Over the last few weeks, I’ve shared a couple of video tutorials about how to create rhythm worksheets using two rhythm music fonts and how to create other types of music worksheets using two other music fonts for putting notes on the staff.
If you watched either video, you probably saw how wonderfully easy it is to use the rhythm fonts. You probably also saw, in the second video, that the non-rhythm fonts are more challenging to use and rather limiting in what they can do.
I have a solution. π
To make the worksheet-making-process a little bit easier, I recently decided to create photo files (in this case, png files) of various music symbols. Clicking and dragging photo files into a worksheet is much easier than inserting a text box, calling up the font you need, and then locating the music symbol from with the font’s character map. Hooray!
I’m sharing this set of png files for FREE, and I’ve also made another video tutorial about how to get started using them.
To get started, you’ll need to download and unarchive the zip file containing the individual png files on the Printables > Worksheets page. Then, be sure to save the folder of png files to a safe place on your computer so you can use them for years to come. Then, using Microsoft Publisher (or a similar program), you are ready to start creating!
***Music Symbol PNG Files - for Making Worksheets*** (698.9 KiB, 92,511 hits)
I hope this video helps you get started, but please do let me know if you have other questions. I can’t wait to see what worksheets and other creations you will be able to create using those png files!
Copyright Information: These images are released under a Creative Commons copyright, allowing users to create and sell their own projects that make use of these images. However, the image files themselves should not be freely distributed or sold to others. Instead, please direct others to download the files directly from ColorInMyPiano.com. Thanks!
Thank you, Joy!! Great idea. This will help a lot!!
Wow, Joy! Thank you so much for putting so much work into this. π I will definitely use the png files in the future!
Thanks so much Joy.
I cannot tell you how much this has helped me :))
So many projects and sooooo many ideas !! Step by step tutorial is pretty awesome too. Thanks as always with your kindness of sharing with us.
Susan
Fabulous tutorial! Thank you, Joy! This was tremendously helpful for me.
I do have one question. You created this worksheet in Microsoft Publisher on a Mac. I also own a Mac (fairly new to me), but I was not aware that I could use Publisher on a Mac. Is this a parallel version? I’d love to be able to get back to Publisher as I used it all the time as a PC owner, and it’s very familiar to me. Is there something already on a Mac that is comparable? (“Pages”?)
Thanks again!
They make Microsoft Office for Mac, but it’s a separate version to purchase than the PC version. I use the 2011 Microsoft Office Suite for Mac. I haven’t tried using Pages, but I suppose it might work just as well as Microsoft Publisher. You’ll have to let me know how it goes!
Thank you, Joy. The tutorial about the setting up a worksheet is fantastic. I cannot wait to start using this.
Thank you Joy for your generosity. I have been trying to figure this out for a long time and your tutorials have made it easy
Debbie
Thanks Joy. So glad there are piano teachers like you who are IT-savvy and can make life easier for the rest of us!! π
Joy–
thank you so much for the tutorial and the png files. I’m trying to use my png files today, and realized there was no grand staff included in the files. Am I missing something?
They are in there! I put the grand staffs first in the list by putting an asterisk * symbol. I didn’t mean to hide them from you! π
hmmm… I downloaded them again and the grand staffs still aren’t showing up. I think everything else is there, dynamics, rhythm values, key signatures in the treble clef, keyboards, articulation, time signatures, and clef signs, no but grand staffs. I was able to put some together using what you had in there (I LOVE using the PNG files, I’m so excited to make some worksheets for my students using them!) but I think yours looked a little nicer.
Jessica: I’ll email you — check your inbox. π
You’re a JOY!
Thanks! This is so much better than literally cutting and pasting!!!! Just what I needed to make worksheets when students are struggling with a concept. That is when my creativity kicks in – how am I going to help them?!
Glad you can use these, Donna! Like you, I am frequently inspired when trying to think of ways to help a student. π
Joy you are an angel. Countless teachers and students will benefit from your expertise. Many teachers did not grow up in this digital age we now teach in. Your instructions are so clear and the fact that you share this information is priceless. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!
You’re welcome, Deanna!
Hi Joy, Thanks so much for your help and your amazing blog. I’ve just made my very first work sheet. It took a while but it was so great to be able to make a worksheet specific to my student’s needs. Thanks again – it’s incredibly generous of you to share your knowledge and experience. Thanks again – Bec π
Yay, congrats upon making your first music worksheet, Rebecca! It gets easier with practice, I promise! π
Thank you SO much for this post! I have a few ready-made resources, but I’ve been finding lately that I need specific worksheets for specific problems for my students. This is just what I needed. Thank you again.
Joy, thanks for all these great worksheets and games! I’m an elementary music teacher (with a piano background), and I love using all this with my students. I’ve sent you a gift from your Amazon list as a thanks, and I’d like to share some of the materials I’m using on Teachers Pay Teachers if you are interested. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/1586-Productions
Thanks for everything you put into this!
Thank you so much, Christine!
Hello, Joy! I am excited about using these files to make worksheets for our Sunday music instruction at church, but I cannot get the PNG files to open in Word or Publisher. They will open in Windows Photo Gallery, but I can’t get them to open otherwise.
Never mind. I needed to extract the files. Whoops!
Thank you so much for the png files and the tutorial. This will help me in my Music for Elementary Teachers Class.
Thank you SO MUCH for the png files and the tutorial on how to use them!! I was cruising the web trying to find tools to do exactly this – make review worksheets for some of my students – and was looking at many hours of tedious cut-and-paste that wouldn’t have produced the result I wanted, and then I stumbled onto your website, and could not believe my luck. This is exactly what I need – png files with the music symbols, so that I can build mix-and-match review worksheets. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome! So glad to be of help!
Hi Joy! I absolutely love your blog and thank you so much for sharing these pngswith us! This will make my life so much easier!!!!
Hi Joy!
Your website is invaluable! I am excited to learn how to make my own worksheets, but your YouTube links don’t seem to be working right now…they do not appear when I copy and paste the address, either. Just a heads up! Hope they can be fixed soon so I can watch the tutorial. π Thanks for all you do!
Jaime
Wonderful information! Joy, you may want to fix the Youtube link here on your blog (httpv to https) Thanks so much for sharing! With appreciation, — LadyD
Thanks Joy! Such a wonderful work you have done π
What a great time saver! THANK YOU so much!
Joy, thanks for sharing the PNG files. I have musiqwik font but can’t create a true grand staff with it. What did you use to create the grand staff for the PNG files?
You could layer text (music font) overtop of one of the PNG images of the staff. Another option is to draw lines using Microsoft Publisher to form a staff. Go to Insert > Shape, and then select to draw a line.
Thanks! This makes things a lot easier! I just wanted to make sure if it would be okay to sell any worksheets we make with your png files (say, on Teachers Pay Teachers), or if you would prefer that we only use them for our own studios.
Never mind! I found my answer. π
Great, Amanda! For anyone else looking, the copyright information are included within the ZIP file. These images are released under a Creative Commons copyright, allowing users to create and sell their own projects that make use of these images. However, the image files themselves should not be freely distributed or sold to others. Instead, please direct others to download the files directly from ColorInMyPiano.com. Thanks!
Hi Joy,
Thank you so much for this tutorial and the png files!!! This is what I’ve needed! I didn’t know about Microsoft Publisher – this will make life sooo much easier (I have a mac too with Word, but I never realized Publisher was there!). Thank you for this free tutorial and files (tutorial was great by the way, very clear instructions and helpful), it’s really awesome that you create this content for other teachers. It really does help so much!!
You’re welcome, Alison! So glad to hear the tutorial and files were helpful to you!
Hi Joy
I have just completed my first worksheet thanks to your very informative and useful tutorial and music symbols files.
Thank you SO much!
Thank you! I just found this! Look forward to making my worksheets! π Appreciate your help & resources!
K
Glad you found this post, Kristine! π
Thanks so much, Joy, for sharing these. You mentioned using Finale for making worksheet. I am wondering if you have a tutorial video for that? I don’t have Publisher but I do have Finale. Thanks.
Hi Lydia! I’ve never made any Finale tutorials, but I suppose I could. I’ll consider it.
I will tell you though, from experience, that there are certain types of worksheets that work best to create in Finale, and other types of worksheets that work the best in Microsoft Word/Publisher or a similar word processing software. It’s nice to have both options!
Once again, you are amazing! Thanks so much for this. I have referred to your fonts tutorials/posts a lot, so thank you!
So glad to hear these files are useful to you, Jenny! Best wishes!!
Hi Joy, Thank you so much for sharing all of your great ideas and tools. I’ve been looking for a way to make worksheets with greater flexibility than I find working in Finale.
I am having trouble with one thing – when I try to flip any notes with flags to use in the bass clef, they are going in the wrong direction. Do you have bass clef notes available elsewhere or am I just missing something?
Thank you,
Deb Hollis
Hi Deb! Instead of “flipping” the note, you can instead “rotate” the note to get around that issue. I hope this helps!
Have you created a png file for ledger line notes with stems up and down?
Rather than creating a ledger note, I prefer to create a line using Microsoft Word and then superimpose the note over the line. Check out the video tutorial in the post above to see this in action.
To achieve a down stem, you can rotate a note around by 180 degrees.
Is there a way to make any of these white instead of black? I am trying to put a few on a black background. Thank you – these are invaluable to me while I work on my master’s project!
You’ve given us very useful information. Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge and experience with us.
Joy, you are amazing! Your website is so wonderful. Thanks for all you do!
Thank you, Keith!
Thank you for sharing this. I teach guitar and am looking forward to creating some worksheets for my students.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have enrolled to your ear training and improvisation webinar a couple year ago and that helped with a couple of my students who don’t like to read notes. And I am glad I googled making music worksheets. This will help me making my own worksheets!!
Hi Joy! Love your entire site! I’ve downloaded your png files, but for some reason they are not transparent. Am I doing something wrong?
Hello there! Just wanted to say thank you so much for this! I was really struggling with figuring out how to create music worksheets. I am a new teacher, so this saved me! Thank you π
Happy to help, Lynsey! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Hi thank you .I love to be able to do this. I tried to make one using a MAC and won, but i can’t get the notes to layer over the staff, only go beside it. Any suggestions please
If you right-click on the images, you can change the wrapping to “square”. This will allow you to layer the images as desired.
Wow, thank you so much for this tutorial. So kind of you to take the time to share and teach all of this.
You’re welcome, Maya! Happy to share.
I found these and they were so helpful. Any way you would put up more rhythm patterns, such as dotted eighth and sixteenth, two 16th and an 8th, 8th and two 16th for more advanced students? Thanks!
Thank you so much! I’m a first year teacher and I was struggling with making a worksheet for my SLO! You are awesome and the video is such a big help!
You’re most welcome, Emily! π
Thank you so much for sharing the files and tutorial, Joy! So kind of you to take the time to explain and share with so many more teachers out there who would need it! Appreciate it!
You’re welcome, Jess!
Hi
Thank you for this fantastic blog! I just found it, and I am amazed by the abundance of resources.
I am having trouble downloading the free music notation PNG files . It seems to be responding to the click, but then nothing happens. Any ideas what could be wrong? Has anyone else had this issue?
Thank you
Nora
Hi,
This resource sounds amazing but I am having the same problem as the previous poster. It seems to respond when I click on the lick but then nothing happens.
Thanks
Jenny
Hi,
Same problems goes to me, I couldn’t download the amazing resources. Can I have it through e-mail?
Many Thanks,
Vincent