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I've been transcribing a piece in Finale and at the end of each verse there is a measure in a different time signature. How can I just change that measure without affecting the whole piece in Finale?

3 Answers 3

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The dialog box that comes up when you double-click a measure with the time sig tool should have three options on the left hand side below the picture of a measure. One of the options is to restrict the change to a single measure or range of measures. If you're changing to a basic time over 4, you can also just hold down the number of the numerator on your computer keyboard and double-click the measure. The change should only happen for that measure. Finally, if it's ever for more than one measure, you can select the measures with the time sig tool and then double-click the selection. The new signature you pick will only apply to the selected measures.

This is on the full version of Finale 2012. I believe that some of the smaller Finale versions don't allow multiple time signatures in a single file, although the Finale website doesn't say that explicitly.

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  • Stupid checkbox defaults to whole piece even on clicking in measure. I feel kind of stupid now.
    – Dom
    Sep 19, 2014 at 18:01
  • @Dom Yeah I hate that. A while ago, Finale would remember the previous settings in that box and use that every subsequent time, but for some reason they changed it to always default to the entire document. Sep 19, 2014 at 18:31
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I don't use Finale but I quickly found this instruction via google: https://www.finalemusic.com/UserManuals/Finale2012Win/Content/Finale/ID_MAINTOOL_TIMESIG.htm

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  • Every time I try and use that tool it changes the time signature of the whole piece. It may be because I am using Finale Song Writer instead of the actual the Finale.
    – Dom
    Sep 19, 2014 at 17:23
  • That could be. It says that you should be able to select with the mouse just the region that you want to change, so if that doesn't work for you then there's probably something going on. Sep 19, 2014 at 17:43
  • According to this feature comparison (finalemusic.com/products/compare-finale-products), under "Adding Markings, Lyrics, and More", Songwriter supports "compound" but not "additive" time signatures. I'm not certain what they mean by that, but it might be your problem. Sep 19, 2014 at 17:45
  • No, that's unrelated. Additive time signatures are things like 2+3+2/8. @Dom, I know that they added a few more options to Songwriter time signatures in more recent versions. What version are you using? Sep 19, 2014 at 17:50
  • @Dom Googling around really has me thinking this should be possible. You can't do it in Notepad, but Songwriter 2012 should allow it. Do none of the ways I discussed in my answer work? Sep 19, 2014 at 17:57
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There should be a "Measure x through y" option. For a single measure, put that measure's # into each box. (The twentieth measure is 20, for example.)

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