Music Notation and Score Preparation Using Finale

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Authored by Jonathan Feist

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Course Code: OCWPR-101

Next semester
starts April 1

Level 1

Level 1

3-Credit Tuition

$1,545

Non-Credit Tuition

$1,290

Learn to write professional-standard notation using Finale, the world's best selling music notation software. This course makes it easy to notate your arrangements and compositions, from basic notes and rhythms to more advanced markings. Through hands-on lessons and workshops, you'll understanding the subtleties of notation, as well as explore the fine points of lead sheets, vocal/choral notation, drum/guitar notation, fingerings, roadmaps, and lyrics. You'll also explore more complex techniques designed to speed up your notation process dramatically, and learn to control the nuances of your music's look and feel to produce clear, professional-quality music. By the end of the course, you will have mastered the most powerful functions of this versatile tool, and learned the techniques used by the most experienced, accomplished music engravers and writers.

Read More

Upon completing this course, you will have learned to:

  • Use Finale to create most kinds of notation, including great-looking lead sheets, orchestral scores, arrangements, and teaching/analytical materials
  • Enter notes, lyrics, chord symbols, articulations and expressions, and create scores with multiple staves
  • Master dozens of shortcuts to dramatically speed up your music entry, score layout, part copying, and more
  • Perform advanced notation such as notation for guitar, keyboard, and percussion, as well as notation of your own invention
  • Notate in accordance with quality standards and conventions of contemporary notation practice
Read Less

Syllabus

Lesson 1: Writing a Melody

  • Entering Finale and Creating a New Document
  • The Finale Interface
  • Working with Text
  • Using Menus
  • Entering Notation: Key Signatures
  • Adding Notes with Simple Entry
  • Triplets
  • Accidentals
  • Adding Notes with Speedy Entry
  • Deleting Extra Measures with the Mass Mover

Lesson 2: Key Signatures, Time Signatures, and Clefs

  • Key Signatures
  • Select Region
  • Time Signatures
  • A Time Signature Anecdote
  • The Solution!
  • Clefs

Lesson 3: Lead Sheets

  • Chord Symbols
  • Measure Numbers and Barlines
  • Transposing a Lead Sheet

Lesson 4: Lyrics

  • Entering Lyrics
  • Multiple Verses
  • Word Extensions
  • Adjusting Lyrics
  • Shifting Lyrics to Other Notes
  • Using Word Processing Software for Lyrics
  • Entering Lyrics Using Click Assignment
  • Other Uses for Lyrics

Lesson 5: Expressive Markings

  • Adding Articulations
  • Metatools
  • Editing Shortcuts
  • Adding Expressions
  • Creating an Expression
  • Hairpins and Other Smart Shapes

Lesson 6: Multiple Staves

  • Adding, Moving, and Deleting Staves
  • Grouping Staves
  • Customizing Staves
  • Hiding Measure Numbers and Moving Staves
  • Adding Expressions to Multi-Staff Music
  • Staff Styles
  • Meta Tools
  • Extracting Parts

Lesson 7: Shortcuts

  • The Default Document
  • Creating a Default Document
  • Customizing a Default Document
  • Another Customization
  • Document Templates
  • Creating New Documents with Templates
  • Creating Libraries

Lesson 8: Page Layout

  • The Page Layout Tool
  • Setting Margins
  • System Optimization
  • Adding a Cover Page
  • Exporting Notation

Lesson 9: Roadmaps

  • A Roadmap Primer
  • Easy Repeats
  • The Repeat Tool
  • Adding a First Ending
  • Adding a Second Ending
  • Segnos and Codas
  • Codas

Lesson 10: Fine Tuning Graphics

  • Note Spacing
  • Manually Respacing Notes
  • Special Tools
  • Moving the Sharp
  • Changing Noteheads
  • Designing Shapes

Lesson 11: Layers: Choral Scores and Drum Set Notation

  • Layers and Voices
  • Drum Set Notation
  • Layers and Chord Charts

Lesson 12: Fingerings, Tablature, and Other Instrument-Specific Notation

  • Fingerings
  • Applying Fingerings
  • String Numbers
  • Tablature
  • Editing Tablature
  • Bonus Technique 1: Guitar Fretboard Diagrams
  • Bonus Technique 2: Drum Stickings

Requirements

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements 

Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
The ability to read music notation is required.

Textbook(s)

Software

  • Finale (full version)

Hardware

Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.


General Course Requirements

Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Chats. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course. 

Mac Users

PC Users

All Users

  • Latest version of Google Chrome
  • Zoom meeting software
  • Webcam
  • Speakers or headphones
  • External or internal microphone
  • Broadband Internet connection

Instructors

Jonathan Feist

Author & Instructor

Jonathan Feist is editor in chief of Berklee Press, where he has been bringing music education products to a worldwide market since 1998. He is the author and instructor of Berklee Online courses "Project Management for Musicians" and "Music Notation and Score Preparation Using Finale.” He is author of the books Project Management for Musicians (Berklee Press, 2013) and Berklee Contemporary Music Notation (Berklee Press, 2017) and the co-author of Essential Songwriter (Berklee Press, 2004) and The Berklee Practice Method Teacher's Guide (Berklee Press, 2004). He has also written hundreds of articles about music, published through About.com, Keyboard Magazine, MakeMusic's Finale blog, and Berklee’s TakeNote online magazine. As an editor, he is credited on over two hundred books about music. Jonathan is a composer, songwriter, and photographer. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in composition from New England Conservatory of Music.


Thanh Tran

Instructor

Thanh Tran is a Los Angeles based Music Copyist, Music Librarian, and Music Preparation Supervisor preparing scores and parts notation for Film, TV, and Video Game recording sessions. Thanh’s notable clients include, The Grammy Awards, American Idol (ABC), Disney Parks Entertainment, Hollywood Scoring Los Angeles, Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries), Overwatch 2 (Blizzard Entertainment), and League of Legends (Riot Games). Thanh’s major recording artist clients include, Harry Connick Jr., David Foster, Stevie Wonder, Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, and Quincy Jones. Thanh’s passion has always been in film music. He has worked with world renowned film composers including, Alan Menken, William Ross, Nathan Barr, and Christopher Young. As Music Librarian, Thanh has worked extensively at major studios in Los Angeles including, The Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage (Sony), The Eastwood Scoring Stage (Warner Bros.), The Newman Scoring Stage (Fox), and Hollywood Scoring Studios. In addition, Thanh has worked at the historical Abbey Road Studios and Air Studios in London as well as studios in Prague, Macedonia, and the Synchron Stage in Vienna, Austria. Thanh’s recent music preparation projects include, the Netflix series Arcane (Riot Games), the Avengers Campus Marvel Cinematic Universe at Disneyland California Adventure, and The Mandalorian (Disney+). Thanh is a Berklee College of Music Film Scoring alum (’00).

What's Next?

When taken for credit, Music Notation and Score Preparation Using Finale can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:

Related Degree Majors


Questions?

Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.

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