Finale Forum

I am having trouble figuring out how to notate spoken words/rap with the "x" notation, rather than a regular note head. And I want it on an already existing solo line, not a new staff.
(Final version 25.5.0.259 for Mac)

There's multiple ways you can do this. One of my favorites for X notes (or even simply rhythm notation) is using staff styles. There's even one for X noteheads and if you change the rhythm the noteheads will stay as Xs.

You can also try the JW Change plug-in if you have a huge chunk of music that you're not going to edit.

Thank you, Nick. Regarding your first suggestion, I don't want to change the entire staff, just one section. Is it possible to have a staff style for select measures?

Yes. Just select the area where you want to apply it.

So I selected the region (did it two different ways - simply clicking on the region and expanding with additional measures using the shift key, and also by using Edit/Select Region) and then went into Tools/Staff and then Staff/Define Staff Styles. I selected X-noteheads in available styles and clicked OK. When I then enter "notes" in those measures, it still put them in as regular noteheads with pitches, rather than as x-noteheads. What am I missing here?

Put in the notes first. Then apply the staff style.

With the x noteheads Staff Style, it is not necessary to enter the notes first. Just apply the style, then enter the notes. It can be done either way.

Zuill

Unfortunately, neither of these are working. I'm at a loss to understand why they aren't.

You might want to attach a Finale file for examination. Just 1 measure will do.

N.

tenortwo wrote:So I selected the region (did it two different ways - simply clicking on the region and expanding with additional measures using the shift key, and also by using Edit/Select Region) and then went into Tools/Staff and then Staff/Define Staff Styles. I selected X-noteheads in available styles and clicked OK. When I then enter "notes" in those measures, it still put them in as regular noteheads with pitches, rather than as x-noteheads. What am I missing here?

Rather than "Define Staff Styles" (which one uses to create a new one and which must then be applied afterwards) right click on the selected region and pick X-Noteheads from the list of already-defined styles.

Finale, as usual, offers several solutions. Another one can be found in the Utilities menu -> Change -> Noteheads. Select the region first and apply your selected notehead.

The staff style seems best, since things can be further edited once applied.

Thanks for your help, everyone. Right click and apply staff style worked great.