Reverse stems

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, like this:

Using the Special Tools Tool, you can create a reverse stem on any note or chord.

To create a reverse stem

1. From the Window Menu, choose Advanced Tools. Click the Special Tools Tool  , and click the measure in question.
2. Click 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.

To temporarily display reverse-stemmed notes with normal stems

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. From the Document Menu, choose Document Options, then select Stems. The Stem options appear.
2. Click Display Reverse Stemming to de-select it. When this option is off, Finale draws every stem on the original side of its notehead.
3. Click OK (or press enter). 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.)