Finale Forum

Is there an easy way to show only the lyrics in a cue and leave out the notes the way they used to do in old opera parts. The notes clutter the measures too much. I know I can use the "O" to make them invisible but it's time consuming. The notes clutter the measures too much. I have High Sierra with Finale 25X. It seems with all the new gadgets on the new Finale, they must have a way to make the notes invisible but leave the lyrics.
Capricorn

I fear I'm misunderstanding the situation, as it seems Text Block is the quickest solution. Added post-layout, easy enough to position them to make the words appear to be on the correct beats, if that's desired.

I just tried it and it works although it ends up being more trouble than just using the cue plug in and making the notes invisible. There are definitely places, however, where this works better than the cue plug in... mainly when there's just one or two words the musicians have to listen for. Thanks.
Capricorn

I use text expressions.

Modern practice is just the opposite - cues contain the pitches and dispense with the lyrics. This might be more useful to an instrumentalist who might not know the language or simply might not hear the actual words clearly. Instrumentalists are used to picking up on cued pitches, After all, they actually are able to read music.

N.

I tried that, too, but it made the measures too cluttered. Part of the problem is a good opera conductor is needed but not always available so as a precaution, I try to make the parts as clear as possible. Right now I think I have enough options. Thanks for all the suggestions.

N Grossingink wrote:... After all, they actually are able to read music.

That made my day!

Vaughan wrote:

N Grossingink wrote:... After all, they actually are able to read music.

That made my day!

Cute. Funny. And often wrong.

Has anyone here conducted, played and sung opera — besides me?

Is there an easy way to show only the lyrics in a cue and leave out the notes the way they used to do in old opera parts.

Old opera, new opera. There are practicalities here.

If it's secco recitative, that (lyrics only) is what goes in the instrumental parts. Normally the last few words before the chord change are all that's necessary. On the occasions where more than the last few words are required, use an elipsis … as a separator. This is rare and normally used if there is a stage direction or a response that interrupts the flow to the point where the pit needs to know what's going on. You might us it if there are multiple singers to indicate the last one: Quote the first word or two of the line and the last few with the elipsis in the middle.

If a section is marked a piacere, write out the cue with both lyric and music but only for the phrase so marked.

Only if the aria is being sung a tempo would your cue be notes only. After all...

The conductor and vocal score need everything written out—but we're not talking about that, right?

Not only secco recitative, but orchestrated recitative also benefits from word-only cues ("vocal cues," they're usually called). Often, the notes being sung are nondescript enough to be of little help. Of course, there's a problem with vocal cues if the work is being performed in translation...

Reminds me of a rehearsal of a small opera of mine in 1980(?). An orchestra musician asked the conductor for the last words of a section of spoken dialogue to write as a cue into his part, but the conductor accidentally read out the last words of a stage direction instead (which would have been of little help). I was distracted by something else while this was going on, so did not speak out a correction. In the event there was no problem and the cue was not crucial. However, I have since taken care to check that there are relevant vocal cues.

MikeHalloran wrote:

Vaughan wrote:

N Grossingink wrote:... After all, they actually are able to read music.

That made my day!

Cute. Funny. And often wrong.

Not wrong as often as it should be. Singers who can read notes well are still the exception and singers who can hardly read at all are not at all uncommon. When I have to coach them, I can often tell which YouTube version they learned their part from. After a rehearsal recently, I remarked to one of the singers that he should really work on his reading skills. He actually said, "Oh, I can read the notes just fine after I've heard the piece a couple of times.' This is illiteracy, and I find it really strange that it's widely accepted amongst singers (even famous ones) whereas it would be out of the question for an orchestral musician. Add to this that singers expect to get paid at least 5x what instrumentalists earn...