Ossia

11/23/15, 11:04 AM

Ossia
An ossia passage is an alternative phrase, often placed in a reduced-size measure above the primary measure in
the score. (Ossia means or else.) An ossia measure often provides an explication of a trill, proposes a cadenza, or
suggests an easier alternative to the real measure. In Finale, such an annotative measure can be created with the
Ossia tool.
There are two kinds of ossia measures. A measure-assigned ossia measure remains attached to its measure in the
score, even if that measures position in the score changes. A page-assigned ossia measure, which you create in
Page View, remains fixed to a given spot on the page, regardless of any repositioning of the music around it.
Measure-attached ossia measures are recommended in documents with Linked Parts. If you are adding pageattached ossia measures to a document containing Linked Parts, see Ossia measures in linked parts.

To create a floating (ossia) measure

A floating measure must be based on a real measure. For most purposes, then,
youll need to create a scratch staff on which to notate the actual contents of the
ossia measure. You then choose hide staff in the Staff Attributes dialog box (see
Hiding staves for full instructions).
1. Choose View > Page View.
2. In a scratch staff, enter the music you want to appear in the floating ossia measure.
3. Choose the Ossia tool

4. Double-click the spot on the page (in Page View) or double-click the measure to which you
want to attach the floating measure (do not double-click a measure on your scratch staff).
The Ossia Measure Designer dialog box appears.
5. Select whether you want a measure or page-attached ossia.
6. Select the Source Staff and Source Measure. The Source Staff is the scratch staff, and the
Source Measure is the measure in which you entered the music.
If the source staff is not named and you dont know the staffs number, choose the
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Staff tool
and select the staffs handle. Choose Staff > Staff Usage. The Staff
Number appears in the Staff Usage List dialog box.)
7. If you want to specify a clef other than the default treble clef, click Clef: Select; to set a key
or time signature, click Key Signature or Time Signature. You can change the ending
barline, too, by clicking one of the barline types.
8. Specify the reduction value by entering a number in the Scale To box. Generally, 50% to
85% (of full size) looks good. If there are elements of the scratch staff you dont want to
include in the floating measure, deselect the appropriate boxes under Items to Display.
You can also specify various positioning aspects of the floating measure, such as the Top or
Left Margin.
9. Click OK (or press RETURN). The Page Assignment dialog box or Measure Assignment
dialog box appears. If you wish, specify horizontal and vertical coordinates for the
measure (in the currently-selected measurement units). If youre entering a page-attached
ossia, you can also specify the barline-to-barline width of the floating measure.
10. Click OK (or press RETURN). You return to the document, where the floating measure is in
place. If youre in Page View, you can drag the measures handle immediately to position
the measure. In Scroll View, you have to click the real measure to which you attached it;
a handle appears, allowing you to drag the measure into position.

To hide the scratch staff

1. Choose the Staff tool

2. Double-click a measure in the scratch staff. The Staff Attributes dialog box appears.
3. Choose Force Hide Staff > Collapse.
4. Click OK. The ossia measure will remain in the score.

To move, edit, or delete a floating measure

To edit the musical contents of the floating measure, simply edit the measure on
the scratch staff from which it was created.
1. Choose View > Page View.

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2. Choose the Ossia tool

. A handle appears on the floating measure.

3. Double-click the handle to change the Ossia Measure Designer settings (clef, percentage
reduction, and so on). SHIFT+double-click the handle to change the Assignment variables
(H and V position and measure width).
4. Drag the handle to move the floating measure. Click the handle, and then press DELETE to
remove it.

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