Finale Forum

How do I do this. A Quarter note and an eighth note in the same triplet. No rest in between. It should look like this. My problem Is as soon as I added another note it will link up with the current triplet.

Speedy entry:

Press Ctrl-1 immediately followed by Enter. Then enter the quarter and eighth note.

Simple entry:

Enter the quarter note. Press Alt-9, and pick "3 eighth notes is the space of 2 eighth notes." Then enter the eighth note. You could also make this the default at this point if you have a string of them to enter. From then on, you need only enter the quarter note, press 9, then enter the eighth note.

It worked. Thank for the quick response.

And if you disable "Check for extra notes" and "Fill with rests at end of measure," in the Simple Entry Options panel, you will be able to easily edit the last triplet in a measure.

You don't need to if you use the 9/Alt+9 method.

If I try the Alt+9 method to write a 1/4 note plus 1/8 note as a tuplet (swing), the triplet sign does not appear. The method simply does not work for me.

I just tried it, both QWERTY and mouse entry, and it works for me, so I suspect you're doing something wrong. Make sure the quarter note is selected (red) when you press Alt+9, and make sure you're using "three eighths in the space of two eighths," not "3 (Use current duration)..." since current duration = quarter note.

I had three one-eighth notes at the speed of two selected in the Simple Entry palette and "Use Current Duration" in the Simple Entry Tuplet Definition." That made sense to me, since three eighths in the speed of two works when I use the shortcut icon. But what you point is is that "3 Use Current Duration" must be spelled out to "3 Eighth(s)." So when I changed it to the latter, the steps work. Thanks.

I don't quite follow that (I think there's only one setting) but "use current duration" is so that the same setting can be used for an three-eighth-note triple and a three-quarter-note triplet. If you want a quarter+eighth triplet, though, you must be specific, since the basis of such a triplet is an eighth not but the first note is a quarter.

The “use current duration” looks at the first note entered, to determine the triplet. So, if the first note is an eighth, that setting will allow an eighth/quarter triplet, but not the reverse.

Thanks. Good to know the rationale.