As I refine a composition, everything is open to experimentation, including the form: I might freely move, add, or delete whole sections. Of course this creates chaos in my rehearsal letters, right? I mean, if you delete the B section it suddenly looks like your score jumps from A to C, right?

Not with Finale. Finale lets me quickly enter rehearsal marks that automatically respond to these types of edits. How quickly? Select the Expression tool, hold down the letter “m,” and click on any measure where you’d like a rehearsal mark to appear. Done.

If this is the first such mark in your score, it will automatically appear as an A. If it’s the second mark it will appear as a B, and so on. If you’ve entered A, B, and C in this manner, and delete the measure containing B, the C marker turns into a B, and you don’t have to think about it.

Of course this is Finale, so if you want something other than letters indicating your rehearsal marks, you can choose from a host of auto-sequencing styles including measure numbers, numbers, and various combinations of letters and numbers. You can also edit all aspects of the mark, including fonts and enclosure shapes, and have these edits impact all current and future marks in your score.

But if you just want it to work, enter your rehearsal marks by clicking on “m,” and then worry about something else – like mowing the lawn.

We haven’t automated that – yet.