Hyphens

A hyphen (or a space), when typed into the Edit Lyrics window for lyrics, indicates the end of a lyric syllable. When Finale distributes lyrics automatically into the score (see Lyrics), it looks for a hyphen or space as its cue to advance to the next melody note.

The default hyphens are called Smart Hyphens because they automatically extend over system breaks and use the hyphen character from the font selected for lyrics in Document Options-Fonts. You can edit the default space between hyphens, and adjust the default positioning in the hyphens section of Document Options-Lyrics.

Note: Old documents (those created in Finale version 2003 or earlier) that contain lyrics retain all word extension positioning information when converted to Finale 2010 format. However due to possible conflicts with existing hyphens, Smart Hyphens are not active in converted documents by default. Hyphens in documents converted from earlier Finale versions do not extend over system breaks automatically and always use a dashed line instead of the lyric font’s hyphen character. If you want to activate Smart Hyphens in an Finale Document created in Finale 2003 or earlier, from the Document menu, choose Document Options, select Lyrics, and then check Use Smart Hyphens. Then click OK to confirm your settings. This setting applies to new hyphens and existing hyphens already added to the score.

To prevent a hyphen from ending a syllable

In certain situations (melismatic passages, for example), you may not want Finale to assume that a hyphen is the end of a syllable.

1. If you’re not already in the Edit Lyrics window, click the Lyrics Tool and from the Lyrics menu, choose Edit Lyrics. The Edit Lyrics window appears.
2. To create a hyphenated word, all of which will be assigned to a single note, type 0173 on the numeric keypad while pressing the alt key in place of the normal hyphen. When these lyrics are Click-Assigned into the score, the alt+0173 hyphen-hyphen will not separate the word into syllables.

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