Why can I not ONLY copy the exact notes? Even when I select ONLY notes it is copying a lot of other information that is frustrating me to no end. I suppose the originals key being major and the new tunes being in an minor key (even though the signature is the same) is causing the transpose. 

The extra material is copied when you copy a "stack," all vertical measures. If you are copying from a one-staff system, try adding a blank staff to the music you are copying from. Then, after you have copied just the notes from the staff you want, paste that into your new file and then go back and delete the extra staff from your source file.

I have found it easier to simply re-write the entire piece. 

Having the same problem, and this workaround didn't work. I write fairly lengthy sections in independent files. It's maddening that I can't assemble the movement by copying/pasting (oh, and when it transposes, Finale gets everything wrong. Tons of edits would have to be made to accidentals that it casually drops into the section. And transposing the section in the pasted file doesn't work either; tons of mistakes there, too).

Danielle OHallisey,

I trust you realize how difficult it can be to diagnose something blindly with nothing to look at.

However, here is a “shot in the dark”:

Does your document use key signatures of both Major keys and minor keys?

Try using only Major keys (or only minor keys).

Does that help?

Copying from a Major key to a minor key (or vice versa) causes problems like what you describe.

Thanks for responding, Peter. I’m copying from C major to G major. Tried setting up the receiving file with the new key already defined when it had failed to directly paste and that didn’t work either. Then I tried score merger and it still did the same thing; transposed the part down a fifth..

We need more info:

When you copy from C major to G major, does the key signature get copied as well?

Or does the key signature remain unchanged?

Key signature comes along but the pitch changes (there’s also a time signature change; that comes along too)

Someone just posted in another thread that this can happen because one source is “keyless,” rather than the key of C. I remember now that I started with it keyless but thought it was C; problem solved (I think).