Free: Finale Notepad

[RJ Johnston]

This is a cool little program I didn't know about until I read an e-book that mentions this free music notation software for writing your own songs, Finale Notepad,

http://www.finalemusic.com/products/finale-notepad/resources/

Beware, you may eventually want to upgrade to one of their other products, like I did. I ended up with MakeMusic's Finale Songwriter in addition to another company's product for scanning music scores, Musitek's SmartScore X2 Pro. That is something else.

I just like to be amazed, plus I can hear how a music piece is suppose to sound when I'm learning how to play it. My goal is to become a concert pianist and play at the Royal Albert Hall in London. That's not too much to ask of myself, is it?

[sidd finch]

My goal is to become a concert pianist and play at the Royal Albert Hall in London. That's not too much to ask of myself, is it?

Depends on the song you want to play. Chopsticks is doable.

Sidd

[RJ Johnston]

My goal is to become a concert pianist and play at the Royal Albert Hall in London. That's not too much to ask of myself, is it?

Depends on the song you want to play. Chopsticks is doable.

Sidd

I was thinking more along the lines of the ABC alphabet tune -- composed by Mozart -- and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

[Peru]

I had one of those by the numbers electric organs when I was young and mastered Mary Had a Little Lamb. I still remember it:

3 2 1 2 3 3 2 2 2 3 5 5.....

They don't use numbers on those pianos, do they?

[Bob]

I was thinking more along the lines of the ABC alphabet tune -- composed by Mozart -- and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Good choice! Considering the venue will be Royal Albert Hall, will you be playing all of Mozart's twelve variations on "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" or just the first variation (theme)? For an encore, you could do "Baa Baa Black Sheep".

Finale does look cool!

[RJ Johnston]

I've been reading the hundreds of Mozart's letters, to his sister and others, trying to find inspiration and clues to his genius and methods. He had quite the wit. There's no way I can compete with him. But...

Avid has a really nice notation program called Sibelius. It's free to try the 30-day demo. Even after 30 days you can continue to use it, but you just can't save your work. There's a $19.92/mo. for a year or a ~$25 month-to-month plan if an outright purchase isn't for you. You can also open midi files with multiple instruments and Sibelius will present you with the score. It does a really good job of transcribing, unlike SmartScore which does an incompetent job transcribing from midi. There doesn't seem to be a monthly plan for Finale. http://www.avid.com/en/sibelius

[momoffduty]

I had one of those by the numbers electric organs when I was young and mastered Mary Had a Little Lamb. I still remember it:

3 2 1 2 3 3 2 2 2 3 5 5.....

They don't use numbers on those pianos, do they?

I still have my Magnus Chord Organ from the 1960's. Play it now and again.

[sidd finch]

I still have my Magnus Chord Organ from the 1960's.

Mom all the cool kids are now playing the Stylophone... circa 1967




Sidd