Jonathan

I play guitar and piano, at least I say I do but I don't really. I was never taught and I never really push my self. I'm pretty much beginner/intermediate for last 5 years or so now. I then discovered composition through tools such as notation programs, more spcifically Finale and Guitar Pro. I have written a few songs I am very happy with. However, no way would I be able to have composed these with a guitar or piano. Im limited by what my hands can do. Finale and Guitar Pro give me the opportunity to experiment more and really think about harmony. Is this wrong?

Right ive gone from free to cheap since it looks like the only way forward. Here are the choices. 1) Printmusic 2) Noteworthy 3) Melody Assistant Can anyone comment on these? I will get around to demoing them but it will take me some time to pick them up, would be interested in your opinions.

Ok thanks. So what are my alternatives? $600 is a bit much for me. And even if I did I don't want anything too bloated. Noteworthy any good?

Thanks Alan. That has cleared most of it up. I'm still not sure about the first point of the number staves I can have. Does it translate to how many different instruments I can use simultaneously on one song?

Thanks. Looks like it might be sufficient. However what exactly does it mean by: -Number of staves - the limit for a whole song? -Number of staff lines available -Compound or additive time signatures - compound only for Notepad. Oh how do you represent percussion instruments with the staff?

Hi I am looking for a free notation program which is isn't severely cut down. I know there is Notepad 2008. What is missing from it compared to the full Finale? What I need is the following: Playback to GM synth Lightweight Available for both PC and Mac Can export MIDI files Can add effects easily like tremolo and vibrato I come from a guitar/rock music background but I have got into film scoring. I have recently worked on a friend's short film and I really enjoyed it. I am in the process of learning the piano and its the first time Ive bothered about learning music notation. I could do all of this in piano roll in my DAW but I thought it would be good practice to score in music notation. I am also not bothered about sound quality so General MIDI synth is good enough for me. I will import the MIDI into my DAW anyway with proper sound samples. Thanks in advance.

Regarding the rules I specified, I was just giving an example. Maybe we can scrap rules then. I will do a search for something similar, but I don't really know what I'm searching for.

Hi all, I'm pretty new to everything music. I have been playing guitar for a number of years now, but mostly rhythm/accompaniment. I have recently bought a Piano and have started to learn a bit of theory. Another thing, I have also been dabbling in with electronic music for the past 6 months. I hit mental block when I try to compose something. Now I'd like to propose a challenge for some of you guys if you are interested. We come up with some rules, such as key, time sig, style etc and each day, bit by bit you build up some kind of musical work. So for example, we defien a rule. You create a simple 16 bar melody. The next day (or every few days) you add to it, expand it, harmonise the melody, start progressing the song, add more melodies. I won;t be taking part myself, at least not in the beginning. I wanted to propose this challenge to see your thought process and workflow when composing. It would be cool to add a little liner note after each section you add just to explain what you were thinking, why you did something a certain way etc. I believe watching all of you guys work will help me improve and understand composition. So whos up for it?

I don't want any cutdown features like in Notepad Free, and I'm not bothered abotu nice GPO samples, GM will do for me. I just want complete control of notation writing, simple and straightforward to use and won't eat my CPU + RAM. Want something that is cheap or preferbly free.

Does anyone know where I can get some good scores for solo monophonic instruments?

Thanks everyone. Actually montpellier raises an interesting issue. Melodies are one of the main things I get stuck on. I always seem to have an idea for a chord progression in my head, I can lay that down but I don't really know what to do with it. I can't seem to come up with good melodies, if I do, it probably sounds very similar to something I've written before. But as you say, I guess I need to put in more time studying a monophonic instrument. But I dont know how to go about doing this, is it just a case of looking at score while listening to the music? I'll have to remind you, I don't have a good background in music. I play the guitar a little but its all self taught and I don't know whats right and wrong. I love listening to music, I feel maybe subconciously I understand composition, orchestration, harmony and counterpoint (its human nature) its just I cannot seem to use what I know when it comes to writing and composing.

Play a bit of guitar, but I don't know much about composition. I guess I first need to learn all my theory. Can anyone suggest some good websiteS?

Hello everyone, I'm new here. Im guessing most people here are classically trained. Ill admit I am not, I have been playing guitar for 6 years now, without a single lesson. I feel I seriously lack music theory knowledge but I am very interested in composition. Anyway, this thread caught my eye. I don't know too much about classical composers and how they work. I have always had a problem composing on my guitar, I would always use the same chords, picking patterns etc. My ability holds me back from writing the music that is in my mind. When I sit down with the guitar, before you know it, I would have forgotten that music in my head. You can probably guess that this is very frustrating for me. Now the reason this thread caught my eye is because in my mind I always had the idea that composers *always* used an instrument to compose. I thought because i cant do it with my guitar, well then I would just give up. I'm just wondering how do you compose without an instrument? Is it because you have memorised all the notes in the chromatic scale and you have developed an ear for it and when you hear that melody in your head you already know what the notes are? Whatever method you guys use, how do I train myself to to be the same?