I wrote a lot of scores with Finale. Late nights. Cold coffee. A stack of printed parts sliding off my desk. If you’re asking, did it help me get clean, playable music on stands? Yes. But not without a few deep sighs and a pile of sticky notes.
I’ve chronicled the whole journey in my in-depth hands-on review of Finale, but here’s the quick version.
For a comprehensive overview of Finale's features and its impact on the music notation industry, refer to the detailed article on Wikipedia.
What I Actually Made With It
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Big band chart: I arranged a tune called “Citrus Moon” for a high school festival. Full score, 17 parts. I used Staff Styles for slash comping in the piano and guitar. I added cues in the sax parts for the trumpet hits at bars 57–60. Linked Parts saved me hours. Human Playback gave the swing feel enough snap so the kids could practice at home.
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Choir piece with piano: For my church choir, I set a simple anthem with three verses. I used the Lyrics Tool and set Verse 1, Verse 2, and Chorus. I had to nudge the hyphens in “won-der-ful” so it looked right. The Page Layout tool helped me fix a bad page turn that landed right before the key change.
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String quartet: I wrote a short “Snowfall Waltz” as a gift. Lots of slurs, hairpins, and a few tremolos. I used Smart Shapes for crescendos and a tiny gliss in the cello. Parts printed clean. The violist even texted me: “Bless you for the cues.” That felt good.
I did all this on a MacBook Air (M1) at home and a slow Windows tower in the band room. Both worked fine. Playback was smoother on the Mac.
How It Feels to Work in Finale
Here’s the thing: Finale gives you power. But you’ve got to learn its ways.
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Input: I use Simple Entry with a tiny MIDI keyboard (an M-Audio 49). I tap 5 for a quarter note, 4 for eighths, 6 for halves, and click or play the pitch. Speedy Entry is, well, speedy once you get it. Hyperscribe is fun if your timing is steady. Mine isn’t, so I stick to step-time.
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Sounds: Garritan sounds are built in. Not film-score level, but good for practice tracks. Human Playback makes staccatos pop and crescendos breathe. Drum set maps took me a minute to sort out. Ride bell ended up on the wrong head once. Fixed it in Percussion Maps.
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Parts: Linked Parts is the hero. Multi-measure rests build themselves. I add cues with small notes and a quiet “cue” text. Still, I check each part for page turns and weird collisions. Finale can miss a dynamic mark kissing a slur. I nudge with the arrow keys. Click, nudge, breathe.
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Layout: Page layout is where Finale shines for me. I control staff spacing, system breaks, and margins. I use Broadway Copyist or Finale Maestro for fonts, depending on the vibe. Jazz chart? Broadway. Chamber piece? Maestro. It matters. Musicians feel it.
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Sharing: I export MusicXML for friends on Sibelius, Dorico, or MuseScore. I also print clean PDFs. No one yells at a good PDF. For quick spot-checks of a MIDI or WAV bounce outside Finale, DeliPlayer opens the file instantly and keeps the workflow moving.
Stuff I Loved
- The control. I can fix almost anything on the page.
- Linked Parts that update when the score changes.
- Jazz fonts that look like real pen and ink.
- Explode/Implode for band and choir voicings that change ten times a day.
- Human Playback that makes practice tracks less robotic.
- MusicXML import/export that plays nice with other tools.
Stuff That Made Me Sigh
- The learning curve. Tools live in, well, many toolbars. It’s quirky.
- Percussion maps. Not hard, just fussy.
- Lyrics can wiggle when spacing changes. I reset baselines a lot.
- Automatic collision work is behind Dorico. Expect manual nudging.
- Playback with third-party plugins sometimes crashed on my Windows tower. I learned to save often.
- Updates feel slow. I wish they shipped more small fixes.
You know what? None of these are deal-breakers if you like control. But if you want the software to fix everything for you, this may test your patience.
Real Moments That Sold Me
- In “Citrus Moon,” I had a nasty page turn for lead trumpet. I split one system, nudged two measures, and boom—turn solved, no notes lost.
- For the choir anthem, Verse 3 crowded the piano RH. I used the Lyrics Tool to lower the baseline by a hair and respaced the system. Clean, readable, no tenors squinting.
- The quartet had a tricky rall. I added a “rit.” expression, set the playback curve, and the export matched what I heard in my head enough for a reference track.
Little Tips From My Messy Desk
- Build a template. Set up fonts, margins, staff sizes, dynamics, and rehearsal marks once.
- Save versions like “Song_v07_FINAL_final2.musx.” I know, I know. But it helps.
- Use Staff Styles for cues, slash notation, and one-bar repeats.
- Keep Auto-Save on. Trust me.
- Print a test part and put it on a stand. Real stands tell the truth.
- Export both PDF and MusicXML when you send files out.
Who Should Use Finale
- Band and choir directors who need clear parts fast, with full control.
- Engravers and copyists who care about tiny details and spacing.
- Jazz writers who like hand-written-style fonts and linked parts.
Who might not love it?
- Film composers who need fast mockups with big, lush playback. A DAW plus a notation tool may be smoother.
- Folks who want everything automatic with zero tweaks. Dorico handles more on its own.
A Quick Note on Budget
Finale isn’t the cheapest tool on the shelf—shelling out for the full license plus a decent audio library can pinch. A percussionist friend once joked he might need a “sugar-daddy subscription” to bankroll all the software creative types end up buying. If you’ve ever wondered what that world even looks like, you can skim this candid review of Sugardaddie.com to see how the platform works, what it costs, and whether it’s actually worth anyone’s time—at the very least you’ll walk away with a few cautionary tips and a clearer picture of the sugar-dating scene.
On a related “where-do-I-find-what-I-need-on-the-road” note, touring players who take weekend gigs around South Carolina often swap links to local classified boards for everything from last-minute gear rentals to after-show meetups. One directory that comes up for the Hilton Head resort area is the Backpage Hilton Head Island listings, which aggregates quick-turn personals and service ads so you can locate resources—or simply a friendly face—without wading through broader marketplaces.
My Bottom Line
Finale is not new to me. It’s the tool I reach for when the page has to look pro and the parts have to read well under bad lights and a shaky stand. It made my big band set playable, my choir happy, and my string parts clear. It also made me grumble at drum maps and lyrics now and then.
If you just need free and simple, start with MuseScore.
If capturing clean vocals is also on your radar, you might like my rundown of the best free vocal recording software that actually delivered.
If you come back craving control, Finale will be waiting.
And that first downbeat—when the band counts off and the parts sit right? That’s why I keep it.