Finale 2011 included three new music fonts. While previous blogs have briefly touched upon the Finale AlphaNotes and Finale Percussion fonts, this week I’d like to focus on the Finale Mallets font.
Finale Quick Tips: Custom SmartShapes
Looking to use a different trill than the default shape offered on the SmartShape palette?
Press Ctrl (Win) or Option (Mac) then click on the Custom Line Tool (it looks like a question mark) to open the Smart Line Selection dialog box:

Select one of the presets, or click Create to make your own!
Finale Blog: The Evolution of Percussion Notation
Like any written language, music notation continually evolves. In October 1974 more than eighty musicians, representing seventeen countries, met in Ghent, Belgium to discuss this evolution.
Streamlining Part Layout with Finale 2011

Photo Credit: Sergey Petrov
Your score is finished, and it looks great. But before anyone can perform your music you’ll need to prepare and edit your parts.
Finale Blog: “A rose by any other name…”

Back in 2003 I found myself in a San Antonio hotel conference room with several Texas band directors seated around a large table.