Music Notation
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Sooner or later when someone is learning to play music, you'd like to write some music yourself. I''ve seen students "invent" notation systems of their own, like, jotting down the letter names of the notes, or just writing the note heads in a row with no time values or even measures.
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But, there's an easier way ... just learn to use the notation system that's been in use for centuries. Click on this link -- Music Printing History -- to go to an excellent website about how music notation has evolved over the years.
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When I was in high school, I used to do band and choral arrangements using blank manuscript paper and a felt tip pen. In the 21-st century, however, notating music this way would be akin to hand-copying a book using calligraphy. These days there is computer software for word processing, and there is also computer software for music notation -- that's what we'll be using at MusicScholars.
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MuseScore 2 is a music notation program that is free for download. Even though this program is free, it provides many of the same features paid software programs provide.
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This music composition software gives you the option to not only create musical scores for piano, but also guitar tablature and percussion sheet music.
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You can create a musical score in a variety of different ways. You can create an entire music score by inputting all of the notes with your mouse. You can use a MIDI controller via USB and, as you play, your score will be created. This software also supports standard MIDI file import, as well.
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You can also export your sheet music in a variety of different ways. You can print your scores or transfer them via standard MIDI file export. You can also save your sheet music as a PDF or graphic. This can be helpful if you want to pull your sheet music up on a tablet or an iPad for a live performance.
MuseScore is a free scorewriter for Windows, macOS, and Linux, comparable to Finale and Sibelius, supporting a wide variety of file formats and input methods. It is released as free and open-source software under the GNU General Public License. -- Wikipedia
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Minimum requirements for your computer hardware are noted on the download page. Click one of the links below to download:
