NOTATIO

Or like this?

Could this be an option - perhaps a little easier to read? Although I don't find your way at all impossible. (I take it the tempo is rather slow?)

Well, this being the forum to discuss even the tiniest details, I tried another, slightly different solution: Jagged beams 2.JPG By the way, I would like your opinion, John, about the standard that the shortest stem in a beamed sequense of notes always is three spaces or a little less (to put it bet...

In notation programs it seems to be a rule that one of the end notes in a beamed ascending or descending motion has a fixed length. In ascending motion with downward beams the first stem has 3 spaces for notes on staff spaces and a little less for notes on staff lines. In descending motion with down...

I don't recall all the news in earler updates, so I can't really compare them with those in the latest one. But surely it's a significant improvement that Jari's plug-ins finally are included in Finale. Nice, although somewhat belated, gesture!

Nothing prevents you from writing what you like in a text expression. If you have many different annotations, you might store them in a separate category which makes them easier to erase later on.

FWIW I use text expressions for that, mostly query marks for something to come back to. These are easily obliterated when you are done with them, as opposed to text boxes.

Maybe it’s not a question of dynamic only, as you said “ warmer mp”. What about espr. or poco espr. ? espr. adds something to the character like 'warmth' or 'intensity', and as a rule also to the dynamic level. Fx p espr. practically always is louder than just p , sometimes rather much in fact.

If I'm not wrong, the only indication that has to be plural is Bassi in older scores, for violoncelli and contrabbassi sharing the same notes on the same staff.

Just a thought about the 8va thing. I'm not sure having seen the 8va symbol in older editions (because I'm not that familiar with them), but then it must surely have been an abbreviation of ottava , not of ottava alta as in modern notation programs? Gould uses 8va alta and 8va bassa in cues, a writi...