Rise as note reaches finale (6)
I believe the answer is:
ascend
'rise' is the definition.
(I know that rise can be written as ascend)
'note reaches finale' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'a' (musical note).
'reaches' becomes 'sc' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'finale' becomes 'end' (the end of a story or show).
'a'+'sc'+'end'='ASCEND'
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ascend that I've seen before include "Come up" , "rise in status" , "Take off" , "Soar" , "shift to a higher plane" .)