Finale Forum

I can't seem to put a beam across two notes if I have grace notes attached to the second of the two notes. E.g. Two quavers with two appoggiaturas on the second quaver won't join together as two beamed quavers. They show only two flagged quavers. How do i do this? Using the slash key short cut doesn't do it.
Thanks

Not sure I follow. This?

Brinkwells wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 07, 2021 3:51 pm

… Using the slash key short cut doesn't do it …

Since you mention the slash key, I wonder whether you are entering notes with the Speedy Entry Tool?

With the Simple Entry Tool you can first enter the regular notes, then enter the grace notes by clicking.

Yes. That's exactly what I mean. I AM using speedy entry, so I'll have a look at using simple entry. Thanks.

Ah. The problem is I'm using time signatures like ⅞, and just using simple entry tool produces separate flagged quavers (8th notes) which still need to be beamed together.

I just did this very easily in Speedy entry.
I use a MIDI keyboard for note entry, but it should be the same using the computer keyboard, I imagine (edit: yes, I tried with just mouse entry and the result was the same).

enter the desired notes, then simply press ; (semi-colon) to change the notes you want as grace notes.

my beam between the first and last 8th note remained, and my grace notes were independently beamed together.

(I did this quickly and didn't think of making my grace notes 16th notes, but I repeated it with 8th + 16th + 16th + 8th and got the desired result, with equal ease)

Brinkwells wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 07, 2021 4:38 pm

Ah. The problem is I'm using time signatures like ⅞, and just using simple entry tool produces separate flagged quavers (8th notes) which still need to be beamed together.

From your description it sounds like you have defined the time signature as
Number of Beats: 7
Beat Duration: Eighth

You do not have to define the ⅞ time signature as 7 individual Eighths.
As a matter of fact the Time Signature Tool is a very powerful tool.

Things to try:

1) Time Signature Tool.
Context-click a measure.
You should get a context menu with many predefined time signatures, including a few time signatures with ⅞.

2) If you enter a ⅞ time signature via the context menu, you will get a time signature that automatically beams the 8ths.
To see how it is done, double-click on a ⅞ measure, and study the dialog box Time Signature.
You may have to expand the dialog box Time Signature, to see the option {Use a Different Time Signature for Display}.

Brinkwells wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 07, 2021 4:38 pm

Ah. The problem is I'm using time signatures like ⅞, and just using simple entry tool produces separate flagged quavers (8th notes) which still need to be beamed together.

The / key is a bit mysterious sometimes. For example, sometimes you have to press it twice, I've found! In the present case, if you put the Speedy cursor as shown and press /, that will do what you want. Sometimes you have to resort to trial and error, I think.

Thanks everyone. Mastered it. The answer was do all the beaming first then convert to grace notes.