Notation Software for guitar

kfisherx · Post by **kfisherx** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:33 pm

I am beginning to do transcribing from Italian baroque tab to 6 string guitar. I downloaded a sw called Mozart and it is still on trial. It works okay for me but it doesn't allow me to change the note timings or manuver the note values once I enter them. It also doesn't do string notation.

I could afford finale but think that is perhaps an overkill sw for someone with such simple needs.

What do the rest of you use and recommend for guitar specifically?

Thanks a million

mickhayafe · Post by **mickhayafe** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:44 pm

i just bought

MagicScore Maestro 5 - $69.95

it will do 3 voices, fretboard, all the different types of notational symbols i need for guitar. i haven't used the tab, i have no need, but i know you can do it.

you can download a 30 day demo, too, you just can't print. (it has a watermark if you try)

kfisherx · Post by **kfisherx** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:51 pm

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check that one out too. Can you go back to a note you entered and change its timed value? That seems to be the thing I cannot deal with mine.

jab1123 · Post by **jab1123** » Tue May 01, 2007 5:08 pm

I use Finale for guitar - nice for classical in that it deals easily with notes having more than one value. It does have it's odd quirks. I purchased it in 2003 and have not upgraded it - at that time I think it was ~ 180 USD.
jb

mickhayafe · Post by **mickhayafe** » Tue May 01, 2007 5:54 pm

i'm not sure, i'll have to get back to you

kfisherx · Post by **kfisherx** » Tue May 01, 2007 9:14 pm

jab1123 wrote:I use Finale for guitar - nice for classical in that it deals easily with notes having more than one value. It does have it's odd quirks. I purchased it in 2003 and have not upgraded it - at that time I think it was ~ 180 USD.
jb

It isn't the cost that scares me about Finale but more the time it will take for me to spin up on it and that much of that sw will never be used. I have never heard anyone say anything nice about the UI or learning curve of this sw. I don't want to write orchestral arrangements. Just simple guitar stuff. Did you find it easy to use? Does it do guitar strings? (Like numbers with circles around them, etc)

kfisherx · Post by **kfisherx** » Tue May 01, 2007 11:29 pm

mickhayafe wrote:i'm not sure, i'll have to get back to you

actually I just checked it out and it works fine. This is also way esier than Mozart. Why do I always pick the hardest one? It is also about half the price.

mickhayafe · Post by **mickhayafe** » Tue May 01, 2007 11:55 pm

i spent about 5 minutes trying to find out how to increment or decrement the duration and couldn't find it.

Post by AO » Thu May 03, 2007 4:12 am

I use a notation program called Overture by a company called Genisoft. It has all the bells and whistles as Finale and Sebelius but I find it much more intuitive. You can click on a note and use the number pad to change the value and also click on a note and drag it up or down chromatically till you find the right one. Also changing the stem direction for each voice is very easy.

Unfortunately it has become almost as expensive as the others but the upgrades are cheap, maybe if you can find a used copy somewhere and then upgrade.
I'm sure they must have a demo as well, maybe give it a try.

Cheers, AO

kfisherx · Post by **kfisherx** » Mon May 07, 2007 10:21 pm

and the winner is MagicScore Maestro 5 - $69.95

For cost and features this one rocks. Thanks for the recommendation

mickhayafe · Post by **mickhayafe** » Tue May 08, 2007 7:40 am

you're welcome

wolfgang · Post by **wolfgang** » Tue May 08, 2007 7:45 am

If one isn't afraid of sourcecode, lilypond could be worth a consideration. Great control and no struggling with counterintuitive GUIs. And its free

bluebyte · Post by **bluebyte** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:01 pm

Try tabledit.
http://www.tabledit.com/
I think it will suit your needs well.

Note: Don't let the name fool you, it has full notation support.

Post by **pogmoor** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:17 am

I agree TablEdit is a good program. It has the advantage that you can enter tablature directly and convert it to staff notation (though obviously you then need to edit the staff notation for note durations).

Jeff Wright · Post by **Jeff Wright** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:36 am

I also use lilypond and find it worthwhile. It's got decent guitar - specific notation. And it's free. Being a computer programmer I also like the notion of having the "source code" at my fingertips, which then produces the final output, sort of like compiling and then executing a computer program.

http://lilypond.org/web/

Classical Guitar

Notation Software for guitar

Notation Software for guitar

Notation software