Reviews

Music Notation Software Recommendations for Teachers and Students

I’ve recently had two questions from fellow piano teachers come through my “Ask Me Anything” form asking for advice regarding music notation software. Thinking there might be others of you out there wondering about the same thing, I thought I would publish my answer in today’s blog post!

Introduction

Once upon a time, the two main options for music notation software were Finale and Sibelius — plus a free open-source software called Musescore. Nowadays, we also have online-based software as well as apps for phones/tablets to consider.

While I can’t claim to be familiar with ALL of the options available today (especially the variety of apps out there), I am happy to share my experience and personal recommendations below. If you have additional recommendations, I hope you’ll share them with us in the comment section of this blog post!

Let’s get into it. I’ll start by recommending what I consider to be good starting points for students or teachers who are newly interested in composition and/or music notation software. Then, I’ll get into what I recommend for serious or experienced composers who wish to invest in professional-grade software.

Continue reading “Music Notation Software Recommendations for Teachers and Students”
Announcements, Composition, improving as a teacher, Resources, Technology

A Closer Look at MuseScore: FREE music notation software

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Screenshot of my demo song in MuseScore. Click to enlarge.

Move over, Finale and Sibelius!  There’s somebody new in town.  MuseScore is a music notation software available FREE online for anyone to download.  After doing a brief test drive last spring (mentioned here), I decided to take a closer look now that it’s available for Mac users.

I’ve been a faithful Finale user since 2005, mainly because Finale is the software of choice at the colleges I’ve attended.  I use Finale to make worksheets for my students and to notate my original compositions and arrangements.  Buying Finale 2009 last September cost me an arm and a leg, so I was quite curious to see how MuseScore would compare.  Is it worth spending all that money on Finale when you can get MuseScore for free?   Continue reading “A Closer Look at MuseScore: FREE music notation software”

Composition, Resources

MuseScore: free music notation software

Have you heard about the new free music notation software called MuseScore?  I have heard nothing but favorable reviews about it thus far.  Personally, I do not currently have a great need for it, since I use Finale software at college.  But this may very well be a great resource for teachers who do not wish to invest in expensive music notation software (let me tell you, Finale costs an arm and a leg!) or, for students who have an interest in composition.  I was glad to hear about MuseScore.  Ever since Finale started charging ~$10 to download Finale Notepad (a simple, previously-free version of Finale), I have been on-the-lookout for something else to recommend to my students.

Mac users are unfortunately out of luck, because MuseScore is currently only available for PC’s. [Correction: MuseScore IS indeed now available for Macs.  Sorry for the misinformation!] I breifly tried out this software on my husband’s PC, and it seems to be fairly user-friendly.  If you are looking for an inexpensive alternative to Finale or Sibelius, MuseScore is worth a look!

[Now that MuseScore is available for Macs, I plan to download it and blog more about it soon. Check back soon!]