Finale Simple Note Entry

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Finale's Simple Note Entry method can be used to enter notes onto a staff using computer keyboard letters for pitch names and the numeric keypad numbers for selecting rhythmic values (4=eighth note, 5=quarter note, 6=half note, etc.).

Here are several exercises to get you started entering music into the Finale music editor:

  1. Mary Had A Little Lamb [PDF] which introduces pitch and duration entry in the Simple Note Entry mode of Finale.
  2. Bach prelude in F minor [PDF] (BWV 881, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II) which introduces chord note entry and other essential notational components.
  3. A chorale [PDF] (Dir, dir, Jehovah, will ich singen) which introduces the concept of layers in Finale for multiple voices on a staff.

Simple Entry Keyboard Commands



Laptop configuration for Simple Note Entry

Laptop Shortcut Table setting in Finale 2009

For laptops without numeric keypads, after clicking on the "Simple Entry Tool", go to the Simple menu --> Simple Entry Options... --> click on "Edit Keyboard Shortcuts..." --> click "Name" drop-down menu and select "Laptop Shortcut Table".

Using the Laptop Shortcut Table, the laptop key commands shift the chord intervals keys from the alphanumeric digits to the function keys, and move the rhythm commands from the numpad to the aphanumeric numbers.