Perhaps because there are lots of questions in life I can’t answer, I love being asked those that I can. Last week I was in Chicago, enjoying all the band director energy at the Midwest Clinic. One attendee asked me how to join together separate Finale files. I was delighted to share the answer: ScoreMerger.

ScoreMerger is a nifty utility found in Finale’s File menu. It has two main functions: combining various sections of a Finale score (as you would if you created movements as separate files and wished to assemble them together as one), and creating a score from parts. Here’s what it looks like:

In the above example I’m about to merge the three listed files in sequence, where each file is appended after the other. If, instead, you wanted to combine parts into a score, you’d select “Merge These Parts Into One Score.” If you had any questions, you could click Help.

So I’m demonstrating Score Merger to the attendee, and I find some files to demonstrate how it works, and I merge them together and we look at the results, and uh, it’s not what I had hoped for. The subsequent sections all begin on new pages, which, if each file represented a new movement, would likely be what I would want. But it wasn’t what I wanted. Hmm. The solution?

Select the Page Layout Tool. Click on the handle of the first system of the new section, then from the Page Layout menu choose Delete Page Break.

Aha! So, my two tips for the day are Score Merger and Delete Page Break.

Here’s hoping that all the pressing questions in your life are so easily resolved!