Suggestion on Music Notation Softwear

Always Learning · #1 12-01-2021, 10:51 PM

I hope I am putting this thread in the right section.... Any way, I am looking for either a free or inexpensive software to write notation. Doesn't have to have a "tablature" staff, I'm actually not used to reading tab. Learned to read standard many, many, many years ago.

I have tried these two packages, Crescendo (free version) and Guitar Pro 7, (30 day trial).... The problem I am having with these two and for reasons I don't know, I can find an online tutorial that answers my issue(s)

my # 1 issue: When I try and add a bass note as a "voice #2" with the stem down, the program wants to include the melody note "voice #1" right above it with the stems down also and attached and not with the stem pointing up as you would see in most printed pages and books. And visa-versa when adding a melody note. Both of these programs do this. I'd like to have all the soprano and bass note stems indicate that one is bass and the other is soprano. And when you do a playback with two voices, especially if it includes 8th and 16th notes in a 4/4 staff, it does not play them the way they should sound, the programs bounce between the two voices in uneven time.

You would think that guitar pro would allow this... maybe it does, but having a heck of a time finding the option. Yet in one of the tool boxes there is the option of selecting the four typical voices attributed to classical guitar. Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. But when you do it in GP it wants to add a bass clef...

Have seen other programs on the Inter-web... Finale, Sibelius, MuseScore and Dorico SE...

Anyone using these or any suggestions?

Thanks and Happy Holidays everyone

RodB · #2 12-02-2021, 08:44 AM

I use Guitar Pro 7 and it does OK for my purposes. I use up to 3 voices for solo guitar music. I don't suggest there are not better applications out there though! It should allow you to dictate the direction of stems by Note > Design > Invert Stems, or directly with the icon near the bottom of the 'Show Edition Palette' pane.

One thing to be sure of is to just have the one voice selected when making any changes. Timings for the voices are independent so notes should be able to be placed exactly, and it is possible to hide the rests that may be required to achieve this so they don't show when all voices are visible (this is in File > Stylesheets)

I actually find the need to separately address the voices helps me understand the music structure when it comes to playing the piece.

Good luck!

malv custard · #3 12-02-2021, 03:15 PM

this is good for both score and tab

pieterh · #4 12-03-2021, 03:45 AM

I’ve been using MuseScore for years. For a free program it is very powerful with a lot of awesome features. And it has TAB as well as standard notation. It will even generate the tab from the standard notation but only at the lowest possible fret for any given note - but it’s easy enough to then click on the number and drag it to the right string for the right fret position to appear.

It is easy to export to MIDI files and is compatible with eg Sibelius by saving to a mutually compatible format.

Formatting can occasionally go a bit weird - tied notes that go over the end of a stave or across pages for example can end up looking a bit odd, but it’s easy enough to move them with the mouse pointer without affecting the tie’s function.

The online manual is pretty good and there is a great forum on the site where members give tips etc.

TBman · #5 12-03-2021, 11:12 AM

I use GuitarPro and sometimes I will use more than one voice. When I do I use the 2nd voice for the bass. I've noticed that the stems do not turn down correctly until the measure is finished for both voices.

Always Learning · #6 12-17-2021, 01:53 AM

I want to thank those who replied to my inquiry...

I tried to like Guitar Pro 7... I think it just didn't like me.

So I have decided to stick with Crescendo (free version) for what I need to do... I have pieces that were written on staff pages with pencil and find them darn hard to read even wearing my cheaters... I just want to put them in a more readable format... The learning curve for GP-7 is just not worth the time of getting to learn it IMHO. And I really don't need all the downloadable "bells and whistles" since I don't play ROCK..!

stanron · #7 12-17-2021, 05:26 AM

I'll second Musescore. When I was teaching it was always Sibelius we had to use. After I retired I switched my home PC to Linux and Sibelius wont run on the Linux platform. I switched to Musescore and have happily stayed there ever since. It's free, multi platform and has a really good online help section.

Blueser100 · #8 12-18-2021, 11:28 AM

I use Garageband for Mac. I was surprised to learn recently that it creates standard notation that it editable and printable. Sweet.

RyanRC · #9 12-24-2021, 12:25 PM

Hello Always Learning

I have been using Guitar Pro for a couple of years now and I know what you mean in that it can sometimes be frustrating trying to figure how to get something to happen that you know it can, but you just can't find the way to do it.

Having said that and not that I can say I have tried any other programs, but I think this goes hand in hand with any program where the more abilities is has, the harder sometimes it is to figure out how to get it do things as there are just so many options.

In other words and it just my opinion, but while you might find something right off your are trying to do in some lesser program, you may find in the long run there are a lot of limitations of that program down the road that in the end makes you end up having to learn to a more featured but complex program anyway.

At any rate, my main point for replying here is to just mention that and while this might be as I paid for the version, but for the few times I got stuck on trying to figure something out, I wrote their tech support people and got a reply within a day or two. Interestingly there was a couple of times they told me the program currently didn't do what I was looking for but would consider it for future updates or version (which they seem to do often enough), which actually in itself was a help as at least I didn't waist anymore of my time trying and found other ways.

In the end for me Guitar Pro has been a big help and teaching tool and for one as there are just a ton of files for songs out there that have helped me learn much better just how something is played.

For sure there are others I would think have lots of the same, but GP certainly is one of the larger resources out there.

Brent Hutto · #10 12-24-2021, 12:35 PM

Not really any use for answering the original question but I had seen this thread and been pondering what notation software I might use just for writing out tunes I'm working on to exchange with my guitar teacher. Nothing fancy at all, really.

Before choosing a free software I decided to look through my old E-mail archives because I vaguely remembered having used this kind of software in the past. Lo and behold, a Festivus miracle! Way back in 2003 I had taken advantage of a $99 offer for Finale (the full, huge version). They still have that 2012 version on their download page so installed it and my license key still work.

Kind of overkill but it certainly does what I need, albeit with a stiff learning curve.

Bluenose · #11 12-25-2021, 09:00 AM

The only music software I'm familiar with is Tabledit. I bought the full subscription which allows me to save an infinite number of songs. I find it user friendly and it comes with a clearly worded manual. It's a great way to learn to read and notate music. I transcribe fingerstyle tunes and the playback feature of the software lets me know if I have transcribed correctly. Highly recommended for what I use it for.

The Bard Rocks · #12 12-25-2021, 03:06 PM

I used to use Finale, years ago, and quit when I realized it was just faster to do it by hand and scan it in. It was easy to use, looked great - but was not fast. I should look into these things again.

Brent Hutto · #13 12-25-2021, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

I used to use Finale, years ago, and quit when I realized it was just faster to do it by hand and scan it in. It was easy to use, looked great - but was not fast. I should look into these things again.

I’ve had the same thoughts but unfortunately when I write notation by hand it is nigh unreadable. It does look better than my handwriting but that’s not saying much