Stems

1. Choose the Simple Entry tool .
2. OPTION+click a note to select it.

   Notes just entered are selected automatically.

3. Press L (press twice if necessary) to freeze the stem in the opposite direction.

   When a stem is “frozen” up or down, it’s no longer free to change directions if it gets transposed.

4. To restore a stem to its “floating” status, position the insertion bar on the note and press OPTION+L.

1. Choose the Speedy Entry tool and click the measure in question. The editing frame appears.
2. Click the note whose stem you want to flip (or use the arrow keys to position the insertion bar).

   Make certain you’re in the correct layer (if you’ve entered music in layers) and the correct voice (if you’re using the Voice 1/Voice 2 feature). Press SHIFT+UP ARROW or SHIFT+down arrow to change layers; press the apostrophe key to change voices.

3. Press L to freeze the stem in the opposite direction.

   When a stem is “frozen” up or down, it’s no longer free to change directions if it gets transposed.

4. To restore a stem to its “floating” status, position the insertion bar on the note and press OPTION+L.

1. Choose the Selection tool and select the region to be affected. See Selecting music for some region-selecting shortcuts.
2. Choose Utilities > Stem Direction > Up or Down. All stems in the selected region are now “frozen” in the direction you specified.

1. Choose the Selection tool and select the region to be affected. See Selecting music for some region-selecting shortcuts.
2. Choose Utilities > Stem Direction > Use Default Direction. Any frozen stems are unlocked and follow the default behavior for stem direction.

A double stem is a second stem, pointing in the opposite direction from the note’s original stem. A note with a double stem often signifies two voices in unison.

1. Choose the Special Tools tool and click the measure in question.
2. Choose the Double/Split Stem Tool . A handle appears on every notehead in the measure; another appears above the staff, and another below.
3. To create a double stem, click the handle below any note or chord. A second stem appears on the note you clicked, no matter which way the original stem pointed.
4. To restore the note to its original single-stemmed status, click the lower handle again so that it’s no longer highlighted.

1. After creating double stems on each note that will have a split stem with the Double/Split Stem Tool , click the handle of each notehead that you want to attach to the upper stem only. Each notehead you click joins the upper stem, and the remaining notes are attached to the lower stem.
2. To restore a note to its original stem, click the split stem handle again so that it’s no longer highlighted.

A reverse stem is one that’s drawn on the "wrong" side of its notehead; it’s encountered most frequently in conjunction with cross-staff notes. Using the Special Tools tool, you can create a reverse stem on any note or chord.

1. Choose the Special Tools tool , and click the measure in question.
2. Choose the Reverse Stem Tool . A handle appears above and below each note or chord.
3. Click the upper handle (for an upstem note), or the lower handle (for a downstem note). Finale responds by attaching the stem to the opposite side of the notehead.

   Bear in mind that you should decide which handle to click (upper or lower) based on the stem’s direction.

Once you’ve created reverse stemming, you may find your score easier to edit if stems are drawn on the correct sides of their noteheads; if so, follow the procedure below.

1. Choose Document > Document Options and select Stems. The Document Options - Stems dialog box appears.
2. Deselect Display Reverse Stemming. When this option is off, Finale draws every stem on the original side of its notehead.
3. Click OK (or press RETURN). At any time, you can restore all affected stems to reverse-stem status by turning Display Reverse Stemming on again.

   You might want to turn off Display Cross-staff Notes in Original Staff at the same time you deselect Display Reverse Stemming, so that all notes are temporarily drawn without their unusual beaming configurations.

1. Choose the Special Tools tool and click the measure in question.
2. Choose the Stem Length Tool . A handle appears on every unbeamed stem.

   If you choose the Beam Stem Adjust Tool , then the handles appear on all beamed stems.

3. Drag the desired handle up or down. As you drag, the stem length changes.

   Press SHIFT as you drag to constrain the cursor to vertical movements.

4. To restore the original stem length, click the handle and press DELETE.

1. Choose Document > Document Options and select Stems. The Document Options - Stems dialog box appears.
2. Change the numbers in the Normal Stem Length and Shortened Stem Length boxes. The numbers in these two text boxes set the lengths of note stems.

   The units are whatever you've selected under Finale 2014 > Measurement Units.

3. Click OK (or press RETURN).

1. Choose Document > Document Options and select Stems. The Document Options - Stems dialog box appears.
2. Enter a new number in the Stem Lines text box.

   The default setting for stems is one-half point. The units are whatever you’ve specified under Finale 2014 > Measurement Units.

3. Click OK (or press RETURN).

• Use the Stem Length Tool or Beam Stem Adjustment Tool (both in the Special Tools tool ) to move the stem left or right.

Or, you may want to globally change the way a stem attaches to its note, especially when you’re working with alternate noteheads (slashes, diamonds, and so on). See Stem Connections dialog box.

You don’t have to use a simple vertical line for a stem; you can customize stems by using any shape you can draw in Finale’s Shape Designer. This feature is particularly useful in creating “splayed” stemming for note clusters—for example, you might have a stem with three spokes extending to a C, C, and C struck at the same time.

1. Choose the Special Tools tool .
2. Choose the Custom Stem Tool . A handle appears at the base of each stem.
3. Double-click the handle of the stem you want to change. The Shape Selection dialog box appears.
4. Click Create. The Shape Designer appears.
5. Draw the new stem’s shape. As you draw, remember that the small white dot you see in the Shape Designer—the origin—will appear at the base of the notehead, where the stem is normally connected.
6. Close the Shape Designer by pressing RETURN twice.

   Once you’ve created custom stems in a measure, you can copy the stem information to other measures. See Edit Filter dialog box.

7. To restore the original stem, click the modified note’s handle and press DELETE.

1. Choose the Selection tool .
2. Choose Edit > Edit Filter. The Edit Filter dialog box appears.
3. Click None and select Stem and Beam Alterations. Click OK (or press RETURN).
4. Select the source measures (the ones containing the custom stems).
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, press COMMAND+C and scroll until you see it. Click the first target measure and press COMMAND+V.

1. Choose the Selection tool and select the measures in which the modified stems appear.
2. Choose Edit > Clear Selected Items. The Clear Selected Items dialog box appears.
3. Click None and select Stem and Beam Alterations.
4. Click OK (or press RETURN) twice.