Making due with smaller budgets seems to be the new normal these days so finding creative ways to provide cutting edge music education programs is getting harder and harder. With a little flexibility though a teacher can still provide high quality software based tools for use in their classrooms without paying a dime. Take a closer look at MusicEdMagic's 2012 list of essential free music education software for use in both the classroom and at home.

In this area the word 'best' is truly in the eye of the beholder. Music notation software can be confusing, especially to younger students, so in those cases simplicity is better. For older students or adults looking to write a new song on the cheap having a few more features and capabilities under the hood is essential. For this reason this look at the best free music writing software programs includes two products. For the beginner we have Finale Notepad 2012, and for the more demanding user we have MuseScore.

• Free versions of paid software: The most professional notation software are the paid ones. But you will be pleased to discover that they all have free plans as well: Sibelius First. Operating system: Mac and PC. Advantages: - Considered to be one of the best notation software.
• Download the latest version of MuseScore for Mac for free. Read 19 user reviews and compare with similar apps on MacUpdate.

Finale Notepad 2012

Mac and Windows

Returning to free after several years of being a paid product, Finale Notepad 2012 brings the essential elements of writing music into a simple, straight forward interface. Adding notes to a score is a simple matter of point and click. Listening to your creations via the built in MIDI capabilities of your computer is also easy to do, and files created in Finale Notepad 2012 can be opened, edited, and saved in any other version of the Finale family of music notation programs. As an added bonus Notepad can also open any files made in other versions of the software, making it ideal for use in the classroom environment where a teacher with a full Finale 2012 install can create worksheets or other composition exercises, making them as elaborate as he or she wants, and then having the students open those documents, make their own edits, and then save and send the file back to the teacher for grading. While Finale Notepad 2012 is missing a lot of the bells and whistles of the paid versions it is still a wonderful sight to see this product return to being a freely available download.

Description OS License Fundamental music notation software Macintosh Free-ware 2012-02-22 1 75dn Overture can be a expert standard notation software that functions for Mac pc OSX. Website hosts AU Macintosh Demonstration 2013-01-07 0 65dm Full arranger, rating editor and music composition software.

MuseScore

Mac and Windows

When more advanced control of the music is required MuseScore is also a very capable free music notation program. Allowing up an unlimited number of staves and up to four voices on each staff it blows away Finale Notepad in terms of flexibility and customization. Also a big plus is the full slate of articulations, dynamics, and other important markings that make it possible to put almost any musical idea down on paper. Another positive on MuseScore's side is the ability to open and save MusicXML files, a standard that is quickly gaining ground across all of the major music notation companies. On the down side opening and saving MusicXML across different programs often leads to alignment and other issues as the various contenders do not all interpret MusicXML markings and layouts the same way. Still, if cross platform compatibility is important MuseScore is the most powerful free music notation program out there right now. If you are still on the fence take a look at a demo video of MuseScore.

The Best Free GarageBand Alternatives

Don't get me wrong, I love GarageBand and if I had a choice I would use it all the time, but for those who are locked into the PC world good old GarageBand just isn't an option. For those people we can take the sting out of things a bit with some free loop sequencers and digital audio workstation programs.

Linux MultiMedia Studio (LMMS)

Windows and Linux Only

Yes, the name of the software is Linux MultiMedia Studio, but you don't have to have Linux in order to use it. This Windows port of LMMS provides you with a fully functional multichannel digital audio workstation capable of doing pretty much everything that the big boys like ProTools and others can do. You can record, import tracks and loops, and mix them all together to your heart's content. On the down side it doesn't come with many extras. No built in loops, and while it does ship with an assortment of VST audio plugins those wanting more flexibility will have to invest in them ala carte.

Ardour

Mac and Linux only

For those who already have a Mac but don't want to buy into the iLife suite to get GarageBand take a closer look at Ardour. While it only runs on Linux and OS X the program has quite a following for those who want a little more flexibility and customization over what GarageBand provides. It provides you with an unlimited number of tracks to play with, you can sync the audio to a video feed, and it also is compatible with any CoreAudio hardware that you might have already invested in. Take a look at an Ardour tutorial video for more information.

Music is one of the appreciable and exceptional creations of man, which helps man to easily demonstrate the unspoken desire in him. It fuels your mind and fuels your imagination, inspiration and creativity. Music Notation software in your computer helps in composing, editing, and printing music sheet. It helps in correction, editing and sharing of your musical documents via internet in a clean, uniform and beautiful interface.

Here we are providing a list of 7 Music Notation Software for your computers which will provide you to compose and edit your music with an easy interface

1. MuseScore

It is an outstanding notation editor compatible with Linux, Windows, Mac OSX, and FreeBSD. It can create symbols, notes and lines for any sort of score, i.e. from lead sheets to orchestral scores. Its interface provides Get Started music files, help options on the Muse Score Forums.

MuseScore comes with the following features

• It helps to play back your music in sound font file or in another one you specify.
• You can export a large variety of files like music XML, audio, PNG and PDF.
• Compatible with 32- bit and 64- bit.

2. Lilypond

It is the best and exclusive approach of music notation software, in which Lilypond converts the music into PDF or MIDI. This website supplies you best tutorials for your start notation music with précis knowledge of the language.

List of some features of Lilypond

• It has note pitches, note durations and measure pitches.
• It has staves, dynamic marks, page format and instrument-specific notations.
• Compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and FreeBSD.

3. Finale Notepad

It serves an easy functionality which will suit your needs of music notation. It has well organised interface, outstanding online tutorials and can import and export MIDI, Finale Notation files and Music XML.

Finale Notepad provides following features

• With this software you can use up to eight musical instruments including guitar tablature, choral music, and lead sheets.
• You can hear your play back music with high quality of sounds.
• You can even share your music printed on attractive pages and exchange a large no. of electronic files.

Music Writing Apps For Mac

4. Forte

It is an exclusive and easy score writing software for any teachers, musicians and choir leaders. This software helps you to write out full orchestration easily and quickly. It has a beautiful interface and best tutorials for notation music.

Forte comes with following features

• It serves Professional composers and musicians everything for crafting your scores.
• User friendly and easy to use.
• Cost-effective and easily available music notation software.

5. Finale

It is the most popular music notation software across the world-wide. This software raises the excitement level of the band to march, the students to learn, the choir to sing and the orchestra.

Important features of Finale are listed below

• Offers freedom and flexibility for the musicians to create, edit, print and publish the different music scores.
• It offers a realistic and astonishing music playback.
• Easy to use and world standard software for music notation.

6. MagicScore

Best Notation Program Windows

This is simple and straight forward music notation and composition software which can be used to compose and convert music to audio. You can even write guitar tabs, chords and music sheets in it. It is a smart choice for composers, musicians, songwriters and choirs.

Features of MagicScore are listed

• It provides solutions that help you to compose, organise, learn and teach.
• Ability to quickly compose, write, print music sheets and publishing the scores in a variety of formats like Word documents, audio files and web pages.

We have tried our best to cut out your task in searching for an efficient, easy, fast and reliable Music Notation Software. All the above software’s are free, simple to use and hardly take up any storage space. Pick out the one which appeals you the most.