Music notation software advice

[Katoosie]

MuseScore!

 

[mambo4]

Is there a program that will teach notation.. I have been playing for 40 + years and would like to take a look and see if I can teach myself how to read notation.

I think the best approach is to teach yourself analog -books and pencils and paper
I have yet to see a software solution that truly can teach musical literacy

I have used finale notepad a bit when I first began learning to "check my work"
I'd try to transcribe a riff and input it into finale to see if the playback matched the original.

when it comes to literacy, reading pitch is easy ( there's only 7 notes and 4 accidentals ) ,
rhythm is hard ( configurations of rhythm are infinite ) so practice reading rhythms, and the pitch will come

 

[Holdsg]

not free, but I do a lot of arranging of piano music, but I also know it does lead sheets well -- I use Finale.

 

[azureblue]

You're going to have to use a computer or at least, an iPad to produce scores. I use both MuseScore and Cubase to make scores. The advantage with Cubase is being able to real time play a midi track, then read it as a score track. Or import a midi track and convert it to a score. But for the most part, MuseScore will work just fine. I think the interface is a bit clunky, but you can get used to it. The great part is it will import music XML files form any score program. And export in music XML, too.

 

[MonetBass]

More on Finale PrintMusic:
1. It can both import and export MIDI
2. Sheet music can be scanned into it. My experience here is that it still requires some tweaking afterwards, but for the most part it works well.

 

[VicDiesel]

IME, this will be. LOT easier, no matter what you use, if you don’t try to do it on a phone.

I can't even do notation on an iPad. I want lots of menus, open at all times.

 

[Dominic D]

I've been using MuseScore for years. It's been rock solid for me.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

Looking to produce some fairly simple lead sheets (melody, chords, bass motif, etc). Started messing around with some apps on the iPhone and haven’t had any luck finding anything I’d consider user friendly. Sibelius seems to be the go-to for most but I’m getting nowhere with it (could just be a 47 year old guy struggling with modern technology). Wondering what app/software and platform TBers have had the most success with. I have a Mac and I’m open to getting an IPad if needed. Not looking for a ton of special features, really just something that gets the job done and isn’t a pain to work with.

Finale Notepad | Free Music Notation Software for Windows

Finale Notepad and MakeMusic Compose are free music notation software. You can create compostitions and share your work with other musicians.

www.finalemusic.com

Plus because it's free, its likely not going to have the full set of features and functionality, which you may have or may not have used anyway. Worth a look.

 

[wboyd68]

For $18 bucks i got 1Chart and it seems to work great.