Why Music Notation Software?

Have you ever wanted to compose a piece of music or create your own arrangement of a favorite song? With music notation software you don't need to be Mozart or Beethoven to compose brilliant pieces — all you need is some creativity and a computer.

While home recording studio software lets you record your musical ideas in a mix of MIDI and audio tracks, music notation software serves a different purpose. Music notation software lets you preserve your musical ideas in the form of professional-quality sheet music.

Many notation programs can transcribe your music in real-time as you play a MIDI keyboard attached to your computer — some programs even transcribe the notes as you sing or play an instrument into a microphone. You don’t really need a MIDI keyboard or a microphone to create beautiful music because all notation software lets you enter notes manually using your mouse. You can also import existing MIDI files so you can create your masterpieces with a few creative edits.

After you have put your finishing touches on your masterpiece, print it to start a collection of sheet music or export it to another MIDI instrument or sound module so it can be enjoyed by family and friends.

In this site, you’ll find articles on music notation software and comprehensive reviews of programs such as Sibelius First. You will also find a checklist of features included with each reviewed program that will help you decide which notation software is best for you. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™

What to Look for in Music Notation Software

The best composition programs should have sufficient features that allow you to input, notate, edit and output music. It should also guitar and drum notation, sample song files and a metronome to keep time while recording in real-time. The software should be easy enough to use that a computer novice could successfully operate the program. Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate this software.

Ease of Use
The best music writing programs are user-friendly and include convenient notation, editing, input and output features. The software should be easy to use and have self-explaining icons so even a beginner can feel comfortable using the program. There should also be enough tools and features to keep more experienced users and composers from getting too bored with the software.

Feature Set
The software should include the following features: Real-time and step-time note entry, percussion notation, guitar tabulation and guitar chord entry, a virtual keyboard, General MIDI instrument selection (128 instruments), the ability to enter multiple lyric lines, MIDI import/export, MusicXML import/export and a metronome for real-time note entry.

Input/Output Capabilities
Various MIDI devices from different manufacturers and a number of music file types should be compatible with the software.

Editing
The software should provide editing tools capable of deleting, inserting and changing notes in the score, revising imported files and have mixing abilities.

Help/Support
The program should offer enough help and it should be easy-to-find with keyword searching capabilities. The program's manufacturer should offer various technical support options like phone, email and FAQs so customers can conveniently get answers to questions.

The proper music notation software will have you literally dancing to your own tune. With the outstanding features and tools available in programs such as Sibelius First, Finale PrintMusic and MagicScore Classic, you can have a lot of fun composing your own ditties or putting your own touch on popular songs. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination.