I am amazed at the quantity of music notation software available on the market. The two most popular products, Finale and Sibelius, get most of my attention. However, there are many, many more titles from which to choose. A wonderful comprehensive list of music notation products is available at:
http://ace.acadiau.ca/score/others.htm
If you peruse the extensive list of notation programs on this site, you will note quite a few free notation programs.
Finale NotePad
The free notation program that I use most is Finale NotePad www.finalenotepad.com. It is a free download and a lite version of Finale. Finale NotePad 2008 added step entry via MIDI making it a viable option to use to communicate with other programs, as it will also export files in MIDI format. For a complete list of the features check out:
http://www.finalemusic.com/Notepad/New.aspx
The only major problem with Finale NotePad is that files are not backwardly compatible in Finale format. So, for example, you can’t open a Finale NotePad 2008 file in an earlier version of Finale. However, you can download earlier versions of Finale NotePad by searching the downloads section of the Finale Notepad website:
http://www.finalemusic.com/store/search.aspx
Opening Finale Files in NotePad
Finale NotePad can open Finale files. This makes it possible to create a file in Finale and then have others open it for playback and practice in Finale Notepad. I also find that Finale NotePad is a good place to start when teaching students how to use Finale. There is a limited number of tools.
Once students have the hang of NotePad, moving to Finale is a snap. There are some excellent tutorials that ship with Finale NotePad. From the Help menu, choose Tutorials.
Another free program that I have used is Nightingale Light
http://www.ngale.com/index_04.html
How are you or your students using Finale NotePad?
What other free notation software have you found helpful?
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http://lilypond.org/web/
But I’m a geeky linux type of guy. I love it though!
Is the free Finale Notepad any better than Finale PrintMusic?
hey it rocks
So the link you give to finale is absolutely free? Why does it ask you to make an account with your information if all you’re doing is downloading the program? I really want to download the program but I do not want to pay anything for it. I just want to make sure this wont cost me a penny.
Chris:
Thanks for the Lilypond link. I’ll check it out and add it to my list of free notation software.
Tom
Jessica and Laura:
FinaleNotepad is really free. They do require that you register on their site, but that is not a big deal. I have been using Finale Notepad for 10 years and there is no charge.
Finale PrintMusic is much more powerful than NotePad. The big difference is with PrintMusic you can play in real-time with a metrnonome click (called HypersScribe) and there is built-in free scanning. It lists for $99 and is worth it if you do a lot of notation entry. However, you can’t be the price of NotePad. Free.
Tom
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