SOFTWARE for writing music

I’m looking for the easiest software to write music. Any suggestions before I start my search.

Musictime de luxe from Gvox was the easiest I found which gives a good clear print out which is most important

I’d suggest the Sharpie soft tip marker and any sort of staff paper.

http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-734BL/Industrial-Markers/Black-Super-Sharpie-Markers?pricode=WU340&gadtype=pla&gclid=CL6UsOXP3rYCFfR9OgodllUArw

I learned music copying from my friend’s dad who was a big band leader back in the old days. It used to be considered a musical skill and if you knew how to write a clean chart that was easy to read, a fella could supplement his income pretty well. You also would be amazed how easy it is to memorize a tune that you had to hand copy. Try it yourself sometime.

Cheers, Nate! I need some Sharpies but didn’t want to bother with a search. 😉

https://thesession.org/discussions/31750

no problem Na eisc! Hard to imagine how Mozart and Bach did it before the days of Sharpies, isn’t it?

Once again I am amazed by the kind and thoughtful responses this forum offers to innocent enquirers.

This might be worth a punt;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Finale-Sibelius-Alternative-Music-Composition-Notation-for-PC-Scoring-Software-/170733676934?pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SR&hash=item27c0852986

I use TablEdit for all my guitar transcriptions and solo pieces.
Supports most instruments - fiddle, guitar, banjo etc and alternate tunings
http://www.tabledit.com/

Notation and Tablature supported for stringed instruments.

Excellent support group on Yahoo and is very easy to use.

Ronald, what do you know about the software being sold on eBay by Media Plus Mobile? It appears remarkably similar to MuseScore; which I believe is freeware.
http://www.outsideshore.com/music/music-software/musescore-1-0-a-milestone-in-free-music-notation-software/

There is little doubt that it is MuseScore (it is Marc Sabatella’s composition, and the score is clearly the same one as the one pictured on Marc’s site). It does look like it is allowed on eBay though. The cost could be argued to just about cover the effort of advertising, putting it on CD and posting it.

There is zero doubt it’s MuseScore, Weejie.

I know - “little doubt” was my way of agreeing with your “remarkably similar”.

Take a look at Scorewriter from GenieSoft.

What’s the purpose of your use? ABC notation is one of the fastest things you can learn. Do you want to publish (through an actual publisher) or is it just for your immediate needs?

I have to say that Musink is easy to use, fast, and free. Highly recommended http://musink.net

In terms of ease of use. ABC explorer is the way to go for me. I used to use Finalé but there are too many bugs with total GUI applications. I find it much easier to work with ABC because there are just less bugs and less learning that has to do with memorizing menus. Also you have to use the mouse for everything in those applications and I find it incredibly tedious and time consuming where in ABC you can cut and paste sections very easily and cleanly.

Na eisc, I just rummaged through ebay and found it. I’ve never used MuseScore so didn’t recognise it. I got used to Sibelius as I used it at work but some people find that too pricey. This looked well cheap.

http://musescore.org/

Home » Forums » General discussion
MuseScore to be sold as a product?
Submitted by Darkmagic300300 on April 24, 2009
http://musescore.org/en/node/1594

MuseScore - Music Score Creator Writing Write Sheet Music Score Software on CD
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MuseScore-Music-Score-Creator-Writing-Write-Sheet-Music-Score-Software-on-CD-/360496162430?pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SR&hash=item53ef3ee67e

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html

Yes, Weejie. Muse Score is not freeware (I commented a couple a days ago that I thought it might be). Rather it is *free software* distributed according to the GNU General Public Liscense ~ Version 2, June 1991
http://musescore.org/en/about/gpl

Whether something is freeware or free software I still think caveat emptor is a useful warning. If someone cannot be bothered to research software he or she wants to use, takes advice from someone who does a quick simple search, pays for something with a fuzzy picture, etc. the warning potentially falls on deaf ears.

gnu.org is grand! Excellent link, Weejie.

As far as eBay goes I’d prefer the first eBayer provided a screenshot (just a hint) where one could read *Muse Score* at the top of the image. On the 2nd eBay link I can see the Muse Score title. The significance of this isn’t so an eBay buyer might decide *not* to pay for the item. Instead it shows the seller is open about this fact & before buying one can find more information about the software on the Muse Score website or in their forum, then making a better informed purchase. That is ‘worth a punt’.