Because this aspect of Finale is among its most technical, you’ll find only a summary of the steps for creating a nonstandard key signature in this entry. In some of the steps, you’ll be directed to a corresponding (more detailed) discussion. Steps for a sample key signature of B, E and F have been provided where appropriate.

To create nonstandard key signatures

1. Click the Key Signature tool  , and double-click the measure in which the key will change. The Key Signature dialog box appears.
2. Choose Nonstandard from the drop-down list menu next to the scroll bar. The Nonstandard Key Signature dialog box appears. In the center of this dialog box you’ll find a pair of buttons with which you tell Finale which kind of nonstandard key signature you want to create: Linear or Nonlinear.
3. Click Linear Key Format or Nonlinear Key Signature. Click Next or Prev to find an open Key Format. Click Next twice to advance to a key signature you can edit. The first two are the Major and minor formats (that cannot be changed). (See Nonstandard Key Signature dialog box.)

A linear key format is one whose scale is composed of a repeating sequence of diatonic and chromatic steps. The standard diatonic major scale, for example, is a linear key format—in Finale, it’s called Linear Key Format 0. (Linear Key Format 1, which you can choose by clicking the Next button, is the standard minor scale format; a key signature with no sharps or flats that’s been set to this key format considers A, not C, to be the first note of the scale. Because these two formats have been predefined, you’ll find that only the ClefOrd and Attribute icons [two of the five icons whose associated dialog boxes define the key format] are operational. Once you’ve selected Key Format 2 or higher, all five icons are active.)

The keys of a linear key format, however, need not proceed around the circle of fifths. You could create a system that proceeds around a circle of sixths, for example. As long as the scale in each of the key format’s related “keys” is formed by the same sequence of whole and half steps, and as long as the upper and lower halves of the scale are formed by the same sequences of whole and half steps (such as the tetrachords in a standard diatonic scale), the system of keys is considered a linear key format.

A nonlinear key signature is one for which there’s no “circle of fifths”; in fact, there’s no circle of anything. Whereas a linear key format is a system of related keys and key signatures, a nonlinear key signature is a key signature unto itself, unrelated to any other key signature. It can contain one sharp and one flat, for example, on any notes of the scale, and there need not be any logic to their positions.

4. Specify the number of diatonic and chromatic steps you want in the scale by clicking the KeyMap icon. The Key Step Map dialog box appears, in which you specify how many steps you want in an octave, and which steps are “diatonic” and which “chromatic.” It also determines the playback of your key signature. Choose the total steps in your signature. Using the buttons under Total Steps, set the key map so that the scale notes are white and accidentals are black. In our sample key signature of B, E and F, the Total Steps would be 12 and the key map as follows:

See Key Step Map dialog box for details.

5. Specify the order in which accidentals appear in each sequential key signature by clicking the AOrdAmt icon. Click this icon to display the Accidental Order and Amount dialog box, in which you specify the new accidental you want to appear with each progression (if any) to a new key, and on what line or space it should appear. The Unit number is the order in which the accidentals appear in the staff display of the key signature. For example, in E major, B=Unit 1, E=Unit 2 and A=Unit3. The Step Level is the distance from middle C. For example, B=Step Level 6. The Amount is how far, in half steps, to alter that pitch. For example, flat=Amount -1, sharp=Amount +1, and unaltered=Amount 0. The Next and Previous buttons select the Unit. For Units that are not sharped or flatted, enter zero for the Amount. In our sample key signature of B, E and F:

See Accidental Order and Amount dialog box for more information.

6. Specify the tone center (root) of each key by clicking the ToneCnt icon. The Tone Center(s) dialog box appears, in which you specify the relationship of each new “key” (tone center) to the appearance of a new accidental. See Tone Center(s) dialog box for a more complete discussion.
7. Specify the octave in which each of the accidentals appears (on the staff) by clicking the ClefOrd icon. The Accidental Octave Placement dialog box appears, in which you can specify the octave in which you want each accidental to appear according to each clef. Click the Next and Previous buttons to select the accidental to edit. In our sample key signature of B, E and F:

      Clef 0 (treble)   Clef 3 (bass)

See Accidental Octave Placement dialog box for details.

7. Choose the font and character to be used in place of the normal sharps and flats (if you want) by clicking the Attribute icon. The Special Key Signatures dialog box appears, in which you can specify a number of miscellaneous attributes for the key format you’re creating. For example, you can specify nonstandard symbols to be used instead of the normal sharps and flats in the key signature. See Special Key Signature Attributes dialog box.
8. Click OK (or press ENTER). You return to the Key Signature dialog box.
9. Specify the transposition effect and measure range. See Key signatures for an explanation of these options.
10. Click OK.  

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