Is music scanning perfect? Hardly ever. You almost always have to edit something.

Is it much faster than any other note entry method? Even with some editing, it often is!

This week I offer a tip on how to best address a common problem you may run into when scanning. This problem occurs when the original uses a note to indicate tempo:

…and the result mistakenly interprets this tempo marking as a very high note:

Now usually it’s easy enough to delete a note, but this particular note can be tricky to remove, depending on how you try to do it. Why? In the scanning process Finale has been fooled into thinking this note belongs in measure one. Since measure one is already rhythmically complete, efforts to “stuff” the note into measure one result in it appearing to be forced to the right a bit (and appearing over measure two). Efforts to eliminate this note from measure two don’t work, because it’s not really there!

Well, maybe I’m the only person who cares about the “why.” Here’s an easy solution: chose the Selection tool, then double-click on the note and hit the Delete key on your computer keyboard.

Done.

How’s scanning working for you? Let me know by hitting the “Comments” button below.