Hi Andrew,
1. This doesn't bother me, because we use the a for minor in our
classical theory classes. In jazz, it would bother me. I agree that
it should be available.
2. Well, really the bars across the top and bottom are shorthand for
putting serifs on the capital letters, to distinguish them from lower
case that don't have the serifs. If the font already has serifs on
the capital letters, that should do it. On lined paper, of course,
the height of the I and the V are the giveaways (that's why we don't
NEED serifs in computer type) but writing freehand on unlined paper
we need a way to tell them apart. Just tell your students to use the
bars when writing manuscript, like every other theory teacher has to
say. Maybe a font with extra-Roman serifs would help, but I'm okay
with things as they are.
When I hand out examples of analysis, I usually write in all the
analysis with a fine black felt pen to REALLY distinguish it from the
actual provided music. Putting in engraved analysis I find confuses
them as to what they need to provide, because they can't distinguish
it from the music.
Christopher
On 1-Jul-12, at 1-Jul-12 5:40 PM, Andrew Levin wrote:
Hi, all,
I was about to write about all of my problems with the Finale
Numerics font when, lo and behold, the 2012b update seems to have
fixed them. But I still have two issues with the font that I wanted
to share, to see if anyone else has the same issues I have. I plan
to submit them as a feature request.
Note that these are requests of a music theory teacher. You may not
need these changes.
1) There is no lower case m in the new font. This is important
when doing a roman numeral analysis. The first thing to do is to
note the key, followed by the roman numerals. For minor keys I
strongly prefer Am to a for A minor. You can't do this in the
Finale Numerics font. You have to either do the key as an
expression, or do it as a lyric, but by changing the font. A pain.
And I don't see that MakeMusic will change it, as all slots for the
letter M are now taken.
2) The capital I and V are not as they appear when writing by hand.
Imagine yourself writing by hand a IV chord: you do the capital I
and the capital V, then draw a horizontal line at the top and
bottom of this figure. That helps it stand out in comparison with
the lower case numbers. But it's also problematic in another way:
students see the IV in print (in my exercises) and then write it
that way, without the top and bottom bars. Oh, sure, I'll tell them
to make sure to put in the bars, but I'm not providing a very good
example for them.
Anyone else bothered by these?
Andrew Levin
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