Hi, I’m sorry if this has already been addressed, however I have been unable to find this specific question.
I’m starting a project for a customer where I will need to be entering many verses of lyrics that are copied and pasted from a text file. I understand how to copy and use the popover, but as I was pasting each syllable, I made a mistake in my entry (wrong note for attached syllable). I can’t find a way to just go backwards a couple of notes to reinter the lyrics. The popover seems to continue where I left off. Does that mean that I have to delete the entire line of lyrics already entered to correct a mistake? Is there a way to tell the popover which syllable I’m on? Thank you for your help
I use Edit > Notations > Lyrics > Edit Line of Lyrics to fix such errors. Select one syllable in the verse with the mistake, do that command, and you can edit the stream of lyrics any way you like, as long as the total number of syllables matches (otherwise it won’t let you save changes).
To resume lyric entry you can select a note, ⇧L, and arrow down to the right verse. Or just select the last syllable of the verse, press Enter and Space to the next note.
Thank you Mark. I can see that I can edit the lyrics in the edit lyrics box, but now my syllables need to go backwards a couple of notes. Is that possible?
You can select the lyrics with the Filter function per line (verse) and then move the syllables with ⌥← / ⌥→ like music and other items.
This solution only works when all rhythms are the same. It’s kludgy and prone to unexpected complications (not criticizing the suggestion, just observing the current state of things).
I still hope for an “insert mode” function for correcting lyrics, by which all lyrics can be smartly shifted to the next note.
Thank you, Dan. Well at least on the hymn I’m working on, it’s mostly quarter notes and half notes. The alt arrow seems to work for moving them backwards but the alignment is messed up. As a former Finale user who typesets A LOT of hymns, I’m hoping for an easier solution to deal with lyrics. I need to go both forward and backward sometimes.
I think we also need an edit lyrics window that allows changes to the number of syllables – something that happens alot with edits from clients.
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ALT/OPT + Arrow moves syllables back by beat position rather than note. So long as one’s spacing grid is set to the proper denomination for the passage, moving the syllables should not be difficult.
I guess the question is how many syllables need to be moved, in which case one might decide to retype or re-copy/paste.
Yes, I’m using the Alt arrow right now, works well. but having to re-enter a large line of lyrics is not time efficient.
I understand. The misalignment is because the syllables are not attached to actual notes, but just rhythmic positions now.
95% of my work in this software is hymns. I’ve probably done 15,000 files over the past six years. For what it’s worth, I do find it relatively easy to adapt to Dorico’s way of working with hymns… except for when I look up and realize I’ve made a mistake, and all my lyrics are shifted off by one syllable.
At that point, the only real solution is to delete and re-input.
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Thank you, Dan. I would appreciate any additional tips you can give me regarding inputting lyrics in hymns. I want to use Dorico instead of Finale for this new project, but I need the process to be time efficient.
Honestly, I just type everything in. That’s what I’ve always done, and it works fine for me.
Click-assignment in Finale was great, but honestly the bulk of the time is in small manual adjustments, which Dorico excels at. So I’m far faster in Dorico than I was in Finale.
sigh, just have to get used to it then. Thank you for your help.
I was hoping to avoid this beat-shifting advice. What I do, when my lyrics are one note too late, is delete the first wrong syllable, and add a dummy syllable at the end. Then you can resume lyric entry by pasting over the dummy syllable.
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how would you add a dummy syllable, Mark?
Just type anything at the end of the text stream in the dialog, like X or • or whatever. Something you can see easily in the score and just delete or replace.
Dan has copied every hymn in the Western world at least 3 times and has his own robust methods. I go to some length to avoid typing lyrics in, because it is easier to get them right in a text editor and then paste them in.
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ahh, I see
You can edit the Lyric Line. If you’ve accidentally put a syllable where there should have been a melisma, just add “qwe” at that point, and delete the syllable at the end.
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It doesn’t seem all that much faster, but it’s definitely possible this method is better. For all our eye-rolling about Finale people being stuck in their ways, I’m already stuck in mine! 
boy, I get that
If I made a mistake whilst inputting the lyrics, the moment I realise my error I leave the popover. I then select the “wrong” passage, filter the lyrics and Cmd-X/Ctrl-X cut the lyric text. Then I re-enter/re-paste the lyric, syllable by syllable via the popover. It is faster than completely re-entering the lyrics.
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