Creating a piano trio score (1 piano: 6 hands)

[nkcteach]

Hello! I am trying to arrange some piano trios for my piano students. All three of my students would play on one piano and read off the same music. Music that I have used in the past has part 1 on the left upper page, part 3 on the page facing part 1 (right upper page) and part 2 written across the bottom of both pages so that all three parts are read off the same pages.

Is there a template somewhere that I can use for this? Or is there a way to set it up in Finale? I would appreciate any help you could give me. Thank you!

nkcteach
Finale 25
Mac

[miker]

No, I don’t think there is a template. I can see it being a nightmare to set up, and keep measures and measure numbers straight. If it were me, I would do each part separately (still being careful with the layout) and cut and paste the systems in a PDF program afterward.

Good luck!

[motet]

Someone here (Zuill?) had a way to do piano-four-hands layout. This one might be easier to finish in a desktop publishing program or even something like Photoshop.

[zuill]

I did have a template for 1 Piano 4 Hands done in an earlier version of Finale. I have played off a score for 6 hands as described. However, I found it was hard to read as I had to turn my head to one side (more than with just a duet), and I quickly decided to put my own part on a separate page. I believe it was an arrangement of Stars and Stripes Forever. Sadly, both of my sidekicks in that performance have passed on, so it is a bittersweet memory.

Finale can probably do what is requested. I've never tried.

Zuill

[Peter Thomsen]

nkcteach,

Here is a short demo.

Take a look, and see if you can figure out, what I did.
(I hope that I did not make any mistakes)

For a layout like this (definitely not for “Finale beginners”) a template can not do all the work for you.
You have to do quite a lot of the layout yourself.

[nkcteach]

Thank you so much!!! (And thanks to everyone else who answered with ideas!) I will work with this and see how it works for me. I did not have a clue on how to get started on it. I really appreciate you creating it! Thank you! Have a great day!
debbie

[Peter Thomsen]

nkcteach,

When you examine, what I did, you will notice that the score (= for the teacher only) is in portrait orientation, while the two linked parts (= for the students) are in landscape orientation.

Generally page turns are easier in portrait orientation than in landscape orientation.

In the linked parts the page orientation does not matter since this demo is so short, that there are no page turns.

In layouts that are for 4-hand Piano or 6-hand Piano, the landscape orientation is generally better than portrait orientation.
This is because each of the students will get “own notes” a little closer, even if the two pages are placed next to each other, centered on the piano’s music stand.