I recently visited Celina, Texas, to provide an all-day, hands-on Finale training for a group of music educators. These are great sessions because everyone can apply my suggestions and ask questions immediately.

I was in the process of outlining my “Eight Great Tips” and had just described Tip #7, how to add multiple articulations. My example was to put in a fermata on every staff of the score. To do so I selected the Articulation tool, held down the “f” key (a shortcut for “fermata”), and then drag-selected all staves in the score. Voilà! In one quick action every staff had a fermata on it:

Then one participant asked: “What if I want the fermata to appear ONLY on the top staff of the score, but to appear on all the linked parts?”

It’s easy. With the Selection tool, just drag-select all the fermata handles, then right-click on any of these handles and select “Unlink in all parts.” This indicates that you want something to be different between your score and your parts. Then drag-select all the fermata handles you’d like to hide in the score, right-click one of these handles, and de-select “Show”:

As a result, all but the top fermata in the score appear in gray on-screen (letting you know they’re hidden), and they will not print in the score. They do, however, appear and print perfectly in the parts.

Should you do this? My engraver friends might suggest that a fermata should appear on every staff, but hey, this is Finale – you can always have it your way! 

Have any questions, comments, or suggestions? Share them with us when we have a workshop near you, or let us know by clicking on “Comments” below.