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Chords

Building chords is a snap with Simple Entry. To add notes with the mouse, just select the same duration icon as the note already entered, then move the cursor above or below a note. Notice vertical lines appear above and below the note as shown to the right. This indicator tells you that a click will add a note to the chord. While entering with the Simple Entry Caret, simply press the number that corresponds to the interval above or below the selected note to add it to the chord. Let’s try entering and adding chords to the left hand.

  1. Click the Selection Tool  image\Selection_Tool.gif. First, we’ll clear a measure to use for this example.
  2. Click and drag over measures 7 and 8 in the bottom staff so they are highlighted, and then press (Mac: ).  
  3. Click the Simple Entry Tool image\Simple_Entry_Tool.gif, and double-click the Quarter Note Tool 5.
  4. In measure 7, click on the A (top line) in the left hand.
  5. Move the cursor down a third to the F line and click. Now, click the middle line D. A chord with D, F, and A are added to the measure.

  1. Press to activate the caret. The caret appears.
  2. Type D to enter a D on beat 2. Now, you can type an interval to add additional notes in a chord.
  3. Type 4 on the number row above the QWERTY keyboard. Finale adds a note of the same duration a fourth above the D (G). Notice the G is now selected. To add another note a third above G, you would type 3. You can also add notes to a chord using note names.
  4. Hold down and press E. Finale places an E in the chord. Note holding down and pressing 3 would have also added the E. Finale automatically moves the D notehead, as an interval of a second, to the left of the stem. Now, the caret should appear at the beginning of measure 8 on the bottom staff.

  1. If you are using a MIDI device, play the triad D3, F3, and A3 simultaneously to enter the next chord, then play C3, F3, and A3 to finish the measure. You can play up to 12 notes at once to add a chord.    

While entering chords, hold down and type an interval to add notes lower than the selected pitch.

  1. If you are not using a MIDI device, type the following (use the number row for numbers): D, 3, 3. Then C, 4, and 3 to complete the measure.
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