The Best Music Notation Software

This time we're going to walk you through the best music notation software available on the market. 

Each of them offers similar features since they all serve the same purpose. That said, you'll also find notable differences, because they come with different platform support, compatibility, and a few other details that make each one unique.

Reasons to choose music notation software

There are tons of reasons to choose music notation software, and here are the most important ones: 

• The best music comes as sheet music: the finest compositions, pieces, and songs are published as sheet music. So if you don't have a notation program, you're missing out on a huge library of works. 
• You can play back your scores: yes, music notation software can play back the PDF file you download from your favorite site. And that's fantastic, because you get to hear what you've downloaded. 
• You can write your own compositions: the best way to preserve your compositions is in written notation. And yes, we know you can record it on your phone, but that will never compare to having it written out in the language of music notation. Throughout history, millions of compositions have been lost because someone decided it was too much work to learn how to write their pieces down as sheet music. 
• What's written endures: no one can erase your creations if you write them down and keep a printed copy. That will be your legacy as a musician, as a professional, as an artist. 

Need more reasons to use music notation software? No? Then you're ready to discover the best programs on the market. 

The best music notation software 

There's a wide range of notation software developed by different companies. What's more, each one was created with input from an expert musician and academic instructor. 

As a result, every program you'll find on the market is excellent and offers its own unique features. 

Now, are some better than others? Yes, there are, even though they were all designed by experts. 

Sibelius

This is the favorite notation software in Europe, and the great European masters keep an iPad with this software installed on it. 

You'll see them in countless YouTube videos, sitting at their instrument, performing chamber music with a tablet in front of them displaying the score open in Sibelius. 

Sibelius has an intuitive interface and offers the great advantage of a video player that makes transcription easier. 

It's compatible with multiple operating systems, but it's especially designed for Mac, where it delivers 100% of its capabilities. 

Finale

Finale is the top choice in most South American conservatories because it's easy to use and offers an impressive range of features for creating special symbols. 

You can take a PDF, photograph it, and load it into Finale; then, with just a few clicks, it automatically creates and plays back what's written. 

Its symbol recognition is excellent, and that's exactly why instructors love it. On top of that, it's compatible with Windows, Mac, and other operating systems. 

LilyPond

This notation software is free and open source, and it runs on every operating system out there today. 

You can load PDF, MIDI, SVG, PNG and many other formats, because it supports them all. What's more, since it's open-source software, many users contribute to improving it every single day. 

That's why it's one of the great budget-friendly options out there. 

Keep in mind that in upcoming posts we'll be sharing tutorials and download and installation links for these notation programs.