I like the recent additions to the Finale website that invite a direct comparison between Finale and Sibelius sounds, playback, and support.

Of course there are many other reasons to choose one notation product over the other. Today I’d like to share one that’s pretty near the top of my “Could-Never-Switch-to-Sibelius” reasons for piano players like me.

Imagine you are playing in a two-handed piece like this:

Because the split point (the point at which notes are distributed to one or the other staff) was manually set at the “B” below middle “C,” the notes are correctly distributed in the first four bars. However, in measure 5, the middle Cs should appear in the bottom staff, not the top staff.

Correcting these changing split points is just one more area where Finale shines.

Here’s the first way I might fix this:

1. Select the Note Mover Tool.
2. From the Note Mover menu select “Delete After Merge.”
3. Click and drag around the middle C’s in measure 5 and drag them down to the bottom staff.
   As you do this, the notes magically merge into the lower staff giving you perfect notation.

Another solution is to use the Plug-in called “Split Point:”

1. From the Selection Tool, select the area you want to edit.
2. From the Plug-ins menu select Scoring and Arranging>Split Point.
3. Set the Split Point you want for that region and click “OK”.

The first solution lets you move individual notes, while the second lets you move multiple measures at a time.  The beauty is that you can choose, and quickly notate, any music that appears on two staves, including harp, organ, harpsichord, celeste, piano, marimba, etc.

Let me know how you’re getting along with Finale’s split point features, or ask any question, by clicking on “Comments” below.