Uncle Jed’s Barbershop is a soul-stirring musical that tells the story of Sarah Jean Carter and her Uncle Jed – the only black barber in 1928 Monroe County, Arkansas – who has a dream of one day opening his own place of business.
The Finale Copyist Font: A Hidden Treasure You Already Own
Today I’d like to highlight some of my favorite aspects of the Finale Copyist font. Designed by Mark Adler to fill the gap created by the lack of lowercase letters in other “handwritten” fonts, Finale Copyist also includes many hidden treasures.
Introducing Finale to Broadway
[Editor’s Note: After reading my interview with Steven Alper about the use of Finale on Broadway, another long-time Finale user, Peter Miller, described to me some of his experiences on Broadway in Finale’s early days.
Finale Tip: Using Layers in Choral Music
I recently received an email from a friend I haven’t seen in a long time. Most of the email took the form of a question:
“If I have a score with SATB voices on different staves, what’s the best way to merge the S/A and the T/B into one staff each?”
Was I disappointed my friend didn’t inquire about my thoughts and feelings first?
Writing Chords in Jazz and Popular Music
Today I’d like to start a discussion on writing chords in jazz or contemporary music. In a way, chord charts are their own language, filled with hundreds of different systems and dialects.