” with a new name. Then, make the desired changes. For example, to create a B flat baritone part, click the Select button next to the clef, choose the treble clef, and click OK. Then, click the Select button next to transposition and from the Key Signature drop-down menu, choose Bb treble clef. Click OK. For more details, see Staff styles.
Click OK to return to the Apply Staff Styles dialog box. The style you just created is highlighted.
Click OK. The part is now displayed in the staff style you just defined.